For the first time in the U.S. a utility is piloting a community geothermal project to heat and cool 40 buildings and cut customers’ bills. Success will lead to scale up and replication, explains Adele Peters writing for the World Economic Forum. The case for community geothermal is very strong. Though geothermal’s up-front costs of installing pipes deep underground are high, running costs are low. The pilot, in Framingham (Massachusetts), will … [Read more...]
Circular Battery Economy: what policies and processes can accelerate recycling and reuse?
As battery production scales up so do the risks of the long global supply chain failing, or causing more emissions, damaging the environment, and breaching human rights. A circular battery economy should greatly reduce those risks. Yet the U.S. has no federal recycling mandates or requirements for lithium-ion batteries, and state policies are inconsistent. Marie McNamara at RMI maps out the five critical issues that must be dealt with. Before … [Read more...]
Draft EU rules on Battery lifecycle decarbonisation: close the loopholes!
Draft rules mean battery manufacturers selling into Europe will have to report the product’s entire carbon footprint, from mining to production to recycling, as early as July 2024. That data will then be used to set a maximum CO2 limit for batteries to apply from the end of 2027. This is a big step forward, says T&E, addressing concerns over battery carbon footprint and recycling, and it also covers environment and human rights. But T&E … [Read more...]
Norway’s Sleipner and Snøhvit CCS: problems expose limitations of the science, regulations and multi-decade commitment
The offshore carbon capture and storage (CCS) projects of Norway’s Sleipner and Snøhvit are often cited as good case studies for the viability of the technology. Other CCS hubs are being proposed from Malaysia to the North Sea to the Gulf of Mexico, larger by factors of 10 or more. But how viable are they? Grant Hauber at IEEFA summarises his in-depth report on the risks. Both Sleipner and Snøhvit, operating since 1996 and 2008 respectively, have … [Read more...]
“Battery Passports”: ensuring environmental sustainability, decarbonisation and mining labour rights
With battery production taking off, concerns are focussed on environmental sustainability, carbon footprint and labour rights where the raw materials are mined. Benedikt Sobotka, Co-Chair at the Global Battery Alliance and Robin Zeng, CEO at Chinese manufacturer Contemporary Amperex Technology, writing for WEF, describe the concept of the digital “battery passport” where compliance with the rules is certified and monitored throughout the life … [Read more...]
“Book and Claim”: how end consumers can pay distant producers for low carbon products
In long logistical chains (found in steel, concrete, aviation, shipping and others) end consumers that want to pay a premium to cut their emissions (for example to comply with corporate decarbonisation promises) often have no way to pay the first link in that chain to go low-carbon. “Book and Claim” creates a market to do that. Consumers buy certificates, and producers get the money to fulfil the commitment. And a working system will bring to … [Read more...]
Germany to ramp up the decarbonisation of Buildings Heating from Jan 1st 2024. How?
Decarbonising heating is a major challenge for any country. Germany’s Building Energy Act (GEG) means that from 2024 every newly installed heating system, in new or existing buildings, must operate with a minimum of 65% renewable energy. Concerns over the costs to customers (installing new and expensive systems, or paying a penalty for fossil heating) has led to intense debates, hence the new law includes a range of subsidies, bonuses, discounted … [Read more...]
Only certain types of Hybridisation (Wind or Solar + Storage) beat building expensive transmission lines
In some regions, the roll out of new wind and solar has outpaced new transmission. That causes “congestion” at times when the variable renewables are producing too much power locally, and cannot sell the excess, which squeezes profitability. That’s certainly the case in the U.S. now. One answer is “hybridisation” where storage is built alongside the renewables, to save that excess power for when it can be sold later. Julie Mulvaney Kemp at … [Read more...]
France plans the social leasing of EVs at €100/month. Can it jump start affordable electric cars?
Social leasing of EVs could become the breakthrough example of climate action done right, explains William Todts at T&E. And France’s president Macron has promised to do it, aimed at low-income households to counter criticism that even with subsidies EVs are still out of reach for many. Todts quotes T&E analysis that shows that between 2024 and 2030 around 900,000 low-income households could benefit from monthly leasing costs of €70 to … [Read more...]
Nuclear power capacity is growing globally. Where, how and why
Ewan Thomson at the World Economic Forum summarises the state of nuclear power worldwide. In 2020 it made up 10% of global electricity generation, more than all the wind and solar PV combined. It’s the second-largest source of low-emissions electricity. But many advanced countries are no longer backing nuclear, citing safety and cost concerns, and instead are pushing the growing number of alternative clean energy technologies. Nevertheless, … [Read more...]
Building Materials “Embodied Carbon”: reaching net-zero with low-carbon cement, timber, modular design and more
In this explainer Madeline Weir, Audrey Rempher and Rebecca Esau at RMI first describe how embodied carbon is calculated. They then summarise the strategies being employed to reduce it, including using low-carbon, carbon-neutral, or even carbon-storing materials. New cement formulations are being developed with over 60% less CO2 emissions than the regular kind. Low-carbon mass timber is an alternative building material under development. On the … [Read more...]
Carbon Capture rates of 60% sound impressive. But rising carbon prices could still make you commercially unviable
Mainstream scenarios state the unavoidable need for continued use of fossils through to 2050. For the world to stay within its carbon budget, that means the unavoidable need for carbon capture and plugging “fugitive” leaks. Chris Bataille at the Center on Global Energy Policy flags up the danger that new CCS projects with seemingly impressive capture rates of up to 60% may nevertheless become commercially unviable as carbon prices rise: that … [Read more...]
Russia’s war has exposed France and Germany’s energy policy differences. Can it also bring them together?
France and Germany combined account for 45% of EU GDP and 40% of energy consumption. No wonder they are the most influential EU members. But the Russia-induced energy crisis has forced both Paris and Berlin to expose and admit the differences in their national energy strategies, and that has made a search for a unified voice for Europe’s ambitious climate targets much harder to achieve, explain Camille Lafrance and Benjamin Wehrmann at CLEW. … [Read more...]
Russia’s oil export revenue rebounded in March–April. Why aren’t the EU, U.S. and partners enforcing the price cap?
The Price Cap Coalition (PCC) - composed of Australia, Canada, the EU, Japan, the UK, and the U.S. – are failing to either enforce or lower the cap on Russian oil exports as promised, says a report summarised here from the Centre for Research in Energy and Clean Air (CREA). Had it done so, Russian revenues could have been slashed by €22bn (37%) since December by lowering the price cap for crude oil to $30/barrel and revising the caps for oil … [Read more...]
Clean Energy Innovation: investment continued to rise despite a turbulent 2022
In a turbulent year, financially and geopolitically, investment in energy innovation still rose. Public spending on energy R&D grew by 10% in 2022 (estimated at $44bn), with 80% devoted to clean energy. Listed energy-related companies saw a similar rise. And early-stage venture capital investment reached a new high of $6.7bn. But risks remain, explains Simon Bennett at the IEA who summarises the innovation chapter in their latest “World … [Read more...]
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