The financing of H2 Green Steel (H2GS), founded in 2020, can be taken as a template for capital intensive industrial first-of-a-kind projects that must raise billions quickly to build from scratch and go live. Shravan Bhat and Asia Salazar at RMI describe H2GS’s financing journey to reveal five key lessons for raising funds. Against the usual logic, large, diverse, equity investor pools can work (H2GS counts over 20 different equity investors). … [Read more...]
Could big U.S. subsidies for Hydrogen create perverse incentives, raise emissions?
There is a danger that the U.S. Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) subsidies for hydrogen production (defined in provision 45V) may create perverse incentives that do not reduce emissions and may increase them. James Sallee at the Energy Institute at Haas explains why. The goal is to make “green” hydrogen powered by newly built clean energy. But what if the generously subsidised hydrogen is made from clean energy (new or not) that should be powering … [Read more...]
Belgium: commercially viable Rooftop Solar for social housing. No installation subsidies, lower bills
Rooftop solar is becoming a key component of the roll-out of clean energy. But whereas the decision to install is straightforward for homeowners, how do tenants in social housing blocks take advantage of the subsidies and lower electricity prices? Sven Van Elst at ASTER and Maarten Michielssens at Energy Vision, writing for WEF, describe their project that is installing rooftop solar, free, for 52,500 social rental homes in Flanders, Belgium. No … [Read more...]
Concrete supercapacitor: works like a battery, much cheaper, easy to make
Capacitors work like batteries. They store and discharge electricity. David Chandler at MIT explains how researchers there have designed a supercapacitor from concrete and carbon black, two cheap and common materials. The beauty of the idea is that they can be incorporated into building foundations, thus installing a battery virtually for free. A concrete capacitor cube 3.5m wide can store 10kwh, enough for a household. Similarly, concrete … [Read more...]
Agrivoltaics: GWs of solar power from farmland using strategically placed panels (and raising crop yields)
In Canada and the U.S. “agrivoltaics” are taking off. It’s when solar panels are laid out strategically on farmland. After concerns that it will obstruct farm machinery and lower crop yields, studies have shown that panels – on a large scale – can be placed so that they do not. In fact, certain crop yields can be raised when the panels are used to shield them from direct sunlight, explains Joshua Pearce at Western University, Canada. He looks at … [Read more...]
Industry’s EU ETS reforms and CBAM: how firms can turn the rising cost of carbon into competitive advantage
Changes to the EU ETS mean free emissions allowances (EUAs) for industry will be gradually phased out as the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism’s (CBAM) CO2-related levy is inversely phased in. It means the carbon costs for industry in the EU will significantly rise. Pablo Ruiz at Rabobank takes a deep dive to assesses the magnitude of these changes and their implications for the main industrial sectors, and the main change drivers for … [Read more...]
Concawe Symposium tackles climate and pollution as RED commits fuel companies to 29% renewable content from 2030
With the adoption of REDIII last week we are set for a dramatic increase in the “renewable” element of liquid fuels. It means that in just 10 years, the renewable element will have tripled, rising from 10% in 2020 to 29% from 2030 onwards. In the EU, Concawe (a division of the European fuel manufacturing industry) develops scientific research and technical studies on the fuel industry’s products and operations, and their impact. Concawe is … [Read more...]
Affordable €25k EVs by 2025: Europe’s carmakers can do it. Instead they’re making more profitable SUVs
T&E present a summary of their study which shows that European carmakers can produce affordable EVs (40 kWh LFP battery, 250-300 km range) priced at €25k by 2025 with a reasonable 4% profit margin. Priced for the mass market, this would add a million extra EV sales annually, accelerate the removal of combustion engines, and counter China’s dominance of the EV market. The obstacle is the insistence by Europe’s leading manufacturers - BMW, … [Read more...]
Oil & Gas business is fatally flawed: Russia-Ukraine only delayed the relentless decline in prices
The oil and gas producers have made windfalls off the back of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the consequent spikes in prices. But the return of prices to normal levels is re-emphasising the flaw in their business model, explains Clark Williams-Derry at IEEFA. The cost of producing the fossil fuels can only go up: the low hanging fruit was picked long ago, and finding and extracting new deposits gets more and more expensive. So do labour costs. … [Read more...]
Space-Based Solar Power: getting closer as SpaceX and Blue Origin bring down the cost of heavy-lift launches?
“Space-based solar power” (SBSP) sounds great in theory: giant solar farms in space collect unobstructed sunlight 24/7 and beam it to Earth stations, all using technology that already exists. It isn’t getting off the ground (pun intended!) primarily because of the cost of launching thousands of tonnes into space, plus assembly and maintenance. The attraction is that, if it can happen affordably, it could provide a hundred times the energy the … [Read more...]
U.S. Inflation Reduction Act: one year on, a summary of impressive progress in the energy transition
The U.S. Inflation Reduction Act has been described as unprecedented in its ambition for the nation’s energy transition. One year on from the passing of the bill in August 2022, Hannah Perkins and Adam Aston at RMI describe the progress on implementation as unprecedented too. The authors break their review down into categories: clean tech manufacturing, electrifying transport, greening buildings, decarbonising electricity, transforming industry, … [Read more...]
Though the price shocks hurt, Renewables installed between 2021-23 saved Europe €100bn
According to the IEA, without the solar and wind capacity additions made in 2021-23 Europe’s energy costs would have been €100bn higher in those three years, as prices spiked due to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the unexpected drop in output from nuclear and hydro. That money saved is another reason why the ramp up of renewables is so important, explains Joe Myers writing for the World Economic Forum who summarises the IEA data. Natural gas … [Read more...]
Germany plans for Carbon Capture in Industry: emissions, potentials, costs
In the first article of this series, Simon Göss and Hendrik Schuldt at carboneer gave the background to Germany’s new drive for carbon capture, and summarised the industrial sectors that will be its focus. Here, the authors analyse the emission profiles of German industries (in particular: steel, cement, lime, chemicals, waste incineration) and the associated CCS potentials and costs. The first thing to note is that it’s the process emissions … [Read more...]
Rooftop Solar: will subsidies benefit wealthy early adopters, while grid limits lock out the latecomers?
Subsidies encouraging homeowners to install rooftop solar are being won by the affluent who can afford to be first movers. And when the technology has come down in price, the remaining majority of households will be shut out of the benefits of own-generation because the grid won’t have the capacity to integrate everyone. That’s the argument made by Juan Jose Cuenca Silva, Barry Hayes and Hannah Daly at the University College Cork who summarise … [Read more...]
The final hurdle for 100% Sustainable Aviation Fuel? Turning Lignin biomass into the “aromatic” component
Making 100% sustainable aviation fuel seems a long way away. Aircraft need energy-dense power, as delivered by fossil fuels, and sustainable alternatives are being developed. But a big challenge is that 10% - 25% of the fuel must be “aromatic” which neither thickens nor freezes at cold altitudes. Also, aromatics get absorbed by the plastic seals, make them swell, and ensure those seals between various components in the aircraft’s fuel system are … [Read more...]
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