For two years there was little movement after German Chancellor Angela Merkel put carbon capture, removal, and storage back on Germany’s agenda. But the past few months have seen pressure build for a launch of CCS that may model itself on Germany’s success with solar, explains Lee Beck writing for Atlantic Council. Political voices both within and outside government, as well as investments by giants like Heidelberg Cement and Linde, are giving … [Read more...]
Green Hydrogen: reducing the cost needs scaling up of electrolyser plants
More and more nations are committing to the promise of hydrogen. That promise cannot be kept unless costs come down. A report from IRENA, ”Green Hydrogen Cost Reduction: Scaling up Electrolysers to Meet the 1.5⁰C Climate Goal“, breaks down what needs to be done. Two of its authors, Herib Blanco and Emanuele Taibi, summarise the study and point at the more than 20 countries (and companies like Thyssenkrupp, NEL and ITM) committing to doing it. The … [Read more...]
For energy security and waste reduction, EV battery manufacture in Europe is on the horizon
Europe should have sufficient battery manufacture capacity for all its EV needs, explains Sam Hargreaves at T&E. Their report shows that Europe will not only achieve that capacity target this year itself, but has the ability to keep it up as EV sales continue to grow (460 GWh in 2025 and 700 GWh in 2030 of battery production in Europe). The report also stresses the major benefit of reduced waste. If manufacturers hit EU recycling targets, EV … [Read more...]
Can the U.S. switch on a Nuclear Fusion plant by 2035?
Momentum is building in the U.S. for the switching on of a nuclear fusion pilot plant by 2035. A report from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine lays out for the first time the required technical, economic, and regulatory standards. It comes soon after the prospects for fusion were boosted in January by a government bill that funds fusion activities. Peter Dunn at MIT reviews the report and speaks to the experts. The main … [Read more...]
EU Taxonomy: 5 principles for avoiding unintended consequences
The EU Taxonomy is a classification system that defines a list of environmentally sustainable economic activities. If your activity is on the list you should see green finance flow your way. Hence the heated debate over what is “green”. It’s of vital interest to sectors like gas and nuclear (it’s green compared to the coal it replaces) as it will have a major effect on the cost of capital and therefore the future of the sector. Indeed, any … [Read more...]
U.S. supports carbon capture R&D and commercialisation
Many are hoping that the new U.S. administration becomes a climate leader. Nowhere is leadership needed more than in the field of carbon capture. Most net zero pathways give it an essential and major role, yet the possible solutions are still in their infancy. Anne Canavati at the Atlantic Council looks at the new bills being passed in Washington that appear to be the beginnings of a serious push to develop and commercialise Carbon Dioxide … [Read more...]
Washington State (U.S.) bill could make it the home for next generation Nuclear
Nuclear may soon be getting a boost from Washington State in the north-west of the U.S. There, a bill is being presented to promote the manufacture and deployment of new nuclear reactors. It will provide generous tax incentives to nuclear investments in the state. It’s the sort of support that renewable energy technology is used to, yet nuclear struggles to get because of critics of nuclear energy. That opposition is very frustrating, explains … [Read more...]
New research into Catalysts can boost Hydrogen manufacture
Catalysts are materials used to enable and accelerate a chemical reaction. There is a long history of using them in industry to manufacture different hydrocarbons, ammonia, sulfuric acid, and the list goes on. By choosing your materials well and tinkering with the structure at the molecular level, the catalyst can greatly improve the efficiency of the conversion process. Glennda Chui at the SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory describes how their … [Read more...]
Quantum Well solar cell sets new record for converting light to energy
There’s a new world-record for two-junction solar cells, converting 32.9% of sunlight into electricity. Although it’s only a small improvement on the previous record of 32.8% it uses a design that should lead to even greater performance. NREL, in collaboration with the University of New South Wales (Australia), has built a cell consisting of a series of more than 150 ultrathin layers of alternating semiconductors that create quantum wells which … [Read more...]
Nine advantages small-scale solutions have for reducing global emissions
Which is best? Spending your budget on a million 1 KW solar panels or a single 1 GW nuclear/hydro/gas plant? Lots of electric bikes or a single tram system? Lots of smart thermostats or whole-building retrofits? Charlie Wilson (University of East Anglia), Caroline Zimm (IIASA) and Simon De Stercke (Imperial College London) summarise their study that lists the advantages of small-scale “granular” solutions over large-scale “lumpy” ones. Granular … [Read more...]
How can Europe help build China’s Hydrogen economy?
On 18th November Energy Post, in partnership with the EU-China Energy Cooperation Platform, hosted a series of online workshops under the theme “China: Carbon Neutral by 2060”. The purpose was to understand the Chinese landscape and uncover opportunities for Europe. Here, the moderator for our “Hydrogen” panel, Gökçe Mete, summarises the workshop which included an expert panel discussion and questions from the audience. Taking part were Tudor … [Read more...]
Biden’s Green New Deal: bipartisan support should clear a path for Nuclear
President-elect Joe Biden knows that a divided Congress and Senate will make passing most legislation very difficult, not least his sweeping decarbonisation agenda. However, there is one area where both Republicans and Democrats share the same goals, and that is nuclear power. Jennifer Gordon at the Atlantic Council explains why this can clear a path for nuclear while other elements of Biden’s clean energy programme may struggle and even fail. … [Read more...]
Solar power stations in space that beam uninterruptible power back to Earth
It’s still on the drawing board, but putting solar farms into orbit has obvious advantages. The power is 24/7, and no sunlight is lost through the atmosphere. But there are two big challenges. Amanda Jane Hughes and Stefania Soldini at the University of Liverpool explain how the European Space Agency, the California Institute of Technology, the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, and Xidian University in China, among others, are attempting to … [Read more...]
Waste-to-Energy is underperforming. Whole-energy-system simulator can uncover the bottlenecks
The potential for Waste-to-Energy (WTE) in the U.S. is 674 TWh/year, roughly 8% of the energy used by the transportation sector. However, for reasons not easily understood, many WTE technologies struggle to make it to commercial scale. Researchers at NREL have built a first-of-a-kind simulation model, WESyS, to create scenarios and understand where the bottlenecks are. The whole-energy system is always complex. The WESyS simulation modules … [Read more...]
Battery innovation must drive the 50-fold increase in storage capacity needed by 2040
The IEA has set the storage sector a challenge. It says the world will need 10,000 GW-hours of batteries and other forms of energy storage by 2040, a 50-fold increase on today. The good news is that a joint study by the European Patent Office and the IEA reveals electricity storage patenting activity has grown 14% a year over the past decade. Here the IEA summarises the findings of its comprehensive report. It explains that Japan and Korea lead, … [Read more...]
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