Germany is putting in place plans and legislation to launch its green hydrogen economy. Sila Akat and Simon Göss at Energy Brainpool look at the laws and regulations, existing and expected soon, that are driving this game-changing ambition. They have also created five scenarios (two are explained in detail here) for production, based on those plans. The reference “Stated Policies” scenario predicts an increase of electrolyser capacity to 5 GW by … [Read more...]
Industrial Clusters: the logic of co-location now has a new driver, net-zero emissions
Industrial clusters locate plants and factories in one area to share resources, problems and solutions. They already have a long history of collaboration. But the logic of co-location now has a new driver: net-zero emissions. The sectors can range from heavy industry (e.g. steel and cement) to light (food, paper, etc.) The challenge is to make the most of new clean technologies and processes, and at the same time maintain or increase … [Read more...]
Carbon Border Adjustments: can the EU create a mechanism that is fair?
The proposed EU carbon border adjustment mechanism (CBAM) is meant to control imports of high-carbon goods from places that are not bound by Europe’s rising de-carbonisation rules. The obvious targets are commodities like steel, aluminium and cement. But it could be extended to all EU imports, including agricultural products. Michel Colombier at IDDRI warns that the EU is in danger of not listening nearly enough to its trading partners. He … [Read more...]
Decarbonising Industry is key to China’s net-zero strategy
China has committed to a CO2 emissions peak before 2030 and carbon neutrality before 2060. It’s 14th 5-year plan will be released in March, followed by sector-oriented plans. For the first time it will include a dedicated plan addressing climate change. Dolf Gielen, Yong Chen and Paul Durrant at IRENA start by laying out China’s energy mix for scrutiny, then dive into its industrial sector which accounts for 60% of gross final energy use. Success … [Read more...]
World’s biggest Steel manufacturers are committing to Hydrogen and CCS
The world’s leading steel makers have announced pledges to reduce emissions, aiming for net-zero by 2050 or sooner. They are committing to various new technologies still not proven at scale: making steel with hydrogen, and some with strategies that include carbon capture. They are putting their money where their mouth is. The list is impressive and includes ArcelorMittal (the world #1), ThyssenKrupp, Voestalpine, SSAB/LKAB/Vattenfall, Nippon … [Read more...]
HYBRIT project: Sweden goes for zero-carbon steel
Europe’s largest iron ore producer, LKAB of Sweden, plans to invest almost €40bn over the next two decades in emissions-free steel production. LKAB, along with Vattenfall and SSAB, are behind the HYBRIT project which intends to grow, fossil-free, Sweden’s steel industry. They will use hydrogen instead of coal as the “reducing agent” to remove the oxygen from the iron ore. Thomas Koch Blank at RMI runs through their strategy and the implications … [Read more...]
How will China build its Hydrogen economy?
What are China’s hydrogen prospects? That’s the question Kevin Tu at the IFRI Center for Energy & Climate attempts to answer in a report that he summarises here. He points at the growing number of policies that show China is taking hydrogen very seriously. China wants to expand production as well as build up end uses in transport, steel and cement manufacturing, and storage. The main drivers are the Covid pandemic, energy security, the … [Read more...]
Little progress decarbonising Industry. Renewables can be the answer
The decarbonisation of heavy industry is making little progress. There are two main reasons. Firstly, there are no easy technology wins. Efficiency and carbon capture have been the favoured options. But efficiency gains have their limits, and carbon capture is still proving very expensive. Secondly, governments don’t want their home industries to lose competitiveness incurring costs reducing emissions. Dolf Gielen and Paul Durrant at IRENA say a … [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...]
“Green” chemical plants that ramp up and down with wind, solar
One solution to variable renewables is to create customers that have no problem with ramping up and down production along with the power. In fact, when the wind and solar is producing too much power for the grid it can be bought very cheaply, making intermittent customers very happy. Jim Conca describes a new design for a Chlor-Alkali Chemical Plant that can “idle” without critical components of the plant degrading – the main reason for a plant … [Read more...]
How to cut Full Life-cycle Buildings Emissions
Most efforts to decarbonise buildings are focused on “operational” emissions. That’s because, once constructed, buildings are responsible for a massive 30% of global final energy use and 28% of carbon emissions. But that focus has meant the “embodied” carbon – from the materials, construction, demolition, and recycling of buildings – has received little attention, explain Meng Wang and Yihan Hao at RMI. That’s despite the numbers still being … [Read more...]
Waste Heat Recovery can help replace Poland’s District Heating coal
Three quarters of all district heating in Poland comes from burning coal. So the country is looking for ways to reduce this. It’s why subsidies are provided for combined heat and power (CHP) plants that burn either coal, gas or biomass, which all have lower emissions. But a report by IEEFA authored by Gerard Wynn, Arjun Flora and Paolo Coghe says that waste heat recovery (WHR) – currently unsubsidised – is both emissions free and can be … [Read more...]
Tipping Points reached for Solar, Wind, Batteries, EVs. What of the other Clean Energy techs?
History shows a disruptive technology’s tipping point can be under 5% of market share, that’s all it takes. The number of horses in use peaked in the U.S. once car ownership reached 3%. Gas lighting in the UK peaked with electric lighting at just 2% of the market. Landline phones in the U.S. fell precipitously after mobiles captured 5% of the market. Ji Chen and Koben Calhoun at RMI argue the tipping point has already been passed for solar, wind, … [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, Cédric Philibert at the IFRI Centre for Energy & Climate summarises their detailed … [Read more...]
New EU Industrial Strategy focuses on emissions, but is it enough?
This month the European Commission released its new EU Industrial Strategy to set the direction of travel for the EU economy in the context of the European Green Deal. Energy-intensive industries - like steel, cement, aluminium, paper and chemicals - account for roughly 17% of EU emissions and have struggled to reduce them in recent years. But Johanna Lehne at E3G doubts the strategy is enough to meet the ambition of becoming the first … [Read more...]
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