Many industries – production of steel, aluminium and cement being the most obvious – require high heat processes that today can only be achieved commercially using fossil fuels. Paige Bennett at EcoWatch, writing for WEF, describes a new process using solar thermal trapping to reach temperatures of a little over 1,000°C, hot enough to smelt metal. Scientists used semi-transparent materials, including synthetic quartz, to capture sunlight that … [Read more...]
To make Clean Industry stick, the United States needs new trade mechanisms
The industrial sector throughout the world needs to decarbonise. At the same time, no one country wants to incur the costs and risk losing market share to rivals who decarbonise slowly (or not at all!) Hence the EU’s Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) that imposes costs on carbon-intense imports. This protects clean EU industries while incentivising importers to get going with decarbonisation or lose their European customers. Allegra Dawes … [Read more...]
Buildings: how can Europe reduce emissions from Construction?
11% of global energy-related carbon emissions are embedded in the construction of buildings. Though focus has been on reducing operational emissions (28%, from heating and cooling, power etc.) there is not enough attention paid to construction, explains Carolina Kyllmann at CLEW. She looks at all the issues, including production of materials, transport to the site, construction, renovations, demolition and reuse of materials, and more. Kyllmann … [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...]
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...]
Event summary: “Bioenergy after REDIII – sustainable, climate neutral fuels for industry, transport and negative emissions”
Sara Stefanini provides a written summary of our panel discussion held on Wednesday 4th October 2023. It’s a full summary of the 75 minute discussion, and begins conveniently with a summary of the highlights. Under the recently revised Renewable Energy Directive (REDIII) bioenergy can be counted towards the renewable energy targets – provided that it meets strict sustainability criteria. Bioenergy already accounts for 60% of the EU’s renewable … [Read more...]
Electrochemical Carbon Capture: a cheaper one-step process, power by clean energy
Carbon capture is expensive. Hence continuous attempts in laboratories around the world to find new ways to capture CO2 that are simpler and cheaper. One problem with the traditional method is that it is a two-step process, and energy intensive (therefore powered by high-heat fossil fuels). Jennifer Chu at MIT describes a new electrochemical method that separates out CO2 in a single step, and it’s powered by clean energy. It’s particularly … [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...]
Germany plans for Carbon Capture in Industry: emissions, potentials, costs
In the first article of this series, Simon Göss and Hendrik Schuldt at carboneer gave the background to Germany’s new drive for carbon capture, and summarised the industrial sectors that will be its focus. Here, the authors analyse the emission profiles of German industries (in particular: steel, cement, lime, chemicals, waste incineration) and the associated CCS potentials and costs. The first thing to note is that it’s the process emissions … [Read more...]
Carbon Capture: how all Germany’s captured CO2 can be used by the Chemical industry
The German government is promising to publish a strategy on carbon capture, opening a door that has previously been closed to developing this technology. In the first of a series of articles, Simon Göss and Hendrik Schuldt at carboneer look at why the nation is changing its mind, before laying out the reasons why carbon capture will be essential for Germany to meet its emissions goals. Unlike the power grid, there’s no easy way to decarbonise … [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...]
Evidence of a direct link between Wildfires and Fossil Fuel firms. Can it be used to sue them?
Wildfires are back in the news. The link to rising global temperatures caused by climate change is clear. Mark Specht at the Union of Concerned Scientists summarises their study that, for the first time, puts a number on the level of responsibility attributable to fossil fuel companies. Rising temperatures create a “vapour pressure deficit,” a measure of the power of the air to dry out plants and trees. That leads to an increase in the area … [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. It’s 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 Germany’s strategy, including possible … [Read more...]
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