The IEA summarises its 33-page report âEmissions from Oil and Gas Operations in Net Zero Transitionsâ. The IEA says the oil and gas sector needs ÂŁ600bn up front to meet its 2030 target of a 60% reduction in emissions. Thatâs only 15% of the sectorâs record 2022 energy-crisis windfall income. A small price increase and savings should recoup that money âquicklyâ, says the IEA. The IEA not only maps a way to limit the global average temperature rise … [Read more...]
CO2 emissions from Land Use: country-level data for turning âemittersâ into âsinksâ
Until carbon capture technologies take off (if at all!), the worldâs CO2 removals depend entirely on nature. Clemens Schwingshackl, Wolfgang Obermeier and Julia Pongratz at Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich, writing for Carbon Brief, review the latest data on âcarbon fluxesâ which measure whether the land is a net âsourceâ of carbon or a âsink.â Flux measurements are categorised: deforestation, forestation, wood-harvest emissions, removals … [Read more...]
IEAâs new CCUS projects database: a tool for driving much needed progress
The IEA has made available for the first time its CCUS projects database. The number of countries with plans to develop CCUS now stands at 45, with seven more countries - in central and southern Europe, the Middle East, and Southeast Asia â joining the list in 2022. The database covers CO2 capture, transport, storage, and utilisation projects worldwide commissioned since the 1970s, and have an announced capacity of more than 100,000âŻtonnes/year … [Read more...]
Should U.S. DOE risk funding methane-based Hydrogen production when CCS is still not proven?
The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) is allocating $8bn for building regional clean hydrogen hubs. Decisions on who to fund are being made now and will be completed by the end of this year. Any methane-based hydrogen project that achieves a 95% carbon capture rate will be sufficiently âcleanâ to qualify for the federal funding. But, as Suzanne Mattei, David Schlissel and Dennis Wamsted at IEEFA explain, the few âat scaleâ CCS projects now running … [Read more...]
âGreen Deal Industrial Planâ explainer: 40%+ of the top low-carbon technologies must be made in the EU by 2030
The ECâs new series of proposed targets and reforms, contained in its Green Deal Industrial Plan, aim to ensure that at least 40% of the EUâs low-carbon technologies will be made within its borders by 2030. The eight âstrategic net-zero technologiesâ are: Solar (power and thermal); Onshore and offshore wind; Batteries and energy storage; Heat pumps and geothermal; Electrolysers and fuel cells; Sustainable biogas/biomethane; CCS; Grid … [Read more...]
Direct capture of CO2 from seawater: new research cuts costs, ready for pilot in 2025
Direct capture of CO2 from the air is already established in pilot phase in sites around the world, but costs are very high. So it is puzzling that capturing CO2 direct from the sea is yet to be tested properly. After all, the concentration of CO2 in seawater is more than 100 times greater than in the air, pointing at a process that should be much more efficient. David Chandler at MIT looks at research there that has uncovered cheaper and more … [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...]
Steel decarbonisation: Australia must stop making excuses and follow Europeâs lead
Australian steel makers, major global exporters, must stop making excuses about decarbonisation and look to Europe for a role model, argues Simon Nicholas at IEEFA. A pattern of behaviour by Australiaâs steel makers reveals that their excuse is that low-carbon solutions are not yet ready, leaving only promises of carbon capture (as yet unproven at scale) some time in the future. Nicholas notes that these promises will never have to be kept by the … [Read more...]
What does the âglobal carbon budgetâ mean? Have we got 9 years left?
Piers Forster and Debbie Rosen at the University of Leeds and Robin Lamboll and Joeri Rogelj at Imperial College London, writing for Carbon Brief, look at the carbon budget estimates of the Global Carbon Project and the IPCC, the methodology and the inevitable uncertainties. They compare it to their own latest report from the CONSTRAIN research project. Where the GCP and the IPCC estimate nine years left of carbon emissions at current emission … [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...]
Event Summary: âCHINA: Carbon Neutral by 2060 â The Future of Gasâ
Here are the written highlights of our 2-day 4-session workshop âCHINA: Carbon Neutral by 2060 â The Future of Gasâ, compiled by Helena Uhde at ECECP. Here you can quickly see the main points made by our expert panellists. Global events have made gas the hottest of issues, and the implications for both Europe and China are strongly reflected in all the sessions. The four session topics were Security of Supply, CCUS for the Gas Sector, Competitive … [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 itâs 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...]
Carbon Capture is a risky decarbonisation pathway: 13 flagship projects reviewed
The debate around the effectiveness of carbon capture (you can register now for our CCUS session on Wednesday at 10.45 - Editor) has led to polarising views. Although the first implementations began 50 years ago, serious efforts to capture large volumes cost-effectively are in their infancy and unproven at scale. Is it, given time and support, a solution to excess emissions worldwide? Or is it a distraction that will allow fossils to be used yet … [Read more...]
Modelling green Ammonia and Methanol in 2050. It will be expensive
Schalk Cloete starts by explaining that it is unrealistic to expect clean electrification to carry the main burden of energy supply. Even a fast roll out will be constrained by a range of infrastructure and cost limitations. Hence our continued dependence on fuels, with their high energy density and ease of transport. Those fuels will have to be made clean, so he summarises his co-authored papers that model the cost of green and blue ammonia and … [Read more...]
A role for Coal? Low-cost, negative emissions Blue Hydrogen from âMAWGSâ Coal/Biomass co-gasification
Schalk Cloete summarises his co-authored study that explains how to make hydrogen at unbeatably low prices from coal/biomass co-gasification. Though the âblueâ hydrogen process creates CO2, the self-contained plant using a membrane-assisted water-gas shift (MAWGS) reactor means 100% is captured easily. Better still, the use of biomass means the plant achieves negative emissions. The overall efficiency of the process is a very impressive 69%. The … [Read more...]
