tag:theconversation.com,2011:/us/topics/renewable-fuels-50374/articlesRenewable fuels – The Conversation2022-04-04T09:02:32Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1800762022-04-04T09:02:32Z2022-04-04T09:02:32ZThese energy innovations could transform how we mitigate climate change, and save money in the process – 5 essential reads<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/454426/original/file-20220325-23-1asrf9z.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=367%2C208%2C1465%2C864&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Building solar panels over water sources is one way to both provide power and reduce evaporation in drought-troubled regions.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Robin Raj, Citizen Group & Solar Aquagrid</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>To most people, a solar farm or a geothermal plant is an important source of clean energy. Scientists and engineers see that plus far more potential.</p>
<p>They envision offshore wind turbines capturing and storing carbon beneath the sea, and geothermal plants producing essential metals for powering electric vehicles. Electric vehicle batteries, too, can be transformed to power homes, saving their owners money and also <a href="https://theconversation.com/revolutionary-changes-in-transportation-from-electric-vehicles-to-ride-sharing-could-slow-global-warming-if-theyre-done-right-ipcc-says-179535">reducing transportation emissions</a>.</p>
<p>With scientists worldwide <a href="https://www.ipcc.ch/">sounding the alarm</a> about the increasing dangers and costs of climate change, let’s explore some cutting-edge ideas that could transform how today’s technologies <a href="https://www.ipcc.ch/report/sixth-assessment-report-working-group-3/">reduce the effects of global warming</a>, from five recent articles in The Conversation.</p>
<h2>1. Solar canals: Power + water protection</h2>
<p>What if solar panels did double duty, protecting water supplies while producing more power?</p>
<p>California is developing the United States’ first solar canals, with solar panels built atop some of the state’s water distribution canals. These canals run for thousands of miles through arid environments, where the dry air boosts evaporation in a state frequently troubled by water shortages.</p>
<p>“In a 2021 study, we showed that <a href="https://theconversation.com/first-solar-canal-project-is-a-win-for-water-energy-air-and-climate-in-california-177433">covering all 4,000 miles of California’s canals</a> with solar panels would save more than 65 billion gallons of water annually by reducing evaporation. That’s enough to irrigate 50,000 acres of farmland or meet the residential water needs of more than 2 million people,” writes engineering professor <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=S2cxf2IAAAAJ&hl=en">Roger Bales</a> of the University of California, Merced. They would also expand renewable energy without taking up farmable land.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/397902/original/file-20210429-23-1q3uacf.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Solar panels would form a roof over canals." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/397902/original/file-20210429-23-1q3uacf.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/397902/original/file-20210429-23-1q3uacf.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=367&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/397902/original/file-20210429-23-1q3uacf.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=367&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/397902/original/file-20210429-23-1q3uacf.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=367&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/397902/original/file-20210429-23-1q3uacf.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=461&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/397902/original/file-20210429-23-1q3uacf.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=461&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/397902/original/file-20210429-23-1q3uacf.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=461&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Other countries including China and India are also testing the solar farms over water.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Solar Aquagrid LLC</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p><a href="https://www.ipcc.ch/">Research shows</a> that human activities, particularly using fossil fuels for energy and transportation, are <a href="https://theconversation.com/ipcc-climate-report-profound-changes-are-underway-in-earths-oceans-and-ice-a-lead-author-explains-what-the-warnings-mean-165588">unequivocally warming the planet</a> and increasing extreme weather. Increasing renewable energy, currently about <a href="https://www.eia.gov/tools/faqs/faq.php?id=427&t=3">20% of U.S. utility-scale electricity</a> generation, can reduce fossil fuel demand.</p>
<p>Putting solar panels over shaded water can also improve their power output. The cooler water lowers the temperature of the panels by about 10 degrees Fahrenheit (5.5 Celsius), boosting their efficiency, Bales writes. </p>
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<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/first-solar-canal-project-is-a-win-for-water-energy-air-and-climate-in-california-177433">First solar canal project is a win for water, energy, air and climate in California</a>
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<h2>2. Geothermal power could boost battery supplies</h2>
<p>For renewable energy to slash global greenhouse gas emissions, buildings and vehicles have to be able to use it. Batteries are essential, but the industry has a supply chain problem.</p>
<p>Most batteries used in electric vehicles and utility-scale energy storage are lithium-ion batteries, and most lithium used in the U.S. comes from Argentina, Chile, China and Russia. China is the leader in lithium processing. </p>
<p>Geologist and engineers are working on an innovative method that could boost the U.S. lithium supply at home by <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-a-few-geothermal-plants-could-solve-americas-lithium-supply-crunch-and-boost-the-ev-battery-industry-179465">extracting lithium from geothermal brines</a> in California’s Salton Sea region.</p>
<p>Brines are the liquid leftover in a geothermal plant after heat and steam are used to produce power. That liquid contains lithium and other metals such as manganese, zinc and boron. Normally, it is pumped back underground, but the metals can also be filtered out.</p>
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<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/oYtyEVPGEU8?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">How lithium is extracted during geothermal energy production. Courtesy of Controlled Thermal Resources.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>“If test projects now underway prove that battery-grade lithium can be extracted from these brines cost effectively, 11 existing geothermal plants along the Salton Sea alone could have the potential to produce enough lithium metal to provide about 10 times the current U.S. demand,” write geologist <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=GN_MdtQAAAAJ&hl=en">Michael McKibben</a> of the University of California, Riverside, and energy policy scholar <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=gLrgWW4AAAAJ&hl=en">Bryant Jones</a> of Boise State University.</p>
<p>President Joe Biden <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/presidential-actions/2022/03/31/memorandum-on-presidential-determination-pursuant-to-section-303-of-the-defense-production-act-of-1950-as-amended/">invoked the Defense Production Act</a> on March 31, 2022, to provide incentives for U.S. companies to mine and process more critical minerals for batteries.</p>
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<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/how-a-few-geothermal-plants-could-solve-americas-lithium-supply-crunch-and-boost-the-ev-battery-industry-179465">How a few geothermal plants could solve America's lithium supply crunch and boost the EV battery industry</a>
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<h2>3. Green hydrogen and other storage ideas</h2>
<p>Scientists are working on other ways to boost batteries’ mineral supply chain, too, including recycling lithium and cobalt from old batteries. They’re also <a href="https://theconversation.com/these-3-energy-storage-technologies-can-help-solve-the-challenge-of-moving-to-100-renewable-electricity-161564">developing designs with other materials</a>, explained <a href="https://www.nrel.gov/research/staff/kerry-rippy.html">Kerry Rippy</a>, a researcher with the National Renewable Energy Lab.</p>
<p>Concentrated solar power, for example, stores energy from the sun by heating molten salt and using it to produce steam to drive electric generators, similar to how a coal power plant would generate electricity. It’s expensive, though, and the salts currently used aren’t stable at higher temperature, Rippy writes. The Department of Energy is funding a similar project that is experimenting with heated sand.</p>
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<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/fkX-H24Chfw?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Hydrogen’s challenges, including its fossil fuel history.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Renewable fuels, such as green hydrogen and ammonia, provide a different type of storage. Since they store energy as liquid, they can be transported and used for shipping or rocket fuel.</p>
<p>Hydrogen gets a lot of attention, but not all hydrogen is green. Most hydrogen used today is actually produced with natural gas – a fossil fuel. Green hydrogen, in contrast, could be produced using renewable energy to power electrolysis, which splits water molecules into hydrogen and oxygen, but again, it’s expensive.</p>
<p>“The key challenge is optimizing the process to make it efficient and economical,” Rippy writes. “The potential payoff is enormous: inexhaustible, completely renewable energy.”</p>
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<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/these-3-energy-storage-technologies-can-help-solve-the-challenge-of-moving-to-100-renewable-electricity-161564">These 3 energy storage technologies can help solve the challenge of moving to 100% renewable electricity</a>
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<h2>4. Using your EV to power your home</h2>
<p>Batteries could also soon turn your electric vehicle into a giant, mobile battery capable of powering your home.</p>
<p>Only a few vehicles are currently designed for vehicle-to-home charging, or V2H, but that’s changing, writes energy economist <a href="https://scholar.google.ca/citations?user=07sAJX8AAAAJ&hl=en">Seth Blumsack</a> of Penn State University. Ford, for example, says its new F-150 Lightning pickup truck will be able to power an average house for three days on a single charge.</p>
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<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/w4XLBOnzE6Q?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">How bidirectional charging allows EVs to power homes.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Blumsack explores the technical challenges as V2H grows and its potential to change <a href="https://theconversation.com/can-my-electric-car-power-my-house-not-yet-for-most-drivers-but-vehicle-to-home-charging-is-coming-163332">how people manage energy use and how utilities store power</a>.</p>
<p>For example, he writes, “some homeowners might hope to use their vehicle for what utility planners call ‘peak shaving’ – drawing household power from their EV during the day instead of relying on the grid, thus reducing their electricity purchases during peak demand hours.”</p>
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<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/can-my-electric-car-power-my-house-not-yet-for-most-drivers-but-vehicle-to-home-charging-is-coming-163332">Can my electric car power my house? Not yet for most drivers, but vehicle-to-home charging is coming</a>
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<h2>5. Capturing carbon from air and locking it away</h2>
<p>Another emerging technology is more controversial.</p>
<p>Humans have put so much carbon dioxide into the atmosphere over the past two centuries that just stopping fossil fuel use won’t be enough to quickly stabilize the climate. Most scenarios, including <a href="https://www.ipcc.ch">in recent Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change reports</a>, show the world will have to remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, as well.</p>
<p>The technology to capture carbon dioxide from the air exists – it’s called <a href="https://theconversation.com/these-machines-scrub-greenhouse-gases-from-the-air-an-inventor-of-direct-air-capture-technology-shows-how-it-works-172306">direct air capture</a> – but it’s expensive. </p>
<p>Engineers and geophysicists like <a href="https://www.earth.columbia.edu/users/profile/david-s-goldberg">David Goldberg</a> of Columbia University are exploring ways to cut those costs by combining direct air capture technology with renewable energy production and carbon storage, like offshore wind turbines built above undersea rock formations where captured carbon could be locked away. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Construction of a wind farm off Rhode Island" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/454424/original/file-20220325-21-19jxroc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/454424/original/file-20220325-21-19jxroc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=407&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/454424/original/file-20220325-21-19jxroc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=407&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/454424/original/file-20220325-21-19jxroc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=407&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/454424/original/file-20220325-21-19jxroc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=511&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/454424/original/file-20220325-21-19jxroc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=511&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/454424/original/file-20220325-21-19jxroc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=511&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">The U.S. had seven operating offshore wind turbines with 42 megawatts of capacity in 2021. The Biden administration’s goal is 30,000 megawatts by 2030.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://newsroom.ap.org/detail/OffshoreWind/933c4adb5d06417c8d42f69986bae5d6/photo">AP Photo/Michael Dwyer</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The world’s largest direct air capture plant, launched in 2021 in Iceland, uses geothermal energy to power its equipment. The captured carbon dioxide is mixed with water and pumped into volcanic basalt formations underground. Chemical reactions with the basalt turn it into a hard carbonate.</p>
<p>Goldberg, who helped developed the mineralization process used in Iceland, sees similar <a href="https://theconversation.com/offshore-wind-farms-could-help-capture-carbon-from-air-and-store-it-long-term-using-energy-that-would-otherwise-go-to-waste-173208">potential for future U.S. offshore wind farms</a>. Wind turbines often produce more energy than their customers need at any given time, making excess energy available. </p>
<p>“Built together, these technologies could reduce the energy costs of carbon capture and minimize the need for onshore pipelines, reducing impacts on the environment,” Goldberg writes. </p>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/offshore-wind-farms-could-help-capture-carbon-from-air-and-store-it-long-term-using-energy-that-would-otherwise-go-to-waste-173208">Offshore wind farms could help capture carbon from air and store it long-term – using energy that would otherwise go to waste</a>
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<p><em>Editor’s note: This story is a roundup of articles from The Conversation’s archives.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/180076/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
From pulling carbon dioxide out of the air to turning water into fuel, innovators are developing new technologies and pairing existing ones to help slow global warming.Stacy Morford, Environment + Climate EditorLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1702912021-10-25T08:36:22Z2021-10-25T08:36:22ZHere’s how Indonesia could get to zero emission in its energy sector by 2050<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/428198/original/file-20211025-21-146ugei.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Solar panels illustration</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Nuno Marques/Unsplash</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>As one of the <a href="https://www.carbonbrief.org/the-carbon-brief-profile-indonesia">largest emitters</a> in the world, Indonesia has an important role to play in the global race to net-zero emissions. Sadly, the government only targets 2060 to achieve net-zero emissions in Indonesia, a longer timeframe than <a href="https://www.ipcc.ch/2018/10/08/summary-for-policymakers-of-ipcc-special-report-on-global-warming-of-1-5c-approved-by-governments/">what is needed</a>. </p>
<p>The less ambitious target is mainly due to fears that decarbonization would lead to economic losses and technical challenges in the energy system. The energy sector is set to achieve net-zero only in 2060, much later than other sectors. </p>
<p>Those fears, however, are ill-founded. Achieving zero emission in the energy sector by 2050 is technically and economically possible, according to a study by the Institute for Essential Services Reform (IESR), LUT University and Agora Energiewende.</p>
<p><a href="https://iesr.or.id/en/pustaka/deep-decarbonization-of-indonesias-energy-system-a-pathway-to-zero-emissions-by-2050">The study</a>, which used one of the world’s most advanced energy models, is the first study that provides a pathway to achieve zero emission in Indonesia’s energy system (power, transport and industrial heat) by 2050 using 100% renewable energy. </p>
<h2>The defining decade</h2>
<p>What is unique about the study is that it shows how relying on 100% renewable energy could be reliable and affordable at the same time. </p>
<p>Thanks to advances in clean technologies in recent years, <a href="https://www.iea.org/reports/world-energy-outlook-2020/outlook-for-electricity">the costs of solar and wind power</a> have been falling to a point where they are now cheaper than fossil power. </p>
<p>The same trend applies to battery technologies that have seen significant cost declines in the past decade. This makes electric vehicles (EV) more affordable and intermittency – inconsistency of power production – soon no longer an issue for solar and wind energy. </p>
<p>The study suggests Indonesia needs to start the transformation today and make revolutionary changes within this decade to stay on track for zero emission. </p>
<p>This decade is critical because it sets the emission trajectory for the next three decades. Achieving zero emissions by 2050, therefore, means that by 2030: </p>
<ul>
<li><p>Almost half of the electricity would need to be sourced from renewable energy such as solar, hydropower, geothermal and biomass, up from 14% today. Solar would dominate renewable generation by accounting for 50% of total renewable power. </p></li>
<li><p>CO2 emissions would peak by 2025. No new coal-fired power plants would be built after 2025. Renewable energy capacity would reach a new high at 140 gigawatts (GW), up from 10 GW today, with solar photovoltaic/PV accounting for 108 GW. </p></li>
<li><p>Around 10% of new cars and 60% of new motorcycles would be battery-powered, up from virtually zero today.</p></li>
<li><p>Industries such as steel, cement and aluminium also need to switch to electric boilers and heat pumps to get their low-temperature process heat. Electric heating installation would be as high as 54 GW, covering 43% of heat demand. </p></li>
<li><p>The national power grid capacity would expand to more than 13 GW to integrate more renewables, up from 8 GW today. Some inter-island connections would already be established. </p></li>
</ul>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/428195/original/file-20211025-17-bzd9kl.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/428195/original/file-20211025-17-bzd9kl.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/428195/original/file-20211025-17-bzd9kl.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=711&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/428195/original/file-20211025-17-bzd9kl.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=711&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/428195/original/file-20211025-17-bzd9kl.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=711&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/428195/original/file-20211025-17-bzd9kl.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=893&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/428195/original/file-20211025-17-bzd9kl.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=893&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/428195/original/file-20211025-17-bzd9kl.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=893&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A pathway to zero emissions. (Note: increased emissions in the power sector from 2018.
to 2030 due to growing demand and emissions from both existing and newly entering operation- fossil power plants. The model assumed that PV+battery is not yet cost-competitive with coal power in 2020 so a cost-optimal solution is reached with peak coal generation as observed in 2025.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">IESR</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Getting zero emission</h2>
<p>The government hopes to put Indonesia as a developed country at its centenary in 2045, an aspiration that should be cherished by all Indonesians.</p>
<p>But what is equally important is that we achieve growth sustainably. Indonesia should embed the Sustainable Development Goals into its long-term development plan and ensure all sectors adopt a roadmap to zero emission. </p>
<p>To get to zero emission by 2050, the power sector should be carbon-free from 2045 onwards.</p>
<p>All electricity generation would be sourced from renewable energy. Solar energy would supply 88% (1,500 GW) by 2050. The rest would come from 60 GW of hydropower and geothermal power combined. </p>
<p>The large role of solar energy is in line with the fact that solar power is by far the largest renewable source in Indonesia at around <a href="https://iesr.or.id/en/pustaka/beyond-207-gigawatts-unleashing-indonesias-solar-potential">20,000 GW</a>. Making it the backbone of the energy system is therefore very sensible. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/428196/original/file-20211025-19717-ugbb88.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/428196/original/file-20211025-19717-ugbb88.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/428196/original/file-20211025-19717-ugbb88.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=384&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/428196/original/file-20211025-19717-ugbb88.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=384&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/428196/original/file-20211025-19717-ugbb88.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=384&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/428196/original/file-20211025-19717-ugbb88.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=482&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/428196/original/file-20211025-19717-ugbb88.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=482&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/428196/original/file-20211025-19717-ugbb88.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=482&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Hourly generation in best and worst solar weeks.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">IESR</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>To ensure electricity supply, Indonesia needs to install 360 GW of batteries and expand the national power grid to 126 GW, with all major islands in the country being fully integrated to allow power exchange. </p>
<p>Other than renewable energy, electrification is also crucial in the decarbonization process. Electrification should be carried out whenever possible as decarbonizing the power sector is relatively easier than the transport and industry sectors. </p>
<p>To achieve zero emission, the market share of battery, <a href="https://www.energy.gov/eere/fuelcells/fuel-cells">fuel cell</a> and plug-in hybrid (with clean fuels) electric vehicles would reach an all-time high at 93% of the light-duty vehicles segment by 2050. This covers passenger cars, pick-up trucks, and light commercial vehicles.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, indirect electrification for transportation through power-to-fuels would start from 2035 onwards with renewables-based hydrogen and synthetic fuels. These fuels would cover 21% and 6% of transport’s final energy demand in 2050, mostly for the harder-to-abate aviation and maritime sectors. </p>
<p>Overall, direct and indirect electrification would contribute to 80% of transport’s 2050 final energy demand. The remaining share would come from sustainable biofuels. With clean alternatives becoming readily available throughout the country, all fossil-powered vehicles could be banned by mid-century.</p>
<p>In the industrial sector, electric heating would cover 67% of heat demand. Hydrogen would contribute to 26% of heat demand, mainly for very high-temperature processes such as in the steel, cement and aluminium industries. The remaining heat would come from biomass.</p>
<p>While technology adoption is key to this transition, technology use alone isn’t enough to achieve the emission target. Behavioural changes are important too. </p>
<p>To begin with, we need to see more people use public transport and non-motorized vehicles (bicycles). The government must expand and integrate public transit. </p>
<p>People should also be encouraged to use more energy-efficient equipment in their houses and factories. Business leaders should allow their employees to work from home post-pandemic to reduce mobility.</p>
<h2>Opportunities ahead</h2>
<p>Deep decarbonization is not an easy process for any country. However, this should not obscure new opportunities that await. The study shows deep decarbonization would create at least 3.2 million direct jobs in Indonesia by 2050. </p>
<p>Other co-benefits such as avoided costs of climate damage, improved public health, increased water and food security, and lower energy expenditure (and subsidies) should also be taken into account. Not to mention that stranded assets as little as $26 billion in 2045 could be avoided if Indonesia phased out its coal fleet early.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/428197/original/file-20211025-19-7fhprs.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/428197/original/file-20211025-19-7fhprs.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/428197/original/file-20211025-19-7fhprs.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=634&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/428197/original/file-20211025-19-7fhprs.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=634&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/428197/original/file-20211025-19-7fhprs.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=634&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/428197/original/file-20211025-19-7fhprs.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=797&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/428197/original/file-20211025-19-7fhprs.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=797&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/428197/original/file-20211025-19-7fhprs.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=797&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Capital expendicture distribution in best policy scenario.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">IESR</span></span>
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</figure>
<p>With investment needs sitting at $20-60 billion per year between 2020 and 2050, Indonesia can modernise its economy through various green projects and later compete in a global market that is swiftly moving towards a sustainable future. </p>
<p>But, to attract investors, the Indonesian government first and foremost needs to show its unwavering commitment to climate action and make deep decarbonization its top priority. The political will should be demonstrated in policies and regulations to improve the investment climate in Indonesia.</p>
<p>We have learned from the pandemic that there is no economy without public health. We should also realize that there will be no economy without the environment. </p>
<p>With Glasglow’s COP26 approaching, it’s time for the Indonesian government to step up action and work together as a team with other countries to ensure that the world can achieve net-zero emissions by mid-century. </p>
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<img alt="COP26: the world's biggest climate talks" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/424739/original/file-20211005-17-cgrf2z.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/424739/original/file-20211005-17-cgrf2z.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/424739/original/file-20211005-17-cgrf2z.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/424739/original/file-20211005-17-cgrf2z.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/424739/original/file-20211005-17-cgrf2z.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/424739/original/file-20211005-17-cgrf2z.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/424739/original/file-20211005-17-cgrf2z.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<p><strong>This story is part of The Conversation’s coverage on COP26, the Glasgow climate conference, by experts from around the world.</strong>
<br><em>Amid a rising tide of climate news and stories, The Conversation is here to clear the air and make sure you get information you can trust. <a href="https://page.theconversation.com/cop26-glasgow-2021-climate-change-summit/"><strong>More.</strong></a></em> </p>
<hr><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/170291/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Pamela Simamora tidak bekerja, menjadi konsultan, memiliki saham, atau menerima dana dari perusahaan atau organisasi mana pun yang akan mengambil untung dari artikel ini, dan telah mengungkapkan bahwa ia tidak memiliki afiliasi selain yang telah disebut di atas.</span></em></p>Achieving zero emissions in the energy sector by 2050 is technically and economically possible. Indonesia can modernise its economy through various green projects.Pamela Simamora, Research Coordinator, Institute for Essential Services ReformLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1505812020-11-25T19:37:55Z2020-11-25T19:37:55ZCanada’s new climate plan: Q&A about Bill C-12<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/371363/original/file-20201125-21-1xtqtra.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=95%2C55%2C5215%2C3633&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Bill C-12 is not a plan for Canada to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions, but it would set targets to help it succeed.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>On Nov. 19, Environment Minister Jonathan Wilkinson unveiled what was billed as a “Net-Zero Emissions Plan.” What we got is <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/net-zero-trudeau-climate-carbon-emissions-1.5809028">most emphatically not a plan</a>, but it is a <a href="https://parl.ca/DocumentViewer/en/43-2/bill/C-12/first-reading">piece of legislation</a> that demands Canada set targets and develop plans that will get us to net-zero emissions by 2050. </p>
<p>The government hasn’t set any targets yet, or told us how we will get there. But moving to net-zero emissions over a 30-year timeframe means that Canada needs to start targeting emission reductions of three per cent to four per cent each year. On the whole, Canadians emitted the equivalent of 729 megatonnes (Mt) of carbon dioxide in 2018, so we will need to reduce emissions by more than 20 Mt every year.</p>
<p>If we started to achieve these sorts of reductions now, in 2020, we would just about meet our <a href="https://www.canada.ca/en/environment-climate-change/services/environmental-indicators/progress-towards-canada-greenhouse-gas-emissions-reduction-target.html">current target</a>, which is a 30 per cent reduction from 2005 emission levels by 2030. </p>
<h2>How is this “climate plan” different?</h2>
<p>Canada has a long history of setting climate targets and then missing them. One problem with our approach in the past is that we have treated the emissions problem like a series of individual, unrelated challenges. </p>
<p>We’ve had legislation that <a href="https://www.canada.ca/en/environment-climate-change/services/canadian-environmental-protection-act-registry/renewable-fuels-regulations-frequently-asked-questions.html">mandated proportions of renewable fuels</a> to try to address transport emissions. We’ve had legislation to phase out <a href="https://www.canada.ca/en/services/environment/weather/climatechange/canada-international-action/coal-phase-out.html">coal use in electricity generation</a>. We’ve introduced new programs designed to <a href="https://www.ontario.ca/laws/statute/09g12">support new technologies</a> and provide new energy options. We’ve thought of these programs in isolation, but not as part of a larger energy system.</p>
<p>Arguably Canada has only two policies that address emissions in a holistic fashion: <a href="https://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/acts/G-11.55/">Carbon pricing</a> and the clean fuel standard. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="a gas pump" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/371365/original/file-20201125-19-htek79.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/371365/original/file-20201125-19-htek79.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/371365/original/file-20201125-19-htek79.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/371365/original/file-20201125-19-htek79.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/371365/original/file-20201125-19-htek79.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/371365/original/file-20201125-19-htek79.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/371365/original/file-20201125-19-htek79.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Ontario Premier Doug Ford passed a law forcing gas stations to display anti-carbon tax stickers on pumps across the province. An Ontario court later ruled that the law was unconstitutional.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/Chris Young</span></span>
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<p>Carbon pricing helps industry and individuals make cleaner choices, but our current pricing levels are too low to make more than incremental changes. The <a href="https://www.canada.ca/en/environment-climate-change/services/managing-pollution/energy-production/fuel-regulations/clean-fuel-standard.html">clean fuel standard</a> will lower emissions by regulating reductions in greenhouse gas intensity for most fuels used in Canada, but it won’t come into force until 2022. </p>
<p>Can Bill C-12 succeed? One line within the text of the proposed legislation lends hope: <a href="https://parl.ca/DocumentViewer/en/43-2/bill/C-12/first-reading">sectoral strategies</a> is an essential ingredient for success. What is needed now is a plan that clearly lays out the options for emission reductions in <a href="https://www.canada.ca/en/environment-climate-change/services/environmental-indicators/greenhouse-gas-emissions.html">each major sector</a> across the country.</p>
<h2>Will there be dramatic cuts to oil and gas?</h2>
<p>Two sectors will be the hardest to deal with: oil and gas production and home heating and cooling. </p>
<p>Oil and gas production plays an <a href="https://www.canada.ca/en/environment-climate-change/services/climate-change/greenhouse-gas-emissions/sources-sinks-executive-summary-2020.html">outsized role in Canada’s emissions</a> (26 per cent) and <a href="https://www.nrcan.gc.ca/science-data/data-analysis/energy-data-analysis/energy-facts/energy-and-economy/20062">in our economy</a> (5.3 per cent of GDP in 2019). Some petrochemical refining processes are well suited to <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s13203-014-0050-5">CO2 recovery and reuse</a>, and there may be ways to burn <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/jeffmcmahon/2017/01/22/with-oil-back-in-power-scientists-revisit-an-old-way-to-use-fossil-fuels-without-making-co2/?sh=4030a7413d1e">fossil fuels without CO2 emissions</a>. </p>
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<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/ottawas-latest-climate-plan-bets-on-expensive-and-unproven-carbon-capture-technologies-150527">Ottawa's latest climate plan bets on expensive and unproven carbon capture technologies</a>
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<p>But the <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2020.122820">majority of the research</a> indicates <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2019.118306">that reducing greenhouse gas emissions</a> in <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.enpol.2016.10.014">Canada’s oil sector</a> will be almost impossible without corresponding reductions in production, and that significant reductions can only be achieved with <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijggc.2016.10.011">significant cost increases</a>. </p>
<p>It may be technically feasible to bring the oil and gas sector to net-zero — but will it be financially viable? For this sector, Canada needs three interlinked strategies: an engagement strategy, to bring key provinces into decision-making; a diversification strategy, to apply the sector’s knowledge to new, low-carbon ventures; and a just transition strategy, to ensure that these changes don’t leave hundreds of thousands of workers behind. </p>
<h2>What about buildings and houses?</h2>
<p>While only <a href="https://www.canada.ca/en/environment-climate-change/services/climate-change/greenhouse-gas-emissions/sources-sinks-executive-summary-2020.html">13 per cent of Canada’s 2018 emissions</a> come from buildings, there are <a href="https://www12.statcan.gc.ca/census-recensement/2016/as-sa/98-200-x/2016005/98-200-x2016005-eng.cfm">over seven million single-family homes</a> across the country, along with <a href="https://www12.statcan.gc.ca/census-recensement/2016/as-sa/98-200-x/2016005/98-200-x2016005-eng.cfm">thousands of apartment and condominium blocks</a> and <a href="https://oee.nrcan.gc.ca/corporate/statistics/neud/dpa/menus/scieu/2014/tables.cfm">commercial buildings</a>. Most of these buildings will need to be made much more efficient, switched to non-emitting technologies for heating and cooling, to meet the net-zero goal. </p>
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<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/how-net-zero-and-passive-houses-can-cut-carbon-emissions-and-energy-bills-148587">How 'net-zero' and 'passive' houses can cut carbon emissions — and energy bills</a>
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<p>This means two key policy directions: a retrofitting incentive or subsidy to help landlords and homeowners pay for what will be very costly upgrades, and a technology push to get low-carbon options (like air- and ground-source heat pumps, or district heat) into our communities. </p>
<h2>Are electric vehicles the answer?</h2>
<p>Decreasing transportation emissions (25 per cent of 2018 emissions) will also be a challenge, although the technology to solve this problem is more advanced. </p>
<p>While vehicle fleets are <a href="https://www.statcan.gc.ca/eng/topics-start/automotive">regularly refreshed</a>, it is critical that both <a href="https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.est.6b00177">light-duty</a> and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.egyr.2019.07.017">heavy-duty</a> fleets shift towards the lowest-carbon options, likely electric vehicles for light-duty, and a combination of renewable fuels, hydrogen and electrification for heavy-duty trucks. </p>
<p>But really, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1541-0064.2008.00214.x">road traffic must shrink</a> to achieve reductions in transport emissions. Policies that support <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolecon.2019.05.002">work-at-home options</a> and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envres.2020.109622">better public transit</a> will be essential. </p>
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<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/the-myth-of-electric-cars-why-we-also-need-to-focus-on-buses-and-trains-147827">The myth of electric cars: Why we also need to focus on buses and trains</a>
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<p>Electricity production is another critical sector that must be addressed. Both <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/1541-0064.00006">renewable electricity</a> and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2020.123026">nuclear power</a> will likely be required to offset reductions in the use of fossil fuels. </p>
<p>Large industrial emitters must also be tackled, although a number of technology options are being explored for <a href="https://www.automotiveworld.com/articles/net-zero-what-will-it-take-to-achieve-co2-free-steel/">critical industries such as steel</a> and <a href="https://www.lafargeholcim.com/ecopact-the-green-concrete">cement</a>. In the area of renewable natural resources, there are great ideas to make <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nbt.2017.04.001">agriculture</a> and <a href="https://doi.org/10.17221/75/2020-JFS">forestry</a> more sustainable. </p>
<h2>Are the provinces on board?</h2>
<p>The <a href="https://www.canada.ca/en/environment-climate-change/corporate/transparency/briefing/key-issues-climate-change.html">provinces are central to Canada’s success in meeting its net-zero goals</a>. They are responsible for electricity and for natural resources like oil, gas and coal. </p>
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<img alt="Electrical towers and power lines" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/371366/original/file-20201125-15-1o1hny5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/371366/original/file-20201125-15-1o1hny5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=406&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/371366/original/file-20201125-15-1o1hny5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=406&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/371366/original/file-20201125-15-1o1hny5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=406&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/371366/original/file-20201125-15-1o1hny5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=510&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/371366/original/file-20201125-15-1o1hny5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=510&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/371366/original/file-20201125-15-1o1hny5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=510&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Power lines near Mississauga, Ont.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/Nathan Denette</span></span>
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<p>Every emissions-reduction strategy that can be imagined relies to a large degree on electrification — using more electricity for transportation and heat, as well as for manufacture and industrial processes. Every emissions-reduction strategy must also address the emissions from the production of, and use of, fossil fuels. </p>
<p>All provinces will carry a heavy load in meeting the goals of Bill C-12, but Alberta, Saskatchewan and Newfoundland and Labrador will likely pay more. The strategies we develop need to be informed by provincial perspectives if there is any hope of success.</p>
<p>As a piece of legislation, Bill C-12 gives the government an important tool. But we need a real plan now. We no longer have the luxury of making marginal, incremental improvements. We need three per cent to four per cent reductions every year, starting now. And that means getting serious with a wide array of synergistic strategies that — acting together — can take us to a net-zero future.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/150581/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Warren Mabee receives funding from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council, and from the Canada Research Chairs Foundation. </span></em></p>If Canada began to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by about four per cent per year, we could still meet our 2030 climate targets.Warren Mabee, Director, Queen's Institute for Energy and Environmental Policy, Queen's University, OntarioLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1387912020-07-06T12:11:45Z2020-07-06T12:11:45Z‘Renewable’ natural gas may sound green, but it’s not an antidote for climate change<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/344870/original/file-20200630-103645-k9wq9o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C5200%2C3456&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Methane bubbles form in a pit digester on a dairy farm as bacteria break down cow manure. The methane can be collected and used as an energy source.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/methane-bubbles-from-manure-pit-digester-on-dairy-farm-news-photo/687589526?adppopup=true">Edwin Remsburg/VW Pics via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Natural gas is a versatile fossil fuel that accounts for <a href="https://www.eia.gov/totalenergy/data/browser/index.php?tbl=T01.03#/?f=A&start=200001">about a third of U.S. energy use</a>. Although it produces fewer greenhouse gas emissions and other pollutants than coal or oil, natural gas is a major contributor to climate change, an <a href="https://www.ipcc.ch/sr15/">urgent global problem</a>. Reducing emissions from the natural gas system is especially challenging because natural gas is used <a href="https://www.eia.gov/dnav/ng/ng_cons_sum_dcu_nus_m.htm">roughly equally for electricity, heating, and industrial applications</a>. </p>
<p>There’s an emerging argument that maybe there could be a direct substitute for fossil natural gas in the form of renewable natural gas (RNG) – a renewable fuel designed to be nearly indistinguishable from fossil natural gas. RNG could be made from biomass or from captured carbon dioxide and electricity. </p>
<p>Based on what’s known about these systems, however, I believe climate benefits might not be as large as advocates claim. This matters because RNG isn’t widely used yet, and decisions about whether to invest in it are being made now, in places like <a href="https://www.cleanenergyfuels.com/blog/influx-of-california-rng-fuels-local-economy-protects-climate">California</a>, <a href="https://www.oregon.gov/energy/Get-Involved/Pages/RNG-Advisory-Committee.aspx">Oregon</a>, <a href="http://biomassmagazine.com/articles/15172/inslee-signs-bill-to-promote-rng-in-state-of-washington">Washington</a>, <a href="https://energynews.us/2019/12/03/midwest/michigan-utilities-see-role-for-renewable-natural-gas-but-cost-barrier-remains/">Michigan</a>, <a href="https://investor.southerncompany.com/information-for-investors/latest-news/latest-news-releases/press-release-details/2020/Southern-Company-Gas-grows-leadership-team-to-focus-on-climate-action-innovation-and-renewable-natural-gas-strategy/default.aspx">Georgia</a> and <a href="https://www.epa.gov/natural-gas-star-program/rng-interconnect-guideline-new-york">New York</a>.</p>
<p>As someone who studies <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=3RI02dcAAAAJ&hl=en">sustainability</a>, I research how decisions made now might influence the environment and society in the future. I’m particularly interested in how energy systems contribute to climate change. </p>
<p>Right now, energy is responsible for most of the pollution worldwide that <a href="https://www.ipcc.ch/report/ar5/syr/">causes climate change</a>. Since energy infrastructure, like power plants and pipelines, <a href="http://emilygrubert.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/eia_860_2017_map.html">lasts a long time</a>, it’s important to consider the climate change emissions that society <a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-019-1364-3">is committing to</a> with new investments in these systems. At the moment, renewable natural gas is more a proposal than reality, which makes this a great time to ask: What would investing in RNG mean for climate change? </p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/3KaMnkmf0tc?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Marketing video from Southern California Gas Co. promoting renewable natural gas as a climate-friendly energy option.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>What RNG is and why it matters</h2>
<p>Most equipment that uses energy can only use a single kind of fuel, but the fuel might come from different resources. For example, you can’t charge your computer with gasoline, but it can run on electricity generated from coal, natural gas or solar power. </p>
<p>Natural gas is almost pure methane, <a href="https://www.eia.gov/energyexplained/natural-gas/">currently sourced</a> from raw, fossil natural gas produced from <a href="https://www.eia.gov/energyexplained/natural-gas/where-our-natural-gas-comes-from.php">deposits deep underground</a>. But methane could come from renewable resources, too.</p>
<p>[<em>The Conversation’s science, health and technology editors pick their favorite stories.</em> <a href="https://theconversation.com/us/newsletters/science-editors-picks-71/?utm_source=TCUS&utm_medium=inline-link&utm_campaign=newsletter-text&utm_content=science-favorite">Weekly on Wednesdays</a>.]</p>
<p>Two main methane sources could be used to make RNG. First is <a href="https://www.epa.gov/ghgemissions/inventory-us-greenhouse-gas-emissions-and-sinks">biogenic methane</a>, produced by bacteria that digest organic materials in manure, landfills and wastewater. Wastewater treatment plants, landfills and dairy farms have captured and used biogenic methane as an energy resource for <a href="http://emilygrubert.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/eia_860_2017_map.html">decades</a>, in a form usually called <a href="https://www.eia.gov/energyexplained/biomass/landfill-gas-and-biogas.php">biogas</a>. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/343781/original/file-20200624-133013-vi71ef.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/343781/original/file-20200624-133013-vi71ef.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/343781/original/file-20200624-133013-vi71ef.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/343781/original/file-20200624-133013-vi71ef.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/343781/original/file-20200624-133013-vi71ef.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/343781/original/file-20200624-133013-vi71ef.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/343781/original/file-20200624-133013-vi71ef.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Methane captured from cow manure can be used to produce renewable natural gas, which energy companies are promoting as a replacement for fossil natural gas.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.apimages.com/metadata/Index/Exchange-Cow-Manure-Renewables/be42da9d774e40b98ea4e1a332de3423/15/0">AP Photo/Rodrigo Abd</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Some biogenic methane is generated naturally when organic materials break down without oxygen. Burning it for energy can be beneficial for the climate if doing so prevents methane from escaping to the atmosphere. </p>
<p>In theory, there’s enough of this climate-friendly methane available to replace <a href="https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1748-9326/ab9335/meta">about 1% of the energy</a> that the current natural gas system provides. The largest share is found at landfills.</p>
<p>The other source for RNG doesn’t exist in practice yet, but could theoretically be a much larger resource than biogenic methane. Often called <a href="https://www.powermag.com/why-power-to-gas-may-flourish-in-a-renewables-heavy-world/">power-to-gas</a>, this methane would be intentionally manufactured from carbon dioxide and hydrogen using electricity. If all the inputs are climate-neutral – meaning, for example, that the electricity used to create the RNG is generated from resources without greenhouse gas emissions – then the combusted RNG would also be climate-neutral.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/344892/original/file-20200630-103683-11bkmyl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/344892/original/file-20200630-103683-11bkmyl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/344892/original/file-20200630-103683-11bkmyl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/344892/original/file-20200630-103683-11bkmyl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/344892/original/file-20200630-103683-11bkmyl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/344892/original/file-20200630-103683-11bkmyl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/344892/original/file-20200630-103683-11bkmyl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/344892/original/file-20200630-103683-11bkmyl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Digesters at the Deer Island water treatment plant on Boston Harbor break down sewage sludge, yielding methane gas that helps power the plant.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deer_Island_Waste_Water_Treatment_Plant#/media/File:Deerislandeggs.jpg">Frank Hebbert/Wikipedia</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>So far, RNG of either type isn’t widely available. Much of the current conversation focuses on whether and how to make it available. For example, <a href="https://www.sempra.com/socalgas-takes-next-step-toward-offering-renewable-natural-gas">SoCalGas in California</a>, <a href="https://energynews.us/2019/01/30/midwest/minnesota-utility-wants-to-offer-customers-renewable-natural-gas-option/">CenterPoint Energy in Minnesota and Vermont Gas Systems in Vermont</a> either offer or have proposed offering RNG to consumers, in the same way that many utilities allow customers to opt in to renewable electricity. </p>
<h2>Renewable isn’t always sustainable</h2>
<p>If RNG could be a renewable replacement for fossil natural gas, why not move ahead? Consumers have shown that they are <a href="https://www.nrel.gov/analysis/green-power.html">willing to buy renewable electricity</a>, so we might expect similar enthusiasm for RNG. </p>
<p>The key issue is that methane isn’t just a fuel – it’s also a <a href="https://www.eia.gov/environment/emissions/ghg_report/ghg_overview.php">potent greenhouse gas</a> that contributes to climate change. Any methane that is manufactured intentionally, whether from biogenic or other sources, will contribute to climate change if it enters the atmosphere. </p>
<p>And <a href="http://DOI.org/10.1126/science.aar7204">releases</a> <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.wasman.2019.07.029">will happen</a>, from newly built production systems and <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-methane-emissions-matter-to-climate-change-5-questions-answered-122684">existing, leaky transportation and user infrastructure</a>. For example, the moment you smell gas before the pilot light on a stove lights the ring? That’s methane leakage, and it contributes to climate change.</p>
<p>To be clear, RNG is almost certainly better for the climate than fossil natural gas because byproducts of burning RNG won’t contribute to climate change. But doing somewhat better than existing systems is no longer enough to respond to the <a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/nclimate2923">urgency</a> of climate change. The world’s <a href="https://www.ipcc.ch/sr15/chapter/spm/">primary international body on climate change</a> suggests we need to decarbonize by 2030 to mitigate the worst effects of climate change. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/343794/original/file-20200624-132955-1k1d4pm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/343794/original/file-20200624-132955-1k1d4pm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/343794/original/file-20200624-132955-1k1d4pm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/343794/original/file-20200624-132955-1k1d4pm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/343794/original/file-20200624-132955-1k1d4pm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/343794/original/file-20200624-132955-1k1d4pm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/343794/original/file-20200624-132955-1k1d4pm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/343794/original/file-20200624-132955-1k1d4pm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Renewable natural gas would compete with other energy sources, such as wind power, that do not emit greenhouse gases to the atmosphere.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.apimages.com/metadata/Index/Carbon-Pricing-New-York/9aa3909b7478409386ed2f2b56eb961a/86/0">AP Photo/Julie Jacobson</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Scant climate benefits</h2>
<p><a href="https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1748-9326/ab9335/meta">My recent research</a> suggests that for a system large enough to displace a lot of fossil natural gas, RNG is probably not as good for the climate as <a href="https://investor.southerncompany.com/information-for-investors/latest-news/latest-news-releases/press-release-details/2020/Southern-Company-Gas-grows-leadership-team-to-focus-on-climate-action-innovation-and-renewable-natural-gas-strategy/default.aspx">is publicly claimed</a>. Although RNG has lower climate impact than its fossil counterpart, likely high demand and methane leakage mean that it probably will contribute to climate change. In contrast, renewable sources such as wind and solar energy do not <a href="https://www.eia.gov/environment/emissions/carbon/">emit climate pollution directly</a>. </p>
<p>What’s more, creating a large RNG system would require building mostly new production infrastructure, since RNG comes from different sources than fossil natural gas. Such investments are both long-term commitments and opportunity costs. They would devote money, political will and infrastructure investments to RNG instead of alternatives that could achieve a zero greenhouse gas emission goal.</p>
<p>When climate change first <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/1988/06/24/us/global-warming-has-begun-expert-tells-senate.html">broke into the political conversation</a> in the late 1980s, investing in long-lived systems with low but non-zero greenhouse gas emissions was still compatible with aggressive climate goals. Now, zero greenhouse gas emissions is the target, and my research suggests that large deployments of RNG likely won’t meet that goal.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/138791/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Emily Grubert does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Energy companies are marketing a new fuel: ‘renewable’ natural gas. But it’s not the same from a climate change perspective as wind or solar energy.Emily Grubert, Assistant Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Georgia Institute of TechnologyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1169492019-05-16T21:01:02Z2019-05-16T21:01:02ZWhy decarbonizing marine transportation might not be smooth sailing<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/275005/original/file-20190516-69178-h7wx1j.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=288%2C625%2C2208%2C1036&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Decarbonizing maritime transportation will require a major shift towards alternative fuels. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>About 60,000 merchant ships sail the world’s oceans, including container ships, oil tankers and dry bulk carriers loaded with everything from grain to coal. Most operate on carbon-rich fuels such as heavy diesel, and their emissions have negative environmental impacts, are <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-urgency-of-curbing-pollution-from-ships-explained-94797">harmful to human health</a> and <a href="https://theconversation.com/cargo-ships-are-emitting-boatloads-of-carbon-and-nobody-wants-to-take-the-blame-108731">contribute to global warming</a>. </p>
<p>Last year, the International Maritime Organization (IMO), a UN agency that is responsible for environmental impacts of ships, adopted ambitious targets to <a href="https://unfccc.int/sites/default/files/resource/250_IMO%20submission_Talanoa%20Dialogue_April%202018.pdf">reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from maritime shipping</a>. The IMO plan regulates carbon dioxide emissions from ships and requires shipping companies to halve their GHG emissions, based on 2008 levels by 2050.</p>
<p>Officials from the marine environmental protection committee of the IMO met in London this week to discuss the shipping sector’s contribution to climate change. Establishing resolutions to reaffirm existing commitments and frames of reference for a fourth IMO GHG study was high on the agenda. </p>
<p>But <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.enpol.2015.04.019">decarbonizing maritime transportation represents a major challenge</a> that will require <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.enconman.2018.12.080">a revolutionary shift to alternative renewable fuels</a>.</p>
<h2>Demand for shipping expected to increase</h2>
<p>Shipping accounts for about <a href="https://www.theicct.org/sites/default/files/publications/Global-shipping-GHG-emissions-2013-2015_ICCT-Report_17102017_vF.pdf">three per cent of global GHG emissions</a>, producing roughly the same amount as Germany or Brazil do annually. Shipping emissions are not covered under the Paris climate agreement because they cannot be credited to any one nation. </p>
<p>Maritime shipping is far more efficient than shipping by truck, rail or air, and is responsible for moving more than <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-805052-1.00030-9">80 per cent of traded goods (by weight) worth billions of dollars daily</a>. Demand for shipping is growing rapidly and could produce as much as 17 per cent of global emissions by 2050, if not mitigated. In order to meet the goals of the Paris agreement, shipping emissions need to be regulated.</p>
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<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/the-urgency-of-curbing-pollution-from-ships-explained-94797">The urgency of curbing pollution from ships, explained</a>
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<p>In addition to its long-term strategy to <a href="http://www.imo.org/en/MediaCentre/HotTopics/GHG/Pages/default.aspx">cut GHG emissions by 50 per cent by 2050</a>, the ambitious IMO strategy includes <a href="http://www.imo.org/en/MediaCentre/PressBriefings/Pages/18-MEPCGHGprogramme.aspx">short- and mid-term measures</a>, although the details haven’t yet been decided. Short-term measures could be finalized and agreed to between 2018 and 2023; mid-term measures, between 2023 and 2030; and long-term measures to half GHG emissions, beyond 2030. The IMO’s ultimate goal is to completely decarbonize marine shipping. </p>
<h2>Slow-steaming not the way ahead</h2>
<p>The shipping industry is already struggling to adapt to the IMO goals. <a href="https://www.dnvgl.com/expert-story/maritime-impact/alternative-fuels.html">Low- or zero-carbon propulsion technologies are not widely available</a>. The rapidly approaching deadline for implementing short-term emissions reduction measures has led shipping companies to change the way ships are operated, such as by <a href="https://seas-at-risk.org/18-shipping/953-reduced-ship-speeds-make-economic-as-well-as-climate-sense.html">reducing ship speeds, also called “slow-steaming”</a>. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/275008/original/file-20190516-69192-93g4zy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/275008/original/file-20190516-69192-93g4zy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=537&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/275008/original/file-20190516-69192-93g4zy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=537&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/275008/original/file-20190516-69192-93g4zy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=537&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/275008/original/file-20190516-69192-93g4zy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=675&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/275008/original/file-20190516-69192-93g4zy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=675&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/275008/original/file-20190516-69192-93g4zy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=675&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">A ship maneuvers out of port near Marseilles, France in 2007.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Roberto Venturini/wikipedia</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Slow-steaming is the most effective way to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from ships in the short-term, but it is hardly an <a href="https://www.joc.com/maritime-news/container-lines/slow-steaming-hardly-emissions-silver-bullet_20190501.html">emissions silver bullet</a>. Slow-steaming significantly reduces fuel consumption, but the longer voyage times lead to higher operating costs, insurance and employment expenses that come with operating a greater number of ships at any given time. </p>
<p><a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/14693062.2018.1461059">Researchers have criticized the slow-steaming approach</a> because it is inconsistent with IMO’s ultimate emissions goals to completely decarbonize marine shipping </p>
<h2>Challenges with alternative fuels</h2>
<p>Currently, most of the global shipping fleet, about 60,000 vessels, relies on diesel — only 600 ships use alternative fuels. The sector clearly needs to accelerate adoption of low-carbon fuels. </p>
<p>Alternative low-carbon fuels include <a href="https://clearseas.org/en/lng">liquified natural gas (LNG)</a>, biofuels, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.trd.2016.11.023">batteries</a>, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marpol.2015.12.021">wind</a>, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2017.05.163">nuclear</a> and hydrogen fuel cell systems with zero emissions. A <a href="https://futurism.com/new-ship-rigid-solar-sails-harnesses-power-sun-wind-same-time">solar-powered ship</a> is currently under development.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/designing-green-ships-from-sails-to-micro-bubbles-17508">Designing green ships, from sails to micro-bubbles</a>
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<p>Unlike conventional fuels such as heavy fuel oil and diesel used in maritime shipping, <a href="https://clearseas.org/en/lng">LNG produces 15 per cent to 29 per cent less carbon dioxide</a>. It also produces less sulphur oxides, particulate matter and nitrogen oxide, which reduces air pollution and the threat to human health.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.lngworldnews.com/dnv-gl-keppel-to-promote-use-of-lng-as-ship-fuel/">By 2030, 10 per cent of the global shipping fleet will be powered by LNG</a>. However, switching to LNG combustion does not come without risks. The extraction, processing and transport of natural gas produces leaks and greenhouse gas emissions, and <a href="https://www.igu.org/sites/default/files/6%20-%20WFES%20Decarbonisation%20160117%20Marcel%20Kramer.pdf">LNG is carbon-based, making it a transitional fuel</a>.</p>
<p>Switching the rest of the global fleet to other low-carbon fuel alternatives will be <a href="https://doi.org/10.9774/GLEAF.2350.2016.de.00004">driven by market-based strategies</a>, such as taxes or levies on heavy fuel oil and diesel. However, there is still a long way to go to meet 2050 targets. </p>
<p>Emerging economies are also playing a role in reducing emissions in the maritime shipping industry. <a href="https://www.nrdc.org/sites/default/files/china-controlling-port-air-emissions-report.pdf">China, for example, has implemented widespread onshore charging stations and will have 500 shore power units installed by 2020</a> to allow ships to turn off their engines and use local electricity to power refrigeration, lights and other equipment when docked. This is particularly effective at reducing greenhouse gas emissions when powered by renewables. The country has also launched local incentive programs to encourage the shipping industry to increase its use of renewables. </p>
<h2>Full steam ahead</h2>
<p>There is no one single silver bullet to help <a href="https://unfccc.int/sites/default/files/resource/250_IMO%20submission_Talanoa%20Dialogue_April%202018.pdf">reduce greenhouse gas emissions from maritime shipping</a>. Achieving IMO GHG emission reductions targets will require all stakeholders, including ship owners, ship builders, governments, industry and <a href="https://www.sauder.ubc.ca/Faculty/Research_Centres/Centre_for_Transportation_Studies/Green_Shipping_-_Governance_and_Innovation_for_a_Sustainable_Maritime_Supply_Chain/People">researchers,</a> to help the maritime shipping industry transition into widespread use of multiple renewable-fuel technologies. </p>
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<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/five-ways-the-shipping-industry-can-reduce-its-carbon-emissions-94883">Five ways the shipping industry can reduce its carbon emissions</a>
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<p>As the maritime shipping industry faces increasing challenges to reduce environmental impacts such as <a href="https://theconversation.com/quieter-ships-could-help-canadas-endangered-orcas-recover-107515">underwater noise</a>, <a href="https://www.doi.org/10.1126/science.aar2402">ship-strikes on whales</a> and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-805052-1.00030-9">ballast water and air pollution</a>, these IMO GHG emissions reduction targets will be one more regulatory hurdle to wrestle with. </p>
<p>Although 2050 is still 30 years away, the average operational life of a ship is roughly the same, so we still have a long way to go. We need to phase out existing fleets which would fail to meet 2050 IMOs standards and replace with new ships powered by low-carbon fuels as quickly as possible.</p>
<p>It may not be smooth sailing, but the maritime shipping sector needs to stay on course by accelerating adoption of low-carbon fuels.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/116949/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Tony Robert Walker receives funding from a Partnership Development Grant from the Canadian Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC).</span></em></p>Shipping companies are expected to halve their greenhouse gas emissions by 2050.Tony Robert Walker, Assistant Professor, Dalhousie UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1129582019-03-11T04:14:16Z2019-03-11T04:14:16ZHydrogen fuels rockets, but what about power for daily life? We’re getting closer<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/262315/original/file-20190306-48450-1q1zozl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">NASA has launched all of its space shuttle missions using hydrogen as fuel. </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.nasa.gov/centers/marshall/history/this-week-in-nasa-history-first-crew-rotation-mission-launches-to-international-space.html">NASA</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span></figcaption></figure><p><em>To mark the <a href="https://www.iypt2019.org/">International Year of the Periodic Table of Chemical Elements</a> we’re taking a look at elements and how they’re used in research and the real world.</em> </p>
<p><em>Hydrogen is the <a href="http://www.rsc.org/periodic-table/element/1/hydrogen">first element</a> on the periodic table. In its pure form hydrogen is a light, colourless gas, but forms a liquid at very low temperatures.</em></p>
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<p>Have you ever watched a <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OnoNITE-CLc">space shuttle launch</a>? The fuel used to thrust these enormous structures away from Earth’s gravitational pull is <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/content/space-applications-of-hydrogen-and-fuel-cells">hydrogen</a>.</p>
<p>Hydrogen also holds potential as a source of energy for our daily activities – driving, heating our houses, and maybe more. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/lightweight-of-periodic-table-plays-big-role-in-life-on-earth-109329">Lightweight of periodic table plays big role in life on Earth</a>
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<p>This month the federal coalition government <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2019/mar/01/coalition-launches-push-for-hydrogen-power-in-energy-policy-reboot">opened public consultation</a> on a national hydrogen strategy. Labor has also pledged to <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2019/jan/22/labor-promises-to-supercharge-hydrogen-industry-as-green-groups-say-no-role-for-coal">set aside funding</a> to develop clean hydrogen. The COAG Energy Ministers meeting in December 2018 indicated <a href="http://www.coagenergycouncil.gov.au/publications/establishment-hydrogen-working-group-coag-energy-council">strong support for a hydrogen economy</a>. </p>
<p>But is Australia ready to explore this competitive, low-carbon energy alternative for residential, commercial, industrial and transport sectors?</p>
<p>There are two key aspects to assessing our readiness for a hydrogen economy - technological advancement (can we actually do it?) and societal acceptance (will we use it?). </p>
<h2>Is the technology mature enough?</h2>
<p>The hydrogen economy cycle consists of three key steps:</p>
<ul>
<li>hydrogen production</li>
<li>hydrogen storage and delivery</li>
<li>hydrogen consumption – converting the chemical energy of hydrogen into other forms of energy. </li>
</ul>
<h3>Hydrogen production</h3>
<p>For hydrogen to become a major future fuel, water electrolysis is likely the best method of production. In this process, electricity is used to <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HZUgfkPo670&t=31s">split water molecules</a> into hydrogen (H₂) and oxygen (O₂).</p>
<p>This technology becomes <a href="https://www.csiro.au/en/Do-business/Futures/Reports/Hydrogen-Roadmap">commercially feasible</a> when electricity is produced at relatively low costs by renewable sources such as <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41560-019-0326-1">solar and wind</a>. Costs may drop further in the near future as the production technology becomes more efficient. </p>
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<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/how-hydrogen-power-can-help-us-cut-emissions-boost-exports-and-even-drive-further-between-refills-101967">How hydrogen power can help us cut emissions, boost exports, and even drive further between refills</a>
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<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/HZUgfkPo670?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">How hydrogen is created and used as a power source.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<h3>Hydrogen storage and delivery</h3>
<p>Effective storage and delivery are vital for the safe and efficient handling of large amounts of hydrogen. </p>
<p>Because it is very light, hydrogen has conventionally been compressed at high pressure, or liquefied and stored at an extremely low temperature of -253°C. Taking these steps requires an extra energy investment, so efficiency drops by up to 40%. But current hydrogen storage and delivery still rests on these two technologies – compression and liquefaction – as they are proven and supported by well-established infrastructure and experience. </p>
<p>Another option being explored (but needing further development) is to combine hydrogen with other elements, and then release it when required for use. </p>
<p>Currently, most hydrogen fuel cell cars use carbon-fibre reinforced tanks to store highly compressed hydrogen gas. The cost of tanks will need to lower to make this option more economic (currently <a href="https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1343975">over a few thousands of US dollars per unit</a>). </p>
<h3>Using hydrogen as a fuel</h3>
<p>There are two main ways to convert the chemical energy in hydrogen into usable energy (electrical energy or heat energy). Both of these approaches produce water as the by-product.</p>
<p>A primitive and straightforward way of using hydrogen is to burn it to generate heat – just like you use natural gas for cooking and heating in your home. </p>
<p>A <a href="https://www.australiangasnetworks.com.au/our-business/about-us/media-releases/australian-first-hydrogen-pilot-plant-to-be-built-in-adelaide">trial planned for South Australia</a> aims to generate hydrogen using renewable electricity, and then inject it into the local gas distribution network. This way of “blending” gases can avoid the cost of building costly delivery infrastructure, but will incur expenditures associated with modifications to existing pipelines. Extensive study and testing of this activity are required. </p>
<p>When used in hydrogen fuel cells, energy is produced when hydrogen reacts with oxygen. This is the technology used by NASA and other operators in space missions, and by car manufacturers in hydrogen fuel cell cars. It’s the most advanced method for hydrogen use at the moment.</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/OnoNITE-CLc?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Turn up the sound for this hydrogen-fuelled launch.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>It works, but will we accept it?</h2>
<h3>Safety considerations</h3>
<p>As a fuel, hydrogen has some properties that make it safer to use than the fuels more commonly used today, such as diesel and petrol. </p>
<p>Hydrogen is non-toxic. It is also much lighter than air, allowing for rapid dispersal in case of a leak. This contrasts with the buildup of flammable gases in the case of diesel and petrol leaks, which can cause explosions. </p>
<p>However, hydrogen does burn easily in air, and ignites more readily than gasoline or natural gas. This is why hydrogen cars have such robust carbon fibre tanks – to prevent leakages. </p>
<p>Where hydrogen is used in commercial settings as a fuel, strict regulations and effective measures have been established to prevent and detect leaks, and to vent hydrogen. Household applications of hydrogen fuel would also need to address this issue. </p>
<h3>Impact on the environment</h3>
<p>From an environmental perspective, the ideal cycle in a hydrogen economy involves: </p>
<ul>
<li>hydrogen production through using electrolysis to split water</li>
<li>hydrogen consumption via reacting it with oxygen in a fuel cell, producing water as a byproduct. </li>
</ul>
<p>If the electricity for electrolysis is generated from renewable sources, this whole value chain has minimal environment impact and is sustainable. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/the-science-is-clear-we-have-to-start-creating-our-low-carbon-future-today-104774">The science is clear: we have to start creating our low-carbon future today</a>
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</p>
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<h2>Moving closer to a hydrogen economy</h2>
<p>Cheap electricity from renewable energy resources is the key in making large-scale hydrogen production via electrolysis a reality in Australia. Internationally it’s already clear – for example, in <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41560-019-0326-1">Germany and Texas</a> – that renewable hydrogen is cost competitive in niche applications, although not yet for industrial-scale supply. </p>
<p>Techniques for storage and delivery need to be improved in terms of cost and efficiency, and manufacturing of hydrogen fuel cells requires advancement. </p>
<p>Hydrogen is a desirable source of energy, since it can be produced in large quantities and stored for a long time without loss of capacity. Because it’s so light, it’s <a href="https://www.csiro.au/en/Do-business/Futures/Reports/Hydrogen-Roadmap">an economical way to transport energy</a> produced by renewables over large distances (including across oceans). </p>
<p>Underpinned by advanced technologies, with strong support by governments, and commitment from many multinational energy and automobile companies, hydrogen fuel links renewable energy with end-users in a clean and sustainable way. </p>
<p>Let’s see if hydrogen takes off.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/112958/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Zhenguo Huang receives funding from Australian Research Council.</span></em></p>Ever watched a space shuttle launch? The fuel used to thrust these huge structures away from Earth’s gravitational pull is hydrogen. Hydrogen could also be used as a household energy source.Zhenguo Huang, Senior lecturer, University of Technology SydneyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1095872019-01-09T19:27:43Z2019-01-09T19:27:43ZHydrogen mobility from renewable energy – it is possible!<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/253022/original/file-20190109-32139-1r12mth.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C10%2C1374%2C903&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">FaHyence hydrogene filling station in action.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://mcphy.com/en/achievements/fahyence/">McPhy</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>A reliable energy transition requires the implication of a range of scientific domains: physical, human, social, economic, as well as earth and life sciences, with the particular concern to put the end user in the centre of technology development. As part of the <a href="http://lue.univ-lorraine.fr/fr/article/impact-ulhys">ULHyS project</a> (Université de Lorraine Hydrogène Sciences et Technologies), the University of Lorraine brings together about ten laboratories around five research topics, from hydrogen production to territorial deployment. In this context, several ULHys members were invited to visit the hydrogen filling station <a href="https://mcphy.com/en/press-releases/commissioning-of-the-1st-hrs-in-france-producing-green-h2-on/">FaHyence</a> at Sarreguemines.</p>
<p>Inaugurated in April 2017, FaHyence is the first fuel station in Europe that produces hydrogen by electrolysis on site using green electricity from renewable energies delivered by Electricity of France (EDF). The site has a capacity of 40 kg of hydrogen per day, representing the need of about 20 to 25 vehicles per day for charging pressures between 350 to 420 bar.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/250480/original/file-20181213-178558-hscf9q.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/250480/original/file-20181213-178558-hscf9q.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=264&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/250480/original/file-20181213-178558-hscf9q.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=264&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/250480/original/file-20181213-178558-hscf9q.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=264&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/250480/original/file-20181213-178558-hscf9q.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=332&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/250480/original/file-20181213-178558-hscf9q.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=332&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/250480/original/file-20181213-178558-hscf9q.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=332&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Sketch of the filling station published with kind authorization of the society EIFER.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Ranges of about 350km, without any greenhouse gas emission</h2>
<p>Other hydrogen fuel stations in France include the HyWay project, which has been operational since summer 2018 on the CEA (French Alternative Energies and Atomic Energy Commission) site at Grenoble, and two others are under construction at Rodez and Nantes. FaHyence is the result of a collaboration between EDF, EIFER, McPhy, Symbio Fcell and the Urban Conglomeration of Sarreguemines Confluences (CASC). In order to ensure a regular operation of the gas station, about ten hydrogen vehicles run in the urban conglomeration: Electric Kangoo ZE (Renault) equipped by Symbio Fcell with a fuel cell acting as range extender. The PEM (polymer electrolyte membrane) type fuel cells run with pure hydrogen and consequently without any greenhouse gas emission with ranges up to 350 km, thereof 200 km thanks to a 33kWh Li-ion battery and 150 km thanks to a 5kWh PEMFC connected to a 1.8 kg hydrogen tank pressurized at 350 bar.</p>
<p>Even if the filling station is not at free access, any vehicle – French, European or international – running on hydrogen can make a recharge after simple authorization apply at the CASC with one evident advantage: the hydrogen filling is completely free. As a consequence, nine additional utility vehicles have been bought in between by other professional partners in the conglomeration and several private German and Belgian users have already filled their reservoirs at Sarreguemines.</p>
<p>FaHyence makes part of the H2ME (Hydrogen Mobility Europe) project funded by the European program FCH JU (Fuel Cells and Hydrogen Joint Undertaking) which aims at deploying 49 hydrogen filling stations and 1,400 vehicles over the EU by 2020. Hydrogen is the third chapter of the sustainable mobility project of FaHyence besides electricity and bio-methane. It is an ambitious living laboratory and an evident application example of hydrogen technology.</p>
<h2>A full tank in four minutes flat</h2>
<p>Users learning how to take advantage of the filling devices has gone smoothly. The interface is classical and the procedure similar to conventional systems using fossil fuel allowed to minimise the adaptation period. Improvements are still needed in terms of ergonomics and interactions, but the operation principle remains quite simple. Compared to hours of charging necessary for conventional battery-based electric vehicles, the four minutes to fill a vehicle’s tank with hydrogen seem to be more than acceptable.</p>
<p>The station contains an alkaline electrolyser with a production capacity of 1.8 kg/h which requires 50 litres of water per kilogram of produce hydrogen. In addition, there is a two-level compressor, the first reaching pressures of about 30 bar, and the second equipped with a cooling circuit down to -20°C allows to reach pressures up to 420 bar. This compression device provides two major advantages: The first is that it allows to fill not only hydrogen vehicles at 350 bar (case of FC-EV such as the Kangoo ZE), but as well, for sure with some volume limitations, electric vehicles operating with hydrogen requiring filling pressures of 700 bar and reaching ranges of about 450 km (case of FCV such as the Toyota Mirai, the Honda Clarity Fuel Cell and the Hyundai Nexo…). The second advantage is that the cooling system reduces the filling time to four minutes compared to seven minutes for systems operating at ambient temperature.</p>
<h2>An under-exploited gas station which could easily become competitive</h2>
<p>“Hydrogen technology itself is not the limiting factor”, says Christian Hector, head of the technical service of Cofluences and initiator of the FaHyence project. “The most constraining element is the electrolyser”. With an average of 2.2 fuelings per day, representing barely 5% of its nominal capacity, the station is clearly under-exploited. As a consequence, the per-filling cost remains too high to be competitive with classical systems. While the per-kilogram cost of hydrogen depends on local conditions; at Sarreguemines it is 10€ per kg, and the national average is of about 6€ per kg. Note that it takes about 1 kg of hydrogen to travel 100km.</p>
<p>For the station to be cost-efficient, a minimum of 30 vehicles daily filling their tank would be required. “But the economic profit was not the motivation of this project,” says Hector. “The purpose was to test electric mobility in a cross-border context, as well as to validate the technical reliability of a hydrogen gas station in combination with an electrolyser on-site”. Even if the future of this station, whose financial support ends in 2020 remains uncertain, the objectives have been reached and this thanks to the tenacity of Hector and his green mobility team at the CASC.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/109587/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Les auteurs ne travaillent pas, ne conseillent pas, ne possèdent pas de parts, ne reçoivent pas de fonds d'une organisation qui pourrait tirer profit de cet article, et n'ont déclaré aucune autre affiliation que leur organisme de recherche.</span></em></p>The development of a hydrogen charging station has made it possible to run vehicles without producing greenhouse gases.Robin Vivian, Maitre de conférences, Université de LorraineJulia Mainka, Maître de Conférences, Université de LorraineLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1039122018-10-15T19:02:55Z2018-10-15T19:02:55ZHow biomethane can help turn gas into a renewable energy source<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/240543/original/file-20181015-109216-amdwxv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=25%2C5%2C3419%2C2825&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Are there greener pastures ahead for gas?</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock.com</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Australia’s report card on reducing its greenhouse gas emissions is <a href="https://theconversation.com/australia-is-not-on-track-to-reach-2030-paris-target-but-the-potential-is-there-102725">not exactly glowing</a>, but there are ample opportunities to get it on track during this period of rapid change in the energy sector. Greater use of renewable electricity sources like wind and solar are playing a large part in reducing emissions, and gas can also lift its game. </p>
<p>Gas provides nearly <a href="https://www.energynetworks.com.au/gas-vision-2050">one quarter</a> of Australia’s total energy supply. Around 130,000 commercial businesses rely on gas, and it delivers 44% of Australia’s household energy to more than 6.5 million homes which use natural gas for hot water, domestic heating, or cooking.</p>
<p>Gas has lower greenhouse emissions than most other fuels, and the gas used in power generation has about <a href="http://www.environment.gov.au/climate-change/climate-science-data/greenhouse-gas-measurement/publications/national-greenhouse-accounts-factors-dec-2014">half the emissions</a> of the current electricity grid.</p>
<p>Even so, natural gas can do more to help Australia meet its carbon-reduction targets.</p>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/biogas-smells-like-a-solution-to-our-energy-and-waste-problems-36136">Biogas: smells like a solution to our energy and waste problems</a>
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<p>An industry document released last year, <a href="https://www.energynetworks.com.au/sites/default/files/gasvision2050_march2017_0.pdf">Gas Vision 2050</a>, explains how new technologies such as biomethane and <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-hydrogen-power-can-help-us-cut-emissions-boost-exports-and-even-drive-further-between-refills-101967">hydrogen</a> can make that happen, by replacing conventional natural gas with low-emission alternative fuels.</p>
<h2>Around the world</h2>
<p>Worldwide, renewable natural gas is <a href="http://task37.ieabioenergy.com/files/daten-redaktion/download/Technical%20Brochures/green_gas_web_end.pdf">dominated by biomethane</a>, which can be generated from organic materials and residues from agriculture, food production and waste processing.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/239986/original/file-20181009-72106-e6qvvm.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/239986/original/file-20181009-72106-e6qvvm.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/239986/original/file-20181009-72106-e6qvvm.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=527&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/239986/original/file-20181009-72106-e6qvvm.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=527&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/239986/original/file-20181009-72106-e6qvvm.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=527&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/239986/original/file-20181009-72106-e6qvvm.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=662&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/239986/original/file-20181009-72106-e6qvvm.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=662&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/239986/original/file-20181009-72106-e6qvvm.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=662&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Multiple products of anaerobic digestion.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Modified from ADBA with permission</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The <a href="http://task37.ieabioenergy.com/plant-list.html">top biomethane-producing countries</a> include Germany, the UK, Sweden, France and the United States, and many others are planning to use renewable gas more widely. </p>
<p>A <a href="https://www.euractiv.com/section/energy/special_report/renewable-gas/">2017 report</a> suggests that renewable natural gas could meet 76% of Europe’s natural gas demand by 2050.</p>
<h2>What is biomethane?</h2>
<p>Biomethane is a clean form of biogas that is 98% methane. Also known as green gas, it can be used interchangeably with conventional fossil-fuel natural gas.</p>
<p>Biogas is a mixture of around 60% methane and 40% carbon dioxide, plus traces of other contaminants. Turning biogas into biomethane requires <a href="http://task37.ieabioenergy.com/files/daten-redaktion/download/publi-task37/upgrading_rz_low_final.pdf">technology that scrubs out the carbon dioxide</a>.</p>
<p>Biomethane’s benefits include:</p>
<ul>
<li>Net zero emissions</li>
<li>Interchangeability with existing natural gas usage</li>
<li>Ability to capture methane emissions from other processes such as landfill and manure production</li>
<li>Potential economic opportunity for regional areas</li>
<li>Generation of skilled jobs in planning, engineering, operating and maintenance of biogas and biomethane plants.</li>
</ul>
<h2>Australia’s potential for biomethane</h2>
<p>While Australia currently does not have any upgrading plants, the production of biomethane can provide a huge boost to Australia’s nascent biogas industry.</p>
<p>The main use for biogas in Australia is for electricity production, heat, and combined heat and power. </p>
<p><a href="https://s3-ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com/piano.revolutionise.com.au/cups/bioenergy/files/uvn8cezosuokgu0j.pdf">Australia’s biogas sector</a> has more than 240 anaerobic digestion (AD) plants, most of which are associated with landfill gas power units and municipal wastewater treatment. They also include:</p>
<ul>
<li>about 20 agricultural AD plants, which use waste manure from piggeries </li>
<li>about 18 industrial AD plants, which use wastewater from red meat processing and rendering as feedstock for biogas production; </li>
</ul>
<p>There is also manure from around one million head of cattle in feedlots, which is currently not used to produce biogas, but is stockpiled for use as fertiliser on agricultural land. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/240000/original/file-20181010-72127-450d15.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/240000/original/file-20181010-72127-450d15.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/240000/original/file-20181010-72127-450d15.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=517&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/240000/original/file-20181010-72127-450d15.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=517&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/240000/original/file-20181010-72127-450d15.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=517&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/240000/original/file-20181010-72127-450d15.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=650&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/240000/original/file-20181010-72127-450d15.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=650&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/240000/original/file-20181010-72127-450d15.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=650&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Australian biogas facilities.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">CAE/USQ</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>There are untapped <a href="http://task37.ieabioenergy.com/case-stories.html">opportunities</a> to produce biomethane using municipal sewage sludge, red meat processing waste, residues from breweries and distilleries, food waste, and poultry and cattle manure.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/home-biogas-turning-food-waste-into-renewable-energy-89920">Home biogas: turning food waste into renewable energy</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>The <a href="https://arena.gov.au/projects/the-australian-biomass-for-bioenergy-assessment-project/">Australian Renewable Energy Agency</a> is currently supporting the Australian Biomass for Bioenergy (ABBA) project. The <a href="https://nationalmap.gov.au/renewables/">Australian Renewable Energy Mapping Infrastructure (AREMI) platform</a> will map existing and projected biomass resource data from the ABBA project, alongside other parameters such as existing network and transport infrastructure, land-use capability, and demographic data.</p>
<p>This topic and many others related to biogas and bioenergy more widely will be discussed at this week’s <a href="https://www.bioenergystrong.org.au/program/">Annual Bioenergy Australia conference</a>.</p>
<p>Of course, biomethane is just one way in which Australia can make the transition to a low-emissions future. But as natural gas is already touted as a “transition fuel” to a low-carbon economy, these new technologies can help ensure that existing gas infrastructure can still be used in the future.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/103912/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Bernadette McCabe receives funding from the Rural R & D for Profit program, the Fight Food Waste CRC and the Queensland Government. She is Australia's National Team Leader for the International Energy Agency Task 37 Energy from Biogas and is a Director on the Board of Bioenergy Australia</span></em></p>By embracing natural gas made from renewable sources, we can still use gas for heating, cooking and industry, while slashing greenhouse emissions and even keeping much of the same infrastructure.Bernadette McCabe, Associate Professor and Principal Scientist, University of Southern QueenslandLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/957272018-05-08T10:43:53Z2018-05-08T10:43:53ZThe EPA says burning wood to generate power is ‘carbon-neutral.’ Is that true?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/217826/original/file-20180506-166877-1gprizs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Enviva's wood pellet plant in Ahoskie, NC. </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://marlboroproductions.com/">Marlboro Productions</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt recently told a group of forestry executives and students that from now on the U.S. government would consider burning wood to generate electricity, commonly <a href="http://www.altenergy.org/renewables/biomass.html/">known as forest</a> or <a href="https://www.fs.fed.us/woodybiomass/whatis.shtml">woody biomass</a>, to be “<a href="https://www.epa.gov/newsreleases/administrator-pruitt-promotes-environmental-stewardship-forestry-leaders-and-students">carbon neutral</a>.”</p>
<p>The executives, who had gathered at an Earth Day celebration in Georgia, greeted the news <a href="http://gfagrow.org/georgia-forestry-association-applauds-epa-administrator-for-recognizing-carbon-benefits-of-woody-biomass/">with enthusiasm</a>. But I did not. </p>
<p>Biomass does not introduce new carbon into the system, as its supporters point out. Yet it does <a href="http://www.pfpi.net/carbon-emissions">transfer carbon from forests to the atmosphere</a>, where it traps heat and contributes to climate change.</p>
<p>As a scientist and the <a href="http://fletcher.tufts.edu/Resilience/Team/Moomaw">coordinating lead author of the</a> <a href="https://www.ipcc.ch/pdf/special-reports/srren/drafts/SRREN-FOD-Ch01.pdf">Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report on renewable energy</a>, I have concluded from extensive scientific studies that converting forests into fuel is not carbon neutral. I have also been working with many other scientists to <a href="http://www.ase.tufts.edu/gdae/Pubs/climate/LetterFromScientistsToEuParliament_ForestBiomass_January_2018.pdf">inform governments</a> about the potential for forests to remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, and the climate perils of burning wood and forestry waste at an industrial scale for electric power.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/217813/original/file-20180505-166887-qpyp14.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/217813/original/file-20180505-166887-qpyp14.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/217813/original/file-20180505-166887-qpyp14.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=403&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/217813/original/file-20180505-166887-qpyp14.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=403&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/217813/original/file-20180505-166887-qpyp14.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=403&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/217813/original/file-20180505-166887-qpyp14.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=507&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/217813/original/file-20180505-166887-qpyp14.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=507&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/217813/original/file-20180505-166887-qpyp14.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=507&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Wood pellets like this one are burned to generate heat or power.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.apimages.com/metadata/Index/Forests-As-Fuel/1a43a15375db4f858dd620941fa29ee1/1/0">AP Photo/John Flesher</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Turning forests into fuel</h2>
<p>Energy can be renewable. Or sustainable. Or carbon neutral. Or some combination. These terms are often used interchangeably, but they mean quite different things. Wind power and solar energy clearly have all three attributes. What about bioenergy – the heat released from burning wood and other plants?</p>
<p>Trees can eventually grow to replace those that were felled to produce wood pellets that are burned to produce electricity. That makes biomass very slowly renewable, if the replacement trees actually do grow enough to absorb all the carbon dioxide previously discharged.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.nrdc.org/resources/our-forests-arent-fuel">Environmentalists generally oppose forest biomass</a> because it contributes to climate change while disrupting important ecosystems and the biodiversity they support. They also object to this source of energy because it appears that burning biomass <a href="http://fern.org/report/biomassandhealth">releases pollutants that endanger public health</a>. </p>
<p>The scientists who <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/280076738_IPCC_AR5_WG3_Chapter_11_Agriculture_Forestry_and_Other_Land_Use_AFOLU">study climate change</a>, the global carbon cycle and forest ecology tend to <a href="http://science.sciencemag.org/content/359/6382/1328?rss=1">reject the notion of biomass carbon neutrality</a>. Some forest economists and <a href="https://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2286237">forestry scientists</a>, however, support the notion of carbon neutrality, depending on the circumstances.</p>
<h2>Carbon accounting</h2>
<p>To settle this debate, many of my colleagues and I believe it is essential to accurately account for all the emissions from burning wood for electric power. This is more than an academic exercise as biomass already produces significant emissions and industry observers foresee a nearly <a href="https://www.iea.org/publications/freepublications/publication/How2GuideforBioenergyRoadmapDevelopmentandImplementation.pdf">seven-fold increase in its use by 2050</a> from 2013 levels.</p>
<p>Forests can, at least theoretically, be managed sustainably as long as annual harvesting doesn’t exceed annual growth rates. Suppliers claim to use <a href="http://www.envivabiomass.com/sustainability/track-and-trace/enviva-responsible-wood-supply-program/">residues from timber harvesting, thinnings – trees growing too close to other trees to thrive – and sawdust</a> for this purpose. However, <a href="http://reports.climatecentral.org/pulp-fiction/1/">large-scale biomass has led to clear-cutting and the harvesting of whole trees</a>. </p>
<p>Also, experts see the carbon neutrality of forest biomass differently depending on the time frames they consider, and on their assumptions regarding the likelihood that saplings planted to replace burned trees grow sufficiently to offset all of the associated carbon emissions. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/217828/original/file-20180506-166910-1aj56pj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/217828/original/file-20180506-166910-1aj56pj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/217828/original/file-20180506-166910-1aj56pj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/217828/original/file-20180506-166910-1aj56pj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/217828/original/file-20180506-166910-1aj56pj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/217828/original/file-20180506-166910-1aj56pj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/217828/original/file-20180506-166910-1aj56pj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/217828/original/file-20180506-166910-1aj56pj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Trees at the Georgia Biomass pellet facility in Waycross.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://marlboroproductions.com/">Marlboro Productions</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Carbon neutrality supporters</h2>
<p><a href="https://www.energy.gov/eere/bioenergy/bioenergy-basics">Bioenergy supporters</a> say it’s possible for replacement trees to eventually remove all the carbon emitted through biomass from the atmosphere.</p>
<p>But this would require growing trees and forests that are bigger than the ones already harvested and burned for fuel. In addition to the emissions from combustion, carbon is released from forest soils when trees are felled. And it takes <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-urgency-of-curbing-pollution-from-ships-explained-94797">large amounts of energy to prepare wood pellets and transport them</a> to where they are burned.</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/6gaftYQ_56Y?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">The UK’s Drax power station is among the largest to shift from coal to wood.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Some bioenergy advocates claim that the carbon dioxide emitted when utilities and industry burn wood for energy is removed instantaneously by other growing trees located elsewhere. As long as forests globally are removing more carbon dioxide than is being released from harvesting and burning them, they assert that bioenergy is carbon neutral until combustion emissions exceed the removal rate by live trees.</p>
<p>However, there do not appear to be any quantitative studies to support this concept.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/217825/original/file-20180506-166906-hn6eox.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/217825/original/file-20180506-166906-hn6eox.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/217825/original/file-20180506-166906-hn6eox.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=467&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/217825/original/file-20180506-166906-hn6eox.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=467&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/217825/original/file-20180506-166906-hn6eox.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=467&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/217825/original/file-20180506-166906-hn6eox.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=586&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/217825/original/file-20180506-166906-hn6eox.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=586&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/217825/original/file-20180506-166906-hn6eox.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=586&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The burning of fossil fuels and other human activities are rapidly increasing atmospheric carbon dioxide.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://scied.ucar.edu/imagecontent/carbon-cycle-diagram-doe-numbers">Office of Biological and Environmental Research of the U.S. Department of Energy Office of Science</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Biomass critics</h2>
<p>The <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2018/05/03/opinion/pruitt-forests-burning-energy.html">scientists and other energy experts</a> who argue that burning wood isn’t carbon-neutral – <a href="https://www.theclimategroup.org/person/bill-moomaw">including me</a> – point out that bioenergy releases as much or <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/280076738_IPCC_AR5_WG3_Chapter_11_Agriculture_Forestry_and_Other_Land_Use_AFOLU">more carbon dioxide per unit of thermal energy than coal or natural gas</a>. </p>
<p><iframe id="Hos2s" class="tc-infographic-datawrapper" src="https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/Hos2s/4/" height="400px" width="100%" style="border: none" frameborder="0"></iframe></p>
<p>People are adding nearly twice as much carbon dioxide as natural systems can remove every year. If <a href="https://scied.ucar.edu/imagecontent/carbon-cycle-diagram-doe-numbers">forests and soils</a> were not continuously doing their job of removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, concentrations would grow annually by 75 percent more than they do.</p>
<p>Like most bioenergy critics, I point out that this debate hinges on the choice of baselines for how and when one measures the net carbon impact of biomass emissions. Put another way, you can’t count trees – and the carbon they would remove – before they grow. </p>
<p>And if the utilities now using biomass were to deploy solar energy instead, more carbon would remain stored in forests and less would be released into the atmosphere.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/217865/original/file-20180506-166874-48amok.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/217865/original/file-20180506-166874-48amok.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/217865/original/file-20180506-166874-48amok.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/217865/original/file-20180506-166874-48amok.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/217865/original/file-20180506-166874-48amok.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/217865/original/file-20180506-166874-48amok.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/217865/original/file-20180506-166874-48amok.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/217865/original/file-20180506-166874-48amok.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">An area in North Carolina, after trees were harvested to produce wood pellets.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://marlboroproductions.com/">Marlboro Productions</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Growing trees takes time</h2>
<p>Then there is the issue of time. Wood burns within minutes, releasing carbon dioxide to the atmosphere. But studies have determined that <a href="http://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1748-9326/aaa512/meta">it takes about a century to remove the previously emitted carbon dioxide</a> even if typical forest trees are replaced.</p>
<p>Many bioenergy advocates acknowledge that fact. They argue that a 100-year span is a reasonable time frame for achieving carbon neutrality, but <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5558952/">over the following 50 years, some tree species can double in size</a> to store twice as much carbon. Furthermore, according to scientific consensus, the world must begin reducing emissions by 2020 to meet the <a href="http://sciencenordic.com/can-we-really-limit-global-warming-%E2%80%9Cwell-below%E2%80%9D-two-degrees-centigrade">Paris climate agreement’s</a> goals to stave off disastrous global warming. </p>
<p>But waiting for full-replacement forest growth is a best-case scenario. The <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs13280-015-0747-4">forestry industry</a> usually harvests trees for timber, pulp and other products before they grow to their full potential. And there is no assurance that saplings planted to replace trees cut for biomass will grow enough to meet carbon removal goals before being lost to <a href="http://www.pnas.org/content/104/50/19697">fire, pests, drought or wind</a> – or that the land where they are planted won’t be converted to <a href="http://wwf.panda.org/about_our_earth/deforestation/deforestation_causes/forest_conversion/">agriculture, housing, office parks or parking lots</a>.</p>
<p>Even using forest residues from harvesting, and thinnings from forest management <a href="http://www.pnas.org/content/early/2018/03/13/1720064115">aren’t carbon-neutral</a>. Only expanding forests and lengthening times between harvests reduce emissions.</p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/217755/original/file-20180504-166903-1qro6ls.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/217755/original/file-20180504-166903-1qro6ls.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/217755/original/file-20180504-166903-1qro6ls.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=800&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/217755/original/file-20180504-166903-1qro6ls.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=800&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/217755/original/file-20180504-166903-1qro6ls.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=800&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/217755/original/file-20180504-166903-1qro6ls.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1005&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/217755/original/file-20180504-166903-1qro6ls.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1005&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/217755/original/file-20180504-166903-1qro6ls.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1005&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The author and tree expert Robert Leverett walking among 150-year-old trees in Connecticut’s McLean Wildlife Refuge.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Connor Hogan</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Besides, the consequences of a changed climate, such as flooded coastal cities, irreversibly melted glaciers and sea ice, species extinction and more severe weather events like hurricanes is what really matters – not net carbon emissions. <a href="http://www.climatechangenews.com/2018/02/13/11-takeaways-draft-un-report-1-5c-global-warming-limit/">Eventual carbon neutrality does not assure climate neutrality</a>. And even if tree regrowth were to counteract the carbon released through biomass, it would take decades. But the world needs to stall emissions growth now. </p>
<p>And of course if that wood had not been burned, the vast majority of those surviving trees would have removed and stored <a href="http://www.pnas.org/content/early/2018/03/13/1720064115">carbon dioxide emitted from burning coal</a> and other fossil fuels.</p>
<h2>Government support</h2>
<p>Yet many governments are making forest biomass a mainstay of their renewable energy policies, especially in the European Union – which declared all forms of <a href="https://www.newscientist.com/article/2114993-europes-green-energy-policy-is-a-disaster-for-the-environment/">bioenergy to be carbon-neutral</a> in 2009. </p>
<p>The <a href="https://www.edie.net/news/10/Biomass--carbon-neutrality--debate-continues-to-divide-opinions/">U.K. is replacing all of its coal-fired power plants</a> with new facilities that burn wood pellets that are <a href="http://www.environmentalintegrity.org/news/biomass-report/">largely imported from southern states</a> like North Carolina and Mississippi. </p>
<p><iframe id="Qf3BY" class="tc-infographic-datawrapper" src="https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/Qf3BY/1/" height="400px" width="100%" style="border: none" frameborder="0"></iframe></p>
<p>Producing electricity by burning wood now <a href="https://www.lazard.com/perspective/levelized-cost-of-energy-2017/">costs more than wind or solar power</a>, making biomass <a href="http://econofact.org/can-u-s-and-u-k-forest-bioenergy-subsidies-have-adverse-climate-consequences">only economically viable with large subsidies</a>. It takes a significant <a href="https://www.dogwoodalliance.org/our-work/forests-climate/">environmental toll on local land, water and biodiversity</a> while generating as much <a href="http://www.pfpi.net/air-pollution-2">air pollution</a> as coal, or even more, for some pollutants.</p>
<p>The evidence demonstrates that burning biomass worsens climate change. By contrast, protecting and restoring forests increases the removal and long-term storage of carbon from the atmosphere, a highly effective means for slowing global warming.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/95727/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>William Moomaw receives funding from Rockefeller Brothers Fund. He is affiliated with Woods Hole Research Center (Board Chair), The Climate Group (Board Chair North America), The Nature Conservancy. (Board member Massachusetts chapter) </span></em></p>Deriving fuel from trees costs more than wind and solar power and it emits more carbon than coal. There are many heated debates about this kind of energy, known as forest or woody biomass.William Moomaw, Professor Emeritus of International Environmental Policy, Tufts UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/915442018-02-27T06:54:58Z2018-02-27T06:54:58ZWhy New Zealand should not explore for more natural gas reserves<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/207943/original/file-20180226-120776-1r3hubl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The New Zealand government is introducing legislation to become zero-carbon by 2050, but will consider new permits for coal mining, offshore oil drilling and fracking on a case-by-case basis.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">from shutter stock.com</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>New Zealand’s new coalition government has committed to introducing zero-carbon legislation that would set the country on a course to be <a href="http://www.labour.org.nz/climatechange">carbon neutral by 2050</a>. </p>
<p>At the same time, it is <a href="https://www.radionz.co.nz/news/political/346415/mining-permits-to-be-taken-case-by-case-ardern">not ruling out new permits</a> for coal mining, offshore oil drilling and fracking during a transition away from fossil fuels.</p>
<p>Natural gas is often touted as a “bridging fuel” to cut the use of coal for heat and power while moving towards a low-carbon economy. Also, this week’s <a href="http://www.scionresearch.com/science/bioenergy/nz-biofuels-roadmap">report by the crown research institute Scion</a> shows that New Zealand could build a renewable low-carbon transport fuels industry by switching to biofuels instead of natural gas. Developing new gas resources in New Zealand is a shortsighted strategy that could lead to stranded assets.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/2050-climate-targets-nations-are-playing-the-long-game-in-fighting-global-warming-69334">2050 climate targets: nations are playing the long game in fighting global warming</a>
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<hr>
<h2>Carbon budget</h2>
<p>Carbon dioxide (CO₂) is a long-lived greenhouse gas. Each molecule released into the atmosphere from burning fossil fuels remains there for hundreds of years. <a href="http://www.ipcc.ch/report/ar5/syr/">Analysis by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change</a> shows that once we reach a total of 2,900 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide (Gt CO₂) in the atmosphere, the planet will likely exceed the internationally agreed target to keep warming below two degrees above pre-industrial levels.</p>
<p>More than 1,900 Gt CO₂ have already been emitted since the late 19th century. We are currently adding around 33 Gt CO₂ from fossil fuel combustion and 5 Gt CO₂ from deforestation every year. The atmospheric concentration of CO₂ has now surged to <a href="https://public.wmo.int/en/media/press-release/greenhouse-gas-concentrations-surge-new-record">more than 403 parts per million</a>, the highest in millions of years. The planet is already around one degree warmer than the average pre-industrial temperature.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/207970/original/file-20180227-140200-u93wht.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/207970/original/file-20180227-140200-u93wht.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=297&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/207970/original/file-20180227-140200-u93wht.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=297&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/207970/original/file-20180227-140200-u93wht.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=297&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/207970/original/file-20180227-140200-u93wht.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=373&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/207970/original/file-20180227-140200-u93wht.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=373&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/207970/original/file-20180227-140200-u93wht.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=373&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">This graphic shows that we have already used up around two-thirds of the total carbon budget to avoid exceeding a two-degree average temperature rise (with a 66% chance).</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.ipcc.ch/report/graphics/index.php?t=Assessment%20Reports&r=AR5%20-%20WG1">IPCC, Working Group 1, 2013</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The remaining <a href="http://www.globalcarbonproject.org/carbonbudget/">carbon budget</a>, with a 66% chance of staying below the two-degree target, is now at about 800 Gt CO₂. At the current business-as-usual rate of fossil fuel combustion and deforestation, the total budget will be exceeded within 20 to 25 years. </p>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/fossil-fuel-emissions-hit-record-high-after-unexpected-growth-global-carbon-budget-2017-87248">Fossil fuel emissions hit record high after unexpected growth: Global Carbon Budget 2017</a>
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</em>
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<hr>
<p>By then, we will have used up around two-fifths of the known global reserves of coal, oil and natural gas. The remaining three-fifths will need to stay in the ground. </p>
<h2>Gas as a transition fuel</h2>
<p>Natural gas is described as a “transition fuel” that cuts the use of coal. This argument, and the case for providing greater energy security, is being used to <a href="http://gisborneherald.co.nz/localnews/2580450-135/oil-and-gas-lets-stick-to">justify exploration for deep sea oil and gas</a> in New Zealand waters. </p>
<p>Displacing coal by burning conventional natural gas does <a href="https://www.db.com/cr/en/docs/Natural_Gas_LCA_Update_082511.pdf">indeed produce lower emissions</a>, while providing the same heat or electricity services. A coal-fired power station produces around 900-1100 g CO₂/kWh generated; a gas-fired plant produces around 450-500 g CO₂/kWh. By way of comparison, a geothermal plant varies with the field but can emit up to 50 g CO₂/kWh and emissions from other renewable energy plants vary widely with the circumstances but tend to be much lower.</p>
<p>However, on a life-cycle basis, any carbon dioxide reduction benefits would be partially negated by <a href="http://environmentalresearchweb.org/cws/article/news/60392">leakage of methane</a> (CH₄), the main component of natural gas. Leakage is inevitable during the extraction, distribution and use of natural gas. It is difficult to determine the level of leakage, but it is more certain that emissions from coal or gas plants are significantly higher than from a renewable energy plant of similar generation output.</p>
<p>Natural gas has the potential to extend the time before the carbon budget is used up, assuming it displaces coal that would then be left in the ground. But the use of gas cannot deliver the deep cuts in emissions that will be required to stay below two degrees. </p>
<h2>Energy security and fossil fuel subsidies</h2>
<p>Many nations, including New Zealand, aim to improve their energy security by shifting to more indigenous fossil fuel resources to reduce their dependence on imports and widely fluctuating prices. Exploring for more gas to meet local demands at contracted prices may make good political sense in the short term, but it exacerbates climate change.</p>
<p>Fossil fuel exploration, production and consumption is widely subsidised by many governments. The International Energy Agency estimated the <a href="https://www.iea.org/statistics/resources/energysubsidies/">value of consumer subsidies in 2016 was over US$260 billion</a>. </p>
<p>Conversely, <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/news/daily-comment/the-movement-to-divest-from-fossil-fuels-gains-momentum">divestment away from fossil fuel companies</a> is growing worldwide. For example, New York City is not only intending to divest US$5 billion of its holdings in fossil fuel assets, but also plans to <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-municipals-fossilfuels/new-york-sues-fossil-fuel-majors-plans-divestment-from-pension-funds-idUSKBN1EZ2Q2">sue the major oil companies</a> over their contribution to climate change. </p>
<h2>New Zealand’s economy without more gas</h2>
<p>In New Zealand, natural gas is used to generate electricity and heat for industries, to produce methanol (mainly for export) and other petrochemical products such as urea. It also supplies around 277,000 domestic and commercial consumers in the North Island. </p>
<p>Currently around 1,200,000 tonnes per year (t/yr) of coal are consumed in New Zealand, mainly for heat and electricity, emitting around 2.6 Mt CO₂/yr. If all existing coal plants and heating systems were converted to gas, around 1.3 Mt CO₂/yr of emissions would be avoided. This would contribute a little towards the 20 Mt CO₂-eq/yr of emissions reductions needed to meet <a href="https://www.mfe.govt.nz/climate-change/reducing-greenhouse-gas-emissions/new-zealand%E2%80%99s-post-2020-climate-change-target">New Zealand’s current 2030 target</a> under the <a href="http://www.mfe.govt.nz/climate-change/why-climate-change-matters/global-response/paris-agreement">Paris Agreement</a>. </p>
<p>However, given the Government’s target to reach net-zero emissions by mid-century, gas will ultimately need to be entirely phased out together with coal and oil products. Therefore, the overall aims for New Zealand should be to:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>use our existing reserves of natural gas wisely in order to gain maximum long-term economic benefits by maximising the return on investments already made, as well as reducing our annual CO₂ emissions by displacing coal and minimising methane leakage</p></li>
<li><p>invest significantly in research and development in sustainable energy, including low-carbon and economically viable alternatives for the current uses of existing gas supplies</p></li>
<li><p>clarify and quantify any fossil fuel producer and consumer subsidies and remove them in the near future</p></li>
<li><p>avoid the temptation to explore and develop new gas resources even if they appear to deliver short-term economic benefits; and </p></li>
<li><p>invest in renewable energy technologies, including biofuels, as long as they are produced from crop and forest residues and purpose-grown forests on marginal land, as identified in the Scion report.</p></li>
</ul><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/91544/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Ralph Sims does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Natural gas is touted as a “bridging fuel” to displace coal while moving to a low-carbon economy. In New Zealand, this is shortsighted and could lead to stranded assets and hold back renewables.Ralph Sims, Professor, School of Engineering and Advanced Technology, Massey UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/914422018-02-09T17:03:31Z2018-02-09T17:03:31ZThe EU wants to fight climate change – so why is it spending billions on a gas pipeline?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/205470/original/file-20180208-180813-ifievy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:TAP_in_Albania.jpg">Albinfo/Wikipedia</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Over the past few years there has been <a href="https://www.enelgreenpower.com/media/news/d/2017/12/renewables-exponential-growth">exponential growth</a> in clean energy investment – while fossil fuel assets are increasingly considered to be <a href="https://www.fsb-tcfd.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/FINAL-TCFD-Annex-062817.pdf">risky</a>. Yet, on February 6, the European Investment Bank, the EU’s long-term lending institution, voted to provide a <a href="http://www.eib.org/infocentre/press/releases/all/2018/2018-030-eib-backs-eur-6-5-billion-energy-sme-transport-and-urban-investment">€1.5 billion loan</a> to the controversial Trans Adriatic Pipeline (TAP).</p>
<p>The TAP is the Western part of a larger Southern Gas Corridor proposal that would ultimately connect a large gas field in the Caspian Sea to Italy, crossing through Azerbaijan, Turkey, Greece and Albania. And while gas might be cleaner than coal, it’s still a fossil fuel. </p>
<p>So how does the EU’s support for this major project fit in with its supposed goal of addressing climate change?</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/205365/original/file-20180207-74487-1cg5u8d.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/205365/original/file-20180207-74487-1cg5u8d.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/205365/original/file-20180207-74487-1cg5u8d.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/205365/original/file-20180207-74487-1cg5u8d.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/205365/original/file-20180207-74487-1cg5u8d.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/205365/original/file-20180207-74487-1cg5u8d.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/205365/original/file-20180207-74487-1cg5u8d.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/205365/original/file-20180207-74487-1cg5u8d.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The proposed Trans Adriatic Pipeline will run nearly 900km from Greece to Italy.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Trans_Adriatic_Pipeline.png">Genti77 / wiki</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Influencing investors</h2>
<p>A key problem is the message this sends to the private sector, where renewable energy is increasingly seen as a good investment. Technologies once perceived as too risky and too expensive are now delivering worthwhile returns thanks to reduced costs and breakthroughs in energy storage. The price of electricity generated by solar, wind or hydro is now comparable with the national grid. Over the past decade, investor meetings have shifted from discussing whether the transition to a low carbon economy will start before 2050, to whether it will be completed in the same period. </p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"949194987337650176"}"></div></p>
<p>But there is still not enough money being spent on renewables. While clean energy investment in 2017 <a href="https://about.bnef.com/blog/runaway-53gw-solar-boom-in-china-pushed-global-clean-energy-investment-ahead-in-2017/">topped US$300 billion for the fourth year in a row</a>, this is far short of what is needed to unlock the technology revolution necessary to tackle climate change. There is clearly a gap between what is required and what is being delivered. </p>
<p>The private sector will continue to invest significant capital into energy projects over the next few decades, so one issue facing policy makers is how to influence investors away from fossil fuels and <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0301421511005064">towards renewable projects</a>. To really scale up investment into renewable infrastructure, <a href="http://www.unepfi.org/fileadmin/documents/Investment-GradeClimateChangePolicy.pdf">long-term and stable policy is required</a> – which investors <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0959652615006277">see as clearly lacking</a>. </p>
<p>By funding the Trans Adriatic Pipeline, the EU’s investment bank is hardly signalling to the private sector that governments are committed to a green energy transition. </p>
<h2>Risky business</h2>
<p>If Europe really was to follow through and successfully switch to green energy – and such a transition is partially underway – then the pipeline project may even represent a risk to public finances.</p>
<p>Studies on climate change point to the need for a greater sense of urgency and ambition and, to stay within its “carbon budget” under current agreed emissions targets, the EU needs to be <a href="http://www.foeeurope.org/sites/default/files/extractive_industries/2017/can_the_climate_afford_europes_gas_addiction_report_november2017.pdf">fossil fuel free by 2030</a>. </p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/HSKcvoBKYxc?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
</figure>
<p>So any large oil and gas infrastructure projects with investment returns beyond 2030 are saddled with risk. In just a decade or two, super-cheap solar and wind power could mean that gas pipelines such as TAP would no longer make financial sense and would become worthless “<a href="https://www.carbontracker.org/terms/stranded-assets/">stranded assets</a>”. Yet TAP backers are touting economic benefits for countries such as <a href="http://www.oxfordeconomics.com/Media/Default/economic-impact/economic-impact-home/Economic-Impact-trans-Adriatic-Pipeline.pdf">Albania</a> extending to 2068 – well beyond the date when Europe must entirely ditch fossil fuels.</p>
<p>The EU’s official stance is to hail natural gas as a cleaner “bridge fuel” between coal and renewables. But <a href="http://science.sciencemag.org/content/343/6172/733.summary">high leakage rates</a> and the <a href="http://www.climatechange2013.org/images/uploads/WGIAR5_WGI-12Doc2b_FinalDraft_All.pdf">potent warming impact</a> of methane (the primary constituent of natural gas) means that the Southern Gas Corridor’s climate footprint may be <a href="https://bankwatch.org/publication/smoke-and-mirrors-why-the-climate-promises-of-the-southern-gas-corridor-don-t-add-up">as large, or larger, than equivalent coal</a>. Abundant natural gas is also highly likely to <a href="http://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1748-9326/9/9/094008/meta">delay the deployment of renewable technologies</a>. </p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"952216497123835906"}"></div></p>
<p>For the first decade of this century Europe prided itself on leading the political debate on tackling climate change. Now, it appears to be losing its boldness. To drive through a new technology revolution, the public sector needs to lead from the front and take bold decisions about its energy strategy.</p>
<p>A gas pipeline is not a technology of the future. If California can release <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HSKcvoBKYxc">YouTube videos</a> describing the importance of considering stranded assets during this energy transition, and New York City can announce plans to <a href="https://twitter.com/NYCMayor/status/952216497123835906">divest from fossil fuels</a>, then maybe it is time for the EU to turn off the TAP.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/91442/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Aled Jones does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The European Investment Bank’s funding of the Trans Adriatic Pipeline will harm the climate and makes little financial sense.Aled Jones, Professor & Director, Global Sustainability Institute, Anglia Ruskin UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/727492017-02-27T08:51:38Z2017-02-27T08:51:38ZFlight to greener aviation fuel has hit turbulence – here’s why<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/156174/original/image-20170209-8649-3lrp8n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Kristoferb (talk)</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>When it comes to reducing carbon emissions, one of the biggest hurdles is the world’s addiction to flying. And this is only going to get more intense as developing countries grow bigger middle classes who want to explore the world for business and pleasure.</p>
<p>In the UK, the climate change minister, Nick Hurd, has named transport <a href="https://www.parliament.uk/business/committees/committees-a-z/commons-select/energy-and-climate-change-committee/inquiries/parliament-2015/heat-transport-15-16/">as one of the two biggest environmental challenges</a>. But while the government continues to invest in research and infrastructure for electric vehicles, clear action on addressing carbon dioxide for air transport has been lacking.</p>
<p><a href="http://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/acs.energyfuels.5b01758">Our research</a>in collaboration with Manchester Metropolitan University and Missouri University of Science and Technology has shown that greener aviation fuels could cut not only carbon emissions but also reduce wider air pollution and improve air quality – a key issue in the ongoing debate around Heathrow’s proposed expansion.</p>
<p>The landmark <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-paris-climate-agreement-at-a-glance-50465">2015 Paris Agreement</a> on addressing climate change did not include two sectors – aviation and maritime. This is despite aviation <a href="http://www.atag.org/facts-and-figures.html">accounting for 2% of global carbon dioxide emissions</a>. This figure is <a href="http://aviationbenefits.org/environmental-efficiency/aviation-and-climate-change/">growing by around 3% a year</a>. Attempts to decarbonise the aviation sector have been complicated. </p>
<p>The process has been delayed by governments trying to agree on how to account for emissions – if a Dutch airline takes off in America and lands in Brazil, which country should take the responsibility for those emissions? The good news is that, in the autumn of 2016, the world’s governments came together under the UN’s specialist agency for aviation, <a href="http://www.icao.int/Pages/default.aspx">the ICAO</a> and finally <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-37573434">reached an agreement</a>. But this agreement is still voluntary and <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2016/oct/06/aviation-emissions-agreement-united-nations">allows airlines to “offset”</a> their carbon emissions. </p>
<p>Beyond this, the industry has set itself a <a href="http://www.atag.org/our-activities/climate-change.html">target</a>to achieve carbon-neutral growth by 2020 and to halve emissions by 2050 compared to 2005 levels. This ambition can only be achieved by a combination of efforts including improvements in engine and airframes, such as <a href="https://ec.europa.eu/programmes/horizon2020/en/news/lighter-and-stronger-materials-greener-aircraft">new materials to make aircraft lighter</a>, a more emissions-optimised approach to air traffic management and, crucially, by introducing greener alternatives to jet fuel.</p>
<p>These alternative aviation fuels could offer the UK airline industry <a href="http://www.sustainableaviation.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/SA-Carbon-Roadmap-full-report.pdf">between 15% and 24% reduction in CO2 emissions</a> by 2050. The UK government is starting to take action, including issuing a <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/renewable-transport-fuel-obligation-proposed-changes-for-2017">consultation</a> on whether to increase the obligation it puts on airlines to increase the level of so-called “renewable fuel” used currently. Running in parallel with this has been a consultation on the future growth of Heathrow airport – and, even in this, alternative fuels could play a part both in terms of lower CO2 emissions if alternative fuel use is increase, and because these fuels contain fewer particulates than conventional fuels. </p>
<p>Our research has shown that particulates from air travel could be <a href="http://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/acs.energyfuels.5b01758">reduced by up to 60%</a> by using synthetically produced fuels from feedstocks such as old cooking oil. In simple terms, the oil-baring feedstock can be heated with a catalyst to change its structure and extract the useful chemicals to form a type of fuel that can be used to power jet aircraft.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/156203/original/image-20170209-8649-adydju.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/156203/original/image-20170209-8649-adydju.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=381&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/156203/original/image-20170209-8649-adydju.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=381&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/156203/original/image-20170209-8649-adydju.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=381&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/156203/original/image-20170209-8649-adydju.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=479&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/156203/original/image-20170209-8649-adydju.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=479&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/156203/original/image-20170209-8649-adydju.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=479&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The Airbus 319 burns 640 gallons of fuel per hour.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Nordroden</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>There are, of course, challenges which need to be overcome if the role of alternative aviation fuels in tackling climate change and air pollution is to be realised.</p>
<p>Aviation fuel has not changed substantially since the 1960s. The focus of improvements in the efficiency of engines and airframes has been on the continued improvements to technology to the point where we have a highly optimised system based on the use of traditional fuels. If the industry adopted fuels developed from <a href="https://www.iaa.ie/docs/default-source/misc/beginners-guide-to-aviation-biofuels.pdf?sfvrsn=0">non-conventional sources such as bio-crops</a> this may, in turn, make it possible for the indsutry to make further improvements in engine and airframe technologies based on new fuels. There are three major challenges facing the industry.</p>
<h2>Three challenges</h2>
<p><strong>Safety:</strong> This is the most obvious problem to overcome. The approval process for new fuels is extremely rigorous – airlines will not use fuels unless they know they are completely safe and will not affect the operation and reliability of the aircraft. This process can take several years to complete. To date, only a handful of alternative production routes have been <a href="https://www.faa.gov/news/updates/?newsId=85425">approved</a>and the sector’s experience of dealing with new molecules in the jet fuel is increasing. Better modelling and earlier testing of fuels should help reduce the time, and cost, of this approvals process and efforts such as the US FAA and the <a href="https://ascent.aero/">ASCENT programme</a> which aim to accelerate the approvals process in the future.</p>
<p><strong>Economics:</strong> The technology for producing alternative aviation fuels is still relatively immature and at a small scale which means that the cost remains higher than for fuel from conventional sources. Further research and development – and increasing the scale of production – will address these issues, as will the introduction of regulations which reward and incentivise airlines to use these fuels.</p>
<p><strong>Sustainability:</strong> We need to ensure that the production of alternative fuels works for the environment and people in the regions where these are produced. So, for example, in the case of biofuels, these shouldn’t compete for land with vital food crops. The use of municipal waste or offgases from industrial processes are two alternatives which do not compete with land use are gaining some traction as alternative fuels.</p>
<p>This is an issue that will only get more urgent as more people in developing economies choose to travel by air. We’ve already made a good start – since 2011, more than <a href="http://www.icao.int/environmental-protection/GFAAF/Pages/default.aspx">2,200 commercial flights have used alternative fuels</a>– but this has to be put in a context of more than 100,000 flights being made worldwide each day. </p>
<p>While the current agreement is voluntary, ICAO has managed to create one of the first global agreements to apply to a specific sector on carbon emissions. Industry and academia now need to deliver the advancements – supported, needless to say, by national governments. That will be crucial if we are to see greener skies overhead any time soon.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/72749/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Simon Blakey receives funding from the European Union, Innovate UK and Aviation OEMs. </span></em></p>The development of alternative airline fuels needs serious support from national governments if we are going to see greener skies overhead any time soon.Simon Blakey, Senior Lecturer of Mechanical Engineering, University of SheffieldLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/658542016-09-27T14:41:18Z2016-09-27T14:41:18ZMaking space rocket fuel from water could drive a power revolution on Earth<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/139407/original/image-20160927-14603-18cgxw0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://images.nasa.gov/#/details-ARC-2006-ACD06-0232-001.html">NASA/Northrop Grumman/William Furlong</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Researchers led by NASA’s former chief technologist are hoping to launch a satellite carrying water as the source of its fuel. The team <a href="http://www.news.cornell.edu/stories/2016/09/cornells-quest-make-first-cubesat-orbit-moon">from Cornell University</a>, guided by Mason Peck, want their device to become the first shoebox-sized “CubeSat” to orbit the moon, while demonstrating the potential of water as a source of spacecraft fuel. It’s a safe, stable substance that’s <a href="http://www.nasa.gov/jpl/the-solar-system-and-beyond-is-awash-in-water">relatively common</a> even in space, but could also find greater use here on Earth as we search for alternatives to fossil fuels.</p>
<p>Until we develop a warp drive or some other futuristic propulsion system, space travel is likely to rely largely on the kind of propellant-based rockets we use today. These work by firing gas out of the rear of the vehicle in a way that, thanks to the <a href="https://spaceflightsystems.grc.nasa.gov/education/rocket/TRCRocket/rocket_principles.html">laws of physics</a>, pushes it forward. Such propulsion systems for satellites need to be lightweight and carry a lot of energy in a small space (high energy density) in order to continuously pack a powerful punch over the many years, or even decades, that the craft are in orbit.</p>
<p>Safety too is of prime concern. Packing energy into a small volume and mass in the form of a fuel means even the slightest issue can have disastrous consequences, as we saw with the recent <a href="https://theconversation.com/spacex-explosion-shows-why-we-must-slow-down-private-space-exploration-until-we-rewrite-law-65019">SpaceX rocket explosion</a>. Putting satellites in orbit with any form of unstable fuel on board could spell disaster for expensive hardware or even worse, human life.</p>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/139409/original/image-20160927-14625-1s3dkje.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/139409/original/image-20160927-14625-1s3dkje.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=654&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/139409/original/image-20160927-14625-1s3dkje.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=654&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/139409/original/image-20160927-14625-1s3dkje.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=654&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/139409/original/image-20160927-14625-1s3dkje.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=822&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/139409/original/image-20160927-14625-1s3dkje.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=822&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/139409/original/image-20160927-14625-1s3dkje.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=822&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Cornell’s CubeSat.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Cornell University/Kyle Doyle</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Water is a way around this issue because it is essentially an energy carrier rather than a fuel. <a href="http://www.news.cornell.edu/stories/2016/09/cornells-quest-make-first-cubesat-orbit-moon">The Cornell team</a> isn’t planning to use water itself as a propellant but to rather use electricity from solar panels to split the water into hydrogen and oxygen and use them as the fuel. The two gasses, when recombined and ignited will burn or explode, giving out the energy that they took in during the splitting process. This combustion of gasses can be used to drive the satellite forward, gaining speed or altering its position in orbit of whichever desired planet or moon is the target.</p>
<p>Solar panels, with high reliability and no moving parts, are ideally suited to operate in zero gravity and in the extreme environments of space, producing current from sunlight and allowing the satellite to actively engage on its mission. Traditionally this energy is stored in batteries. But the Cornell scientists want to use it to create their fuel source by splitting the on-board water.</p>
<h2>Extra-terrestrial electrolysis</h2>
<p>The proposed process – known as electrolysis – involves running a current through a water sample usually containing some soluble electrolyte. This breaks down the water into oxygen and hydrogen, which are released separately at the two electrodes. On Earth, gravity would then be used to separate the gasses so they can be harvested and used. In the free-flowing zero gravity of space, however, the satellite has to use centrifugal forces from rotation to separate the gases from the solution.</p>
<p>Electrolysis has been use in space before to provide oxygen supplies for manned space missions without the need for high-pressure oxygen storage tanks, for example on the <a href="https://science.nasa.gov/science-news/science-at-nasa/2000/ast13nov_1">International Space Station</a>. But instead of sending water into space in heavy loads on rockets, we could also one day extract it from the <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-to-capture-an-asteroid-and-why-we-should-go-to-such-trouble-58973">moon or asteroids</a>. If the novel approach of using both the hydrogen and oxygen for satellite fuel proves successful, we could have a ready source of it waiting for us in space. This means it could shape how we power at least some of the spacecraft of the future.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/139408/original/image-20160927-14628-zwiw1w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/139408/original/image-20160927-14628-zwiw1w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/139408/original/image-20160927-14628-zwiw1w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/139408/original/image-20160927-14628-zwiw1w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/139408/original/image-20160927-14628-zwiw1w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/139408/original/image-20160927-14628-zwiw1w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/139408/original/image-20160927-14628-zwiw1w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Toyota’s hydrogen fuel cell car ‘Mirai’.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Toyota</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>From satellites to cars</h2>
<p>As is often the case, developments in space technology are pushing concepts that have the potential to help overcome significant energy problems here on Earth. Electricity is really difficult to store and, as we increase our renewable energy supplies, we need to <a href="https://theconversation.com/as-renewables-boom-need-for-energy-storage-is-more-urgent-27537">buffer the supply and demand</a>. Wind and solar farms are really inefficient forms of renewable energy, not because of problems with the generating technology but because we often cannot do anything useful with the energy that they produce. The electricity grid struggles at times of high production and low energy need.</p>
<p>The answer, as in outer space propulsion, could involve using surplus electricity to split water into hydrogen and oxygen. This produces a <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-is-hydrogen-fuel-making-a-comeback-22299">storable, transportable commodity</a> in the form of hydrogen fuel. When the energy is needed, it can be released by recombining it with oxygen from the atmosphere. This can either be done in a fuel cell to produce electricity again, or by burning it in a combustion engine or a hydrogen gas burner.</p>
<p>Welsh <a href="https://theconversation.com/riversimples-hydrogen-fuel-cell-rasa-gives-car-design-a-clean-slate-54993">start-up firm Riversimple</a> – along with major car manufacturers Toyota and Volkswagen – is already producing hydrogen fuel-cell cars. So if the hydrogen is produced from solar energy in the same manner as Cornell’s satellite, this space technology could become part of your everyday life sooner than you think.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/65854/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Charles Dunnill receives funding from Welsh Government and the Welsh European Funding Office. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Robert Phillips receives funding from the Welsh Government as part of a Ser Cymru studentship. </span></em></p>Plans to send a satellite around the moon using fuel from water point to a renewable future.Charles W. Dunnill, Senior Lecturer in Energy, Swansea UniversityRobert Phillips, PhD Student in Renewable Energy Storage, Swansea UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/640212016-08-17T05:24:17Z2016-08-17T05:24:17ZAnthill 4: Fuel<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/134299/original/image-20160816-13037-ekf578.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=29%2C33%2C444%2C440&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Relja/www.shutterstock.com</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>It’s not just cars and aeroplanes that need to take on fuel: our bodies and brains do too. So think of your summer holidays as a pit stop in your frantic year – a time to recharge the batteries. </p>
<p>It’s fuel – the stuff that makes both us and the world go round – that we’re focusing on in this fourth episode of <a href="https://theconversation.com/uk/podcasts/the-anthill">The Anthill</a>, a podcast from The Conversation UK. </p>
<p>It’s clear that some of us need to take on more fuel than others – especially those with dreams of being an Olympic champion. Dietitian Emma Kinrade explains what the world’s fastest man over 100m, Usain Bolt, needs to eat to reach his top speed. The amount of energy he uses up over in those 9.81 seconds might surprise you.</p>
<p>If food fuels our muscles, it’s sleep that fuels our brains. But what happens if we don’t get enough of it? Sleep psychologist John Groeger and his colleagues have been depriving people of sleep to find out. They’ve discovered that some of us have genes than mean we need more of a lie in than others. </p>
<p>From calories to shut eye, we turn to the scientists around the world trying to find the latest super fuels. While some have made the case for the energy potential of left-over <a href="https://theconversation.com/six-things-you-can-do-with-coffee-after-youve-finished-drinking-it-49385">coffee grinds</a> and <a href="https://theconversation.com/beyond-the-poo-bus-the-many-uses-of-human-waste-34615">human waste</a>, thin air might be the real fuel of the future, as Jonathan Radcliffe and Peter Styring explain. </p>
<p>For now though, much of world’s economy still relies on fossil fuels. And for countries that are home to oil reserves, it can be a both blessing and a <a href="https://theconversation.com/can-newly-oil-rich-guyana-survive-the-resource-curse-and-a-dispute-with-nosey-neighbour-venezuela-47814">curse</a>. As maritime security expert Lisa Otto tells us, a huge illicit economy has grown up around this black gold in Nigeria’s oil-rich Niger Delta. </p>
<hr>
<p><em>The Anthill theme music is by Alex Grey for <a href="http://www.melodyloops.com/search/How+to+Steal+a+Million+Dollars/">Melody Loops</a>. Background music during the sleep segment was, Atlantean Twilight by Kevin MacLeod via <a href="http://incompetech.com/">Incompetech</a>. Music during the Niger Delta segment was by the <a href="http://freemusicarchive.org/music/Barcelona_Afrobeat_International_Orchestra/Live_at_the_Boom_Festival_in_Idanha_a_nova_Portugal_2008/">Barcelona Afrobeat International Orchestra</a>. Sound effects by <a href="https://www.freesound.org/">freesound.org</a>.</em></p>
<p><em>A big thank you to City University London’s Department of Journalism for letting us use their studios.</em></p>
<p><em>This is the fourth episode of The Anthill. Click <a href="https://theconversation.com/uk/podcasts/the-anthill">here</a> to listen to our previous episodes, <a href="https://theconversation.com/anthill-1-about-time-59355">About time</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/anthill-2-brexit-special-60581">Brexit</a> and <a href="https://theconversation.com/anthill-3-rooting-for-the-underdog-62368">Rooting for Underdog</a>.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/64021/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
The fourth episode of our podcast takes on fuel – from Olympic diets to conflict over oil in the Niger Delta.Will de Freitas, Environment + Energy Editor, UK editionAnnabel Bligh, Business & Economy Editor and Podcast Producer, The Conversation UKGemma Ware, Head of AudioLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/419382015-06-23T09:58:31Z2015-06-23T09:58:31ZSolar fuels: how planes and cars could be powered by the sun<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/84900/original/image-20150612-1441-1a9qyzi.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Packing heat: concentrating sunlight into a reactor to split H2O and CO2 – a step toward making liquid fuels.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Courtesy of Professor David Hahn, University of Florida</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Solar energy is the world’s most plentiful and ubiquitous energy source, and researchers around the world are pursuing ways to convert sunlight into a useful form. </p>
<p>Most people are aware of solar photovoltaics that generate electricity and solar panels that produce hot water. But there is another thrust of solar research: turning sunlight into liquid fuels.</p>
<p>Research in solar-derived liquid fuels, or solar fuels, aims to make a range of products that are compatible with our energy infrastructure today, such as gasoline, jet fuel and hydrogen. The goal is to store sunlight in liquid form, conveniently overcoming the transient nature of sunlight. I am among the growing number of researchers focused on this field. </p>
<p>How can this be done? And what scientific challenges remain before one can fill up a car on solar-generated fuel? </p>
<h2>Speeding up nature</h2>
<p>The production of solar fuels is particularly attractive because it addresses both the conversion and storage problem endemic to sunlight; namely, the sun is available for only one-third of the day. This is a distinct advantage compared to other solar conversion technologies. Solar photovoltaic panels, for instance, must be coupled to a complex distribution and storage network, such as batteries, when production of electric power doesn’t equal demand. </p>
<p>The term “solar fuel” is a bit of a misnomer. In fact, all fossil fuels are technically solar-derived. Solar energy drives photosynthesis to form plant matter through the reaction of carbon dioxide (CO2) and water (H2O) and, over millions of years, the decay of plant matter creates the hydrocarbons we use to power our society. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/84909/original/image-20150612-1481-1mc8mj9.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/84909/original/image-20150612-1481-1mc8mj9.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/84909/original/image-20150612-1481-1mc8mj9.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=395&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/84909/original/image-20150612-1481-1mc8mj9.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=395&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/84909/original/image-20150612-1481-1mc8mj9.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=395&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/84909/original/image-20150612-1481-1mc8mj9.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=496&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/84909/original/image-20150612-1481-1mc8mj9.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=496&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/84909/original/image-20150612-1481-1mc8mj9.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=496&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">One thermochemical approach strips oxygen from steam and carbon dioxide gas using the sun’s heat. Then, the resulting gases are combined chemically in a separate process to make liquid fuels.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Jonathan Scheffe</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The downside of this process is that nature’s efficiency at producing hydrocarbons is excruciatingly low, and humankind’s hunger for energy has never been greater. The result is that the current rate of fossil fuel consumption is much larger than the rate they are produced by nature alone, which provides the motivation to increase nature’s efficiencies and speed up the process of solar fuel production through artificial means. </p>
<p>This is the true meaning of “solar fuel” as it is used today, but the ultimate goal is the same: namely, the conversion of solar energy, CO2 and H2O to chemical forms such as gasoline. </p>
<h2>To the lab</h2>
<p>The first step in creating manmade solar fuels is to break down CO2 and/or H2O molecules, often to carbon monoxide (CO) or carbon and hydrogen (H2). This is no easy feat, as both of these molecules are very stable (H2 does not form spontaneously from H2O!) and therefore this step requires a substantial amount of energy supplied from sunlight, either directly in the form of photons or indirectly as electricity or heat. </p>
<p>This step is often the most crucial component of the process and represents the greatest roadblock to commercialization of solar fuel technologies today, as it largely defines the efficiency of the overall fuel production process and therefore the cost.</p>
<p>Downstream of this step, the resulting molecules – in this case, a mixture of CO and hydrogen called synthesis gas – may be converted through a variety of existing technologies depending on the final product desired. This step of converting hydrocarbon gases to liquid form is already performed at an industrial scale, thanks to large corporations such as <a href="http://www.shell.com/global/aboutshell/major-projects-2/pearl.html">Shell Global Solutions</a> and Sasol that use these technologies to leverage the low cost of today’s natural gas to make more valuable liquid fuels. </p>
<p>Recently, a European Union-sponsored project called <a href="http://www.solar-jet.aero/">SOLAR-JET</a> (Solar chemical reactor demonstration and Optimization for Long-term Availability of Renewable JET fuel) demonstrated the first-ever conversion of solar energy to jet fuel, or kerosene. Researchers coupled the solar-driven production of synthesis gas, also called syngas, from CO2 and H2O with a downstream gas-to-liquids reactor – in this case a <a href="http://www.netl.doe.gov/research/coal/energy-systems/gasification/gasifipedia/ftsynthesis">Fischer-Tropsch</a> reactor at Shell’s Headquarters in Amsterdam. </p>
<p>The production of liquid fuels is especially important for the aviation industry that relies on energy-dense fuels and represents another important advantage of solar fuel production compared to solar electricity. </p>
<p>The SOLAR-JET project, which I worked on with several other researchers, utilized a process called solar thermochemical fuel production, in which solar energy is concentrated using optics – mirrors and lenses – much the way a magnifying glass can start a fire. The resulting heat is then absorbed in a chamber that acts as a chemical reactor. The absorbed heat is then used to dissociate H2O and/or CO2 through a catalytic-type process – one of the most technically challenging steps for all solar fuel conversion processes. The resulting products (hydrogen or synthesis gas) can then be captured and further converted to liquid fuels downstream.</p>
<h2>Artificial photosynthesis</h2>
<p>There are numerous other strategies to drive these reactions needed for the first step of solar fuel production, including those that utilize light – photons – directly or indirectly in the form of electricity. </p>
<p>For example, so-called <a href="http://solarfuelshub.org/">artificial photosynthesis</a> utilizes photons directly in a catalytic process, rather than absorbing them as heat, to break down H2O and CO2 molecules. </p>
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<span class="caption">Former Energy Secretary Steven Chu visiting the Joint Center for Artificial Photosynthesis, which received an additional US$75 million in funding earlier this year. The lab is pursuing converting light (not heat) directly into fuels.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://energy.gov/photos/four-years-leadership-secretary-chu">Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Electrochemical approaches utilize electricity that could be generated from a photovoltaic cell to drive the separation of H2O and CO2 through a process known as electrolysis. </p>
<p>To date, the key barriers to commercialization of all of these technologies are primarily related to their low efficiencies – that is related to the amount of energy needed to produce a liquid fuel – and overall robustness. For example, the efficiency of the SOLAR-JET thermochemical conversion project discussed above is still less than 2%, but for this technology to become commercially viable, efficiencies greater than 10% will need to be achieved. </p>
<p>A team working at the University of Florida funded by research agency <a href="http://arpa-e.energy.gov/?q=slick-sheet-project/solar-thermochemical-fuel-production">ARPA-E</a> is working toward these efficiency goals using another thermochemical process that uses optics to generate heat. Yet robustness because of extreme temperatures (greater than 1200 Celsius or over 2000 Farenheit) is still a major concern that is being addressed. </p>
<p>Furthermore, for solar fuel production to truly reduce greenhouse gas levels, it must be coupled with methods to capture CO2 from the air. This is still a relatively immature technology, but companies such as <a href="http://www.climeworks.com/">Climeworks</a> are working to make this a reality. </p>
<p>Add in the complexity of integrating a temporally varying energy input (the sun) with a chemical reactor and the overall scope of the challenge can appear large. Nevertheless, advances are being made daily that give hope that solar fuels at higher efficiencies will soon be a reality.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/41938/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jonathan Scheffe does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Rooftop solar power is exploding in the US but some scientists are pursuing a radically different route in renewable energy: storing solar energy as a liquid fuel.Jonathan Scheffe, Associate Professor Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Enginering, University of FloridaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/398412015-04-13T15:57:34Z2015-04-13T15:57:34ZManifesto Check: Plaid using old policy for its new transport vision<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/77338/original/image-20150408-18080-1xinfy5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Plaid Cymru want to expand the Welsh government's Bwcabus service</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/3050133">credit: John Bristow</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>First and foremost, it’s worth noting that <a href="https://www.gov.uk/devolution-settlement-wales">powers over transport are devolved</a> to the Welsh Assembly. The <a href="http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2006/5/contents">government of Wales act 2006</a> gave the Welsh Assembly the power over Welsh public and local transport systems. This means that the policies discussed in Plaid’s transport manifesto will be chiefly relevant to Welsh voters at next year’s National Assembly elections, rather than voters at this year’s general election.</p>
<p>There is no evidence in this manifesto regarding how the various schemes proposed are to be funded. Much of the transport policy is a recycling of old ideas; for example, the public ownership of the railways, a fuel duty regulator, and rail electrification. Some of this – rail electrification, for instance – is <a href="http://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales-news/south-wales-rail-electrification-scheme-8146631">already going ahead</a>, but these are expensive and complex infrastructure projects which cannot occur overnight, nor even within a five-year term in government. </p>
<h2>New routes for rail, buses, and planes</h2>
<p>The reopening of railway lines, which Plaid advocates, is also a major long-term project. Even if the route has not been built over, ownership of the land may have transferred into private hands. On top of this, such schemes will have as many opponents as proponents; consider the <a href="http://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/news/article-2806937/High-speed-rail-tsar-spark-fresh-controversy-HS2-route-stations-recommendations.html">current controversy</a> over HS2 in the North of England. </p>
<p>Plaid makes no mention of the potential role of light rapid transit, such as trams, guided busways, or bus rapid transit in the proposed South Wales Metro. These could all complement heavy rail routes and could be much cheaper and quicker to construct.</p>
<p>The party talks of retaining free bus passes, but do not say if they will pay a fair reimbursement rate to encourage operators to retain or expand the commercial bus network. The retention of early morning and late evening bus services is to be welcomed, and should be expanded to include Sunday services. The Bwcabus proposal – which aims to expand <a href="http://transport.research.southwales.ac.uk/BWCABUS/">the Welsh government’s door-to-door bus service</a> – is also to be applauded, but it must be well-funded to succeed. Such funding should be continuous and not time limited. Plaid’s proposal for a multi-modal Smartcard – like London’s Oyster card – is both desirable and achievable. </p>
<p>The current options for “London Airport Expansion” appear to have ruled out <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/349518/decision-and-summary.pdf">a new airport in the Thames Estuary</a>, as Plaid says it will not support a new airport to the east of London. If Plaid is supporting expansion of Heathrow (the nearest option to South Wales with direct motorway and rail access), then it should be explicit about this.</p>
<h2>Fuel rebates for rural areas</h2>
<p>A fuel duty regulator, a position Plaid would like to instate, would have prevented motorists from enjoying the recent benefits of lower crude oil prices, as it would have increased the fuel duty. Most former proponents of this scheme <a href="http://www.conservativehome.com/thetorydiary/2011/03/scottish-tories-add-to-the-pressure-on-george-osborne-to-cancel-the-fuel-duty-increase.html">such as the Scottish Conservatives</a> have now gone very quiet. The <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/news/european-commission-approves-new-rural-fuel-tax-cut">“Deep Rural” fuel duty rebate scheme</a>, which Plaid want to introduce in Wales, is expensive to administer and delivers small benefits to very few people. </p>
<p>Many rural motorists fill their tanks when they visit nearby towns especially if there is a petrol station at the supermarket. It would be better to exempt rural petrol retailers from business rates, to encourage them to remain in business and so keep a modicum of competition in the rural petrol and diesel retail market. This, together with better availability of fuel in rural areas, would benefit both local residents and tourists.</p>
<p>Plaid’s plan to encourage more electric vehicles by increasing the number of charging points has potential in urban South East Wales. But in other parts of the nation, “range anxiety” is likely to be a limiting factor, especially since an electric vehicle’s range is also affected by the extra power needed to climb steep hills, like those found throughout inland Mid- and North Wales. </p>
<p>The argument for the Welsh Transport Commissioner (a reference to the <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/people/nick-jones#current-roles">Traffic Commissioner</a>) to be based in Wales is a valid one. At present the commissioner – who is also responsible for the West Midlands – is based in England, something Plaid would like to change.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/39841/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>John Disney received funding from DfT, Nottingham City Council and public research fundingin the past but has no current funding.He is a Director of the Dales & Bowland CIC and Trustee and Council Member of the Royal Statistical Society</span></em></p>Regulators, rebates and retaining bus services - Plaid’s transport policy offers a lot, but little explanation on how to fund it.John Disney, Senior Lecturer, Nottingham Business School, Nottingham Trent UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/312092014-09-02T15:08:50Z2014-09-02T15:08:50ZHow we tricked E. coli bacteria into making renewable propane<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/58035/original/g27tx63q-1409670380.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">This wouldn't be a problem if propane was renewable.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/tomsaint/2914384178">tomsaint</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Converting renewable energy into electricity is one thing; converting it into fuel is quite another. The vast majority of global energy demand is for fuel, and a renewable source could help us heat our houses and travel efficiently long into the future. It might even mean we could avoid the conflicts that will arise while competing for the last remaining fossil fuels.</p>
<p>Today, we are a step further towards this goal after engineering the gut bacteria <em>E. coli</em>, most famous for the strain of it that <a href="https://theconversation.com/supershedding-cows-could-be-the-biggest-cause-of-e-coli-25301">causes food poisoning</a>, to make it generate renewable propane. My colleagues and I detail our work in a study published in the journal <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/NCOMMS5731">Nature Communications</a>.</p>
<p>Scientific advances now mean we can make microbes churn out useful energy, by changing the way they process energy. These microbes can then convert the “renewable” sunlight (and carbon dioxide) into fuel, either directly or using sugar as an intermediate stop-over. </p>
<h2>Why propane?</h2>
<p>Although the technology for renewable conversion of solar energy into electricity already works well, this isn’t quite the same as being “renewable energy”. Approximately 85% of total energy demand is actually for fuels, as it is far easier to store energy in fuel rather than as electricity. </p>
<p>Industrial scale production of cheap renewable fuel therefore runs into a big problem. It needs to out-compete fossil fuels – an alternative technology that only needs to pump out the ready product.</p>
<p>In searching for a renewable fuel process that could be economically sustainable we focused on propane, a bulk component of liquid petroleum gas. Propane is an attractive target for several reasons. </p>
<p>It’s a gas, which means you could immediately separate the finished product. The microbes who produced the propane would be left behind and the new fuel will escape as a gas. No need for a messy separation. </p>
<p>That said, propane also requires little energy to liquefy, thereby enabling the high-energy density storage that is required for cost-effective usage. There’s a reason your car’s gas tank is actually full of liquid – gas simply takes up too much room.</p>
<p>The fact propane is already in commercial use also helps. It’s used as a fuel in rural areas or in industry, and sometimes also for transport. In Italy, for example, thousands of stations sell propane-containing mixtures under the label “Autogas”.</p>
<h2>Making renewable propane</h2>
<p>You can’t make renewable propane through natural reactions – no organisms naturally pump out propane in the way humans breathe out CO<sub>2</sub> or trees exhale oxygen. We therefore turned to synthetic biology, where biology meets engineering, in order to create such a capability.</p>
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<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The friendly bacteria?</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">US Department of Health</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>We chose <em>E. coli</em> because it is easy to engineer. Left to its own devices, <em>E. coli</em> takes glucose from its surroundings and breaks it down into smaller carbon molecules, electrons and “internal” chemical energy. These smaller parts are used only as building blocks for cellular growth – to reproduce.</p>
<p>In the engineered cells, however, we hijack the assembly line for one of those building blocks known as “fatty acid synthesis”. Fatty acids are normally synthesised mainly in order to generate cell membranes but, by introducing a special enzyme, we can redirect it to instead release butyric acid, the precursor for propane.</p>
<p>From there, only two <a href="http://www.pnas.org/content/110/1/87">more enzymes</a> were needed in order to <a href="http://www.sciencemag.org/content/329/5991/559">convert this smelly fatty acid into propane</a>. All in all, this was achieved by introducing only five genes — a very, very tiny fraction of the more than 4,000 genes present in the entire genome of <em>E. coli</em>.</p>
<p>Our work represents a proof-of-concept for renewable fuel development as we deliberately selected a process that considers all steps of the pathway from production to utilisation. All in order to maximise chances of commercial production.</p>
<p>At the end of the day, that is what is most important – to enable sustainable and renewable conversion of sunlight and CO<sub>2</sub> into fuel, with minimal impact on the environment.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/31209/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>This work was supported by the European Research Council under the European Union’s Seventh Framework Programme (FP7/2007-2013)/European Research Council Grant Agreement 260661 (P.R.J.).</span></em></p>Converting renewable energy into electricity is one thing; converting it into fuel is quite another. The vast majority of global energy demand is for fuel, and a renewable source could help us heat our…Patrik Jones, Senior Lecturer in Life Sciences, Imperial College LondonLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.