Green, ethical, energy issues in the news

michaels

I am getting increasingly worried that the current gov has no big green ambition even though with covid recovery required we have perhaps a unique opportunity to invest in a low carbon economy.  Last years green announcement underwhelmed, the green deal schemes are a disaster and we are doing much less for electric cars than almost any other country.  Hopefully the market will lead us in the right direction but it seems we are now much closer to a Trump 'despite' the govt rather than a 'because' of the govt

Martyn1981

I can't help thinking how better off the World will be when Big Oil becomes small oil. So add the possibility of 'a tad more fairness' to the benefits of reduced GHG emissions, and pollution.

Big Oil’s Lies About Pollution Health Risks Contributed To Millions Of Deaths

Thanks to a report by The Guardian last week, we now know the major oil companies knew all about fine particulate matter and the health risks associated with it for decades, but instead of doing anything about the problem, they poured money into disinformation campaigns orchestrated by the likes of Charles Koch’s Heartland Institute and the American Petroleum Institute. For a timeline of the actions taken by the oil industry to cover up their knowledge of air pollution and health risks, please see The Guardian’s source article.

“The fossil-fuel industry was sowing uncertainty to maintain business as usual, and in all likelihood they were collaborating with other groups, such as the tobacco industry,” said Carroll Muffett, head of the Center for International Environmental Law. “When you look at these historical documents in context it becomes clear that the oil and gas industry has a playbook they’ve used again and again for an array of pollutants. They used it around climate change but absolutely we are seeing it around PM2.5 as well. It’s the same pattern.”

Chevron Allegedly Holds A Man In His House For Almost Two Years

A recent story in Esquire paints an awful picture of corporate-government corruption. In it, they interview Steven Donziger, a lawyer and environmental activist who has been under house arrest for almost two years. Why? Because Chevron’s lawyers were assigned by a New York federal judge to prosecute him after he won against Chevron in a foreign court, and he refuses to turn over his computer and phone.

According to the article, Donziger has been fighting Texaco, and more recently Chevron, on behalf of indigenous people and rural farmers in Ecuador. In what some call the “Amazon Chernobyl,” the company was accused of dumping 16 billion gallons of toxic waste in the region. Now, cancer is common among the local population. Originally, he sued for them in a New York court, but Texaco successfully fought to have the suit moved to Ecuador. In Ecuador, Donziger’s team of Ecuadorian lawyers won against the company, and they were ordered to pay almost $10 billion.

Martyn1981

Well I did say the new news was a bit lacking, so time for a whiskey.

UK distilleries toast government green support

Whisky and spirit producers from Orkney to Cornwall could benefit from a share of almost £9m in government support aimed at driving forward plans to create low-carbon distilleries.

Having already received collective funding of more than £1m to kick-start green innovation projects, 12 distilleries across Scotland and five in England will be able to bid for further grants up to £3m.

The grants will support successful distilleries to accelerate projects that decarbonise production processes.

Martyn1981

Sticking with fermentation but switching from alcohol to protein (slightly desperate attempt at a segway there):

UK startup raises €8m in funding to convert CO2 into animal feed

A UK company turning carbon dioxide into protein to be used to feed animals has raised €8m (£6.8m) in funding as it seeks to displace the use of deforestation-linked soy by farmers.

Carbon and hydrogen is fed to a microorganism in a fermentation process similar to what you would see in a brewery. But rather than alcohol, the output is a high-value protein that can be dried and converted into pellets to feed animals.

Existing sources of protein such as soy and fishmeal have long proved to be the achilles heel of farmers needing feed for their animals. Soy is linked to deforestation in regions such as the Amazon, and fishmeal requires large quantities of wild caught fish to produce.

However, Allen said the company should not be seen as a climate-saving project. “Any process that utilises industrial CO2 emissions is great in theory, but they’ll have to be honest and realistic about how much CO2 they are actually remediating, and what their overall carbon footprint is.

“Most of the CO2 run through their bioreactors will pass straight through, I imagine. And the hydrogen will come with a carbon footprint too. This isn’t a carbon capture technology despite how it may be branded, it’s a protein production platform,” he said.

Martyn1981

The US is investing in research and development of large scale stationary storage via flow batts.

Trump-Era Energy Storage Challenge Feeds New $20 Million Flow Battery Fire

Evidently, flow batteries made the cut. Drawing from a roadmap developed through the Energy Storage Challenge, DOE is determined to scale up flow battery manufacturing. It announced the new $20 million flow battery initiative last week through its Advanced Manufacturing Office.

ASavvyBuyer

UK's first consumer-owned wind farm secures funding

Ripple Energy has announced it has secured £1.1m in funding from the Welsh Government to begin construction of the farm, which will widen access to renewable energy and reduce fuel poverty.

ed110220

Martyn1981 said:

Sticking with fermentation but switching from alcohol to protein (slightly desperate attempt at a segway there):

UK startup raises €8m in funding to convert CO2 into animal feed

A UK company turning carbon dioxide into protein to be used to feed animals has raised €8m (£6.8m) in funding as it seeks to displace the use of deforestation-linked soy by farmers.

Carbon and hydrogen is fed to a microorganism in a fermentation process similar to what you would see in a brewery. But rather than alcohol, the output is a high-value protein that can be dried and converted into pellets to feed animals.

Existing sources of protein such as soy and fishmeal have long proved to be the achilles heel of farmers needing feed for their animals. Soy is linked to deforestation in regions such as the Amazon, and fishmeal requires large quantities of wild caught fish to produce.

However, Allen said the company should not be seen as a climate-saving project. “Any process that utilises industrial CO2 emissions is great in theory, but they’ll have to be honest and realistic about how much CO2 they are actually remediating, and what their overall carbon footprint is.

“Most of the CO2 run through their bioreactors will pass straight through, I imagine. And the hydrogen will come with a carbon footprint too. This isn’t a carbon capture technology despite how it may be branded, it’s a protein production platform,” he said.

Kind of a pity they are planning to use this for animal feed rather than human food, which would go a lot further. There's a Finnish company that is planning something similar, but to feed people directly. But taking some pressure off environments like the Amazon can only be a good thing.
Using cheap, abundant renewable energy in places where it can't easily be used otherwise to make foodstuffs from the air could be revolutionary for the environment. Say in remote parts of Australia or the Atacama using PV, or the strong persistent winds off the Greenland ice cap. Maybe that's just utopian, but it could be massive.

Martyn1981

Process to get a second use from 'waste' plastics.

Clean Planet Energy Makes Fuels For Airplanes & Ships From Non-Recyclable Plastics

The twin scourges of the modern world are carbon emissions and plastic waste. What if there was a way to take some of that plastic waste and turn it into clean burning fuels for aircraft and ships? Clean Planet Energy says it is doing just that. It has two so-called ecoPlants under construction and another 4 in development. Its goal is to convert more than 1 million tons of non-recyclable plastic waste a year into clean burning fuels and other low carbon products. “Clean Planet’s liquid fuels, produced using our propriety upgrading process, provide at least a 75% reduction in CO2e emissions compared to traditional fossil fuels,” the company says.

Martyn1981

Government to open a giant can of worms. Should we invest in more UK production of nat gas (with industry promises to reduce emissions) to meet (internally) our future demands and support jobs, or put the monies into a faster transition away from FF's, by supporting RE and storage, and the accompanying new jobs?
Personally, my main concerns with this are similar to my concerns over a UK based fracking industry, in that once you support the industry/job creation, it will be harder to take measures in the future to 'knock' that same industry by targeting FF reduction measures that are as tough as possible.
A modern day Pandora's Box, perhaps!

UK government to allow new North Sea oil and gas exploration

Ministers will allow oil drillers to keep exploring the North Sea for new reserves, despite the government’s pledge to tackle carbon emissions, as long as they pass a “climate compatibility” test.

The government has offered to help the North Sea oil and gas industry cut its carbon emissions through a joint investment of up to £16bn to help support 40,000 North Sea jobs. In return, the industry has promised to cut its carbon emissions by 50% by the end of the decade.

The government said its “landmark deal” would help support the oil and gas industry’s transition to a clean energy future. But it has dashed hope among green campaigners and policy experts that the UK would follow the lead of Denmark and France by agreeing to ban new oil exploration licences.

Mel Evans, the head of Greenpeace UK’s oil campaign, described the deal as “a colossal failure in climate leadership in the year of Cop26”.

“Instead of finding ways to prop up this volatile and polluting sector, a better proposition for workers and communities would be for the government to confirm a ban on new licences, and put all its energies into a nationwide programme of retraining, reskilling and investment in renewables and green infrastructure,” Evans said.

Edit - Here's another article, helping to set out the Gov/industry argument as a transition mechanism towards cleaner energy and job creation.

UK unveils 'transition deal' for fossil fuel sector

The UK government has agreed a deal that will support workers and businesses in the North Sea oil and gas industry transition their expertise into green energy.

The so-called ‘North Sea Transition Deal’ will harness the oil and gas sector’s skills, infrastructure, technology and private investment potential to exploit emerging opportunities in offshore wind, hydrogen production, carbon capture and decommissioning.

Energy department BEIS said it will work with the fossil fuel industry and trade unions to support up to 40,000 jobs as part of the transition deal, which is worth a total of £16bn.

Some £3bn of that will be made available to replace fossil fuel supplies on oil and gas platforms with renewable energy, £10bn will support green hydrogen and £3bn carbon capture projects.

BEIS said it hopes to slash the emissions from North Sea extraction, which account for 3.5% of all UK emissions, in half by the end of the decade.

Martyn1981

GOSH!
The newer, and typically bigger WT's, keep raising that cf bar.

Hywind Scotland capacity factor hits 57%

Hywind Scotland has hit a new highest capacity factor record of just over 57% in the 12 months to March 2021.

During its first two years of operation, Hywind Scotland achieved an average capacity factor of 54%, against an offshore wind average in the UK of around 40%.