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...]
Piloting green shipping corridors: Australia-Japan and Asia-Europe
The shipping industry is diverse, disaggregated and part of the logistical chain of 80% of global trade. So reducing its emissions (3% of the global total) will be complex. One way to cut through this complexity is to create a limited number of green shipping corridors between major port hubs, to pilot solutions. This can shrink the challenge of coordination between fuel infrastructure, vessels, firms and national policies down to a manageable … [Read more...]
Hydrogen at COP26: committing to scale-up and creating demand
At COP26 the voice of hydrogen staked its claim to meeting its targets and its contribution to making the 1.5°C scenario a realistic ambition. Cato Koole and Thomas Koch Blank at Rocky Mountain Institute explain that hydrogen supply should not be the problem. The combination of deployed and announced projects already places the world close to the green hydrogen production capacity needed as outlined in the IEA’s "Net Zero by 2050" roadmap. The … [Read more...]
Aviation, Steel, Shipping CEOs ask COP26 to back their decarbonisation pathways
The seven “hardest to abate” industries together account for 30% of global greenhouse gas emissions. They are aviation, steel, shipping, cement, aluminium, trucking and chemicals. John Matson at RMI explains how a growing number of sector-leading corporates in aviation, steel and shipping are now openly backing net-zero pathways. He quotes CEOs and top executives (ArcelorMittal, United Airlines, Trafigura) on what they say they are determined to … [Read more...]
Green hydrogen-based fuels pivotal in decarbonising Shipping by 2050
The international shipping sector’s emission levels are comparable to Germany’s. Like aviation and heavy transport, reaching net-zero will need renewable fuels – direct electrification won’t be sufficient. Existing fossil fuel engines allow for biofuel blends of up to 20% without any modifications, and 100% methanol engines are a proven technology. Making sufficient quantities of clean fuels - without consuming food crops – is the challenge. … [Read more...]
Giving car manufacturers e-fuel credits will slow the rise of EVs
Transport & Environment (T&E) explains why e-fuel credits should not be included in the EU’s CO2 standards for new cars. If they are, it would give carmakers the option to claim an ICE vehicle as low- or zero-emission. But carmakers have no control over what fuel their customers put in their cars, making the regulation impossible to monitor. That opens the door to double-counting emission reductions with other existing regulations (Fuel … [Read more...]
Renewable Hydrogen: what policy instruments are needed to reach the new targets?
A comprehensive mix of policy instruments is needed to ensure that the EU meets its ambitious hydrogen targets. What should they look like? Pia Kerres, Matthias Schimmel and Corinna Klessmann at Guidehouse quote their study, done in collaboration with Agora Energiewende, for the answers. Industry and long-haul transport should be the main customers for hydrogen. The big challenge is to cut the cost of hydrogen production; it’s too expensive and … [Read more...]
Engineering yeast to create Biofuels from non-food crops (straw, grass, cellulosic waste)
Using ethanol can reduce the global consumption of fossil fuels. But, commercially, ethanol in the U.S. is produced from corn and not enough is grown to make a significant impact on U.S. fuel needs. Anne Trafton at MIT describes research that has engineered yeast to break down straw and woody plant material to create ethanol as efficiently as it’s done from corn. High yields of ethanol were extracted from five different types of cellulosic … [Read more...]
Where to start building Hydrogen pipelines? Near industrial hubs for steel, ammonia, and plastics
Converting gas pipelines to carry hydrogen is going to be expensive. We don’t even know how much hydrogen we’ll really need in 2050, given electrification – the cheaper and preferred option to replace fossil fuels – will always be the first option. But we do know that certain industries like steel, ammonia, and plastics will always need hydrogen as a feedstock. Writing for WEF, Kevin Tu, Matthias Deutsch and Gniewomir Flis at Agora Energiewende … [Read more...]
Aviation and Shipping emissions: will Biden take on the challenge?
William Todts at Transport & Environment is very worried about the Biden administration’s approach to aviation and shipping emissions. The signals are that the U.S. wants to work through the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) and the International Maritime Organization (IMO). But they have neither the ability nor the means to spur technological breakthroughs. That matters, because it’s only the use of alternative fuels that can … [Read more...]
Bioenergy is the undervalued pillar of the clean energy transition
Bioenergy is already the world’s largest source of renewable energy, responsible for 70% of the supply (and around 10% of total primary energy). Burning organic matter goes back to the invention of fire and is still commonplace around the globe. Yet it gets hardly any of the attention and policy support that’s given to other clean energy technologies like solar, wind and now hydrogen. Bioenergy can and should play an even greater role, explain … [Read more...]
Biofuels vs Hydrogen: which can fuel aviation, shipping, trucks?
The positive signals coming from EV sales and charge points contrast with the lack of progress in finding alternative fuels for aviation, shipping and trucks. Cornelius Claeys runs through the prospects for biofuels and hydrogen to power long-haul transport. Biofuels are already used as a substitute for fossil fuels, and EV uptake will usefully free them for fuelling heavy transport. But as decarbonisation ambitions rise the pressure on scarce … [Read more...]
IEA: Without accelerating clean energy innovations we cannot hit net zero by 2050
The impressive rise of renewables and energy efficiency, alone, will not be sufficient to meet the world’s 2050 emissions goal, says the IEA in its flagship Clean Energy Innovation report. New technologies, taken all the way through to widespread adoption by the market, must become an essential part of the net zero pathway. The stark warning is that existing policies to decarbonise shipping, trucks, aviation and heavy industry are not nearly … [Read more...]
An EU Hydrogen strategy: from industry feedstock to energy vector
The bravest recovery strategies will invest robustly in new yet-to-take-off clean energy technologies. If you are going to have to spend hundreds of billions to revive your economy isn’t it better to replace the old with the new rather than prop up what you’ll have to abandon soon anyway? In anticipation of that happening, new technologies are lining up. Here, CĂ©dric Philibert at the IFRI Centre for Energy & Climate summarises their detailed … [Read more...]
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