Decarbonising the European energy system by 2050 will require a fundamental shift for the way the gas industry operates, away from business-as-usual in network planning and market design. Achieving net-zero greenhouse gas emissions in Europe, in line with the Paris Agreement on Climate Change, leaves no room for fossil gas consumption where CO2 is not captured and stored. But turning the gas industry into a zero-carbon industry is no simple task. … [Read more...]
Hydrogen is heading up the European policy agenda
Hydrogen’s momentum is building, as European ministers consider approving a new ‘Hydrogen Initiative’ this week that aims to “maximise the great potential of sustainable hydrogen technology.” With funding from the EU’s Fuel Cells and Hydrogen Joint Undertaking, a consortium of industrial heavyweights in the H2FUTURE project is already ramping up production of hydrogen from renewable sources. But, as the International Renewable Energy Agency notes … [Read more...]
Beyond oil: options for clean fuel production
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...]
Battery startup Brill Power wins New Energy Challenge
UK start-up company Brill Power has won the top prize at the New Energy Challenge 2017 in Amsterdam. The company has developed new technology that greatly increases the lifetime and reliability of lithium-ion batteries. … [Read more...]
The growing potential of green hydrogen
The idea of a hydrogen-based economy has been around since the oil crises of the 1970s, but it has not materialised up to this point. Yet according to Jan Cihlar of Ecofys, a Navigant company, hydrogen could still become a key enabler of the low carbon transition, if it is produced with renewable electricity. The potential of further cost reductions make this a possibility in some applications in transport and industry. … [Read more...]
The lowdown on hydrogen – part 2: production
Electrolysis, powered by renewables, is often seen as the ideal way to produce hydrogen. But electrolysis is expensive and not always efficient, writes Roger Arnold. There are other ways that are more efficient and also climate friendly. This is part 2 of a two-part series on hydrogen written by independent energy expert Roger Arnold. Part 1 deals with the uses of hydrogen in transport. … [Read more...]
The lowdown on hydrogen — part 1: transportation
The hydrogen economy had been written off as a failure by most industry watchers, writes independent energy expert and former software engineer Roger Arnold. Lately, however, hydrogen seems to be making a comeback. Not because of any special technology breakthroughs but because persistence and general advances have begun to pay off. … [Read more...]
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