Italy needs 71 GWh of new utility-scale electricity storage capacity by 2030 to meet EU targets to cut emissions by at least 55% by 2030, according to Terna which manages Italy’s transmission grid. ***STOP PRESS*** This Tuesday at 11:00 CET, Energy Post is exclusive media partner to a dedicated webinar (organised by ATA Insights/RENMAD) on Capacity Market Auctions REGISTER FREE HERE. In this article, Sara Stefanini summarises the Terna study, … [Read more...]
District Heating: Molten Salt boilers beat Water for storing intermittent Wind & Solar power
District heating networks, an important part of the energy transition for buildings, need a way of storing intermittent wind and solar power. But water tanks have limits: they take up a lot of space, and have a low thermal energy storage density (limited by the 100°C boiling point). Molten salts have a much higher storage density (regular table salt has a melting point of 801°C), but a melting point that is too high is not safe where ordinary … [Read more...]
Geothermal Heat Pumps at scale avoid the cost of expensive long-distance transmission lines
A new analysis reveals that installing geothermal heat pumps in 70% of U.S. buildings can reduce the need for new long-distance transmission lines by 33%, explains Kelly MacGregor at NREL. The main message is that, though geothermal deployment is seen as expensive, the avoided costs are significant. Those transmission lines won’t be needed because geothermal is always local and can be deployed in both urban and rural places. Though the widespread … [Read more...]
Is global energy security being used as an excuse to build more U.S. LNG export capacity?
Europe’s energy security is being used as an excuse in the U.S. to build more LNG terminals than are actually needed, argues Ana Maria Jaller-Makarewicz at IEEFA. European gas demand is expected to keep falling. Even with U.S. projects that are currently under construction, its LNG export capacity in 2030 will be 76% higher than Europe’s forecast demand. The U.S. should seriously re-evaluate its strategy or risk overinvestment, says … [Read more...]
What’s Plaguing Voluntary Carbon Markets?
In voluntary carbon markets, buyers (like big companies with emissions) voluntarily purchase and trade in offsets generated from emissions reduction or removal projects elsewhere. And in early 2023 momentum was building for them, but that soon collapsed as evidence of greenwashing grew: forestry programs were significantly overestimating their value. Allegra Dawes at CSIS lays out the background before explaining that systems must be put in place … [Read more...]
Just Transition: UK’s Port Talbot steelworks are closing. What can be learnt from the Netherlands and Sweden?
A classic “just transition” story is being played out in the UK, a high income nation and Europe’s second biggest economy. Tata Steel plans to cut almost 3,000 jobs at the UK’s largest steelworks. The location, Port Talbot, is one of the most deprived places in the UK and the steelworks there are its largest private sector employer. Tata is under pressure to decarbonise its steel production, so will switch to an electric arc furnace that recycles … [Read more...]
Biogas from dairy farms: what incentives can make it commercially viable?
Anaerobic digesters are used to turn cow manure into useable methane fuel. But the raw cost of that gas is ten times the market price. On the plus side, emissions are being avoided. So how do you create the incentives that are fair and make it commercially viable? In California, dairy biogas has risen from almost non-existence five years ago to delivering half of all natural gas used for transportation in the state. Aaron Smith at the Energy … [Read more...]
Tandem solar cells (perovskite + silicon) can reach 40% energy conversion rates
Tandem solar lays new perovskite cells over standard silicon cells. Perovskite absorbs the shorter wavelengths of light that silicon misses. So the thin layer of perovskite collects the visible wavelengths, and lets the near-infrared light through to the silicon underneath. Martina GrĂĽnwald and Sarah Michaud writing for the WEF point at the results of R&D and demonstrations in Germany, Switzerland, Saudi Arabia and China. Energy conversion … [Read more...]
EU’s fossil fuel CO2 emissions drop to levels last seen in the 1960s
The EU’s CO2 emissions from fossil fuels (including power generation, industry and transport) dropped 8% in 2023 year-on-year, reaching levels last seen in the early 1960s, reveals an analysis by CREA. More than half of that decline came from an impressive 25% year-on-year reduction in CO2 emissions from power generation. The cleaner electricity mix is thanks to the continuous rise of wind and solar as well as a rebound in hydropower and nuclear. … [Read more...]
EU ETS or national climate targets? We need both
The choice between using the EU ETS or national climate targets to decarbonise is a false dilemma. We need both, explains Chiara Corradi at T&E writing for the Florence School of Regulation. There are plenty of examples where a carbon market and national targets have delivered good results together, as in Germany, Finland, Denmark and Portugal. And, looking ahead over the next few decades, the right policies should be able to cope with ETS … [Read more...]
U.S. and EU: vastly different approaches to trade and climate put a transatlantic deal at risk
Uncertainty over the results of this year’s elections in the U.S. and the EU have effectively postponed trade deals between the two blocks. That means when talks restart in 2025 there will be even less time to find the best compromises. As Gautam Jain, Noah Kaufman, Chris Bataille and Sagatom Saha at the Center on Global Energy Policy explain, it’s why this time should be taken to better understand the differences and lay out the possible … [Read more...]
Germany: Carbon Prices could phase-out Coal by 2030 without a new law
The upward trend in the carbon price since 2015 has already seen coal generation decline significantly. Last year, total generation was a little over 100 TWh; it was 263 TWh in 2003. Sebastian Ligewie at Energy Brainpool looks at the prices of hard coal, lignite and the EUAs (EU emission allowances). It’s around €37 per MWh for hard coal and €8 for lignite. But emissions costs of around €63 per MWh for hard coal and €84 for lignite are added to … [Read more...]
Recyclable, plant-based glue cuts carbon footprint of Wind Turbines
Everyone knows that wind and solar have significant carbon footprints because of the energy and materials that go into the manufacture of their components. It’s why research continues on how to get that footprint down. Emily Mercer at NREL describes research there that has developed a glue, used to hold a wind turbine blade together, made of resin made from plant waste using a low-energy process, and is easily recycled. In contrast to the current … [Read more...]
France is subsidising made-in-EU EVs with low carbon footprints. Europe must follow
Last year, France announced new green eligibility rules for awarding subsidies to EVs. Starting this year, an incentive of €5,000-€7,000 will only be awarded to electric cars with a production carbon footprint below 14.75 tonnes of CO2. It’s a first in environmental policymaking which the EU should be delivering across the region, says Lucien Mathieu at T&E. And not just for environmental reasons. It will promote EVs made in Europe where … [Read more...]
2024 a tipping point for Sustainable Buildings? Demand now outstrips supply in major cities
Guy Grainger at JLL, writing for WEF, believes 2024 will be the tipping point when returns for investing in sustainable office buildings will start to pay dividends for building owners. That’s because, according to JLL research, there is now a good premium on rents for sustainable buildings in important locations: just over 7% across eight cities in North America, around 10% across nine cities in the Asia Pacific and more than 11% in London. In … [Read more...]
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