Hydrogen rivals oil and gas for storage and hard-to-decarbonise sectors (industry, heavy and long distance transport). But it isnāt all carbon free. āGreyā hydrogen ā the cheapest at ā¬1.50/kilo - is made from gas. āBlueā hydrogen depends on the fortunes of carbon capture technology. āGreenā hydrogen is CO2 free, but needs further cost reductions in the green electricity used in the electrolysis process. NoĆ© van Hulst, at the Netherlandās Ministry … [Read more...]
UK oil & gas keeps rising. Clean Energy blueprint can reverse it
In the UK the Ā£2.3bn (=$2.9bn / ā¬2.6bn) in new oil and gas subsidies introduced since 2014 will state-fund the addition of twice as much carbon as its coal phaseout saves, says a new report āSea Change: Climate Emergency, Jobs and Managing the Phase-out of UK Oil and Gas Extractionā. Can the UK call itself a climate leader if its existing policies push it over its emissions limits? It can, if you consider this: the UK took 16 years to become the … [Read more...]
UKās net-zero ambition: counting all emissions, not just in-country
The UKās Committee on Climate Change (CCC) has advised its government to go zero-carbon by 2050. But, say Joe Blakey and Marc Hudson of the University of Manchester, counting all emissions means counting the carbon footprint of imports too. Including these (and excluding emissions from exports) the UKās footprint is 70% higher than the figure used by the CCC. The same is likely true for all high income economies. And the cost of successful … [Read more...]
Carbon Capture: Can CO2-EOR really provide carbon-negative oil?
Enhanced Oil Recovery (EOR) injects CO2 into oil reservoirs, increasing the pressure and forcing the oil out. 20% of global oil production uses EOR. But if that CO2 doesnāt stay underground it hasnāt been captured. If it was itself extracted from natural underground CO2, there is no benefit ā or worse. Ideally, it should come from already captured CO2. But most oil wells are nowhere near a CCUS (carbon capture, usage and storage) facility: in the … [Read more...]
IEA: Renewables growth worldwide is stalling
Itās bad enough that 2018 net capacity additions did not exceed 2017ās after two decades of strong growth. It is far more troubling that nobody saw it coming, says the IEA, who have laid out the data and main cause: stop-go policies. 2018's 180 GW is only 60% of what needs to be added each year to meet climate goals. China, the EU, India and Japan all fell back. Only emerging economies, developing countries and the US (slightly) saw growth. … [Read more...]
50% Hydrogen for Europe: a manifesto
Electricity has well known limitations, mainly for bulk and long-range transport, industrial processes requiring high temperature heat, and the chemicals industry. To entirely replace fossil fuels we need hydrogen, say Frank Wouters and Prof. Dr. Ad van Wijk. It has an energy density comparable to hydrocarbons. There's more: Europeās electric grid canāt cope with 100% electrification, yet hydrogen would use the existing gas pipe networks. The … [Read more...]
EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW – GCCA’s Claude Lorea: āHow can we provide the world with the concrete it needs in a sustainable way?ā
Concrete is, after water, the most consumed resource on the planet and no other man-made material is more widely used. Without it, there are no buildings, bridges, dams or roads ā no Sydney Opera House, no Hoover Dam or Golden Gate Bridge, no Pantheon in Rome.Ā It is no surprise, then, that it has significant environmental impacts. More than 4bn tonnes of cement, the main ingredient of concrete, are produced every yearĀ leading to between 5 and 8% … [Read more...]
Thereās a limit to raising CO2 taxes. Re-focus on energy innovations to reverse emissions
Stop obsessing about raising CO2 taxes, says Severin Borenstein at the Energy Institute at Haas. Itās good, but not enough. Why? Textbook economics says if you tax something bad, innovators are incentivised and rewarded for coming up with something better. Thatās true for cigarettes (vaping), plastic wrapping (recyclables, biodegradables), traffic (public transport). But thereās a limit with CO2 taxes, says the author. In developing countries … [Read more...]
Leaked German govt report: emissions target will be missed despite on-target renewables
A leaked draft of Germanyās Energiewende Progress Report 2019, due to be released by the economy ministry in May or June, predicts the country will miss its targets for reducing energy use and greenhouse gas emissions by wide margins. This is despite the inevitable emissions reductions due to the 2009 recession and being on track for renewables. If no other measures are taken Germany will reduce emissions by 33% by 2020, falling short of the … [Read more...]
Children today must emit eight times less CO2 than their grandparents
No wonder young people have taken the reins of the climate demonstrations away from the adults. Zeke Hausfather at Carbon Brief shows that the global budget for avoiding warming of 1.5C or 2C has already been mostly used up. To put that in numbers, if children emit like their parents theyāll exhaust their carbon budget in just 9 years. Itās why emissions must peak in the next few years and then rapidly decline to hit the Paris targets. Thatās … [Read more...]
Global āsectoralā treaties, legally binding corporate targets can turn around emissions rise
The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change started with a top-down legally binding Kyoto Protocol and ended up with a bottom-up āself-determinedā voluntary Paris Agreement, says Chandra Bhushan. As a result, nobody has the tools to drive global collective action to combat climate change. The author says thatās why emissions are at record levels. He recommends international āsectoralā treaties to achieve real transition in energy, … [Read more...]
German task force agreement on traffic emissions 1/3 off target
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...]
Launch of EASAC report on Decarbonisation of Transport: Options and Challenges
Rubens room, Palais des Academies, Hertogstraat 1 Rue Ducale, 1000 Brussels Ā The EASAC report reviews options for reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from European transport. It argues for stronger policies to bridge the gap between the GHG emission reductions that will be delivered by current policies and the levels needed to limit global warming to less than 2Ā°C or even 1.5Ā°C (Paris Agreement). The report focusses on road transport … [Read more...]
Renewable hydrogen āalready cost competitiveā, says new research
Jocelyn Timperley at Carbon Brief has interviewed the lead author, and the critics, of this new reportĀ titled āEconomics of converting renewable power to hydrogenā. The research says renewable hydrogenĀ is already proving competitive for niche, high-intensity users in Germany and Texas. Future technological improvements, combined with expected changes to subsidies and CCS requirements, can make it so for large-scale industrial users in the next 10 … [Read more...]
Clean air transport: batteries or biojet or both – but letās get on with it
In his last articleĀ for Energy Post, Mike ScottĀ looked at how airlines are under increasing pressure to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions rather than offsetting them as they do now. How can it be done? There is no one-size-fits-all solution for the varied size of aircraft and flight distances but that should be no excuse. Battery innovation offers solutions for some cases whilst biojet (aviation biofuel) can fill many of the remaining gaps. … [Read more...]
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