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Paris Olympics: rising temperatures, weather events are making sports a new front line for climate change - Energy Post
As the Paris Olympics begins, Mark Charlton at De Montfort University tells us how sport is being affected by climate change. Rising temperatures and weather events like flooding and droughts are impacting sports including athletics, football, cricket, golf, skiing and more. And it’s not just about the direct effect on the athletes. Kit design is […]
Biden’s tariffs on Chinese e-bikes goes against U.S. climate policy - Energy Post
The Biden administration has reintroduced Trump’s tariffs on e-bikes from China. That’s 25% tariffs on imported e-bikes and bike components made in China. An additional 25% tariff on Chinese-made battery packs used by e-bikes comes into effect in 2026. Nearly 100% of bicycles sold in the U.S. are manufactured abroad, with the vast majority coming […]
Better than Microbes: using Electron-Bifurcating Enzymes to produce fuels and chemicals from Biofeedstocks - Energy Post
Producing sustainable e-fuels like ethanol and butanol requires the processing of biofeedstocks. Using microbes to chew their way through them is well known. Justin Rickard at NREL describes research there that has found a much more efficient way, using electron-bifurcating enzymes. Flavin-based bifurcating enzymes are biocatalysts that have evolved to perform efficient metabolic reactions in […]
Renewable Carbon must replace fossil feedstocks for e-fuels, fertilisers + more. Will supply match demand? - Energy Post
The world needs a large supply of renewable carbon to replace fossil feedstocks for hard-to-abate sectors like aviation, shipping, chemicals, food and beverage. Arno van den Bos, Karan Kochhar, Luis Janeiro and Francisco Boshell at IRENA present the results of their study to estimate demand, and whether supply can match it through to 2050. The […]
EU ETS2 for Buildings, Road Transport: what must firms already be doing to comply with the full launch in 2027? - Energy Post
The new EU Emissions Trading System, ETS 2, covers emissions from buildings, road transport, and additional sectors such as fuel use in small industrial installations. It’s designed to reduce emissions by 42% by 2030 compared to 2005 levels. Florian Schlenner, Simon Göss and Hendrik Schuldt at carboneer describe how it works, and what firms must […]
EVs made of 40% Green Steel will add just €57 to the price of a new car - Energy Post
There are three big reasons why Europe’s auto industry should be given binding targets to increase the green steel content of their cars through to 2040. First, conventional steel production is a high-emissions activity, and both users and producers are struggling to bring it down. Second, emerging green steel producers need to secure major guaranteed […]
EU ETS: what happens when rising Carbon Prices start to hurt low income groups? - Energy Post
The main purpose of the EU Emissions Trading System (EU ETS) is to put a price on emissions and generate revenues from companies buying allowances for creating those emissions. Right now energy, manufacturing and aviation are covered. From 2027, maritime transport will be added to the existing EU ETS, while buildings and road transport will […]
XanoGrass: a perennial, marginal land, all-climate, Biofuel feedstock substitute for wood, food crops, fossils - Energy Post
Biofuel producers are always looking for low carbon intensity feedstocks. Corn stover (the waste from harvested corn) is typical, but harvesting is seasonal. Jeffrey Wolf at NREL explains how research has led to the development of XanoGrass. It is a perennial, so can be harvested all year round. It can be grown on marginal or […]
The world needs to triple Renewables by 2030. We’re 30% off-target but it can be done - Energy Post
To reach the Paris Agreement target of limiting global warming to 1.5°C, the world needs to triple renewable power capacity by 2030. Here, the IEA summarises its report “COP28 Tripling Renewable Capacity Pledge: Tracking countries’ ambitions and identifying policies to bridge the gap”. The report looks at almost 150 Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) which set […]
Can the UK’s new state-owned GB Energy become a role model for others? - Energy Post
The newly elected Labour government in the UK is promising to create a state-owned entity, GB Energy, to drive forward its energy transition. Robert Johnston at CGEP explains what it is, and how it could be a model for other nations. Up until now, the policy toolkit of high-income OECD countries has primarily been the […]
Excessive cross-border accumulation of subsidies can endanger the EU energy transition - Energy Post
EU Member States have inadvertently supported with their own subsidies the renewable energy targets of other Member States, a practice that violates EU internal market rules, explains Kim Talus at UEF Law School. He looks at how Denmark subsidised Danish biomethane producers who exported to Sweden, where Swedish consumers were benefitting from subsidies already. This […]
Biden vs Trump: will the economics of Oil sway the U.S. presidential election? - Energy Post
Donald Trump has always backed oil and gas, and U.S. industry giants donated $7.3m to his campaign, three times more than for his 2020 run. Joe Biden has introduced green energy policies and other transition legislation, though he has also overseen an increase in domestic oil production and promised motorists he will keep petrol prices […]
World’s biggest plane to carry Offshore-Wind sized blades to “inaccessible” onshore destinations for first time - Energy Post
It looks brilliantly simple. Why are onshore wind turbines smaller than offshore ones? Because you have to move them to their location by road, over bridges, through tunnels and around curves. That limits their size. As Michael Purton, writing for WEF, explains it’s why the company Radia is building the world’s biggest aeroplane called WindRunner […]
Basic energy access reverses for first time in a decade, after good progress since 2015 - Energy Post
After good progress globally since 2015, basic energy access reversed in recent years for the first time in a decade, says the IEA. The 2024 edition of “Tracking SDG 7: The Energy Progress Report” measures progress on “strategic development goals” that include universal access to electricity and clean cooking, doubling historic levels of efficiency improvements, […]
Germany, Italy + 10 others not on track to meet their 2030 climate targets, costing them €billions in carbon credits - Energy Post
12 EU countries are on track to miss their 2030 national climate targets by a large margin, according to a study by T&E. That means they will have to buy carbon credits on such a large scale there will be few left for others to buy their way out of missing their own targets (leaving […]
A global breakdown of how the energy sector is paid for: by governments, private firms, households - Energy Post
What are the sources of investment and sources of finance in the energy sector? Cecilia Tam, Paul Grimal, Jeanne-Marie Hays and Haneul Kim at the IEA summarise insights extracted from the IEA’s latest flagship World Energy Investment report which this year has dug much deeper into the subject. They look at the capital structure (debt […]
UCO (Used Cooking Oil) for biofuels: how much is fraudulently imported virgin vegetable oil? - Energy Post
UCO (Used Cooking Oil) is a feedstock for biofuels. In 2023, European countries consumed close to seven million tonnes of UCO for biofuels. This is four times the continent’s maximum potential for supplying it domestically, so the rest comes from imports, mostly from China, Malaysia and Indonesia. The vast majority is blended for biodiesel to […]
Superconducting overhead Transmission Lines that deliver 400MW (and targeting several GW) - Energy Post
How do you double or triple your existing power transmission capacity when costs are rising and you face local opposition to the disruption? Zach Winn at MIT describes a new innovation that uses superconductors designed to transport five to 10 times the amount of power of conventional transmission lines, using essentially the same footprint and […]
Private sector must jump start Lithium-ion Battery Recycling, as first wave of EVs now near end of life - Energy Post
The recycling of lithium-ion batteries is vitally important to the future of electric power, explains Gregg Smith at Orbia Advance, writing for WEF. Making a battery has a significant carbon footprint of its own. Yet recycling can be one tenth the cost of manufacturing a battery from scratch. And energy security is enhanced by lessening […]
Carbon Pricing annual receipts are almost $100bn globally and rising - Energy Post
About one-quarter of global emissions are, to varying degrees, covered by carbon pricing schemes. They’ve raised over $500bn from polluters to date. Andrew Reid at NorthStone Advisers, writing for IEEFA, summarises his report which says the annual amount raised, now almost $100bn, is set to increase with two-thirds of nations planning to use carbon pricing […]
The Fossil Fuel system wastes 2/3rds of its energy before it gets to you. Inefficiency is driving it out (not just emissions) - Energy Post
Today’s fossil energy system is very inefficient: almost two-thirds of all primary energy is wasted in energy production, transportation, and use, before fossil fuel has done any work or produced any benefit. That’s almost 400 EJ wasted, worth over $4.5tn, or almost 5% of global GDP. Two activities – fossil fuel power plants and internal […]
ESG investing: a look at actual performance, constraints, fund flows, regional differences - Energy Post
Inflows into ESG (environmental, social, and governance) funds remain strong, especially in Europe. That’s despite high interest rates and the boost to oil and gas from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. According to a new report by Ramnath Iyer at IEEFA, in 2023 the performance of ESG funds and exchange-traded funds (ETFs) matched or surpassed that […]
Forecasting the performance of new Solar PV module technologies over 20, 30, and 50 years - Energy Post
Solar PV technology continues to innovate and evolve at a rapid pace. Testing the modules is essential for predicting durability and future performance. But that inevitably means past experience is not a good predictor of the behaviour of the new materials and configurations. Sara Fall and Harrison Dreves at NREL explain how the Durable Module […]
Digitalisation of the Energy sector: are Utilities hiring the skilled workers they now need? - Energy Post
Like many other sectors, the energy sector needs employees with digital skills. They need to create the new tools that can match power supply with demand, predict and detect faults in networks, and give greater control to consumers. It’s an essential part of the new world of decarbonisation, with digitalisation enabling the faster integration of […]
The EU’s Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism still has 5 serious flaws - Energy Post
Taxing carbon at the border is a lot more complicated than you may think, explains James Bushnell at the Energy Institute at Haas. The EU’s Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) imposes a tax on imported goods that is designed to reflect the carbon content of those goods. But CBAM has flaws that must be addressed. […]
June deadline for EU nations’ NECPs: will this year’s plans show they’re taking the climate seriously? - Energy Post
On June 30th, EU Member States have to submit the final revision of their updated National Energy and Climate Plans (NECPs) to the European Commission. NECPs specify their climate and energy targets and trajectories up to 2030, with an outlook to 2040 and the longer term. NECPs must also feature the policies and measures planned […]
Swappable EV batteries are on the rise in China and India. Why not the West? - Energy Post
Western governments are struggling to meet their targets for zero-emission vehicles, says ManMohan Sodhi at City University of London. There’s been a slowdown of sales that has a lot to do with the high cost of new EVs and the lack of charging infrastructure. Meanwhile, in China and India battery swapping – instead of charging […]
New “Solar Thermal Trapping” process can generate 1,000°C for steel, aluminium and cement production - Energy Post
Many industries – production of steel, aluminium and cement being the most obvious – require high heat processes that today can only be achieved commercially using fossil fuels. Paige Bennett at EcoWatch, writing for WEF, describes a new process using solar thermal trapping to reach temperatures of a little over 1,000°C, hot enough to smelt […]
At $2tn, investment in Clean Energy in 2024 is set to be double that for Fossil Fuels - Energy Post
A new report by the IEA reveals that global spending on clean energy technologies and infrastructure is on track to hit $2tn in 2024, driven largely by attractive cost reductions, improving supply chains, energy security, and government policies. This is despite higher financing costs for new projects. The combined investment in renewable power and grids […]
Tariffs on China’s carmakers? Chinese joint ventures and on-shoring would be better - Energy Post
Both the U.S. and the EU are targeting China’s carmakers with tariffs. China is accused of providing state support that allows exported vehicles to be sold at cheaper prices than those of global rivals. The tariffs will allow U.S. and EU carmakers to build up their own domestic supply chains and catch up in competitiveness. […]
To make Clean Industry stick, the United States needs new trade mechanisms - Energy Post
The industrial sector throughout the world needs to decarbonise. At the same time, no one country wants to incur the costs and risk losing market share to rivals who decarbonise slowly (or not at all!) Hence the EU’s Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) that imposes costs on carbon-intense imports. This protects clean EU industries while […]
It’s time to sanction Rosatom subsidiaries, part of Russia’s LNG production chain - Energy Post
Following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the West and its allies imposed a series of sanctions to cut dependence on Russian oil and gas imports, as well as hit Russian import earnings. Ihor Moshenets at the Central European University points to a serious sanctions blind spot: Rosatom, Russia’s nuclear major. Rosatom has avoided sanctions because it […]
New Concentrated Solar Power system delivers 1,000°C for industrial processes + more - Energy Post
Zach Winn at MIT describes a new method of building high-temperature concentrated solar power systems. The solar receiver heats air to around 1,000°C at atmospheric pressure. The system circulates the hot air with no combustion or emissions to drive a turbine. The system can deliver daytime power and overnight thermal energy storage to provide round-the-clock […]
Are the prospects for Small Modular Reactors being exaggerated? Five key characteristics examined - Energy Post
Small Modular Reactors (SMRs) are being presented as the next generation of nuclear technology. While traditional plants face cost overruns and safety issues, SMRs are seen by their champions as cheaper, safer, and faster to deploy. But Ed Lyman at UCS cites evidence that cast these claims into doubt. In five sections of this article, […]
China’s plans for large-scale Offshore Solar - Energy Post
If offshore wind, why not offshore solar? It’s been talked about for a while and implemented on a small scale in places like Norway. You Xiaoying, writing for Dialogue Earth (formerly China Dialogue), looks at China’s efforts to establish it as a new and – once scaled up – major contributor to the energy transition. […]
Hydrogen too expensive for Trucking? 85% of the cost is getting it to the pump - Energy Post
Hydrogen can be a clean fuel for heavy duty trucking. The target price for rapid adoption is $4-$5/kg, yet right now hydrogen costs $13-$16/kg at refuelling stations in California. Cutting the cost of making the hydrogen is proving slow. But Ted McKlveen and Bav Roy at Verne, writing for WEF, show that the production only […]
Upgrade the grid, or avoid by incentivising flexibility? Electricity demand mapping can tell you what to do - Energy Post
Power grids across the world need upgrading to accommodate the rapidly rising amount of electricity being generated. Without it, it is a serious bottleneck to the transition to clean fuels. Sheridan Few at the University of Leeds summarises his co-authored study that creates a map of where upgrades are most needed in the UK. The […]
58 national Hydrogen strategies published: a step forward, but importers’ and exporters’ plans still need to match up - Energy Post
So far, 58 national hydrogen strategies and roadmaps have been published. Anne-Sophie Corbeau and Rio Kaswiyanto at the Center on Global Energy Policy take a close look, summarising their regularly updated database, the “National Hydrogen Strategies and Roadmap Tracker.” Only 12 countries are planning to become importers, mostly in Asia and Europe. Most of the […]
Financing Hydrogen projects in Emerging Markets and Developing Countries - Energy Post
Financing the new hydrogen economy is already a challenge. Financing hydrogen production in Emerging Markets and Developing Countries (EMDC) is an even bigger one, yet vitally important for supplying richer nations with hydrogen while creating new industries in the EMDC. This month, the World Bank Energy Sector Management Assistance Program (ESMAP) together with the Government […]
Zero-Emission Trucks can be cost competitive by 2035 (and much sooner depending on size and range) - Energy Post
Zero-emission medium- and heavy-duty vehicles (MHDVs) such as battery electric and hydrogen fuel cell electric, in every size and range category, can be cost competitive with their diesel equivalents by 2035. In several of those categories it can be much sooner – within the next six years – explains Julia Thomas at NREL. Researchers there […]