There is a danger that the U.S. Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) subsidies for hydrogen production (defined in provision 45V) may create perverse incentives that do not reduce emissions and may increase them. James Sallee at the Energy Institute at Haas explains why. The goal is to make âgreenâ hydrogen powered by newly built clean energy. But what if the generously subsidised hydrogen is made from clean energy (new or not) that should be powering … [Read more...]
Agrivoltaics: GWs of solar power from farmland using strategically placed panels (and raising crop yields)
In Canada and the U.S. âagrivoltaicsâ are taking off. Itâs when solar panels are laid out strategically on farmland. After concerns that it will obstruct farm machinery and lower crop yields, studies have shown that panels â on a large scale â can be placed so that they do not. In fact, certain crop yields can be raised when the panels are used to shield them from direct sunlight, explains Joshua Pearce at Western University, Canada. He looks at … [Read more...]
Industryâs 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 Mechanismâs (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...]
Affordable âŹ25k EVs by 2025: Europeâs carmakers can do it. Instead theyâre making more profitable SUVs
T&E present a summary of their study which shows that European carmakers can produce affordable EVs (40 kWh LFP battery, 250-300 km range) priced at âŹ25k by 2025 with a reasonable 4% profit margin. Priced for the mass market, this would add a million extra EV sales annually, accelerate the removal of combustion engines, and counter Chinaâs dominance of the EV market. The obstacle is the insistence by Europeâs leading manufacturers - BMW, … [Read more...]
Space-Based Solar Power: getting closer as SpaceX and Blue Origin bring down the cost of heavy-lift launches?
âSpace-based solar powerâ (SBSP) sounds great in theory: giant solar farms in space collect unobstructed sunlight 24/7 and beam it to Earth stations, all using technology that already exists. It isnât getting off the ground (pun intended!) primarily because of the cost of launching thousands of tonnes into space, plus assembly and maintenance. The attraction is that, if it can happen affordably, it could provide a hundred times the energy the … [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 Germanyâs 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 itâs the process emissions … [Read more...]
âBook and Claimâ: how end consumers can pay distant producers for low carbon products
In long logistical chains (found in steel, concrete, aviation, shipping and others) end consumers that want to pay a premium to cut their emissions (for example to comply with corporate decarbonisation promises) often have no way to pay the first link in that chain to go low-carbon. âBook and Claimâ creates a market to do that. Consumers buy certificates, and producers get the money to fulfil the commitment. And a working system will bring to … [Read more...]
Building Materials âEmbodied Carbonâ: 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 âfugitiveâ 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...]
Nearly half of national climate pledges (NDCs) intend to keep extracting fossil fuels
âNationally Determined Contributionsâ (NDCs) are a nationâs published plans to reduce emissions and adapt to the impacts of climate change. Natalie Jones at the IISD, writing for Carbon Brief, summarises her co-authored study that reviews the fossil fuel production element of those NDCs. Nations are obliged to update their NDCs every five years, to give more detail. That added detail is a cause for concern in the latest round of NDCs: there is an … [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. Itâs 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...]
Germanyâs proposed de facto ban on new fossil boilers from 2024 meets fierce resistance
Like many nations, Germany is struggling to find a way to replace fossil fuel-powered boilers in millions of homes and buildings with heat pumps and other cleaner alternatives. Heating accounts for a whopping 15% of the countryâs emissions. As Sören Amelang at CLEW explains, the up-front cost of a new clean heater can be double that of existing mass-produced fossil equivalent, so home owners are resistant. In 2022, two thirds of all new heating … [Read more...]
U.S. EPA: new rules proposed for cutting Fossil Fuel-Fired Power Plant emissions
In May the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency proposed new rules regulating carbon emissions from fossil fuel-fired power plants. Here, four experts from the Center for Strategic and International Studies â Cy McGeady, John Larsen, Kyle Danish and Mathias Zacarias â make their assessment and point at the wide-ranging implications. The main issues covered include CCS, hydrogen-fuelled generation, state clean energy standards, carbon pricing, … [Read more...]
The history of evidence of CO2-driven climate change starts in the mid-1800s
Marc Hudson at the University of Sussex gives us a fascinating review of the history of climate change science. While the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) was established in 1988, experimental evidence that CO2 traps heat dates back to the mid-1800s. The first predictions of global warming caused by humans came in 1895. The big change in perception took place in 1953. Canadian physicist Gilbert Plass (an academic whose career also … [Read more...]
Oil & Gas can meet 2030 net-zero target for only $600bn, quickly recouped. But itâs still not happening, warns IEA
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...]
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