China has committed to a CO2 emissions peak before 2030 and carbon neutrality before 2060. It’s 14th 5-year plan will be released in March, followed by sector-oriented plans. For the first time it will include a dedicated plan addressing climate change. Dolf Gielen, Yong Chen and Paul Durrant at IRENA start by laying out China’s energy mix for scrutiny, then dive into its industrial sector which accounts for 60% of gross final energy use. Success … [Read more...]
New research into Catalysts can boost Hydrogen manufacture
Catalysts are materials used to enable and accelerate a chemical reaction. There is a long history of using them in industry to manufacture different hydrocarbons, ammonia, sulfuric acid, and the list goes on. By choosing your materials well and tinkering with the structure at the molecular level, the catalyst can greatly improve the efficiency of the conversion process. Glennda Chui at the SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory describes how their … [Read more...]
Clean Trucks are coming: a review of battery, hydrogen, synthetic fuels and more
New EU fuel efficiency rules are forcing truck makers into a race to get their low emission vehicles onto the roads. From 2025, newly registered trucks must have 15% lower emissions, and from 2030 it’s 30%. Battery-electric drivetrains are most likely to dominate, assisted in their evolution by the assured progress and charging infrastructure of EVs. Hydrogen fuel cells and synthetic fuels are also in the game, though hindered by the inevitable … [Read more...]
A new EU Gas Market must expose it to all clean energy solutions, not just gas-on-gas
Towards the end of this year the EC is expected to issue new proposals for gas legislation, a once in a decade market reform. Simon Skillings and Lisa Fischer at E3G highlight the big difference between the design of gas and electricity markets for Europe. The electricity market is growing, the gas market needs to shrink. The authors quote figures showing that the EU's 55% emissions reduction target for 2030 means natural gas use will reduce by … [Read more...]
We’re making much more progress decarbonising Electricity than Transport. Why?
In the OECD, since 2000, electricity sector emissions have fallen by 8% while transport emissions have actually increased by 5%. The best performers like the UK recorded drops in both: 40% and 6% respectively. In the U.S. it’s 25% and 0%. Catherine Wolfram at the Haas School of Business asks why transport is still going in the wrong direction, given the power sector’s progress. She posits three theories. Rich nations are outsourcing … [Read more...]
Quantum Well solar cell sets new record for converting light to energy
There’s a new world-record for two-junction solar cells, converting 32.9% of sunlight into electricity. Although it’s only a small improvement on the previous record of 32.8% it uses a design that should lead to even greater performance. NREL, in collaboration with the University of New South Wales (Australia), has built a cell consisting of a series of more than 150 ultrathin layers of alternating semiconductors that create quantum wells which … [Read more...]
The Energy Charter Treaty makes the transition easier. Don’t scrap it, reform it
Energy and climate experts as well as national and EU parliamentarians are lining up to press their governments to withdraw from the Energy Charter Treaty (ECT) if insufficient progress is made in its modernisation. Their main argument is that it gives protection to fossil investments in a world where policies are changing in order to constrain or phase them out. Here, Frank Umbach at EUCERS sternly warns against abandoning the ECT. The treaty … [Read more...]
World’s biggest Steel manufacturers are committing to Hydrogen and CCS
The world’s leading steel makers have announced pledges to reduce emissions, aiming for net-zero by 2050 or sooner. They are committing to various new technologies still not proven at scale: making steel with hydrogen, and some with strategies that include carbon capture. They are putting their money where their mouth is. The list is impressive and includes ArcelorMittal (the world #1), ThyssenKrupp, Voestalpine, SSAB/LKAB/Vattenfall, Nippon … [Read more...]
New net-zero pledges from China, US, EU and others can meet our climate goals, says UNEP. But…
Existing national commitments imply that today’s emissions will simply plateau, remaining only slightly below 2019 levels by 2030. However, according to the latest UN Environment Programme (UNEP) emissions gap report, the new commitments from China, the EU, Japan, South Korea, the UK, Joe Biden’s US and others are “broadly consistent” with the Paris Agreement’s 1.5C goal for 2050. But commitments aren’t policy, warns UNEP, and only real change … [Read more...]
Coastal town Grande-Synthe took France to court over missed climate targets. How, why and what happens next
Taking your own government to court is an indispensable tool for sticking to our climate goals, says Lucien Chabason at the IDDRI. In November, the French State Council (Conseil d'État) gave an interim judgment largely favourable to the municipality/commune of Grande-Synthe following the government's implicit refusal to take additional measures to comply with the Paris Climate Agreement. Grande-Synthe sits on the coast by Dunkirk and is at … [Read more...]
Nuclear-Wind hybrid plants for grid stability, Power-to-X and more
How would you use a nuclear-wind hybrid plant and maximise its potential? When intermittent wind’s output falls, nuclear can step in to feed the grid. When it’s not doing that it can use its power to run the production of a wide range of commodities: from biofuels, hydrogen, pumped hydro to wastewater purification, desalination, chemical manufacturing and more – including straightforward thermal power for industry. In collaboration with NREL, the … [Read more...]
Nine advantages small-scale solutions have for reducing global emissions
Which is best? Spending your budget on a million 1 KW solar panels or a single 1 GW nuclear/hydro/gas plant? Lots of electric bikes or a single tram system? Lots of smart thermostats or whole-building retrofits? Charlie Wilson (University of East Anglia), Caroline Zimm (IIASA) and Simon De Stercke (Imperial College London) summarise their study that lists the advantages of small-scale “granular” solutions over large-scale “lumpy” ones. Granular … [Read more...]
The top Clean Energy developments of 2020
The world is still a long way off the pathway to meeting our emissions goals. But 2020 saw a number of major steps in the right direction. Laurie Stone at RMI presents a list of what has been achieved and which trends and new policy commitments are pointing us towards a much needed faster transition. They include coal’s decline, wind and solar’s growing competitiveness (even compared to gas), the promise of green hydrogen, bans on gas/petrol … [Read more...]
Bioenergy is the undervalued pillar of the clean energy transition
Bioenergy is already the world’s largest source of renewable energy, responsible for 70% of the supply (and around 10% of total primary energy). Burning organic matter goes back to the invention of fire and is still commonplace around the globe. Yet it gets hardly any of the attention and policy support that’s given to other clean energy technologies like solar, wind and now hydrogen. Bioenergy can and should play an even greater role, explain … [Read more...]
Re-designing the EU ETS to ensure a Just Transition [VIDEO]
![Re-designing the EU ETS to ensure a Just Transition [VIDEO]](https://energypost.eu/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/PGE-Banner-500-px-01-150x99.png)
On November 30th, 2020, we ran a live online panel discussion concerning the re-design of the EU ETS in the wake of new, higher CO2 reduction targets being agreed by the EU. The target now stands at a 55% reduction c/w 1990 levels by 2030, up from 40%. A huge jump in order to keep in line with Paris commitments. The session was moderated by Matthew James, Managing Director at Energy Post and featured interventions from Andrei Marcu (Chairman at … [Read more...]
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