The EU’s RePowerEU plan, quickly made in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, aims to produce 20m tonnes of renewable hydrogen by 2030, with half coming from imports. Here, T&E summarise their report that concludes this is unrealistic. The report looks at six key countries with plans to export hydrogen to the EU: Norway, Chile, Egypt, Morocco, Namibia and Oman. T&E says these countries combined would only be able to deliver a quarter … [Read more...]
Europe is updating its price cap sanctions on Russian oil. How to make them work?
The EC has put forward proposals for tightening the implementation of a price cap on Russian oil exports. Brian O’Toole, Olga Khakova and Charles Lichfield at the Atlantic Council and Tomasz Wlostowski at EU Strategies review the performance of the price cap sanctions one year on from their implementation, and give recommendations for how to make them work better. Though most observers agree that the cap has limited export income for Russia this … [Read more...]
Europe’s big Hydrogen ambitions won’t deliver. Stick to ammonia-fertiliser, refining, shipping, aviation (maybe later)
Europe’s hydrogen ambitions need a reality check. The EU’s goal to produce and import 20m tonnes of clean hydrogen by 2030 is now widely seen as completely unrealistic, says William Todts at T&E. The business case is not good enough because of the high costs that aren’t coming down as hoped. It’s why only 4% of hydrogen projects get financed. Far better to focus on no regrets, low infrastructure hydrogen applications for ammonia-fertiliser, … [Read more...]
Green Methanol: an alternative fuel for heavy vehicles and shipping?
It’s very early days but pilot projects for green methanol are underway, explains Gabi Thesing writing for WEF. It’s a low-carbon fuel that can be produced from renewable sources such as biomass or using carbon capture. Compared to traditional fossil fuels it can reduce CO2 emissions by 60-95%, nitrogen oxide by 60-80%, and almost completely eliminate sulphur oxide and particulate matter emissions. Green methanol can be blended with traditional … [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...]
Concawe Symposium tackles climate and pollution as RED commits fuel companies to 29% renewable content from 2030
With the adoption of REDIII last week we are set for a dramatic increase in the “renewable” element of liquid fuels. It means that in just 10 years, the renewable element will have tripled, rising from 10% in 2020 to 29% from 2030 onwards. In the EU, Concawe (a division of the European fuel manufacturing industry) develops scientific research and technical studies on the fuel industry’s products and operations, and their impact. Concawe is … [Read more...]
The world needs 200,000 Offshore Wind turbines by 2050: mapping the locations, constraints
Hugo Putuhena, Fraser Sturt and Susan Gourvenec at the University of Southampton summarise the results of their methodology that determines where to locate the hundreds of thousands more offshore wind turbines the world needs to meet net-zero targets. The world may need as many as 200,000 offshore turbines by 2050, generating 2,000GW. At the end of 2022, 63GW had been installed worldwide, so that means 32 times current capacity. If the “power … [Read more...]
“Book and Claim”: 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. “Book and Claim” 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...]
Decarbonising Shipping: “book and claim” pilot uses clean fuel tokens that move from cargo through to fuel producers
Switching to clean alternative fuels is the key component of the decarbonisation of shipping. But it faces the classic “chicken and egg” problem of who moves first: the fuel producers, the refuelling ports or their customers the ship and cargo owners. Aparajit Pandey and Oscar Hernandez at RMI explain how a “book and claim” system can be the answer. It’s already proven itself in electricity markets and the aviation sector. Digital tokens are … [Read more...]
Hydrogen’s innovation pipeline: signals strong ahead of World Hydrogen Summit in Rotterdam, May 9-11, 2023
The IEA and the European Patents Office have, for the first time, reported on patents filed worldwide to get a measure of the innovations we’re seeing in the hydrogen sector, summarised here by Ian Shine. Overall, Europe and Japan are leading. Although the U.S. is a close third, with 20% of the total, their filings have declined compared to the previous decade. The fastest growth is in China (15.2%) and South Korea (12.2%). There has been a … [Read more...]
Can Global Shipping turn talk into action on reducing emissions?
This week the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) member states are meeting to find ways and agree on how to step up their climate goals. Strategies and targets have been presented, but agreement and binding commitments are needed urgently. There are big differences of opinion within the IMO, and it might turn out that regional and industry developments will drive change faster, explains Christiaan De Beukelaer at Durham University. For … [Read more...]
What will an international marketplace for Hydrogen look like?
Though any nation can in theory make its own hydrogen, some will be able to do it much more cheaply than others. Herib Blanco at IRENA summarises their study that looks at the factors that determine the difference, along with the hydrogen transport costs that will influence the global trade that should emerge. By 2050, those transport costs could reach levels below $1/kgH2 once economies of scale are reached and supply chains are fully developed. … [Read more...]
100% green shipping would add less than 10 cents to the cost of Nike trainers from China
Upcoming EU policies intended to cut shipping emissions would add just a few cents to the cost of goods all the way from China, says an analysis by T&E. Extending carbon pricing to shipping and mandating small amounts of green e-fuel use by 2030 will mean a pair of trainers would cost just €0.003 more, a television €0.03 and a refrigerator up to €0.27 more. It’s because final costs are not very sensitive to fuel costs. The more startling … [Read more...]
Russia-Ukraine stalls EU Biofuels, but accelerates its medium/long-term targets
Rising food and fuel costs are pushing several EU countries to freeze or lower 2022-2023 low-carbon blending mandates for transportation fuels. That will likely mean a rise in emissions, but only in the short term, says Cornelius Claeys at Stratas Advisors. However, the same policymakers understand that ending imports of fossil fuels from a belligerent Russia is an opportunity to raise low-carbon targets for the medium and long term. So, right … [Read more...]
Renewable Ammonia’s role in reducing dependence on Gas
Today, IRENA and the Ammonia Energy Association (AEA) released its “Innovation Outlook Renewable Ammonia” which updates in detail the current state and prospects for green ammonia as an energy carrier. Here, Dolf Gielen, Francisco Boshell and Gabriel Castellanos at IRENA and Kevin Rouwenhorst and Trevor Brown at the AEA summarise the findings. Worldwide ammonia production, though fossil-based, is already at-scale as a feedstock for fertiliser. So … [Read more...]