Recent Hydrogen - green articles | theenergyst.com https://theenergyst.com/category/hydrogen-green/ Fri, 07 Jun 2024 14:13:03 +0000 en-GB hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.5.3 https://theenergyst.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/cropped-TE-gravatar-2-32x32.png Recent Hydrogen - green articles | theenergyst.com https://theenergyst.com/category/hydrogen-green/ 32 32 China “to install 2.5GW of green hydrogen projects this year”: analysts Rystad https://theenergyst.com/china-to-install-2-5gw-of-green-hydrogen-projects-this-year-analysts-rystad/ https://theenergyst.com/china-to-install-2-5gw-of-green-hydrogen-projects-this-year-analysts-rystad/#respond Fri, 07 Jun 2024 14:13:03 +0000 https://theenergyst.com/?p=21737 China will breeze past its 2025 target for 200,000 tonnes of renewable hydrogen a year, as the country is on track to install 2.5GW of electrolyser capacity — capable of producing around 220,000 tonnes of H2 a year — by the end of 2024. So says analysis released this week by research firm Rystad Energy.  It […]

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China will breeze past its 2025 target for 200,000 tonnes of renewable hydrogen a year, as the country is on track to install 2.5GW of electrolyser capacity — capable of producing around 220,000 tonnes of H2 a year — by the end of 2024.

So says analysis released this week by research firm Rystad Energy.  It finds that 1GW of electrolysis capacity has already been installed in China.

However, Rystad also notes that most of this capacity will be built in the north, where wind and solar resource is high, and not co-located with the likely demand centres for hydrogen in transport and industry in the eastern cities.

It notes that provincial targets combined would produce a million tonnes a year by 2025. The northern regions of Inner Mongolia and Gansu alone respectively aim for 480,000 tonnes and 200,000 tonnes of green H2 a year by 2025, not only exceeding national targets, but local demand too.

As such, the research firm highlights that China’s energy companies are putting more effort into linking up supply and demand via new hydrogen pipelines.

These include Sinopec’s planned 400km pipeline between Inner Mongolia and Beijing — which would be able to initially carry 100,000 tonnes a year from 2027 before scaling up to 500,000 tonnes a year — as well as its subsidiary China Petroleum Pipeline Engineering Corporation’s proposal for a 6,000km network by 2050.

Rystad also tracks a 737km hydrogen pipeline from the province of Zhangjiakou to the port of Caofeidian, which traffics both international and domestic cargo, to be developed by Tangshan Haitai New Energy Technology at a cost of $845m. “If realized, it would be the world’s longest hydrogen pipeline,” the research firm notes.

While the Beijing government set its green hydrogen targets as part of a wider push to peak the country’s emissions by 2030 and reach carbon neutrality by 2060, Rystad warns that stricter standards and faster deployment of renewables will be needed to prevent extra emissions from electrolysers’ demand on the grid.

The research firm says that 217GW of new solar and 76GW of new wind power were installed in 2023 to decarbonise China’s grid — although coal still dominates the country’s power generation. It also estimates that a million tonnes a year of green hydrogen production capacity would need 20GW of extra onshore wind.

“Consequently, hydrogen projects compete directly with other substantial electrification needs throughout China,” the research firm warns.

Additionally, the country currently has separate standards for “low-carbon” hydrogen, which is given a threshold carbon intensity of 14.51kgCO2e/kgH2, and “renewable” or “clean” hydrogen, which must have a carbon intensity of at most 4.9CO2e/kgH2. However, it is unclear whether these also account for potential induced emissions from using grid electricity and upstream methane emissions.

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Government goes cold on ‘hydrogen town’ pilot https://theenergyst.com/government-goes-cold-on-hydrogen-town-pilot/ https://theenergyst.com/government-goes-cold-on-hydrogen-town-pilot/#respond Fri, 10 May 2024 13:33:59 +0000 https://theenergyst.com/?p=21579 Energy ministry D-ESNZ is turning down the heat under plans to run a town-scale pilot to heat homes by hydrogen alone this decade. in December the ministry also cancelled progression of a village-scale hydrogen trial at Winlaton near Redcar, pictured. Officials now believe the low carbon gas, in either its fossil-fuel-derived blue hue, or the […]

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Energy ministry D-ESNZ is turning down the heat under plans to run a town-scale pilot to heat homes by hydrogen alone this decade.

in December the ministry also cancelled progression of a village-scale hydrogen trial at Winlaton near Redcar, pictured.

Officials now believe the low carbon gas, in either its fossil-fuel-derived blue hue, or the cleaner green variety electrolysed with wind-generated electricity, may have a role to play in heat decarbonisation, but in slower time and in only ‘some’ locations.

D-ESNZ plans to take a final decision in 2026, after assessing evidence including from a neighbourhood-scale hydrogen trial in Fife and other studies across Europe.

Britain’s four main operators of gas networks have lobbied Whitehall hard for hydrogen to be viewed as a panacea, a high convenience, low cost replacement for methane-heavy, climate-wrecking ‘natural’ gas in Britain’s 30 million homes.

In October 2022, the then D-BEIS ministry invited the four to commit to operational trials, leading to mass deployment.  All four responded with business plans.

But the hydrogen drive had been opposed as impractical, manipulative and still polluting by advocates for electric heat.

One immediately welcomed Whitehall’s backtracking yesterday.  James Standley, chief technical officer of Truro-based Kensa, Britain’s only manufacturer of heat pumps, and a company part-owned by Octopus Energy,  said abandoning the village-scale trial was “further recognition that hydrogen has no major role to play in future home heating”.

“Every academic study on the issue, the economics and the physics demonstrates this”, Standley went on. “The government should now take the next logical step and rule out hydrogen heating for anything other than a small number of very specific cases.

Electrification, whether via heat pumps or heat networks, remains the best and quickest way to achieve clean heat while ensuring the best outcomes for consumers, Standley opined.

“The longer hydrogen remains part of the conversation”, the Kensa boss said, “the further the transition will be delayed, hampering the speed at which these already proven technologies are rolled out.”

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EfW player plans £200m carbon capture hub on Deeside https://theenergyst.com/efw-player-plans-200m-carbon-capture-hub-on-deeside/ https://theenergyst.com/efw-player-plans-200m-carbon-capture-hub-on-deeside/#respond Thu, 11 Apr 2024 15:53:36 +0000 https://theenergyst.com/?p=21379 Energy-from-waste operator Enfinium today unveiled plans for a £200 million plant storing carbon dioxide extracted from waste at its depot in the Parc Adfer site in Deeside, North Wales The project could capture up to 235,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide (CO2) every year. As over half of the waste processed at the facility is organic, […]

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Energy-from-waste operator Enfinium today unveiled plans for a £200 million plant storing carbon dioxide extracted from waste at its depot in the Parc Adfer site in Deeside, North Wales

The project could capture up to 235,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide (CO2) every year. As over half of the waste processed at the facility is organic, installing CCS would enable the plant to take more CO2 out of the atmosphere than it produces.

The Welsh Government’s Carbon Budget makes clear that Wales needs carbon removal solutions to mitigate other polluting parts of the economy to achieve a Net Zero economy.

Opened in 2019 in partnership with five local authorities forming the North Wales Residual Waste Treatment Partnership (NWRWTP), Parc Adfer currently diverts up to 232,000 tonnes of unrecyclable waste from climate-damaging landfill.

As recognised by the National Infrastructure Commission, emissions from energy from waste plants are lower per tonne of waste compared burial in land.

With CCS installed, Parc Adfer will support the Welsh Government’s ambition to have 100% zero carbon power by 2035.  Over 1,000 jobs in the green economy are anticipated while it is built.

HyNet link

The proposal has been put forward for grant support from the UK Government as part of the expansion of their ‘Track-1’ carbon capture programme.

The captured carbon will be transported using the pipeline network currently being developed in the region for the HyNet carbon capture cluster, one of the first two priority carbon capture clusters selected for development in the UK.

“To deliver Net Zero, Wales needs to find a way to produce carbon removals, or negative emissions, at scale”, said Enfinium CEO Mike Maudsley.

“Installing carbon capture at the Parc Adfer facility would transform it into the largest generator of carbon negative power in Wales, decarbonise unrecyclable waste and support the green economy in Deeside and North Wales.”

Ben Burggraaf, CEO of Net Zero Industry Wales, commented: “North-East Wales has an exciting opportunity to leverage technologies like carbon capture and hydrogen to produce the sustainable goods and services of the future. It is critical that projects like those at Parc Adfer move forward as quickly as possible to maintain our competitive advantage over other countries.”

Consenting assessments on the CCS project will commence later this year. By the summer, the UK Government is expected to provide an update on which projects are progressing through the Track-1 HyNet Expansion programme.

Besides Deeside, Enfinium has three operational sites in West Yorkshire and Kent, plus two in construction. The firm diverts 2.3 million tonnes of unrecyclable waste from climate-damaging landfill, extracting enough gas therefrom to power 500,000 UK homes.

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Bristol’s hydrogen trial powers airport baggage trucks; planes next? https://theenergyst.com/bristols-hydrogen-trial-powers-airport-baggage-trucks-planes-next/ https://theenergyst.com/bristols-hydrogen-trial-powers-airport-baggage-trucks-planes-next/#respond Thu, 11 Apr 2024 10:55:58 +0000 https://theenergyst.com/?p=21376 A ground-breaking airside hydrogen refuelling trial, led by easyJet with support from aviation service providers, has been successfully completed at Bristol Airport, in the first ground based trial of its kind at a major UK airport. Hydrogen was used to refuel and power baggage tractors servicing easyJet passenger aircraft. Conducted as part of the airline’s […]

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A ground-breaking airside hydrogen refuelling trial, led by easyJet with support from aviation service providers, has been successfully completed at Bristol Airport, in the first ground based trial of its kind at a major UK airport.

Hydrogen was used to refuel and power baggage tractors servicing easyJet passenger aircraft. Conducted as part of the airline’s daily operations, the trial demonstrates that the gas can be safely and reliably used to refuel ground equipment in a busy, live airport environment.

The trial, dubbed Project Acorn, was in development for over a year and involved many other leading organisations from across aviation, engineering, logistics and academia. Partners in Acorn include Cranfield Aerospace Solutions, Cranfield University, Connected Places Catapult and DHL Supply Chain.

The group intends the trial as a pilot to develop industry best practice, provide guidance to airports, & airlines, local authorities and regulators on required infrastructure changes.   Establishing a regulatory framework for hydrogen’s use on an airfield is another intended benefit; hydrogen’s nascent status in aviation means this does not exist at present.

Data and insights gathered will also feed into research now conducted by industry body Hydrogen in Aviation (HIA).  Acorn also supports the ambitions of bodies such as Hydrogen South West (HSW) and the Hydrogen Innovation Initiative (HII). The latter co-funded the year-long study.

EasyJet’s chief operating officer David Morgan observed:  “Without doubt, hydrogen will be an important fuel of the future for short-haul aviation.

“While the technology is advancing at an exciting pace, as hydrogen isn’t used in commercial aviation today, there is currently no regulatory guidance in place on how it can and should be used.

“Trials like this are very important in building the safety case and providing critical data to inform the development of the industry’s first regulatory framework. This will ensure regulation not only keeps pace with innovation, but importantly also supports the industry in meeting its decarbonisation targets by 2050.”

Tim Johnson, director for strategy for airport regulator the Civil Aviation Authority, commented: “Projects such as Acorn are cornerstones of our commitment to support innovation and decarbonisation in the industry.

“This trial will serve as the basis of a White Paper which we will also be contributing to, as well as allow for the creation of further safety guidance and regulatory standards for the use of hydrogen in aviation.

For the government, aviation minister Anthony Browne declared: “Project Acorn is a great example of the UK aviation sector pushing the boundaries of what’s possible – using leading engineering to make decarbonisation a reality from the ground operation to the planes themselves.

“They are crucial to achieving our target, set out in the Jet Zero Strategy of zero emission airport operations by 2040.”

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Bradford clears way to big green hydrogen plant https://theenergyst.com/bradford-clears-way-to-big-green-hydrogen-plant/ https://theenergyst.com/bradford-clears-way-to-big-green-hydrogen-plant/#respond Thu, 04 Apr 2024 13:05:24 +0000 https://theenergyst.com/?p=21348 One of Britain’s biggest planned clean hydrogen plants has been approved for Bradford, west Yorkshire. Development partners Hygen and N-Gen have secured planning consent for their low carbon production unit. Sited on a former gas holder site, the plant’s electrolyser will when built make 12.5 tonnes of green hydrogen daily. Clean solar power secured by […]

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One of Britain’s biggest planned clean hydrogen plants has been approved for Bradford, west Yorkshire.

Development partners Hygen and N-Gen have secured planning consent for their low carbon production unit. Sited on a former gas holder site, the plant’s electrolyser will when built make 12.5 tonnes of green hydrogen daily. Clean solar power secured by developer Renewables Connections will be used.

Last year, the lead partners’ Bradford Low Carbon Hydrogen facility became the biggest scheme to be receive funding through the government’s Hydrogen Production Business Model.

With refuelling facilities on-site, other intended uses include industrial heating & use of the gas as a process feedstock. Distribution firm Ryze will co-ordinate delivery of the low carbon gas to the region’s commercial users across.

In transport alone, the partners say the hub’s output will cover withdrawal of as many ass 800 diesel-fuelled buses from west Yorkshire’s roads.

N-Gen managing director Gareth Mills said: “We are extremely proud to be bringing a flagship hydrogen production facility and significant investment to Bradford.

“The site was once home to gas holders, which stored natural gas used by the residents and businesses in Bradford. It’s fitting that the site will continue its heritage and now be used for the production and storage of hydrogen, a cleaner fuel.

“We expect the facility to be a valuable addition to the Bradford economy, providing a viable way for local businesses to decarbonise, as well as attracting new companies and jobs to the area, by placing the city at the forefront of the transition to clean energy.”

The government’s national hydrogen strategy was first published in 2021.   Updated last August, it flags a second round of CfD-style annual allocation bidding, scheduled to award contracts early in 2025 guaranteed up to 750MW of national capacity.

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Cranfield secures £69 million to boost hydrogen-as-SAF research https://theenergyst.com/cranfield-secures-69-million-to-boost-hydrogen-as-saf-research/ https://theenergyst.com/cranfield-secures-69-million-to-boost-hydrogen-as-saf-research/#respond Tue, 26 Mar 2024 10:14:30 +0000 https://theenergyst.com/?p=21297 Cranfield University is to deepen its research into hydrogen as a sustainable aviation fuel, following its biggest ever grant win. A £69 million injection will create the Cranfield Hydrogen Integration Incubator (CH2i).  £23 million comes from Research England, and the rest from industry partners and academic institutions. Demand for air travel is rising. For UK […]

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Cranfield University is to deepen its research into hydrogen as a sustainable aviation fuel, following its biggest ever grant win.

A £69 million injection will create the Cranfield Hydrogen Integration Incubator (CH2i).  £23 million comes from Research England, and the rest from industry partners and academic institutions.

Demand for air travel is rising. For UK passengers alone, estimates of 50% growth to 435 million by 2050 will risk breaching the government’s aviation target, its ‘Jet Zero’ goal of no net emissions a decade earlier.  No action risks leaving aviation as Britain’s largest source of carbon emissions by mid-century.

Cranfield’s CH2i will support the aviation industry to explore how to move towards the use of carbon-light hydrogen at scale.

Interest is already strong. Companies trialling the gas either as a fuel or in electricity generation range from Dale Vince’s planned EcoJet carrier to giants SW Airlines and BP.  A Cranfield offshoot is assisting Britten-Norman convert its Islander turbo-prop to hydrogen operation.

“This game-changing investment builds on Cranfield’s expertise in hydrogen research and will help the aviation industry to make the leap to using hydrogen,” said Professor Karen Holford, Cranfield’s Vice-Chancellor.

“CH2i will integrate with other large industry research areas at Cranfield including our novel hydrogen production programmes and our Aerospace Integration Research Centre and the Digital Aviation Research and Technology Centre.

The new body CH2i will cover

  • An extended research centre, with new labs making advanced materials and testing hydrogen-based technologies. A dedicated innovation area will develop pilot demonstrators for next generation electrolysis, catalyst development and green hydrogen.
  • Two separate test beds , able to support hydrogen and liquid hydrogen fuel systems, storage and propulsion system integration, including at high-readiness for commercial deployment

As Europe’s only university with its own airport, including air traffic control facilities, Cranfield has a controlled airside environment which can demonstrate, test and advance new technologies, systems and processes at scale.

One research collaboration will link into a new Centre for Doctoral Training in Net Zero Aviation at Cranfield. It will provide an environment to develop aircraft designs, production technologies, engines materials, structures, storage tanks, urgently required to speed hydrogen take-up in flight.   Input into airline practice and governments’ policies will also follow.

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Low heat pump uptake slows progress on hydrogen & decarbing homes, watchdog finds https://theenergyst.com/low-heat-pump-uptake-slows-progress-on-hydrogen-decarbing-home-heating-watchdog-finds/ https://theenergyst.com/low-heat-pump-uptake-slows-progress-on-hydrogen-decarbing-home-heating-watchdog-finds/#respond Mon, 18 Mar 2024 12:10:31 +0000 https://theenergyst.com/?p=21244 Government uncertainty over heat pumps and over hydrogen’s role in home heating is slowing adoption of the devices and infrastructure planning, a new National Audit Office (NAO) report has found. The public spending watchdog lambasts today mixed signals from ministers. These, it claims, imperil their goal of 600,000 domestic installations of the devices by 2028. […]

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Government uncertainty over heat pumps and over hydrogen’s role in home heating is slowing adoption of the devices and infrastructure planning, a new National Audit Office (NAO) report has found.

The public spending watchdog lambasts today mixed signals from ministers. These, it claims, imperil their goal of 600,000 domestic installations of the devices by 2028.

Home heating represents 18% of UK carbon emissions, according to the Climate Change Committee. Its independent scientists say £162 Billion of extra investment is needed over three decades to 2050 to install low-carbon heating in the UK’s 28 million households.

The flagship Boiler Upgrade Scheme is underperforming, the NAO finds, with under 19,000 pumps installations completed between May 2022 and last December.  D-ESNZ had expected it to deliver 50,000 installations by this point.

Boosting last year the BUS grant to householders to £7,500 – roughly 60% of an average pump installation – has still left take-up running at half the rate needed, according to the NAO’s report out today.

BUS applications in January 2024 had risen nearly 40% in twelve months, the report accepts. But more data is required to determine whether that’s a just blip.

The UK’s shortage of qualified technicians also slows the market, leaving upfront costs of installation falling more slowly than Whitehall had hoped.

Fear of high usage costs are another drag in cleaning home heat, the NAO reports today. D-ESNZ delayed its planned work to reduce running costs, shifting some levies & charges from electricity to gas bills. The department says that price rebalancing remains an essential policy but is challenging.

The watchdog’s head Gareth Davies also finds D-ESNZ has no long-term plan to raise low levels of awareness among households of the steps needed to decarbonise home heating.

“DESNZ’s progress in making households aware and encouraging them to switch to low-carbon alternatives has been slower than expected”, Davies notes.

Upgrading gas grids to accept green hydrogen is one option. DESNZ is developing its understanding of the consequences for gas networks of decarbonising home heating. But trials intended to inform government’s decisions have been delayed or cancelled, says the NAO.

Stakeholders told researchers continuing uncertainty is likely to limit the ability of local authorities and industry to plan and invest, to slow progress.

The NAO recommends government considers providing more certainty on the role of hydrogen in home heating before 2026.

“The NAO is right to highlight the serious challenge posed by low consumer awareness,”  Good Energy CEO Nigel Pocklington responded.

“We commissioned Opinium research who found almost a quarter of UK residents mistakenly think that running a heat pump costs more than a gas boiler”, Pocklington said. “A fifth believe they only work in newer homes. 

The supplier’s boss declared; “We’ll continue running our own campaigns to counter the myths and misinformation.

“But the Government must step up as well, and avoid net zero being a potential ‘culture war’ issue.” 

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Green hydrogen electrolysers boosted by Toshiba-Bekaert tie-up https://theenergyst.com/21100-2/ https://theenergyst.com/21100-2/#respond Thu, 29 Feb 2024 12:49:31 +0000 https://theenergyst.com/?p=21100 The route to making green hydrogen looked to have eased significantly today, as two technology giants allied to cut up to 90% of valuable iridium from production methods behind the industry’s favourite electrolyser producing the gas. Toshiba and specialist technologists Bekaert unveiled a co-operation deal on a new method to fabricate PEMs, proton exchange membranes, […]

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The route to making green hydrogen looked to have eased significantly today, as two technology giants allied to cut up to 90% of valuable iridium from production methods behind the industry’s favourite electrolyser producing the gas.

Toshiba and specialist technologists Bekaert unveiled a co-operation deal on a new method to fabricate PEMs, proton exchange membranes, an essential component of the next generation, water-splitting devices.

PEMs are the core of the scalable hydrogen electrolysers which Sheffield-based ITM Power builds on Europe’s biggest specialist factory on the city’s Bessemer Park.  ITM intends to make 5GW of its devices this year.

Toshiba Energy Systems and Belgian wire fabricators Bekaert signed a global pact, sharing manufacturing licenses for Membrane Electrode Assemblies (MEA), a key component for Proton Exchange Membrane (PEM) electrolysers. The deal builds on an exploratory agreement signed in September 2023.

PEM electrolysers use electricity to split water into its component elements of oxygen and hydrogen. When the electricity is from a renewable energy source, the hydrogen is produced without any greenhouse gas emissions. The catalyst in PEM anode electrodes uses iridium, one of the scarcest traded metals.

Solutions that reduce iridium content thus present a significant break-through towards the scale adoption of the technologies.

Under the agreement, Bekaert’s leading expertise in Porous Transport Layers (PTL), a key component in the MEA of water electrolysers, will be coupled with Toshiba’s innovative iridium-saving technology for MEA, which will enable a 90% reduction in iridium usage in the production of PEM electrolysers.

This reduction in iridium will enable a more stable supply of MEA and support the scale expansion of green hydrogen production.

Bekaert will undertake commercialisation of MEA production, leveraging its global network addressed from Belgium, to serve its hydrogen customers. Toshiba will license its iridium-saving MEA technology to Bekaert, granting them the ability to manufacture and distribute MEAs.

Toshiba will also focus on further enhancing its technical performance of the technology. The agreement is global, with the exception of Japan-related projects, which will be subject to a separate agreement.

Inge Schildermans, senior vice-president of Bekaert’s Energy Transition business commented: “Bekaert is a leading player in the development of green hydrogen production and is therefore delighted to partner with Toshiba on the industrialization and commercialization of this innovative new PEM MEA technology.

“Furthermore, we are delighted to be able to offer this to our green hydrogen customers and help them achieve their cost and sustainability challenges. Bekaert is establishing itself as a green hydrogen technology and industrialization partner, helping the electrolyzer industry to scale and deliver the energy transition.”

Shigehiro Kawahara, Vice-President of Toshiba ESS commented: “Addressing the surging demand for green hydrogen requires wider adoption of PEM electrolysis equipment. Our advanced iridium-saving MEA technology, coupled with Bekaert’s longstanding expertise in PTL, forms a promising partnership. We believe this collaboration will effectively meet the rapid growth in demand and contribute significantly to the realization of a green hydrogen society.”

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Carlton & Kraft Heinz opt for green hydrogen at Wigan mega-factory https://theenergyst.com/20936-2/ https://theenergyst.com/20936-2/#respond Mon, 05 Feb 2024 10:08:03 +0000 https://theenergyst.com/?p=20936 Energy infrastructure innovators Carlton Power have inked a deal with groceries colossus Kraft Heinz to develop the food firm’s first ever green hydrogen supply at its production complex at Kitt Green, Wigan. Canning a quarter of a million tonnes of ketchups, baked beans and preserves every year and employing 850 people, Kitt Green is one […]

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Energy infrastructure innovators Carlton Power have inked a deal with groceries colossus Kraft Heinz to develop the food firm’s first ever green hydrogen supply at its production complex at Kitt Green, Wigan.

Canning a quarter of a million tonnes of ketchups, baked beans and preserves every year and employing 850 people, Kitt Green is one of Europe’s biggest food processing plants, producing a plethora of household staples.

Carlton’s proposed 20MW on-site green hydrogen unit is designed to replace at least 50% of the plant’s current use of natural gas.  Cutting the plant’s carbon emissions by 16,000 tonnes annually, the replacement fuel source will be electrolysed from water, using electricity generated primarily from wind and solar.

Kitt Green is the fifth green hydrogen project which Carlton Power is taking forward in England.  Its forerunners include Kimberly-Clark’s Cumbrian paper factory, and a major supply scheme approved for the Trafford Industrial park.

Eric Adams, the company’s hydrogen projects director, said: “We’re delighted to be working with Kraft Heinz at Kitt Green to help the company speed up its efforts to decarbonise their operations.  It is critical that projects like this are brought forward to support British companies, especially in manufacturing, in reducing their carbon emissions and reaching Net Zero.”

Kraft Heinz’s president for northern Europe Jojo Lins De Noronha responded: “Our agreement with Carlton Power is an important step forward in our efforts to achieve our global goal of a 50 percent cut in emissions by 2030.

“We’re excited to partner together to develop our first, renewable hydrogen energy project globally and hope to see more projects like these in the future.”

Funding and planning approval remain hurdles to be overcome, if the £40m decarbonising unit is to begin production as planned in 2026.

The partners need support from the second Hydrogen Allocation Round (HAR2) of the government’s Hydrogen Production Business Model (HPBM), launched to support industry’s switch to the green gas and grow the hydrogen economy.  HAR2 opened for applications in December.

In coming months, the two companies will apply to DESNZ for grant support, informed by consultations with local and national stakeholders.  They will be working over the next 18 months to secure planning permission.

Local civic figures enthused over the initiative. Wigan’s MP Lisa Nandy, Labour’s shadow secretary of state for international development, said:

“Transitioning to net zero is essential to protect local jobs and defend the environment. It is a sign of confidence in Wigan that Heinz has identified Kitt Green as the first site for investment“.

Councillor Tom Ross, Greater Manchester’s lead for the Green City-Region: “The authority is making great strides towards achieving carbon neutrality by 2038, but we need everyone pulling in the same direction.

“That’s why it’s great to see Kraft Heinz and Carlton Power collaborating to drive forward our path to net zero, making Wigan home to Kraft Heinz’s first ever green hydrogen-powered plant“, Ross went on.

“This represents a long-term investment in green jobs right here in our city-region, and a major boost for establishing a hydrogen economy in Greater Manchester.”

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Wasted wind costing £1bn a year? Green hydrogen can save it, urges Policy Exchange https://theenergyst.com/wasted-wind-costing-1bn-a-year-green-hydrogen-can-save-it-urges-policy-exchange/ https://theenergyst.com/wasted-wind-costing-1bn-a-year-green-hydrogen-can-save-it-urges-policy-exchange/#respond Tue, 16 Jan 2024 13:15:46 +0000 https://theenergyst.com/?p=20833 Too slow deployment of grid upgrades and new storage technologies is costing Britain as much as £1billion a year in wasted renewable power, says a new report. The figure could rise to £3.5 billion by the 2030s, think tank Policy Exchange calculates Diverting curtailed wind power from today’s overcrowded networks and using it to make […]

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Too slow deployment of grid upgrades and new storage technologies is costing Britain as much as £1billion a year in wasted renewable power, says a new report. The figure could rise to £3.5 billion by the 2030s, think tank Policy Exchange calculates

Diverting curtailed wind power from today’s overcrowded networks and using it to make green hydrogen are a short term remedy, the group’s new report recommends.

Research conducted by Policy Exchange with assistance from LCP Delta finds that in 2022 the volume of wasted wind generation was sufficient to produce over 118,000 tonnes of the green gas, rising to 455,000 tonnes by 2029.

Between 2021-22 congestion payments cost over £350 million. The report calls on Westminster to encourage electrolyser adoption in heavily curtailed areas to leverage this wasted energy and supercharge the UK’s nascent hydrogen economy.

Through modelling conducted with consultants LCP Delta, the report determines that electrolysing the UK’s wasted renewable energy could create enough hydrogen to:

  • Take the place of two-thirds of Britain’s 700,000 tonnes of carbon-intensive grey hydrogen used each year;
  • Decarbonise the entirety of the UK’s 7m tonne annual steel manufacturing;
  • Meet over 90% of the government’s national Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) target for 2030; or
  • Deliver two thirds of our electrolyser production capacity target for 2030

Curtailing wind power is costly. Since 2021, LCP Delta estimate power system congestion has cost consumers over £2bn, and in 2022 alone some £210m of curtailment payments were made to renewable generators under contract.

Under annual price-fixing contracts for difference auctions promoting expansion, Britain’s wind fleet is set to grow from 14GW today to 50GW offshore by 2030, analyst Alex Simakov notes. Even with accelerated storage measures, the nation is on track for a fivefold increase in curtailment by 2030, wasting an amount of electricity equivalent to usage from more than five million households.

Measures now underway to ensure transmission capacity keeps pace include planned upgrade connections, siting of more storage assets, and the Review of Electricity Market Arrangements (REMA) regime designed to allocate upgrade costs fairly.

But Simakov worries such plans will take over a decade to fully materialise, and are expected to be outpaced by new power sources.

Britain nascent hydrogen economy could fill the gap, he believes. Between heavy industry, transport including sustainable aviation fuels, energy storage and other feedstocks, hydrogen is expected to deliver between a fifth and a third of Britain’s final energy consumption by 2050.

Even as the scale of its future role in decarbonisation remains unclear, hydrogen’s application for flexible power generation and long-duration storage will need to grow more than 100 times on current output.

While the majority of the UK’s economy can be decarbonised through electrification, low-carbon hydrogen must, says Policy Exchange, also play a major role in achieving net zero.

The sector still faces a chicken-or-egg dilemma, Simakov observes. Heavy upfront costs needed for hydrogen production and transport deter early movers and impose high marginal prices, while prospective end-users are reluctant to invest in hydrogen infrastructure.

Heavy diverting of investment into electroylising the green gas could take up much of the burden, Simakov recommends.

Read Policy Exchange’s report here.

 

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Green hydrogen scoops £2bn for industry projects, as pilot falters to convert homes https://theenergyst.com/green-hydrogen-scoops-2bn-for-industry-projects-as-pilot-falters-to-convert-homes/ https://theenergyst.com/green-hydrogen-scoops-2bn-for-industry-projects-as-pilot-falters-to-convert-homes/#respond Fri, 15 Dec 2023 12:08:15 +0000 https://theenergyst.com/?p=20684 Energy ministry D-ESNZ has committed to back 11 projects making industrial use of green hydrogen with £2 billion over 15 years. In return for state backing, the successful projects will invest over £400 million in the next 3 years, generating more than 700 jobs across the UK, said the ministry. For industrial processes, the government […]

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Energy ministry D-ESNZ has committed to back 11 projects making industrial use of green hydrogen with £2 billion over 15 years.

In return for state backing, the successful projects will invest over £400 million in the next 3 years, generating more than 700 jobs across the UK, said the ministry.

For industrial processes, the government says nascent green hydrogen, electrolysed with renewable electricity, needs support as it challenges blue hydrogen, made from re-processed oil and gas.  The cleaner variety, says Whitehall, needs support in building up output to justify new infrastructure.

Both types offer potential, ministers believe, to create over 12,000 jobs this decade and unlock as much as £11 billion of investment.

However the government has confirmed that plans to convert homes in Redcar, Teesside to the green variety will not go ahead, with ministers citing problems with its main supply. The announcement follows withdrawal of a similar conversion of homes in Whitby. Results from a third home pilot in Fife are being evaluated.

Around 125MW of industrial projects will benefit straightaway from the announcement. Participating businesses include

  • Sofidel in Port Talbot, South Wales. The paper-maker will replace half of its current gas consumption with hydrogen
  • InchDairnie Distillery in Scotland, who will run a boiler on 100% hydrogen in their distilling process
  • PD Ports in Teesside, who will use hydrogen to replace diesel in their vehicle fleet, decarbonising port operations from 2026

Currently, less than 1% of the gas in distribution networks is hydrogen. Under Whitehall’s proposals, hydrogen could be blended with other gases in the network as an offtaker of last resort. That should cut costs in the hydrogen sector by helping producers seize economies of scale.

Energy Secretary Claire Coutinho also unveiled a second round of funding now available to applicants making blue and green H2 varieties, so they can develop pipelines in readiness for the government’s allocation rounds in 2025 and 2026. These intend to boost hydrogen capacity up to 1.5GW, on track to 4GW of blue capacity and 6GW of green by 2030.

Hydrogen blending may help achieve the UK’s Net Zero ambitions, but would have a limited and temporary role as the UK moves away from the use of natural gas.

Coutinho said: “Hydrogen presents a massive economic opportunity for the UK, unlocking over 12,000 jobs and up to £11 billion of investment by 2030.

“Our announcement represents the largest number of commercial scale green hydrogen production projects announced at once anywhere in Europe”.

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RWE and Dragon LNG sign contract with AtkinsRéalis to carry out an engineering study for their collaborative project ‘MUST’ https://theenergyst.com/rwe-and-dragon-lng-sign-contract-with-atkinsrealis-to-carry-out-an-engineering-study-for-their-collaborative-project-must/ https://theenergyst.com/rwe-and-dragon-lng-sign-contract-with-atkinsrealis-to-carry-out-an-engineering-study-for-their-collaborative-project-must/#respond Thu, 14 Dec 2023 14:57:23 +0000 https://theenergyst.com/?p=20679 RWE, the largest power generator in Wales, and Dragon LNG, one of the three UK LNG terminals, have awarded a contract to AtkinsRéalis, a design, engineering and project management organisation, to carry out an engineering study for their collaborative project ‘MUST’ – Multi-Utility Services Transit – an infrastructure project connecting industry across the Milford Haven […]

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RWE, the largest power generator in Wales, and Dragon LNG, one of the three UK LNG terminals, have awarded a contract to AtkinsRéalis, a design, engineering and project management organisation, to carry out an engineering study for their collaborative project ‘MUST’ – Multi-Utility Services Transit – an infrastructure project connecting industry across the Milford Haven Waterway.

The study will examine the environmental robustness of technical solutions and determine if any of the potential transit opportunities, including the transfer of residual process heat, export route for CO2 and blue and green hydrogen, could reduce CO2 emissions on both the South and North side of the Haven.

Depending on the outcome of the study, the opportunities that the MUST project could potentially provide are:

  • Full elimination of CO2 emissions from Dragon LNG’s regasification process by utilising the residual process heat from the generators at RWE’s Pembroke Power Station
  • Establishing an export route for CO2 from a potential carbon capture plant being developed at Pembroke Power Station
  • Enabling the development of a CO2 liquefaction, storage and shipping capability at Dragon LNG
  • Establishing an additional export route for blue and green hydrogen (H2) from the south to the north side of the Milford Haven waterway with potential hydrogen from RWE’s Pembroke Green Hydrogen projects
  • Create an opportunity for other industries to access a key piece of infrastructure across the Milford Haven to enable broader industrial decarbonisation. This could include supply water, direct wire connection (potentially from offshore renewables) and other utilities or products.

Richard Little, Director of Pembroke Net Zero Centre, RWE commented, “This appointment demonstrates the commitment both RWE and Dragon have towards developing decarbonisation options for the whole of South Wales and is a key part of RWE’s Pembroke Net Zero Centre (PNZC), a major multi-technology decarbonisation initiative in South Wales.”

Simon Ames, Managing Director, Dragon LNG and Dragon Energy commented, “We are excited to be entering into this important project phase with AtkinsRéalis who will provide recommendations for or against proceeding with project aspects. We continue to work with government and regulatory bodies to ensure we are in a position to progress forward once the results of the study are available in 2024”.

Sarah Long – AtkinsRéalis Market Director for Net Zero Energy, said, “The MUST project is a great example of the innovation that will drive forward the decarbonisation of industry at scale and support the development of new technologies that will be vital in the net zero transition. We welcome the opportunity to build on our longstanding relationships with RWE and Dragon LNG and look forward to bringing our knowledge of transit, marine, environment and process plant integration to such a multi-faceted project.”

MUST is a key deployment project of the South Wales Industrial Cluster, Dr Chris Williams, Head of Industrial Decarbonisation, Industry Wales, commented “SWIC is excited to see the MUST project develop as an example of industrial symbiosis (sharing), which will be a key element of industry in a net zero world. The sharing between and interconnecting of industries to limit waste and reduce emissions can unlock industrial sustainability, attract inward investment and help secure local jobs. MUST is an exemplar of the type of investment needed to support our industries on their net zero journey – as showcased in the SWIC Cluster Plan.”

As a collaborative, flagship component of the South Wales Industrial Cluster (SWIC) Deployment Project, the MUST project would represent a step change in net zero infrastructure.  The project is supported by an award from UK Research and Innovation (UKRI’s) Industrial Decarbonisation Challenge programme, which will provide key support in the engineering and design phases of the project.

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AFC to debut world’s first ammonia-into-hydrogen pilot cracker https://theenergyst.com/afc-to-debut-worlds-first-ammonia-into-hydrogen-pilot-cracker/ https://theenergyst.com/afc-to-debut-worlds-first-ammonia-into-hydrogen-pilot-cracker/#respond Mon, 04 Dec 2023 11:55:26 +0000 https://theenergyst.com/?p=20614 Fuel cell innovators AFC Energy have announced what they claim as the world’s biggest trial plant for producing low carbon hydrogen from ammonia. Weekly output of as much two tonnes of fuel grade green hydrogen is targeted for sale into AFC Energy’s UK H-Power Generator deployments. The firm has also secured initial distribution for the […]

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Fuel cell innovators AFC Energy have announced what they claim as the world’s biggest trial plant for producing low carbon hydrogen from ammonia.

Weekly output of as much two tonnes of fuel grade green hydrogen is targeted for sale into AFC Energy’s UK H-Power Generator deployments. The firm has also secured initial distribution for the cracker, signing a letter of intent with a large European energy company, unnamed in today’s announcement.

Hydrogen is seen as a key stepping stone in vastly stepping up the power production essential to electrifying industrial processes which currently burn fossil fuels.

AFC’s ammonia cracker trial is to be located at an undisclosed location in the UK.  Ammonia feedstock will be provided from the Rotterdam plant of partner OCI Global.

Ammonia’s well-established global supply chains are a major advantage as as a hydrogen carrier fuel, AFC believes.   A string of mobile cracker plants such as trialled by the firm holds out potential to remedy a major weakness for the technology, its current lack of commercially available ammonia cracking technologies.

Based at Dunsfold, Surrey, AFC has production partnerships spanning Europe.  High profile clients for its off-grid carbon-stripped power include Spanish construction giant Acciona and the Extreme E offroad e-mobility racing series.

The firm cites a forecast from technology advocates the Hydrogen Council that 400 out of the 660 million tonnes of hydrogen needed every year for carbon neutrality by 2050 will be transported over long distances. The same source says approximately 45% of that figure will be sourced from ammonia, a compound of hydrogen and nitrogen.

AFC Energy says its cracker system will consume a fraction of the power consumed by electrolysers, the alternative method of making green hydrogen from water.  Yoking mobile fuel cells to distributed ammonia crackers will free up and expand fuel cells’ use in refuelling electric trucks or re-charging batteries of ships converted to electric propulsion.

Nine months of work this year have gone into building and calibrating the demonstrator, says the company. Tests in the new year will attempt hydrogen output of up to 99.7% purity.

Re-packaging the pilot onto a containerised platform will also be a priority.   Success there will enable AFC to market a standalone product, capable of being sold to hydrogen consumers.

AFC’s chief executive Adam Bond said:  “With an ammonia cracker offering market leading efficiency, low power consumption and the production of fuel cell grade hydrogen, AFC Energy’s first pilot project is a major step forward in unlocking the barriers of hydrogen logistics and transport.

“The cracker system, in containerised form, will be capable of replication across Europe and Asia with our ability to generate low cost, decarbonised hydrogen from internationally traded green and blue ammonia being a key step forward in the evolution of the global hydrogen market.”

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Dale Vince partners with ZeroAvia to puff hydrogen for short-haul flights https://theenergyst.com/dale-vince-partners-with-zeroavia-to-puff-hydrogen-for-short-haul-flights/ https://theenergyst.com/dale-vince-partners-with-zeroavia-to-puff-hydrogen-for-short-haul-flights/#respond Thu, 30 Nov 2023 12:16:03 +0000 https://theenergyst.com/?p=20582 Ecotricity founder Dale Vince has announced his low carbon spin-off airline Ecojet will use hydrogen-electric propulsion technology pioneered by fellow West Country specialists ZeroAvia. Ecojet has contracted to buy from Val Miftakhov’s Kemble, Gloucestershire-based manufacturer as many as 70 hydrogen-electric, zero-emission turbo-prop engines. Vince’s wish is that Ecojet should be the world’s first all-electric airline.  […]

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Ecotricity founder Dale Vince has announced his low carbon spin-off airline Ecojet will use hydrogen-electric propulsion technology pioneered by fellow West Country specialists ZeroAvia.

Ecojet has contracted to buy from Val Miftakhov’s Kemble, Gloucestershire-based manufacturer as many as 70 hydrogen-electric, zero-emission turbo-prop engines.

Vince’s wish is that Ecojet should be the world’s first all-electric airline.  Its first paying customers next year on routes into and out of Edinburgh will use conventionally powered aircraft.  Once regulation permits in or before 2025, it intends retrofitting its aircraft as soon as possible with ZeroAvia’s ZA600 fuel-cell driven power plants.

Those hydrogen-electric engines use hydrogen in cells to generate electricity. This then powers the electric motors to turn the aircraft’s propellers. Water is the process’s only emission.

Ecojet has in addition placed a larger order for ZeroAvia’s more powerful ZA2000 engine, designed for up to 80 seat regional turboprops. That version is intended to enter service by 2027.

The bigger power plant, Vince believes, will give potential to fly aircraft such as the ATR72 and DASH 8 400 on regional, ‘feeder’ routes across the world.

To bring their ground-breaking technology to market, Ecojet will also be working alongside a second partner MONTE. The plane brokers incorporate a clean technology business hat which works to accelerate the transition to net zero CO2 emissions,.

Working alongside ZeroAvia and MONTE, Ecojet will create the first pathways to hydrogen-electric commercial operations.

Vince observed: “This is big news. Carbon-free, guilt-free flying is just around the corner. We don’t have to give up flying to live a green lifestyle or to get to Net Zero as a country.

“The technology is here now, and the planes are coming very soon“.

Commercial flying accounts for a growing share – currently around 3% – of the planet’s carbon emissions.  Said Vince: “Although aviation is responsible for only a small part of all emissions, it occupies a far bigger space than that in our psyche“.

“The hearts-and-minds’ value of this new opportunity outweighs the carbon issue significantly. It shows that everything we need to do, can be done, with a low to zero carbon footprint. And that’s a big encouragement to us all.”

ZeroAvia recently completed a sequence of ten test flights of a prototype of its ZA600 fixed to a Dornier 228 aircraft. In May, the company unveiled its testbed aircraft for testing the ZA2000 engine, a Dash 8 400 76-seat plane provided by Alaska Airlines, as well as announcing rapid progress in developing the core technologies for flying these larger aircraft.

Its founder Miftakhov observed: “Clean aviation will mean increased regional air travel and new routes. Ecojet can capitalize based on their clear focus on low-emission travel.

The engine-maker’s boss praised the government’s Jet Zero Strategy as setting  a great example for the world to follow.

But the UK can go much further, Miftakhov added, by being early to act and introducing some of the first zero-emission routes in the world.”

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Sunak’s carbon capture policy ‘deepens fossil gas reliance’; IEEFA report https://theenergyst.com/sunaks-carbon-capture-policy-deepens-fossil-gas-reliance-ieefa-report/ https://theenergyst.com/sunaks-carbon-capture-policy-deepens-fossil-gas-reliance-ieefa-report/#respond Wed, 15 Nov 2023 14:49:06 +0000 https://theenergyst.com/?p=20495 The UK government’s £20 billion pot of incentives for carbon capture projects disproportionately supports extraction of gas-derived ‘blue’ hydrogen, increasing long-term reliance on the fossil fuel in Britain’s power mix and imperilling Net Zero goals, an economics think-tank is alleging. A severe lack of support for CCS projects aimed at decarbonising electricity, by contrast puts […]

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The UK government’s £20 billion pot of incentives for carbon capture projects disproportionately supports extraction of gas-derived ‘blue’ hydrogen, increasing long-term reliance on the fossil fuel in Britain’s power mix and imperilling Net Zero goals, an economics think-tank is alleging.

A severe lack of support for CCS projects aimed at decarbonising electricity, by contrast puts at risk the UK’s target of decarbonising the power sector by 2035, according to new research from the Ohio-based Institute for Energy Economics & Financial Analysis .

The IEEFA finds that government-sponsored projects are pointed towards oil and gas owners, accounting for 78% of the proposed emissions capture and thus most of the billions of pounds in public support available.

Earlier this year, the UK government earmarked £20 billion of taxpayer cash over the next 20 years to foster CCUS facilities. A high-risk pillar of the UK’s decarbonisation strategy, the strategy forecasts that around 22 million tonnes of carbon dioxide (MtCO2) will be required to be captured per year by 2030.

Eight projects across the HyNet and East Coast Cluster have been selected to proceed to negotiations for support as part of Phase 2, Track 1 of the government’s CCUS initiative. Of these eight, 81% of captured emissions are proposed to come from processes that require long-term fossil gas use, author Andrew Reid notes in his report.

Fossil fuel firms will benefit most from taxpayer support through Track 1, with 78% of carbon capture in 2030 set to come from projects owned by oil and gas extractors. Included in that total is the proposed new-build Net Zero Teesside Power gas-fired power station, being co-developed by BP. There are currently no gas power CCS projects in operation anywhere else in the world.

While the government plans to expand the Track 1 clusters, the eight selected projects will not meet the UK’s CCS requirements set out by the Climate Change Committee (CCC) in its Sixth Carbon Budget, according to the IEEFA.

The projects are expected to capture circa 6 MtCO2 per annum during their initial phase, or 27% of the CCC 2030 forecast.

Assuming capacity is increased from follow-on phases before the end of the decade, the projects will continue to fall short, meeting only 52% of the carbon capture target.

“It is clear that the UK government needs to focus its attention on supporting CCS projects that increase decarbonisation of electricity supply while the UK energy mix transitions to lower-carbon sources,” writes Reid, a guest contributor at IEEFA Europe.

“A disproportionate amount of support is currently targeting blue hydrogen production, which not only risks meeting the CCC targets but is questionable longer term as the UK increases renewable power generation and the potential for green hydrogen production.”

CCS for the decarbonisation of electricity supply and for greenhouse gas removals represent 78% of the 2030 CCS target, but only 16% will be supported through the current eight Track 1 projects, the IEEFA study asserts.

Conversely, CCS for hydrogen production will deliver 444% of its target, according to the report.

If the government were to include all 20 projects shortlisted in the Phase 1, Track 1 announcement, the potential to achieve the 2030 CCS target would be greatly increased, with emissions capture meeting 93% of the goal.

This strategy though would leave significant gaps in sector-specific decarbonisation, Reid argues. CCS for electricity supply would still be 70% short of its target, while there would still be few projects for greenhouse gas removals.

“The announcement in July this year increasing the number of clusters that would be considered for support to include Acorn and Viking presents an opportunity for the government to prioritise power generation projects over blue hydrogen, getting back on track with the Climate Change Committee’s projections,” said Reid.

World authority the International Energy Agency notes that CCUS can lower emissions in hard-to-abate sectors such as cement, iron, steel and chemicals. But “years of underperformance” and a lack of recent progress have recently led the IEA to revise downward the technology’s role in its global climate mitigation scenarios.

The agency’s latest Net Zero Roadmap sees CCUS contributing less than 5% to required emissions reduction by 2030. Based on the IEA’s CCUS project database, if all planned projects are delivered by 2030, they would still only capture less than 1% of current annual energy-related emissions.

Read the IEEFA’s report here.

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