Green, ethical, energy issues in the news

Martyn1981

Time for the now two weekly Carbon Commentary news letter - 

1, China hydrogen. Details are scarce, but the large Chinese coal and chemicals supplier Baofeng Energy said that it has started to construct a 200 MW solar PV farm to produce hydrogen in the north west of the country. Baofeng only mentions the use of hydrogen in fuel cells for transport but I suspect that it will also be employed in chemicals manufacture. This is another example of how green hydrogen is apparently becoming a viable very large scale alternative to steam reforming of natural gas. Major hydrogen projects were also announced in Portugal and Australia. The 1 GW Portugal project is intended to be part of a much wider investment programme into green infrastructure.
 
2, Abu Dhabi low cost solar. Abu Dhabi announced the price for a proposed 2 GW solar development which will provide about 3% of the power requirements of the UAE. 1.35 US cents per kilowatt hour represents the lowest figure ever publicly recorded for a PV contract and is about 45% below the price agreed three years ago for a 1.2 GW installation in Abu Dhabi. The 1.35 cents figure would enable the production of hydrogen for less than $1 per kg, enabling the Emirates, if it wanted, to build a hydrogen export business that competed with hydrogen from natural gas.
3, Wooden wind turbine towers. The growing role of cross-laminated timber (CLT) in large structures was emphasised this week by the announcement of a trial 30 metre wooden tower to support a wind turbine. The manufacturers claim that a wooden structure will be cheaper and lighter than steel alternatives, reducing the cost of onshore turbine installations. (This is certainly true for the use of CLT in offices buildings).The aim is to construct the first commercial wood installations by the end of 2022. Wind has always suffered from the perception that the carbon cost of the steel and cement used in construction is greater than the savings from generating renewable electricity. Wooden towers will help fight this wholly incorrect idea because they store CO2, rather than emitting it during manufacture. 

4, France and the green deal. French opinion seems to be the most firmly committed to pursuing recovery using green investment and regulation as its core.  In an article in in Le Monde, 80 senior CEOs argued that building renovation, transport electrification and renewables production and storage should be at the centre of short-term recovery plans. Another letter in Le Monde, this time written by 200 artists and scientists, said ‘please let’s not go back to normal’. In return for its government bail-out, Air France had to promise to abandon many of its domestic flights, pushing users towards trains instead. Similarly, it was required to commit to ensuring that 2% of its fuel was ‘sustainable’ by 2030. Insignificant in terms of Air France’s total emissions but valuable first steps. French oil major Total S.A. announced plans to becoming at least 60% decarbonised by 2050 (Scope 1,2,3). Most importantly, it also promised to adhere to all political commitments, stating that if governments make policies and regulations demanding 100% decarbonisation by 2050, Total will itself move to 100% in that region (Scope 1,2,3). It stresses that since Europe has already made that net zero commitment by 2050 Total will meet those goals in European countries. This seems to be a very important statement to me, although the company still only promises to devote 25% of its capital expenditure to low carbon energy by 2030, up from about 10% this year. The figures for other oil majors are lower. (Thanks to Raymond Betz).
 
5, Steel and hydrogen. Another first for the steel industry. The discussion around decarbonising steel centres on its original manufacture, where hydrogen can replace coal as the agent that reacts with the oxygen in iron ores to create the metal. But other processes in the production of finished steel also use coal today. Newly manufactured steel is often left to cool and is stored in large blocks before being reheated and then rolled into thin plate to make, for example, the external structure of a car. The heating is usually carried out by burning coal but a Swedish manufacturer has replaced the fuel with hydrogen for the first time. It reports that  the quality of the finished product is equivalent. (Thanks to Sam Penrose)
 
6 Battery storage. Two different routes. A Minnesota utility said it would buy the first commercial flow battery produced by Form Energy, a highly rated MIT spin-out with Bill Gates and Italy’s ENI as shareholders. A flow battery - in this case probably based on sulphur and water – is a cheaper way of dealing with long periods of charging or discharging than lithium ion. The new contract will see Form supply storage of 150 MWh based on a flow rate of 1 MW. (That is, the battery has 150 hours of storage). By contrast, Southern California Edison has gone for 770 MW/circa 3GWh of conventional batteries across seven sites, often next to solar farms, to be completed within 18 months. I think this may be the largest set of battery installations in the US. (Thanks to Tony Cooke).

7, Floating solar. Swiss solar equipment manufacturer Meyer Burger hinted that it will pitch a scheme to put 10 GW (about 10% of last year’s worldwide PV installations) on a lake that was the site of a massive lignite mine in North Rhine Westphalia (NRW). Meyer Burger is linked with Oxford PV, one of the main developers of perovskite layers to put on the top of silicon solar panels. I think we can assume that the company will try to use such high efficiency tandem cells to improve yields. Meyer Burger notes that 10 GW of PV, albeit with a capacity factor of probably only 12-13%, matches the maximum generation of the 4 remaining coal stations in the NRW region which will have to close by 2038 under the present German plans. (Thanks to Gage Williams).
 
8, Refurbished electrical goods. Paris-based Back Market operates a platform that allows companies that refurbish phones, computers and other electric goods, such as washing machines, to sell to the general public. It raised $120 million to expand, particularly its US, UK and German operations, and begin to develop a supply chain to get parts to the refurbishment companies on its platform. I think this may be the biggest (almost) circular economy venture capital investment that I have seen.
 
9, Shell green hydrogen. Shell’s move into green hydrogen powered by offshore wind is beginning to look a little more serious. It announced this week that it was bidding with partners for a 750+ MW offshore wind project to link to a 200 MW electrolyser near its refinery at Pernis in the Netherlands. The hydrogen will be used in the refinery itself. Shell’s plans look more detailed and further advanced than the Gigastack project covered in this newsletter in February that intends to provide hydrogen to the Phillips refinery on the north east coast of England from an offshore wind farm and a 100 MW electrolyser. (Thanks to Thad Curtz).
 
10, Oxford University divestment. The university said it would sell all its shares in fossil fuel producers, today just 0.6% of its portfolio of about £3bn/€3.5bn. (Much of Oxford’s wealth is held by its colleges, not the central university). The more interesting aspect of the announcement was the commitment to ask all its portfolio companies, across every sectors, for detailed plans for full decarbonisation. Cameron Hepburn, one of Oxford’s leading academics on the energy transition, said 'This is not mere divestment; this is a commitment to divestment plus engagement, according to the Oxford Martin Principles, to help accelerate progress towards net zero emissions'. With colleagues, Professor Hepburn also published a paper this week that showed how the global economics profession now strongly believes that green infrastructure investment is the best route out of the coronavirus-induced economic depression. Hepburn beautifully summarised the difference between Keynes’s views and today’s economists. ‘Keynesian stimulus: dig a hole, fill it in. Green stimulus: dig a hole, plant a tree in it, fill it in’.

Martyn1981

Not great news at all. 'Heat events' are rising faster than expected in some regions which could exceed human tolerance far sooner than first thought/expected.

Potentially fatal bouts of heat and humidity on the rise, study finds

The number of potentially fatal humidity and heat events doubled between 1979 and 2017, and are increasing in both frequency and intensity, according to the study published in Science Advances.

In the US, the south-eastern coastal corner from eastern Texas to the Florida Panhandle experienced such extreme conditions dozens of times, with New Orleans and Biloxi, Mississippi the hardest hit.

The most extreme incidents occurred along the Persian Gulf, where the heat and humidity combination surpassed the theoretical human survivability limit on 14 occasions. Doha, the capital of Qatar, where the World Cup will be held in 2022, was among the places to suffer – albeit briefly – these potentially fatal weather events.

The ominous findings come as something of a surprise to scientists, as previous studies had projected such extreme weather events would occur later in the century, mostly in parts of the tropics and subtropics where humidity is already a problem.

“Previous studies projected that this would happen several decades from now, but this shows it’s happening right now,” said lead author Colin Raymond from Columbia University’s Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory. “The times these events last will increase, and the areas they affect will grow in direct correlation with global warming.”

Martyn1981

Better news - the US has vast off-shore wind potential with the Gulf of Mexico alone estimated at 508GW, which (just for comparison) would generate about 50% of the US' current leccy demand.

Dream Big: 508 Gigawatts Of Offshore Wind Potential For COVID-19 Recovery

If you’re wondering why the US is not ready to pepper the Gulf of Mexico with offshore wind turbines, that’s a good question. Hurricanes would be one answer. Nevertheless, the US is eyeballing the waters of the Gulf for a tidal wave of new offshore wind farms that would compete on cost with electricity markets in the region. That’s a rich plum indeed, when you consider the popularity of air conditioning in the coastal states of Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, and Texas — and the prospects for job creation as the US economy digs itself out from under the COVID-19 crisis.

Martyn1981

Gravitricity - energy storage with weights hoisted up and down mineshafts - has gotten approval for a small pilot scheme:

Gravitricity to pilot £1m gravity-based energy storage system in Edinburgh

Gravitricity is set to build a £1m working demonstration of its innovative energy storage system which harnesses the power of gravity to store energy and provide grid balancing services, having secured a land rental agreement for the pilot project in Edinburgh.

"This grid-connected demonstrator will use two 25-tonne weights suspended by steel cables," said the firm's lead engineer Miles Franklin. "In our first test we'll drop the weights together to generate full power and verify our speed of response. We calculate we can go from zero to full power in less than a second - which can be extremely valuable in the frequency response and back-up power markets. We will then run tests with the two single weights, dropping one after the other to verify smooth energy output over a longer period."

My bold.

Exiled_Tyke

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-india-52614770

India Carbon emissions on the decline and not just because of COVID-19

Martyn1981

Some news on wind power and storage too:

Green energy firms on track to deliver multi-billion pound wind farms

Britain’s biggest green energy companies are on track to deliver multi-billion pound wind farm investments across the north-east of England and Scotland to help power a cleaner economic recovery.

Scottish Power plans to “repower” Scotland’s oldest commercial wind farm as part of a £150m scheme to develop a clean energy cluster in central Scotland capable of supplying 100,000 homes with green electricity.

The wind farm cluster is expected to create 600 jobs at its peak, and 280 long-term jobs, to help the UK emerge from the worst economic downturn in 300 years while taking steps to meet its climate goals.

Separately SSE and Equinor have revealed plans to use the Port of Tyne to host the operations base for the world’s largest offshore wind development, which will create 200 permanent jobs and support a local supply chain industry based on clean energy.

Alok Sharma, the secretary of state for business, said projects like the Dogger Bank offshore wind farm will be “a key part of ensuring a green and resilient economic recovery as well as reaching our target of net-zero emissions by 2050”.

Martyn1981

Pilot project on 6 properties (target 7,000 retrofits and 3,000 new builds) to help with fuel poverty. Before anyone faints at the cost, £55k per property  , this is a pilot with costs expected to fall, and includes new rooves, PV, Tesla Powerwall, triple glazing, insulated re-rendering and GSHP. Cool.

The row of Welsh bungalows where energy bills have been slashed to a pound a week

Energy bills at a row of Swansea Valley bungalows which have been re-fitted with solar panels and a Tesla battery have dropped to just a pound a week.

The six council-owned properties in Craigcefnparc have undergone a wholesale transformation in a pilot project which is expected to be rolled out across Swansea and south west Wales.

Speaking at a cabinet meeting on May 7, Cllr Andrea Lewis said the energy bills were £71 per property in January but just £3 for the first 21 days in April.

By the summer, she said, the bungalows could be "in positive territory" energy-wise and exporting surplus power to the grid.

Martyn1981

Some 'funny' FF divestment going on.

Norwegian Sovereign Wealth Fund Divests Itself Of Climate-Destroying Stocks Worth $3 Billion

The Norwegian Sovereign Wealth Fund has sold $3 billion worth of energy stocks and other companies it finds are seriously harming the environment. Most of the stocks it sold in the energy sector are for Canadian companies involved in producing and distributing oil derived from the Alberta tar sands. According to the CBC, Norges Bank Investment Management, which manages Norway’s sovereign wealth fund, announced on Wednesday it would stop investing in Calgary-based Canadian Natural Resources, Cenovus Energy, Suncor Energy, and Imperial Oil after concluding they produce unacceptable levels of greenhouse gas emissions.

Rockefeller heirs to Big Oil find dumping fossil fuels improved bottom line

Five years ago, members of the Rockefeller family walked away from the fossil fuels that made them rich, alarmed that burning oil and gas was causing climate change. Now it also seems like a smart financial move. The $1.1 billion Rockefeller Brothers Fund — largely free of oil and gas — has outpaced financial benchmarks, defying predictions of money managers.

Stephen B. Heintz, president of the fund, said the financial performance should bolster those trying to stop investment in industries linked to climate change. “This has become not a symbolic gesture, as might have been viewed at the time we announced,” Heintz said. “It’s become a movement.”

No other name reverberates in the oil industry quite like Rockefeller. John D. Rockefeller Sr. built the Standard Oil empire 150 years ago and became one of the richest Americans in history. An antitrust case in 1911 resulted in the breakup of the trust into the companies that became Exxon, Mobil, Amoco and Chevron, among others.

Martyn1981

2019 might have been the final year that coal generation was greater than renewables in the US.

Latest EIA Report Predicts Renewables In US Will Outpace Coal For All Of 2020

In its short term energy outlook report for May, the US Energy Information Administration predicts renewables will continue to provide more electricity to the grid than coal-powered thermal generating plants for all of 2020 — a first in US history. Part of that is due to reduced demand for electricity due to the coronavirus pandemic and part of that is due to unusually low prices for natural gas.

Martyn1981

Sooooooooo after effectively taking over the role of C19 US President as the Mango-in-Chief has gone AWOL, Senator Cuomo is now doubling (or is it tripling) down on longer term actions to combat the climate crisis:

Governor Cuomo Rejects The Williams Pipeline — #CleanEnergyWillWin

The Williams Pipeline was just rejected by New York Governor Andrew Cuomo. It would have carried natural gas that had been fracked from Pennsylvania to parts of New York City. This pipeline would have also trapped New York into several decades of dependence on fracked gas. We need to ease off fossil fuels, in my opinion — not triple the dosage.