Baofeng Ningxia CTO plant

From Coal enabler to the Minimal Green Methanol Economy

While it does not get as much attention as hydrogen, green methanol could play a crucial role in a climate-neutral industry. Ideas for a Methanol Economy have been around for decades, but the implementation challenges should not be underestimated.

Ship Stena Germanica

Why no one wanted to buy the Green Shipping Fuel

Many shipping companies see e-methanol - made from hydrogen and carbon dioxide - as the most promising future clean fuel. But it appears they do not want to buy it: energy company Ørsted canceled plans for an e-methanol production facility due to a lack of offtake agreements. A weakened EU regulation has likely contributed to the difficulty of selling green shipping fuels.

Train in the Swiss Alps

Misleading Logarithmic Scales and the Disregard for Energy Efficiency

A chart linking low energy consumption with poverty is widely shared on social media. The graphic uses a misleading visualization, and if we look at the data more objectively, it tells a very different story - one that highlights the potential of energy efficiency.

LNG carrier and gas Infrastructure

Is there a place for E-Methane in a Climate-Neutral Future?

Methane made from green hydrogen and carbon dioxide can directly replace fossil gas. The company TES wants to produce such e-methane, but critics say: that only works due to stacked subsidies and could delay important transformation steps.

Melkøya LNG plant

Is Carbon Capture and Storage more expensive than we thought?

A controversy about the Hammerfest LNG plant on the Norwegian island Melkøya raises questions about the affordability of post-combustion carbon capture and storage. Equinor wants to electrify its operations - and said CCS would be too expensive.

Neustark plant in Berlin-Marzahn

Carbon Removal with Demolished Concrete

At a recycling facility on the outskirts of Berlin, carbon emissions from biomethane production are stored in construction waste. The Swiss company Neustark hopes that its technology will play a part in a future carbon removal industry.

eFurnace at BASF Ludwigshafen

BASF starts the World's First Electric Cracker Furnace

Electrifying steam cracking can reduce emissions in the chemical industry, but it does not change the use of fossil input materials. It is only a first step towards climate-neutral chemicals.

Ammonia factory

What we do not know about Planet-Warming Hydrogen Emissions

In the atmosphere, hydrogen acts as an indirect greenhouse gas. Recent studies show that its warming potential is higher than previously thought, causing concerns about a much wider use of hydrogen in the future. Yet, very little is known about hydrogen leakage rates.

Lightning and Pylon

E-Fuels and E-Chemicals may need multiple times the World's current Electricity Production

Technologies turning water and carbon dioxide into energy-rich chemicals could replace fossil fuels where electrification is not feasible. However, Carbon Capture and Utilization (CCU) would require enormous amounts of clean electricity.

ArcelorMittal steel plant in Dunkirk

Unburning CO₂: The Problem with Fossil Carbon Capture and Utilization

Technologies that turn carbon dioxide into fuels or chemical resources can play a role in a climate-neutral future. But they come with challenges and usually only delay emissions. This can lead to overestimating their potential.

Electrical substation

The Trouble with European Green Electricity Certificates

Electricity companies from Iceland and Norway sell green electricity certificates (Guarantees of Origin) while their customers advertise using the same renewable energy. After a temporary ban on certificate exports from Iceland, the responsible Association of Issuing Bodies (AIB) has permanently lifted that ban and does not plan any further action.

Hypercharger electric vehicle charger

Insecure Password allowed Administrative Access to Electric Vehicle Chargers

Electric vehicle chargers of the brand Hypercharger were shipped with an insecure default password and allowed access to a configuration interface to anyone over the Internet. The vendor reacted quickly, but incidents like this show potential IT security risks of electrification infrastructure.

Carbon Reycling International e-methanol plant

Should we burn Methanol when the Wind does not blow?

Electricity grids with high shares of wind and solar energy will require energy storage over long periods of time. A new study suggests that green methanol might be more attractive than hydrogen in some cases.

Glass bottles

Making Glass without Fossil Gas

Today, glass production uses primarily fossil fuels and comes with substantial carbon emissions. Electrification could change that, but it probably cannot be scaled enough to power large production facilities completely. And even a glass industry powered by renewable energy would have remaining CO₂ emissions.

N2O Abatement

The avoidable Super-Greenhouse-Gas from Fertilizer, Nylon, and Vitamin B3 production

The production of some nitrogen-based chemicals can cause substantial nitrous oxide emissions (N₂O), a potent greenhouse gas. Technology to stop these emissions is cheap and readily available, but it is not always applied.

Plastics

How to make Plastics without Fossil Fuels

Decarbonizing plastics and other petrochemical processes requires more than clean energy; it requires different input materials. A technology used in China's coal-based chemical industry could be an interesting building block for the future of plastics.

European flag

EU Innovation Fund: Oxyfuel CCS, E-Methanol, and more

The EU Innovation Fund is one of the most important funding instruments for large-scale and industrial decarbonization projects. We look at the latest funding round: Multiple oxyfuel CCS projects for cement production, lots of e-methanol – and not much electrification.

Carbfix injection site

Can CCS Escape from its Fossil Fuel Industry Roots?

Carbon capture and storage could help stop carbon dioxide emissions that are otherwise hard to avoid. But the technology is surrounded by controversies and is closely tied to the fossil fuel industry.

Cement plant in Berlin

Cement's future could be a combination of Carbon Capture and Electrification

Cement is an industry where capturing carbon emissions may be necessary. A combination with process heat electrification could be better than CCS alone.

Hydropower in Iceland

Double Counting and other problems with Green Electricity Certificates

Double counting of green energy had recently led to a suspension of renewable electricity certificates from Iceland. Now they can be exported again – even though the problems are not solved. But that is not the only problem with renewable electricity certificates.

CoBra heat pump

Hotter Heat Pumps could help Electrify Industrial Heat

Most energy in industry is used to provide heat. The most efficient way to decarbonize heat is to use heat pumps powered by green electricity. Which leads to the question: What temperatures can they achieve?

Ljosafoss hydropower station

How Iceland sold the same Green Electricity twice

European renewable energy certificate led to double counting of the same electricity from Iceland. Certificate exports have now been suspended. But the problem is not restricted to Iceland.

Haru Oni

Hype and E-Fuels: The Haru Oni pilot plant

Making fuel just from wind, water, and air – that's the promise of the Haru Oni project in Chile. But claims by the companies operating the plant contain a lot of hype.

Siderwin pilot plant

Making Steel with Electricity

The Siderwin research project tested a new method of steelmaking that uses direct electrolysis of iron oxide in a pilot plant in France. The steelmaker ArcelorMittal now announced that it wants to commercialize the technology.

BASF ammonia factory

Do Ammonia Crackers make sense?

Several companies have announced plans to build ammonia crackers to use ammonia as a hydrogen carrier. However, do they make sense as long as existing ammonia facilities run on fossil-based hydrogen?

Gas stove

Gas Stoves and Gas Grids

Cooking with gas represents only a tiny fraction of overall gas use. Some say it does not matter much for the climate, but is that true?

Solar and wind energy

The Future Dominance of Solar and Wind Energy

There is surprisingly strong agreement in future energy scenarios about the dominance of solar and wind energy.

Gas pipes

Hydrogen Heating and the Future of the Gas Grid

Most experts don't see a future for hydrogen boilers in buildings, but industry groups lobby for them. This raises an important question: What future is there for gas grids?

Hybrit Pilot Plant

The path to Green Steel could be Hydrogen

Several steelmakers are investing in technologies that could clean up one of the biggest contributors to climate change.


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