The decarbonisation of any sector requires not just the right technologies and processes, but the right monitoring of where the emissions are in the supply chain. That monitoring allows the producer to focus on where the main problems are. It also allows buyers and investors to know what’s really happening, and use their power to demand a low emission product. Nicole Labutong and Wenjuan Liu at RMI look at the quality of the monitoring of the … [Read more...]
Will EU decarbonisation policies shift the Fertiliser industry into making Ammonia for energy (but outside the EU)?
The EU’s fertiliser industry must face up to the region’s ambitious decarbonisation rules, making its carbon-intensive processes much more costly. But a door of opportunity is also being opened: the industry already produces ammonia which is increasingly being seen as an alternative clean fuel, explains Hyung-Ja de Zeeuw at Rabobank. The problem for EU nations is that it will be cheaper for the industry to relocate and make that ammonia somewhere … [Read more...]
U.S. and EU: vastly different approaches to trade and climate put a transatlantic deal at risk
Uncertainty over the results of this year’s elections in the U.S. and the EU have effectively postponed trade deals between the two blocks. That means when talks restart in 2025 there will be even less time to find the best compromises. As Gautam Jain, Noah Kaufman, Chris Bataille and Sagatom Saha at the Center on Global Energy Policy explain, it’s why this time should be taken to better understand the differences and lay out the possible … [Read more...]
Buying carbon allowances while decarbonising: what’s the best strategy for an EU industrial firm?
EU industrial companies affected by the big changes to their carbon costs that come from the new EU ETS rules and the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) must create strategies to deal with them, if they haven’t started already. Otherwise they will fall behind those that have. Pablo Ruiz at Rabobank summarises their analyses and conclusions. Ruiz presents a map for each of the different starting positions. The study looks at the critical … [Read more...]
Carbon Footprints for every product: the need for sector-specific, comprehensive granular data and accounting
As governments and consumers increasingly want to know the carbon footprints of individual products, all actors in the global supply chain are under pressure to measure them, and accurately. But existing voluntary emissions reporting frameworks need to greatly improve the quality of their data and accounting processes, explain Nicole Labutong, Wenjuan Liu and Iris Wu at RMI. Blind spots can lead to meaninglessly inaccurate measurements. It’s far … [Read more...]
How much protection from carbon-intensive imports will CBAM give to EU industries?
The EU’s Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) is not a business-as-usual instrument that allows sectors to delay decarbonisation. It applies a levy on imported goods equal to the internal EU ETS-related carbon price, so that both EU-produced goods and those imported into the EU face similar carbon cost pressures. But sectors must use the CBAM phase-in period to decarbonise. Pablo Ruiz and Barbara Kölbl at Rabobank look at how different … [Read more...]
CBAM is now active. A guide to what companies must do to comply
On October 1st 2023 the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) became effective. Its purpose is to limit carbon leakage by establishing a carbon price on imported goods that is equivalent to the carbon price on domestically produced goods. That means introducing a set of reporting and compliance obligations for importers of goods into the EU. Simon Göss and Hendrik Schuldt at carboneer explain the new mechanism and scope (aluminium, cement, … [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...]
Steel, Aluminium: 20% of emissions reductions target must come from Recycling. How?
Recycling is needed to achieve 20% of the emissions reductions targets for the steel and aluminium sectors. It’s an integral part of the 1.5°C climate-aligned decarbonisation pathways in many metal sectors, explain Sravan Chalasani, Wenjuan Liu and Lachlan Wright at RMI. For aluminium products, the share that comes from post-consumer scrap needs to increase from 21% in 2020 to 46% by 2050. Recycling is already a reality, but reporting and … [Read more...]
Embodied Carbon Emissions: understanding the different methodologies being used around the world
The measurement of the embodied carbon emissions of goods tells us what greenhouse gas emissions are generated during the production and transportation of those goods. This achieves two main things. Firstly, it allows producers to understand where their emissions are coming from, and so reduce them. Secondly, it opens the door to putting a price on those emissions, thus incentivising producers to reduce them. But, as Max Gruenig at E3G explains, … [Read more...]
The U.S. should support the EU’s Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM)
The U.S. should get behind Europe’s Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM), says Joseph Majkut at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. Under the EU’s newest agreement, anyone importing CBAM-listed goods into Europe will have to report the emissions associated with their products starting in October, and ultimately face tariffs if those emissions exceed those of the equivalent products made in the EU. The current list is iron and … [Read more...]
EU ETS and CBAM: what the big update to emissions trading rules means for Europe’s key sectors
The EU’s Emissions Trading Scheme is a vital part of the region’s decarbonisation plans. Simon Göss at carboneer digs into the new rules coming in for the existing EU ETS, and the implementation of the new carbon border adjustment mechanism (CBAM). Right now, the existing EU ETS covers around 40% of the EU’s emissions (energy sector, industrial installations and aviation). Its scope is being extended to include maritime transport. On top of that, … [Read more...]
Electrochemical CO2 removal: efficient, cheaper, first industrial client
Leda Zimmerman at MIT describes a method of removing CO2 electrochemically, now being taken forward by MIT spin-off company Verdox. Electrodes are coated with polyanthraquinone. When it is charged, CO2 sticks to it. When it’s time to store it away, the charge is reversed and the gas is expelled as a pure stream of CO2. The technology works in a wide range of CO2 concentrations, from the 20% or higher found in cement and steel industry exhaust … [Read more...]
Aluminium, sulphur and salt batteries. Cheaper than lithium-ion, for homes and EV charging stations
The high and escalating demand for the lithium-ion batteries that dominate the market is driving the search for alternatives. Ideally, they will be made from inexpensive, abundant materials. David Chandler at MIT describes research there into a design that uses aluminium and sulphur as its two electrode materials, with a molten salt electrolyte in-between. The results point at batteries that have a projected cost per cell of about one-sixth that … [Read more...]
Critical minerals: price spikes are affecting Wind, Solar, Batteries, EVs
A wide range of critical minerals are needed for the energy transition. Tae-Yoon Kim at the IEA summarises the reasons why we should expect this to be a year of price spikes due in the main to the Russia-Ukraine war and post-lockdown supply chain bottlenecks. So severe is the problem that the long record of declining costs in clean energy technologies like solar, wind, batteries and electric vehicles is being reversed. Although these crises will … [Read more...]