Apr 19 2024

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.

Mar 27 2024

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.

Feb 29 2024

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.

Feb 09 2024

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.

Dec 15 2023

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.

Dec 04 2023

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.

Nov 09 2023

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.

Oct 20 2023

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.

Sep 28 2023

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.

Aug 30 2023

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.

Jul 20 2023

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.

Jul 04 2023

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.

Jun 15 2023

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

Jun 05 2023

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.

May 24 2023

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?

May 11 2023

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.

Apr 24 2023

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.

Mar 24 2023

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.

Feb 23 2023

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?

Jan 24 2023

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?

Jan 10 2023

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

Dec 20 2022

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?

Sep 30 2022

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