Green, ethical, energy issues in the news

Coastalwatch

Martyn1981 said:

Great news, but I have to point out the obvious, which is that many countries, especially the UK, stating long(er) term targets is easy, but giving annual targets, and actually getting on with it, tends to be a tad harder. But, moaning aside, still great news.

G7 pledges to accelerate renewables deployment

The Group of Seven rich nations has agreed to “accelerate” renewables deployment.

The countries said they “commit to achieve an overwhelmingly decarbonised power system in the 2030s and to actions to accelerate this” in a communique issued following a powwow hosted by UK PM Boris Johnson (pictured) in Cornwall, England.

They also underlined commitments to phase out coal generation in the document titled "Our Shared Agenda for Global Action to Build Back Better".

“In our energy sectors, we will increase energy efficiency, accelerate renewable and other zero emissions energy deployment, reduce wasteful consumption, leverage innovation all whilst maintaining energy security,” stated the G7 joint statement.

Guess we should be relieved that it all finished with them at least appearing to be in harmony over climate change and agreeing actions. A refreshing change from the previous few years!

Martyn1981

These two articles on Australia caught my eye. The first explains how gas is crucial to Australia's future, and how the Prime Minister has no intention of harming the oil and gas industries. The second one looks at coal, and how 5yrs ago New South Wales confidently predicted that demand for coal would grow 1.6%pa almost forever, but 5yrs on, they are predicting World demand to drop to half by 2046.

It kinda goes to show that 'status quo' predictions in the face of tumbling RE costs are a little bit stupid, to say the least, yet the lessons of even the recent past (5 to 0 yrs ago) are being ignored.

Scott Morrison says gas will ‘always’ be a major contributor to Australia’s prosperity

Scott Morrison says Australia’s oil and gas sector will “always” be a major contributor to Australia’s prosperity and the Coalition will back producers both as exporters and suppliers to the domestic market during the transition to the “new energy economy”.

Gas is usually described as having about half the carbon dioxide emissions of coal when burned for energy. Studies have suggested its contribution to global heating is greater once methane, a particularly potent greenhouse gas that leaks from gas wells, is factored in.

The former chief scientist Alan Finkel, now special adviser to the government on low emissions technology, told the conference gas was “critically important” for supporting solar and wind in electricity generation as power grids move away from coal.

This argument has been disputed by analysts who say there is evidence batteries and pumped hydro can play the same role without releasing heat-trapping gas into the atmosphere. Finkel said batteries had “an enormous role” to play but were “not there yet, they’re coming” and the economics of pumped hydro were “a bit awkward”.

NSW Sees Diminishing Role For Coal As Canada Plans To Phase Out Thermal Coal By 2030

5 years ago, the New South Wales treasury released an intergenerational report that projected the demand for coal would increase at about 1.6% a year pretty much forever. This year, the Treasury’s intergenerational report is completely different.

In a technical paper prepared for this year’s report, the NSW treasury says “global demand for coal is expected to weaken considerably. Declining global demand for coal will reduce New South Wales’ economic growth over the projection period and will have impacts both on employment and the fiscal outlook.”

In fact, the situation is worse than that. The coal power project pipelines in South and Southeast Asia, which are supposed to save the coal mining industry in NSW, are drying up rapidly. Demand in those countries is down 80% since 2015. “We believe this is set to accelerate as the capital subsidies from export credit agency underwritings of new coal proposals have now largely been withdrawn,” the IEEFA says.

Martyn1981

Another article fitting in with the previous one's regarding Australia. This one looks at the falling state revenue for Queensland as FF generation declines. It's kinda, sorta, maybe, happening quickly now?

Queensland budget forecasts coal power revenue will disappear amid influx of renewables

The Queensland government anticipates its state-owned power generators – mostly coal-fired power stations – will be unable to pay dividends to taxpayers within two years, due to an influx of renewables and lower power prices.

One of the most significant measures in the state’s budget, handed down on Tuesday, was a “watershed” $2bn fund that would build renewables and further develop industries linked to clean energy.

EVandPV

Scotland again (apologies 😄).

Scotland announces massive plan for heat pump deployment

https://www.pv-magazine.com/2021/06/14/scotland-announces-massive-plan-for-heat-pump-deployment/

Martyn1981

EVandPV said:

Scotland again (apologies 😄).

Scotland announces massive plan for heat pump deployment

https://www.pv-magazine.com/2021/06/14/scotland-announces-massive-plan-for-heat-pump-deployment/

You're being way too modest, so I'll post the almost unbelievable target:

The Scottish government wants to deploy renewable-powered heat pumps on at least 1 million homes and 50,000 non-domestic buildings by the end of this decade.

I make that around 1/3rd of households. Utterly amazing target ...... and then there's the words 'at least'!

QrizB

Martyn1981 said:

... 5yrs ago New South Wales confidently predicted that demand for coal would grow 1.6%pa almost forever, but 5yrs on, they are predicting World demand to drop to half by 2046.

It kinda goes to show that 'status quo' predictions in the face of tumbling RE costs are a little bit stupid, to say the least, yet the lessons of even the recent past (5 to 0 yrs ago) are being ignored.

NSW and QLD don't happen to use the same forecasters as the IEA, do they?

Martyn1981

Confusing headline, try "Volvo to build cars using FF free steel by 2026" to get your head around it:

Volvo to build steel cars without fossil fuels by 2026

Volvo plans to build cars using steel made without fossil fuels by 2026, as part of a deal that could significantly reduce the carbon emissions from manufacturing its vehicles.

The Swedish carmaker and compatriot steelmaker SSAB signed a letter of intent to commercialise technology that replaces coal with hydrogen in a crucial part of the process.

Steel is a big contributor to global carbon emissions but it is widely seen as one of the most difficult sectors to decarbonise. Blastfurnaces use huge amounts of energy, while carbon dioxide is also released when coking coal is used to remove oxygen from iron ore.

Volvo estimates the steel in its petrol and diesel cars accounts for 35% of carbon emitted during production. The figure is 20% for Volvo’s electric vehicles, which use significantly more energy in making batteries, although over the lifetime of an electric car, average resource and energy use is expected to be significantly lower.

Replacing coking coal with hydrogen is expected to reduce emissions from steelmaking by at least 90%.

Martyn1981

Time to be a bit over dramatic, but if the IMF (and others) can persuade the G20 (and others) to apply a carbon floor price, then that really would solve the problem, I think, as we are now at a point in time where cleaner alternatives to energy, and production of goods, transport et all, are available, we just need goods and services to reflect a truer cost of their emissions, to drive the change faster.

High greenhouse gas emitters should pay for carbon they produce, says IMF

Companies with high greenhouse gas emissions should be subject to a carbon price of $75 a tonne of carbon dioxide, the International Monetary Fund has said, as a way of reaching the goals of the Paris climate agreement.

A carbon floor price would mean that companies, including energy generators and heavy industries, would have to pay for the carbon they produce. At present, many countries and regions have their own carbon pricing systems, but there is no globally agreed carbon price.

The IMF urged the G20 countries, made up of the world’s most developed and developing economies, to adopt a carbon floor price for their industries, as the quickest way of reaching net zero emissions.

A price of about $75 per tonne of carbon dioxide would be needed by 2030 to meet the goal of staying within 1.5C to 2C of global heating, set under the Paris agreement in 2015, the IMF said. Countries responsible for about three-quarters of global emissions have now set out targets to reach net zero emissions around mid-century, in line with the Paris goals.

Carbon pricing can take many forms in practice, from taxes on fuels to carbon trading systems, such as that operated by the EU, under which businesses are allocated or must buy tradable permits to produce carbon dioxide, with laggards forced to buy the excess permits of those that have cut carbon fastest.

The EU started its carbon trading system in 2005, and China, parts of the US, and other countries have since taken up similar approaches, but still only about a fifth of global greenhouse gas emissions fall under any form of pricing system. According to IMF calculations, of those emissions that do fall under form of price, the average price is only $3 a tonne, which is not enough to make any appreciable difference to emissions levels.

Martyn1981

I thought this article was interesting as it demonstrates the direction of travel, even if it may seem a bit trivial at first. Actually quite a good read. I also thought that the electrification of landscape maintenance might be a gentle introduction to many to BEV's, or at least make them think about it, the benefits etc.

The Fully Electric Future Of Landscape Maintenance

You have probably noticed the electric car ads on television and the news about automakers making big commitments to go all-electric in the next 10 years. You may not have noticed that the same thing is happening in the world of outdoor landscape maintenance equipment, and it’s happening faster.

Gas powered landscaping tools do not show up on the list of top sources of greenhouse gas emissions, but in terms of air pollution, they are surprisingly big players. Because they do not have the same pollution controls as our cars, the small gasoline powered engines that are used for lawnmowers, leaf-blowers, trimmers, chainsaws, and other landscaping equipment are overtaking cars as the leading source of air pollution in many parts of the country. The California Air Resources Board reports that “by 2031, small engine emissions will be more than twice those from passenger cars” in southern California.

Another reason to be excited about the electrification of landscaping equipment is that the machines are much quieter. The noise from gas powered leaf blowers, perhaps the most offensive of the gas machines, can far exceed levels that cause permanent hearing loss in just minutes of use. This extreme noise is dangerous for operators and hugely disruptive to our communities, it lowers our productivity in schools and work environments and even impacts our health.

Coastalwatch

Maybe just another discovery along the path to enhanced battery life, proven in the Laboratory and as yet to be aligned with a manufacturing process. But the line that interested me was Lithium metal batteries could hold twice the energy per weight of Li Ion cells. If so it would surpass the 400W/kg that Elon Musk suggested is required to make BEV aircraft a viable propostion never mind extending BEV range to compete with that of the average FF vehicle today!

Researchers claim to double service life of Li-metal batteries

Researchers at Friedrich Schiller University Jena, along with colleagues from Boston and Detroit, have succeeded in preventing the formation of dendrites in lithium metal batteries, thereby at least doubling the service life of such batteries.

Lithium metal batteries could hold double the energy per unit weight compared to lithium-ion batteries. However, hindering the development are lithium dendrites, small, needle-like structures, which the researchers compare to stalagmites in a dripstone cave, forming over the lithium metal anode.

“The key innovation here is stabilizing electrode/electrolyte interface with an ultra-thin membrane that does not alter current battery manufacturing process,” says Associate Professor Leela Mohana Reddy Arava from the WSU.

Her colleague, Professor Andrey Turchanin from the University of Jena, adds the membrane that covers the separator has pores with a diameter of less than one nanometer. “These tiny openings are smaller than the critical nucleus size and thus prevent the nucleation that leads to the formation of dendrites,” explains the Professor. Instead, he claims, the lithium is deposited on the anode as a smooth film.

The team says they have run “hundreds of charging and discharging cycles” without detecting any dendritic growth.

https://www.electrive.com/2021/06/20/researchers-claim-to-double-service-life-of-li-metal-batteries/