Governments in Europe have allocated around €5bn to 10 commercial-scale hydrogen-ready DRI (direct reduced iron) facilities for steelmaking, but even with these generous subsidies steelmakers are struggling to reach final investment decisions, citing high costs for domestic hydrogen as a barrier. And when you consider that over €400bn is needed to transition the entire European sector to hydrogen-based steelmaking, a totally new way of thinking … [Read more...]
“Magnetisation switching” can replace transistors, cutting energy demand from computing by an order of magnitude
Globally, energy demand from computing is growing so fast the search is on to find fundamental ways to make it more efficient. “Magnetisation switching” has long been seen as a more efficient way than using transistors to create the 1s and 0s in memory chips and processors. But existing solutions operate only at very low temperatures. Also, they are controlled by magnetic fields which are harder to manage than switches controlled electrically. … [Read more...]
What China, Germany, and Texas tell us about Capacity Adequacy
As intermittent renewables penetrate further into the grid mix, reliable firm power generation is needed for whenever there is a shortfall. But back-up power, by its nature, has unreliable utilisation rates. And up-front costs for new plants are high, be they gas-fired plants, coal, nuclear, or large-scale storage. That makes future profitability uncertain, and private investors nervous. Hence the need for “capacity mechanisms” that guarantee … [Read more...]
France’s Macron wants to build 14 new Nuclear reactors by 2050. 6 is more realistic
France's President Macron is talking about a nuclear renaissance, after years of uncertainty over its future. The goal is to build 14 new reactors by 2050. But Jonathan Bruegel at IEEFA says this is unrealistc. France’s nuclear sector has much to recommend it. It produces up to 80% of the country’s total power generation, the highest share of nuclear in the generation mix anywhere in the world, and CO2-free. However, France hasn’t built a nuclear … [Read more...]
10% of global GDP growth came from the new Clean Energy economy in 2023
The clean energy economy is making its mark on global GDP, explain Laura Cozzi, Timur GĂĽl, Thomas Spencer and Peter Levi at the IEA. It accounted for 10% of global GDP growth in 2023, primarily through three activities: manufacturing of clean energy technologies, deployment of clean power capacity, and clean equipment sales. Here, the authors present the in-depth results for four of the largest economies: the U.S, the EU, China and India, which … [Read more...]
Strict rules stop Green Hydrogen production diverting clean power from the grid. What are they?
Green hydrogen must be made from green electricity. But the electricity used for making it must fulfil stricter requirements than conventional green electricity. Matthis Brinkhaus at Energy Brainpool describes the criteria by which hydrogen can be designated as 100% renewable: Additionality; Additionality Plus; Temporal correlation, simultaneity; Geographical correlation, regionality. Brinkhaus points at where exceptions can be made, and where … [Read more...]
Batteries made of super-hot sand: for long-duration grid storage at $4 to $10 per kWh
Our electric future needs low-cost long-duration storage for grids. Per kWh, pumped hydropower is about $60, compressed air energy storage (CAES) costs from $150 to $300, and lithium-ion batteries cost around $300 (and only store energy from one to four hours). Wayne Hicks at NREL describes research into thermal energy storage (TES) using solid particles such as sand which is abundant worldwide. With a duration lasting hundreds of hours, … [Read more...]
EU ETS2 for Buildings, Road Transport in 2027: why we need auctions to start early
The EU has established a second emissions trading system (ETS) to put a carbon price on buildings and road transport, the “EU ETS2”. The ETS2 starts in 2027, but monitoring and reporting of ETS2 emissions will begin in 2025. One issue is that an ETS means prices for long-term fuel supply contracts will be affected, so a crucial question for firms is how to hedge their potential exposure, says Ingo Ramming at BBVA writing for the Florence School … [Read more...]
Why isn’t Methane included in the EU’s Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism?
Robert Kleinberg at CGEP explains why methane isn’t included in the EU’s Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) which imposes a carbon tax on imported goods. Basically, CO2 emissions are easy to estimate accurately, whereas methane emissions are not. Many methane emissions, even the largest ones, are intermittent and of highly variable duration. Gas leaks vary over many orders of magnitude, and once diffused in the atmosphere leave no local … [Read more...]
EVs, Batteries: how can Europe use tariffs on China without starting a trade war?
Europe must decarbonise as fast as possible while safeguarding essential economic, social and security interests. Decarbonisation without deindustrialisation needs carefully thought-out trade policy, and tariffs can be an effective instrument, explains T&E, summarising its recently released paper. Almost a fifth of all EVs sold in the EU last year were made in China. Over half of those were made by Western carmakers operating in China, but … [Read more...]
Can the six Gulf nations meet their ambitious Renewables deployment plans by 2030?
The six Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries (Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabi, UAE) have all set themselves ambitious renewable energy targets to meet in the next ten years. They are some of the sunniest countries in the world, and existing projects have set records for low solar power costs. But they have a long way to go. In 2022, GCC renewable capacity was 5.7GW, primarily solar PV, out of 165GW of total generating capacity, … [Read more...]
Iron-air batteries: long-duration grid storage targets 1/10th the cost of lithium-ion
Wind and solar need cheap, long-duration storage to even out its inherent weather-determined intermittency. Deborah Halber, writing for MIT News, describes the development of iron-air batteries. Iron is cheap and available worldwide. Storage duration is multi-day. They are much heavier and take up more space than lithium-ion batteries, but that doesn’t matter for immobile grid storage. The target price tag of $20/kWh (one-tenth the cost of … [Read more...]
Explainer: The EU’s Green Deal Industrial Plan
Here, the Florence School of Regulation (FSR) provides a summary of the Green Deal Industrial Plan. It’s broken up into: What is the Green Deal Industrial Plan? What are critical raw materials and why do they matter? Where is the EU currently standing on critical raw materials? What is the EU doing about critical raw materials? Where is the EU currently standing on clean tech? How is the EU attempting to boost its domestic clean tech sector? Can … [Read more...]
France’s €100/month EV “social leasing” plan was oversubscribed, then closed. How to keep the momentum going
On January 1st France launched its flagship EV “social leasing” programme, at a typical price of €100/month, targeting 25,000 users. Within six weeks it was oversubscribed, forcing the government to close the scheme and alter the subsidy regime to accommodate the new total of 50,000. The programme’s popularity demonstrates its relevance and justifies its future expansion. However, the system needs to change if it is to meet the challenges … [Read more...]
Carmakers must stop complaining and meet the 2025 EU CO2 target (like they did in 2020, and profitably)
In 2025, the EU’s car CO2 regulation will require a 15% reduction of fleet emissions from new passenger cars sold in Europe, compared to 2021 figures. But some carmakers are saying this target is unfair, claiming that they cannot control the consumers’ appetite for EVs. They want targets relaxed or fines waived. Julia Poliscanova at T&E explains why their complaints are unwarranted for a number of reasons. Previous deadline dates show that EV … [Read more...]
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