H2-DRI-EAF uses hydrogen (H2) to produce direct reduced iron (DRI), which is then processed in an electric arc furnace (EAF) to produce steel. The two main challenges are ensuring an adequate supply of DR-grade iron ore, and cutting the end-to-end cost of making hydrogen. But right now, clean green hydrogen production is in its infancy, and therefore so are green steel plans. Soroush Basirat at IEEFA surveys the landscape, looking at the U.S., … [Read more...]
Solar PV technology improvements are rapid. But how do you test the long-term reliability of the new designs?
Solar PV module technology moves fast, and is delivering improvements continuously. So fast that it’s no trivial matter to judge the long-term reliability of the changes. It’s a crucial issue as modules, once deployed, are expected to deliver results over lifetimes that span decades. Sara Fall and Jarett Zuboy at NREL describes a process designed to identify and address potential reliability problems quickly, before they are observed in the … [Read more...]
Buildings: how can Europe reduce emissions from Construction?
11% of global energy-related carbon emissions are embedded in the construction of buildings. Though focus has been on reducing operational emissions (28%, from heating and cooling, power etc.) there is not enough attention paid to construction, explains Carolina Kyllmann at CLEW. She looks at all the issues, including production of materials, transport to the site, construction, renovations, demolition and reuse of materials, and more. Kyllmann … [Read more...]
Credit Rating Agencies downgrading Coal, Oil, Gas: climate change is now a clear risk category
Credit rating agencies now clearly recognise that climate change has become its own risk category, explains Tom Sanzillo at IEEFA who summarises his 43-page report. Financially, the coal, oil and gas sectors have served the world for decades. But due to regulatory, legal, economic, financial, political and social concerns, coal is credit negative and oil and gas is no longer positive. Sanzillo’s report charts the gradual erosion of the sector’s … [Read more...]
Tomorrow’s deep water Floating Wind Turbines: the six main design categories explained
The new frontier of offshore wind power is floating wind turbines. That’s because they can be installed in deep water where wind speeds are consistently higher. The new designs have the floating turbines, that bob and sway with the waves and wind, stabilised with ballast or anchored with chains to the seafloor. Emma Edwards at Oxford University looks at the six major categories of design: Spar, Barge, Tension-leg platform, Semi-submersible, … [Read more...]
Euro 2024: what’s being done to make it “the most sustainable football championship of all time”?
UEFA and the German Football Federation (DFB) have promised that EURO 24 will be “the most sustainable European championship of all time.” As Ruby Russell writing for CLEW explains, plans extend across 10 energy-hungry stadiums, travel to and between 51 games (80% of emissions!), merchandise and catering. To tempt people off budget airlines, train fares are being subsidised and extra trains scheduled in. There are plans to use renewable power in … [Read more...]
China’s CATL to cut its EV battery costs by up to 50% this year, heralding a price war
China’s CATL, the world’s largest producer of EV batteries, is saying it will slash the cost of its batteries by up to 50% this year as part of a price war with China’s second largest maker, BYD subsidiary FinDreams. The main cause is the overproduction of batteries in China: the oversupply means prices must fall. Muhammad Rizwan Azhar, Waqas Uzair and Yasir Arafat at Edith Cowan University look at the causes and implications, but add that … [Read more...]
Financing Europe’s cross-border Interconnectors to deliver energy security, lower prices: a look at incentives and policies
The EU and its Member States are building out interconnectors to improve security of supply and affordability of electricity through the physical and economic linking of national energy markets into a single, synchronised European market. But each interconnector is expensive, complex and therefore risky. They can span long distances or natural obstacles such as mountains or seas. Significant network planning and adaptation is needed to account … [Read more...]
ReDREAM pilot: mobile app for real-time green energy availability, prices, to control your usage
We already have the technology to allow households to monitor and control their energy usage so they can run individual appliances when the energy is cheapest and greenest. It just needs to be tested and then deployed at scale. Luca Arfini, writing for ESCI, describes the EU-funded ReDREAM project where over 700 people in four countries have had the monitoring installed in their homes, and been given the mobile app to control their usage. … [Read more...]
Biomass: new “CELF” process can turn waste lignin into useable fuels, chemicals
A new process can turn the lignin portion of biomass into affordable fuels. Lignin provides rigidity to a plant cell wall, but that rigidity makes it suitable only for burning for generating heat. Wayne Hicks at NREL describes how the new “CELF” pre-treatment process deconstructs and fractionates the lignin and other parts of biomass to yield a diverse range of products: alcohols, esters, carboxylic acids, and hydrocarbons. It could enable the … [Read more...]
Half of fossil fuel Methane reduction targets can be met at no net cost. Why isn’t it happening?
We need to cut global methane emissions from fossil fuels by 75% by 2030 to be on target to limit warming to 1.5°C. That equates to 90 Mt of the current total of 120 Mt of annual fossil fuel methane emissions. The IEA says 80 Mt can be avoided through the deployment of known and existing technologies, often at low – or even negative – cost. And the 75% cut needs $170bn in spending to 2030, a very achievable sum given it represents less than 5% of … [Read more...]
How can Biomass fulfil its potential in EU carbon markets?
In carbon markets such as the EU ETS participants must monitor and report their emissions and ultimately pay for them. Biomass occupies a unique place. It is well positioned to be a net-zero emissions energy source for hard-to-abate sectors. Coupled with effective on-site carbon capture technologies, it can be carbon negative. And there is a great diversity of project types involving forestry, biochar kilns, waste-to-energy, carbon capture and … [Read more...]
EU Carbon Prices halved in a year. But they should rise again
European carbon allowances (EUAs) are trading at around €60/t. One year ago, it was at an all-time high of €100/t. Hæge Fjellheim at Veyt explains why, and why prices should recover. Economically, the drop is due to two main factors: lower gas prices and shrinking energy demand from industry. Politically, additional supply of EUAs came from the EU’s REPowerEU plan to accelerate the energy transition and break dependency on Russian gas by partly … [Read more...]
Organic cathode can replace Cobalt in Batteries: similar performance, faster charging, cheaper to make
In most lithium-ion batteries, the cathode contains cobalt. But cobalt is a scarce metal, found mostly in politically unstable countries, its extraction is hazardous for miners and generates toxic waste. And as demand for batteries globally keeps rising, so too will the cost of cobalt. Anne Trafton at MIT describes the development of an alternative cathode made of organic materials. Its structure is similar to graphite. It can conduct electricity … [Read more...]
Roadmap to reduce EU car fleet emissions 86% by 2040
T&E has just published its car decarbonisation roadmap. It shows that the EU’s car CO2 standards, including the phase-out of combustion car sales in 2035, is the single most important emission reduction measure. But if the EU is to hit its newly proposed 2040 climate target - a 90% COâ‚‚ reduction across the European economy by 2040 - it will need to deal with a significant amount of ICE (internal combustion engine) cars already on the road. … [Read more...]