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...]
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...]
EU Carbon Removal Certification Framework: new rules to turn greenwashing into genuine removals
The EU Carbon Removal Certification Framework intends to drive forward technological and natural carbon removals, and prevent greenwashing through robust standards and certification procedures. Itâs to deal with the existing poorly monitored carbon removals market: the lack of oversight, transparency, trustworthiness, and genuine climate impact (additionality) of projects and certificates. Simon Göss at carboneer looks at the current proposals, … [Read more...]
Can Phytomining deliver Critical Minerals at scale: farming plants that accumulate high metal concentrations
Both Europe and the U.S. are making plans to secure supplies of critical minerals as the transition gains pace. Domestic mining or securing import deals with close allies is the main focus. Here, Maria Krol-Sinclair and Thomas Hale at CSIS review the prospects for a new method that will require neither: phytomining. Some plants, called hyperaccumulators, soak up high concentrations of metals into their leaves, bark, and roots. These plants can … [Read more...]
Germany is developing a strategy for Carbon Capture and Storage to meet its 2045 net zero target
Germany cannot become carbon neutral by 2045 without carbon capture, explains Simon Göss at carboneer. Itâs why the German government is developing a Carbon Management Strategy for CO2 storage and utilisation. Projections reveal that around 30m tons of CO2 will have to be captured, transported, reused or disposed of by 2045. The focus will be on industrial processes and waste. Göss lays out the background to Germanyâs strategy, including possible … [Read more...]
Turning waste biomass into clean fuel: cheap, portable equipment, cuts emissions, earns income for rural poor
The burning of biomass accounts for 10% of primary energy used worldwide: wood, peat, animal dung, corn stalks, rice husks, hay, straw, and other agricultural waste. Billions of people, mainly in remote and poorer regions, rely on such fuels for cooking, heating, and other household needs. But itâs a major source of emissions as well as pollution. And, annually, an estimated $120bn worth of crop and forest residues are burned out in the open … [Read more...]
New U.S. study: damage per ton of CO2 costs $185, not the official $51
Maximilian Auffhammer at the Energy Institute at Haas reviews a new paper that suggests CO2 causes over three times as much damage in dollar terms as the figure currently used by the US government, $51 per ton. The new study shows $185 per ton of CO2 as the Social Cost of Carbon (SCC). The updated model is superior to previous models, says Auffhammer. Itâs also open source, so anyone can use it, criticise it, and tweak the numbers to get … [Read more...]
EVs vs Biofuels: new study looks at ethanolâs impact on agricultural land use, food prices, emissions
For transport, biofuels have lower emissions than gasoline/petrol, but EVs will have the lowest emissions of all. Hence the opposition to those biofuels, along with objections to the valuable cropland used to make the ethanol. But the overall advantage depends on the speed of transition to EVs charged with clean electricity. Now, a calculation has been made of the amount of agricultural land preserved for global food production - or kept as … [Read more...]
Methane emissions reach unexpected new highs. Is climate change causing a runaway effect?
Simon Redfern at Nanyang Technological University, Singapore summarises his co-authored study that says methane emissions are four times more sensitive to climate change than that estimated in the latest IPCC report, which was only published in February 2022. The study follows the observation that, despite the pandemic stalling the world economy, methane emissions have reached new highs. Not because methane emissions have risen but because … [Read more...]
SAFFiRE: cheap, Sustainable Aviation Fuel from agricultural waste
SAFFiRE (Sustainable Aviation Fuel From [i] Renewable Ethanol) is a 10-ton-per-day pilot plant project. The goal is 7bn gallons of sustainable, low-carbon aviation fuel by 2040. Ryan Horns at NREL explains that the sustainable fuel is made from corn stover, an agricultural waste product, chemically broken down into sugars that can then be converted to fuels. The SAFFiRE process can take advantage of the existing infrastructure of over 200 ethanol … [Read more...]
All estimates of the âcostâ of climate action should include the savings and benefits
Too many climate mitigation scenarios calculate the cost of that transition without measuring the savings and benefits, explain Alexandre Köberle and Joeri Rogelj at Imperial College London, Toon Vandyck at the EC's Joint Research Centre, and Celine Guivarch at the Centre International de Recherche sur lâEnvironnement et le Developpement, writing for Carbon Brief. This leads to a pessimistic view of the challenges ahead, and public aversion to … [Read more...]
COP26: a strategy for tackling âimported deforestationâ
Palm oil, beef, cocoa, coffee, soy, and other agricultural products are responsible for deforestation in the producing countries. Of the 10m hectares of tropical forest lost each year, two-thirds can be unambiguously attributed to agricultural expansion and international trade is responsible for about half of this. The EC is due in December to unveil a legislative proposal to address the issue. Alain Karsenty and Nicolas Picard, writing for IFRI, … [Read more...]
Methane Removal: an overlooked climate solution that could cut temperatures by 1°C?
If you think CO2 removal isnât getting enough attention, methane removal is getting virtually none. There are attempts to reduce methane emissions directly from fossil fuel production. But Rob Jordan at the Stanford Woods Institute for the Environment describes studies and models that conclude we should be looking at large and wide scale reduction and capture of methane. A 40% reduction in global methane emissions by 2050 could reduce peak … [Read more...]
Only Carbon Removal can make Germanyâs new climate goal a reality
Germany canât hit its emissions targets without significant carbon dioxide removal (CRD), explain Simon Göss and Hendrik Schuldt at cr.hub. Clean energy and energy efficiency wonât do it alone. Policymakers have grasped that hard-to-abate sectors (industry, agriculture, buildings, transport) will struggle to deliver the reductions needed. Meanwhile, the climate disasters (floods, wildfires, etc.) that have cost lives this year are piling on … [Read more...]
‘Fit for 55’ should prioritise decarbonisation of laggards: buildings, transport, industry, agriculture
Todayâs long-awaited "Fit for 55" legislative package from the European Commission will trigger intense and difficult negotiations that will last two years, says Nicolas Berghmans at IDDRI. Its scope is wide and inevitably interconnected. The twelve legislative proposals include adjustments to existing measures (renewable energy, energy efficiency, carbon market/EU ETS, energy taxation, climate effort sharing between Member States/ESR, land use … [Read more...]