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Energy Post

The best thinkers on energy

German task force agreement on traffic emissions 1/3 off target

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During what was billed as the decisive meeting, the German transport commission charged with proposing emissions cuts for the sector could only reach consensus on measures that will lower emissions by around two thirds of the necessary amount. Pro-climate activists, disappointed with the results, nevertheless welcomed the recommendation to look into the introduction of a CO2 price. Meanwhile emissions have actually increased. And VW, siding with … [Read more...]

Study says no way to decarbonise the gas sector by 2050

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Gas industry advocates argue that expansion of gas infrastructure is justified because it will be possible to switch to low-carbon gases such as hydrogen and biomethane in future. But research by the International Council on Clean Transportation (ICCT) predicts that biomethane production will remain modest, even with massive subsidies. … [Read more...]

EU gas and power transmission grid operators map out energy future (Energy Post Weekly)

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For the first time ever, the gas and electricity transmission system operators in the EU have joined forces to develop a series of joint scenarios for the European energy system out to 2040. Takeaways: high carbon prices, no shale gas, hardly any CCS, less gas in heating/more gas in transport, less nuclear and more biomethane and power-to-gas. The scenarios matter because they will ultimately help decide which energy infrastructure projects get … [Read more...]

Jet fuel from sugarcane? It’s not a flight of fancy

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Through genetic engineering, researchers from the University of Illinois have produced a new form of sugarcane, called lipidcane, whose leaves contain 12 percent oil, instead of the natural level of 0.05 percent. They are working to produce a variety they call energycane, with 20 percent oil. The new plant variety could produce enough oil to produce biodiesel and jet-fuel economically, they write. Courtesy The Conversation. … [Read more...]

Green Gold: a documentary filmmaker unearths the shocking story behind biofuels

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On 22 November, the impressive documentary “Green Gold” by veteran filmmaker Sergio Ghizzardi premieres at the Aventura cinema in Brussels. Over a period of nearly ten years Ghizzardi travelled to all corners of the globe, interviewing politicians, farmers, oil industry representatives, biofuel producers and NGOs to understand “a political project” that began in Brussels and kicked up a worldwide storm that is still getting bigger every day. … [Read more...]

Five things that should happen at the Bonn climate talks but probably won’t

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If the Paris agreement is to be anything other than a farce, there are five things that should happen at the climate convention that has just started in Bonn, write Matthew Paterson and Marc Hudson of the University of Manchester. Chances are, however, that they won’t. Courtesy The Conversation. … [Read more...]

Beyond oil: options for clean fuel production

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Several options exist for clean fuel production in the long-term future, writes Schalk Cloete in the third and last part of a series on the future of the internal combustion engine. Next-gen biofuels have the potential to approach current oil prices at a low environmental cost. Hydrogen can be produced economically from excess wind/solar power, nuclear heat or fossil fuels with CCS. Ammonia and hydrocarbon synfuels from clean hydrogen can be … [Read more...]

Trading biomass like oil: Lithuania shows how it can be done

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European biomass markets are fragmented and intransparent, writes Jakub Kucera, economic analyst at RSJ, a Prague-based investment company. With one exception: Lithuania has a well-functioning biomass spot market, Baltpool. Could this become a model for other European countries? The Lithuanians would like to expand. … [Read more...]

Biofuel breakthroughs bring ‘negative emissions’ a step closer

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Recent breakthroughs in biofuel research have brought the prospect of ‘negative emissions’ a step closer, writes Andrew Hopkins, Emeritus Professor of Sociology at Australian National University. With the help of pyrolysis, biomass in the form of algae can be converted into char, which can be used as soil additive, returning carbon to the soil. Courtesy The Conversation. … [Read more...]

100% renewable energy for 139 nations detailed in Stanford report

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Mark Z. Jacobson, the famed professor at the Stanford School of Earth, Energy, and Environmental Sciences, and 26 of his colleagues have compiled a report that shows exactly how 139 nations could transition to 100% renewable energy by 2050 without throwing millions of people out of work. In fact, they contend that the changeover would actually spur job growth while dramatically reducing carbon emissions, writes Steve Hanley. Article courtesy of … [Read more...]

Does the 2040 ban on new petrol and diesel cars mean the death of biofuels?

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One question that arises from the announcement by the UK government that new diesel and petrol cars will be banned by 2040 is what it means for biofuels. According to Raffaella Ocone of Heriot-Watt University, co-author of a recent UK-government-funded report into the biofuels industry by the Royal Academy of Engineering, the 2040 ban could be viewed as an opportunity for the biofuels sector. Article courtesy The Conversation. … [Read more...]

Interview bio-energy expert André Faaij: “So much nonsense has been told – high time for the real story”

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“An enormous amount of nonsense” has been told about bio-energy, says André Faaij, scientific director of Energy Academy Europe and professor Energy Systems Analysis at the University of Groningen in the Netherlands. According to Faaij, it is high time for the real – scientifically validated – story. “The bio-based economy is indispensable for our climate policy and can mean huge progress for agriculture and nature in developing countries”. … [Read more...]

Interview David Hone, Chief Climate Change Advisor Shell: “Net zero emissions are achievable. The timing is challenging”

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EU climate and energy policy is “reasonably effective”, but it could achieve more for the climate if it focused purely on reducing CO2-emissions, says David Hone, Chief Climate Change Advisor at Shell, in an interview with Energy Post. “There are too many goals and too many targets.” Hone also argues that first generation biofuels are needed to make advanced biofuels work and that a “new approach” towards CCS is urgently needed. Globally, Hone … [Read more...]

A new energy bible: Samuele Furfari explains why technology is king

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If you’re in the energy business, here is a new manual for you that lays out the essentials of what energy is and how it shapes geopolitics today. Professor and long-time European Commission official Samuele Furfari has condensed his 39 years of experience in the energy sector into a two-volume tome of more than 1,250 pages that goes right from the fundamentals of physics through Britain’s rule of the Middle East to modern day realities such as … [Read more...]

Biopower (part 2): Climate science for bioenergy is lost in the woods

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Producing electricity from biomass is one of the most controversial and least understood forms of renewable energy.  In this three part series, we first explored myths and facts about biopower. In this second installment we’ll try to make sense of a seemingly simple question – is biopower good for cutting our carbon emissions?  It is anything but simple. This series first appeared on the Energy Transition blog, at energytransition.org. … [Read more...]