Green, ethical, energy issues in the news

silverwhistle

They seem to me beyond embarrassment..

Cardew

Coastalwatch said:

Does this possibly indicate that it would be hugely embarrassing for the Government if the proposed mine in Cumbria were to go ahead!

If we cancel our coal mine, India and China will immediately cancel the hundreds of coal mines that they are planning to build.

After all we are British and need to set an example to the rest of the world!

Martyn1981

Carbon commentary time from Chris Goodall:

 Things I noticed and thought were interesting

Week ending October 31st 2021
 
1, Energy storage using gravity. Energy Vault uses an unusual technology for energy storage, lifting heavy objects at times of grid surplus and then letting the weight drop when power is needed to drive a turbine. According to the company, using gravity in this way can provide 12 hours or more of daily storage, which is ideal for balancing solar power in low latitudes with reliable sun. The company went public in the US a month ago, stating that it expected the levelised cost of its technology to be half that of lithium ion batteries in 2025. (More useful material on energy storage costs in the presentation). It also claims that it will reach more than 87% round-trip efficiency, a number only marginally below batteries. Energy Vault announced last week a prospective order from DG Fuels to provide up to 1.6 GWh of storage at its sites. DG Fuels will make aviation fuel from waste cellulosic biomass, such as corn stalks/stover, combined with green hydrogen. All preceding ventures hoping to use cellulosic wastes from the production of renewable fuels have struggled to achieve commercial success. DG Fuels says that its prospects are better, with patents that make the Fischer Tropsch conversion process more efficient.
 
2, Hydrogen airplanes. ZeroAvia, the US/UK fuel cell aircraft start-up, said it was planning to link Rotterdam and London in 2024. The distance between these two cities is about 320km in a straight line. The planes will be small, carrying only 19 passengers, but this would be the first international link using hydrogen aircraft. It’s only just over a year since ZeroAvia’s first trial flight of a small passenger aircraft.
 
3, Cement processes ready for carbon capture. The Australian firm Calix offers a technology to cement manufacturers. The raw material is held in a sealed container and the heat is applied to the outside, possibly delivered by low carbon electricity. The design means that the CO2 given off in the manufacturing process can be easily collected and then stored (or used). Calix has a pilot plant at a Heidelberg Cement factory in Belgium. The incremental costs of the company’s technology was assessed by Heidelberg and other industry partners at around €14-€24 per tonne of CO2 collected. Including the subsequent shipping of the CO2, these figures rise to around €39-€80 per tonne. At the lower end of the range, the costs are less than the current price of EU emissions certificates, making it rational for producers to adopt the Calix approach. These are very encouraging numbers and suggest that Calix currently offers the cheapest route to low carbon cement. Heidelberg is in the early stages of designing a much larger plant using the technology.
 
4, Green hydrogen for papermaking. Swedish paper manufacturer Essity told us that a Germany production site will introduce increasing percentages of green hydrogen into its paper drying process. After some equipment changes, it hopes to reach 100% hydrogen use, completely replacing natural gas, by autumn 2022. This is a first for the paper industry.
 
5, Electrofuels. Two important developments this week. A company in British Columbia (BC), Canada, raised money from the provincial government to design a synthetic gasoline/petrol plant using CO2 capture technology from Carbon Engineering, a business also based in BC. The hydrogen necessary will be sourced using electricity from hydro generators. Oxy Low Carbon Ventures, a subsidiary of Occidental, will operate the plant. Oxy was the first licencing partner of Carbon Engineering, so this a strong statement of confidence in the technology from the oil company. This project will be Canada’s single largest green hydrogen project. However it will only replace about one per cent of BC’s motor fuels and the current cost will be a multiple of that of fossil gasoline. Another e-fuels company got extensive coverage after the US air force successfully trialled a small batch of synthetic aviation fuel. Twelve, as the company is known - presumably because carbon has an atomic mass of twelve - uses a proprietary catalyst and a process it promises will mimic photosynthesis. Results from larger scale trials will be available before the end of the year. Perhaps at last we are seeing the beginnings of a large scale electrofuels industry. I guess there are now about ten established competitors in this business area. (Thanks to Mark O’Hare).

6, Learning to drive. The Stellantis brand Peugeot carried out a survey. It found that 40% of UK parents wanted their children to learn to drive in an electric car, skipping any experience in a gasoline or diesel variant. An interesting illustration of how we all now assume that electric cars will be completely dominant within a few years.
 
7, Regenerative agriculture. Even by the depressing standard of our progress on decarbonising energy, the world hasn’t moved fast enough to rescue agriculture. Carbon is being lost from soils, fertility is draining away and biodiversity fades. These adverse trends push farmers to use more fertilisers and pesticides but also threaten long-term crop yields. The right response is increasingly said to be ‘regenerative’ agriculture although I’m never completely sure exactly what this means. It will certainly vary by soil type, by crop and by geographic region. Nevertheless, the idea is attracting vastly more attention than even a year ago. Knorr, a global Unilever brand, said that it would commence 50 large experiments around the world to improve carbon sequestration in soils and improve climate resilience.

In a smaller pledge, the retailer Lidl announced that it would start selling a full range of potatoes in France that are cultivated using regenerative techniques. This seems important to me because Lidl is unusual in actively marketing the vegetables as good for the soil, and thus for climate. Its producers admit the potatoes may not be as pleasing to look at as the standard product, but are better in other respects. 

Lastly, a Danish start-up raised nearly $5m to create a marketplace for the carbon stored by farmers using regenerative techniques. It will monitor soil carbon content and sell improvements to businesses eager to use them as offsets. I have the same worries about this as with forestry offsets. Who will check that the carbon remains in the soil in ten years’ time? But the prospect of farmers getting a full return for their efforts to retain and improve their soil will be enough to ensure that this market takes off.

8, Battery swap for vehicles. Perhaps we shouldn’t assume that swapping vehicle batteries is an idea that failed a decade ago. China has just launched a pilot programme in 11 cities to enable cars and smaller commercial vehicles such as taxis to swap batteries when they run out of charge. The target is 100,000 cars which have batteries that can be replaced and 1,000 stations where the swap can occur. Currently only one Chinese manufacturer makes cars with replaceable batteries. However taxis may be a more appropriate target because of the cost to the driver if he or she is forced to spend time recharging in the middle of a busy day.
 
9, Green hydrogen, but not from electrolysis. The assumption that green hydrogen has to be made from water electrolysis may not be accurate. Heating methane (CH4) in the absence of oxygen so that it splits into carbon and hydrogen Is a possible alternative. No greenhouse gases are produced in the process but some methane will have inevitably escaped from the well and the pipeline. Monolith has developed this technology in the US and has now signed an agreement with South Korean conglomerate SK Inc. to licence the technology in their partner’s home territory. Proponents of methane pyrolysis, as it is called, say that the energy needed to obtain the hydrogen is less than using electricity and that the carbon by-product has substantial value as a raw material for use in tyre manufacturing and other uses. This may be true but the market for pure carbon today is far smaller than the quantity that would be produced if a large percentage of global hydrogen were produced by pyrolysis. 

10, Attitudes to climate action. A survey of global opinion showed a sharp increase in the numbers wanting their country to be a leader in setting ambitious climate targets. Before the Paris conference the percentage was 43%. It is now 58% and the number opposing any international agreement has become vanishingly small. But 34% still only want ‘gradual action’ on climate change.  

shinytop

Martyn1981 said:

Carbon commentary time from Chris Goodall:

 Things I noticed and thought were interesting

Week ending October 31st 2021
 
1, Energy storage using gravity. Energy Vault uses an unusual technology for energy storage, lifting heavy objects at times of grid surplus and then letting the weight drop when power is needed to drive a turbine. According to the company, using gravity in this way can provide 12 hours or more of daily storage, which is ideal for balancing solar power in low latitudes with reliable sun. The company went public in the US a month ago, stating that it expected the levelised cost of its technology to be half that of lithium ion batteries in 2025. (More useful material on energy storage costs in the presentation). It also claims that it will reach more than 87% round-trip efficiency, a number only marginally below batteries. Energy Vault announced last week a prospective order from DG Fuels to provide up to 1.6 GWh of storage at its sites. DG Fuels will make aviation fuel from waste cellulosic biomass, such as corn stalks/stover, combined with green hydrogen. All preceding ventures hoping to use cellulosic wastes from the production of renewable fuels have struggled to achieve commercial success. DG Fuels says that its prospects are better, with patents that make the Fischer Tropsch conversion process more efficient.
 
2, Hydrogen airplanes. ZeroAvia, the US/UK fuel cell aircraft start-up, said it was planning to link Rotterdam and London in 2024. The distance between these two cities is about 320km in a straight line. The planes will be small, carrying only 19 passengers, but this would be the first international link using hydrogen aircraft. It’s only just over a year since ZeroAvia’s first trial flight of a small passenger aircraft.
 
3, Cement processes ready for carbon capture. The Australian firm Calix offers a technology to cement manufacturers. The raw material is held in a sealed container and the heat is applied to the outside, possibly delivered by low carbon electricity. The design means that the CO2 given off in the manufacturing process can be easily collected and then stored (or used). Calix has a pilot plant at a Heidelberg Cement factory in Belgium. The incremental costs of the company’s technology was assessed by Heidelberg and other industry partners at around €14-€24 per tonne of CO2 collected. Including the subsequent shipping of the CO2, these figures rise to around €39-€80 per tonne. At the lower end of the range, the costs are less than the current price of EU emissions certificates, making it rational for producers to adopt the Calix approach. These are very encouraging numbers and suggest that Calix currently offers the cheapest route to low carbon cement. Heidelberg is in the early stages of designing a much larger plant using the technology.
 
4, Green hydrogen for papermaking. Swedish paper manufacturer Essity told us that a Germany production site will introduce increasing percentages of green hydrogen into its paper drying process. After some equipment changes, it hopes to reach 100% hydrogen use, completely replacing natural gas, by autumn 2022. This is a first for the paper industry.
 
5, Electrofuels. Two important developments this week. A company in British Columbia (BC), Canada, raised money from the provincial government to design a synthetic gasoline/petrol plant using CO2 capture technology from Carbon Engineering, a business also based in BC. The hydrogen necessary will be sourced using electricity from hydro generators. Oxy Low Carbon Ventures, a subsidiary of Occidental, will operate the plant. Oxy was the first licencing partner of Carbon Engineering, so this a strong statement of confidence in the technology from the oil company. This project will be Canada’s single largest green hydrogen project. However it will only replace about one per cent of BC’s motor fuels and the current cost will be a multiple of that of fossil gasoline. Another e-fuels company got extensive coverage after the US air force successfully trialled a small batch of synthetic aviation fuel. Twelve, as the company is known - presumably because carbon has an atomic mass of twelve - uses a proprietary catalyst and a process it promises will mimic photosynthesis. Results from larger scale trials will be available before the end of the year. Perhaps at last we are seeing the beginnings of a large scale electrofuels industry. I guess there are now about ten established competitors in this business area. (Thanks to Mark O’Hare).

6, Learning to drive. The Stellantis brand Peugeot carried out a survey. It found that 40% of UK parents wanted their children to learn to drive in an electric car, skipping any experience in a gasoline or diesel variant. An interesting illustration of how we all now assume that electric cars will be completely dominant within a few years.
 
7, Regenerative agriculture. Even by the depressing standard of our progress on decarbonising energy, the world hasn’t moved fast enough to rescue agriculture. Carbon is being lost from soils, fertility is draining away and biodiversity fades. These adverse trends push farmers to use more fertilisers and pesticides but also threaten long-term crop yields. The right response is increasingly said to be ‘regenerative’ agriculture although I’m never completely sure exactly what this means. It will certainly vary by soil type, by crop and by geographic region. Nevertheless, the idea is attracting vastly more attention than even a year ago. Knorr, a global Unilever brand, said that it would commence 50 large experiments around the world to improve carbon sequestration in soils and improve climate resilience.

In a smaller pledge, the retailer Lidl announced that it would start selling a full range of potatoes in France that are cultivated using regenerative techniques. This seems important to me because Lidl is unusual in actively marketing the vegetables as good for the soil, and thus for climate. Its producers admit the potatoes may not be as pleasing to look at as the standard product, but are better in other respects. 

Lastly, a Danish start-up raised nearly $5m to create a marketplace for the carbon stored by farmers using regenerative techniques. It will monitor soil carbon content and sell improvements to businesses eager to use them as offsets. I have the same worries about this as with forestry offsets. Who will check that the carbon remains in the soil in ten years’ time? But the prospect of farmers getting a full return for their efforts to retain and improve their soil will be enough to ensure that this market takes off.

8, Battery swap for vehicles. Perhaps we shouldn’t assume that swapping vehicle batteries is an idea that failed a decade ago. China has just launched a pilot programme in 11 cities to enable cars and smaller commercial vehicles such as taxis to swap batteries when they run out of charge. The target is 100,000 cars which have batteries that can be replaced and 1,000 stations where the swap can occur. Currently only one Chinese manufacturer makes cars with replaceable batteries. However taxis may be a more appropriate target because of the cost to the driver if he or she is forced to spend time recharging in the middle of a busy day.
 
9, Green hydrogen, but not from electrolysis. The assumption that green hydrogen has to be made from water electrolysis may not be accurate. Heating methane (CH4) in the absence of oxygen so that it splits into carbon and hydrogen Is a possible alternative. No greenhouse gases are produced in the process but some methane will have inevitably escaped from the well and the pipeline. Monolith has developed this technology in the US and has now signed an agreement with South Korean conglomerate SK Inc. to licence the technology in their partner’s home territory. Proponents of methane pyrolysis, as it is called, say that the energy needed to obtain the hydrogen is less than using electricity and that the carbon by-product has substantial value as a raw material for use in tyre manufacturing and other uses. This may be true but the market for pure carbon today is far smaller than the quantity that would be produced if a large percentage of global hydrogen were produced by pyrolysis. 

10, Attitudes to climate action. A survey of global opinion showed a sharp increase in the numbers wanting their country to be a leader in setting ambitious climate targets. Before the Paris conference the percentage was 43%. It is now 58% and the number opposing any international agreement has become vanishingly small. But 34% still only want ‘gradual action’ on climate change.  

I really like the battery swap idea and am a bit disappointed it didn't take off.  But that would need co-operation betwen manufactures, which is probably asking too much.  Maybe not in China though.

I  also didn't know that, " Tesla demonstrated 90-second battery swap technology in 2013, but withdrew from the field due to inconsistent vehicle battery standards and poor compatibility, among other reasons."  Shame.

Martyn1981

Toyota continues to impress, now making it to no.3 in one of the most important global rankings.

Exxon, Chevron, & Toyota Are The Largest Anti-Climate Lobbyists, Says InfluenceMap

There’s a good chance you have never heard of InfluenceMap. I hadn’t either until today, when I read about it in a news report published in The Guardian. On its website, it says it is, “an independent think tank that provides data and analysis on how business and finance are affecting the climate crisis.”

‘We place great importance on evidence-based assessment using reliable data and rigorous methodologies. Our work is used extensively by powerful actors in finance, business, campaigns, policymaking, and the media to drive meaningful change. InfluenceMap is philanthropically funded and based in London, with offices in Tokyo and New York.”

Its latest report was released this week and is entitled, “The 50 Most Influential Companies and Industry Associations Blocking Climate Policy Action Globally.” Well, that sounds like interesting reading, so I opened it up and found that Exxon, Chevron, and Toyota are listed as the top three corporate bad actors who are lobbying against any and all measures designed to keep the Earth from overheating to the point where humans can’t survive on it any more.

Martyn1981

Good read on the issue of stranded assets as we continue to move from FF's to RE. The interactive graphics are worth a play, but I'll try to pick out some of the UK 'bits':

Half world’s fossil fuel assets could become worthless by 2036 in net zero transition

The challenge is evident at the ongoing Cop26 climate conference, where some of the nations most at risk of being left with stranded assets – such as the oil and gas exporters Russia and Brazil – are likely to try to slow down the transition as they have done at previous climate meetings, while those most likely to gain – such as the fuel-importing EU – are pushing for faster action.

The most vulnerable assets are those in remote regions or technically challenging environments. Most exposed are Canadian tar sands, US shale and the Russian Arctic followed by deep offshore wells in Brazil and elsewhere. North Sea oil is also relatively expensive to extract and likely to be hit when demand falls.

The situation for the world’s two biggest emitters – the US and China – is more complex as they have more diversified economies with both substantial fossil fuel assets and powerful renewable sectors. The UK is in a similar situation, but as a net energy importer, stands to benefit overall.

The benefits vary across nations. The UK, for example, would potentially add $700bn to the value of its GDP under a net zero scenario, despite losing almost half of its fossil fuel assets, worth $120bn, by 2036. By contrast, the GDP of Norway, which is more dependant on oil exports, could fall by 9% unless it diversifies rapidly.

The authors of the study say a race to the bottom should be avoided at all costs.

“If Saudi Arabia plays one way and the US another way, then we will see economic, financial and political instability worldwide, banks going bust and changes in capital flows. People need to think about these transition risks very seriously,” said Mercure, adding that major institutions, including the Bank of England and the Bank of France, were increasingly concerned about the potential dangers to the financial system.

To prevent chaos, he said, oil exporters should diversify their economies as quickly as possible before change is forced on them when importers switch to renewables. Even more important, he said, was closer engagement between the two sides so the overall economic benefits of transition could be shared. “This needs to be a story of international cooperation and not leaving people behind.”

michaels

Martyn1981 said:

Good read on the issue of stranded assets as we continue to move from FF's to RE. The interactive graphics are worth a play, but I'll try to pick out some of the UK 'bits':

Half world’s fossil fuel assets could become worthless by 2036 in net zero transition

The challenge is evident at the ongoing Cop26 climate conference, where some of the nations most at risk of being left with stranded assets – such as the oil and gas exporters Russia and Brazil – are likely to try to slow down the transition as they have done at previous climate meetings, while those most likely to gain – such as the fuel-importing EU – are pushing for faster action.

The most vulnerable assets are those in remote regions or technically challenging environments. Most exposed are Canadian tar sands, US shale and the Russian Arctic followed by deep offshore wells in Brazil and elsewhere. North Sea oil is also relatively expensive to extract and likely to be hit when demand falls.

The situation for the world’s two biggest emitters – the US and China – is more complex as they have more diversified economies with both substantial fossil fuel assets and powerful renewable sectors. The UK is in a similar situation, but as a net energy importer, stands to benefit overall.

The benefits vary across nations. The UK, for example, would potentially add $700bn to the value of its GDP under a net zero scenario, despite losing almost half of its fossil fuel assets, worth $120bn, by 2036. By contrast, the GDP of Norway, which is more dependant on oil exports, could fall by 9% unless it diversifies rapidly.

The authors of the study say a race to the bottom should be avoided at all costs.

“If Saudi Arabia plays one way and the US another way, then we will see economic, financial and political instability worldwide, banks going bust and changes in capital flows. People need to think about these transition risks very seriously,” said Mercure, adding that major institutions, including the Bank of England and the Bank of France, were increasingly concerned about the potential dangers to the financial system.

To prevent chaos, he said, oil exporters should diversify their economies as quickly as possible before change is forced on them when importers switch to renewables. Even more important, he said, was closer engagement between the two sides so the overall economic benefits of transition could be shared. “This needs to be a story of international cooperation and not leaving people behind.”

I suspect the net effect will be less investment in fossil fuel extraction due to the uncertainty of future returns.  Unfortunately this means in the short term we are likely to see more FF price spikes as the market moves to RE and from time to time there is a FF supply deficit, but hopefully there is less risk to the financial system of a sudden crash in the value of overbuilt FF assets.

Coastalwatch

silverwhistle said:

They seem to me beyond embarrassment..

Perhaps they're rolling out a vaccine for it. Although judging by voting this week they haven't yet quite gained herd immunity.

Martyn1981

Went to post this on the BEV thread, but thought it was perhaps more of a general 'energy' item, looking at truck emissions. The solutions may be BEV trucks, but other options, alternative fuels, different forms of moving goods etc exist. Also I don't want to bash diesel trucks for being dirty/polluters, since we/society currently rely on them to such a high degree. So this is just to show what one of the problems facing us is, and looking forward to cleaner, greener, and simply better solutions in the future ..... hopefully near future, and pointing out the side benefits of tackling AGW/CO2(e) emissions, such as improved air quality.

Trucks Still Breaking EU’s Legal Emission Limits In On-Road Tests

On-road testing shows that even some of the newest trucks on Europe’s roads are exceeding the EU’s legal emission limits. Emissions when driving in towns or cities were particularly alarming, with highly toxic nitrogen oxide (NOx) emissions at least double the legal limits, testing undertaken by the Technical University of Graz on behalf of T&E found.

Testing of an IVECO diesel long-haul truck found serious failures to comply with the current, lax ‘Euro VI’ emissions limits. In official tests, the truck exceeded the on-road NOx emission limit by 11% overall.

In one of the city driving tests the NOx emission control system – hardware in the exhaust – malfunctioned, resulting in NOx emissions which were 11 times higher than the current legal limit.

Anna Krajinska, Emissions Engineer at T&E, said: “These results are a damning indictment of an emission standard that allows trucks to drive the air pollution crisis. To combat asthma, heart disease and cancer, all pollution from diesel trucks needs to be urgently reduced. Alongside a clear strategy for achieving 100% Zero emission sales for most trucks by 2035, we need an ambitious new EU emission standard for heavy-duty vehicles to be implemented by 2025 to replace the outdated Euro VI standard agreed more than a decade ago.”

Exiled_Tyke

Has Rod Read invented the first practical and potentially affordable domestic wind 'turbine' after so many others have failed?

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/uk-scotland-59190335