It’s possible that I shall make an ass of myself. But in that case one can always get out of it with a little dialectic. I have, of course, so worded my proposition as to be right either way (K.Marx, Letter to F.Engels on the Indian Mutiny)
Tuesday, August 17, 2021
Female macaque takes over as alpha of Japanese reserve
In a rarely seen phenomenon in the simian world, a nine-year-old female known as Yakei has become the boss of a 677-strong troop of Japanese macaque monkeys at a nature reserve on the island of Kyushu in Japan.
Yakei’s path to the top began in April when she beat up her own mother to become the alpha female of the troop at the Takasakiyama Natural Zoological Garden in the city of Oita. While that would have been the pinnacle for most female monkeys, Yakei decided to throw her 10kg weight around among the males.
In late June, she challenged and roughed up Sanchu, the 31-year-old alpha male who had been leader of “troop B” at the reserve for five years.
Surprised wardens at Takasakiyama, where there has never been a female monkey boss in the reserve’s 70-year history, carried out a “peanut test” on June 30, putting out nuts for the group and seeing who ate first.
Sanchu backed away and gave Yakei first dibs on the treat, confirming her alpha status.
“Since then, Yakei has been climbing trees and shaking them, which is an expression of power and a very rare behavior in females,” said Satoshi Kimoto, a guide at Takasakiyama.
“She has been walking around with her tail up, which is also very unusual for a female,” Kimoto said, adding that staff at the reserve were at a loss as to the causes of Yakei’s dominant antics.-
BIG OIL BAIT AND SWITCH
Shell committed to its Gulf of Mexico 'production heartland' Operator plans to drill more than 20 exploration wells in the Gulf of Mexico over the next three years
Committed: Shell's recently sanctioned Whale floating production unit is almost a complete replica of the Vito unit, helping the company deliver a low-cost host in the most efficient way possible
Anglo-Dutch supermajor Shell kicked off one of the world's top oil and gas conferences Monday by shedding light on the company's strategy to evolve as it moves forward in the energy transition.
Bill Langin, Shell's senior vice president of deep-water exploration, told Upstream why he believes Shell has an edge in the US Gulf deep-water and why the region has a lower-carbon advantage over other oil and gas plays.
Shell plans to drill 25 to 28 exploration wells in the Gulf of Mexico over the next three years, Langin said on the sidelines of the 2021 Offshore Technology Conference in Houston.
Achieving net zero emissions for Shell will include “some associated emissions for decades to come”, Langin said during an opening panel at the conference.
The company has stated that it will continue to spend about $1.5 billion annually on exploration, with a focus on extending the life of its eight core upstream positions and de-risking its current frontier position by 2025, with no new frontier entries anticipated to occur beyond then.
“We can add value from a financial perspective,” Langin said.
“We think we have the right cost base in places like the Gulf of Mexico, Brazil, Brunei, Malaysia and others. But also, these deep-water positions offer some of the lowest net carbon footprint barrels globally.”
Shell will continue to explore for hydrocarbons as they are part of the “energy mix for decades to come, but we will do it in a very powerful way that allows us to bring together", he said.
Langin said that Shell will continue to leverage its significant position advantages in the Mars and Perdido corridors, as the positions enables scale and synergy.
"We see both value and carbon footprints that will allow the Gulf to continue to be a core part of our business." Low-carbon advantage
Langin explained that Shell sees the deep-water Gulf of Mexico as having among the lowest net carbon footprints of oil that can be produced because it possesses a few intrinsic properties that underpin that belief.
One is the high-pressure nature of the reservoir.
“The higher the pressure of the reservoir, the less energy you have to put in to get the oil out,” he said.
“And if you don’t have to put energy in, it means you don’t have to apply as much pressure at the topsides to push that in; if you need less topsides, less steel to construct it; and so, the whole thing just needs a lot less input than other areas of the world.”
The second property the Gulf of Mexico has in its favour is its long history as an oil and gas basin that has gas takeaway infrastructure.
“We can actually produce, export and sell the associated gas with the fields,” he said.
“And so, you don’t then have to reinject or flare or whatever you might be doing in some other areas around the world that might have higher carbon intensity.”
Langin explained that the Gulf’s third advantage is the high quality of US regulations.
“If you look at the operating standards for our facilities that then drive really high-quality design standards from the very beginning – we design our facilities with those underlying regulations in mind and then we operate to the highest possible standard,” he said.
“Every molecule that we capture and sell and don’t either burn or emit, is better business for us. And so, we want to design our facilities to be zero leaks and make sure that we are as energy efficient as possible.”(Copyright)
Fire alarms went off at the Hamaoka nuclear plant in Shizuoka Prefecture, central Japan, on Tuesday, and the operator confirmed smoke within a building, the second such reporting within a week at the currently suspended plant.
No leakage of radioactive material outside the plant has been confirmed, said the operator, Chubu Electric Power Co., after the incident at around 5:15 a.m. at the building that houses a turbine of the plant's No. 5 reactor.
The utility alerted a local fire station after a worker confirmed smoke. However, an on-site inspection conducted by the fire authorities led to the conclusion it was not a case of fire, the company said.
The alarms went off on the second and third floors of the four-story building with two underground levels, according to the utility.
Message: Nuclear must be represented at COP26, says World Nuclear Association
17 August 2021
Nuclear energy must get a fair representation at the 26th UN Climate Change Conference of the Parties to be held 31 October to 12 November in Glasgow, World Nuclear Association Director General Sama Bilbao y León has said in an open letter to COP26 President Alok Sharma. The full text of the 16 August letter is as follows.
We are deeply concerned about the news that every application on nuclear energy for the Green Zone at the upcoming COP26 conference has been rejected. We hope this is not indicative of how nuclear will be treated at COP26 as a whole. We would therefore urge you and the other organisers of COP26 to treat nuclear energy fairly and to ensure that it is well represented alongside other low carbon energy sources, in line with the recommendations made by numerous expert organisations.
The flagship report published by the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe on 12 August reinforced the pivotal role that nuclear energy can play in effectively combatting climate change, whilst also building a more resilient society. This is not an isolated view; expert organisations from across the world, including the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), the International Energy Agency, the OECD-Nuclear Energy Agency, the International Atomic Energy Agency, and the MIT Energy Initiative have all concluded that nuclear energy is a crucial component in any realistic transition to a low-carbon future that is also cost-efficient. Indeed, the IPCC's "middle-of-the-road" scenario - which assumes that social, economic and technological trends would follow current patterns of development and no enforced changes in diet or travel habits - sees the demand for nuclear energy increase six times by 2050.
With only months to go before COP26 commences, last week's publication from the IPCC makes for sobering reading. The message from the scientific community is loud and clear: we need a dramatic step change to avert the very real harms of climate change. The enormity and the urgency of the challenge demand that we make the best use of all the tools at our disposal. As the largest single source of low-carbon electricity in developed nations, nuclear energy stands ready to continue to decarbonise the world's economy, alongside all other low carbon technologies.
In our efforts to combat climate change, we have a golden opportunity to at the same time build societies that are truly sustainable, clean and equitable. With the vast majority of the global population yet to reach the quality of life we enjoy in the UK, we need to find ways to meet the expected substantial increase in energy demand in ways that do not exacerbate carbon or air pollution emissions, thus unlocking the immense human potential that exists in all corners of the world. With its unique combination of features - being affordable, 24/7, reliable and resilient - and its low-carbon credentials, nuclear energy represents an essential component of any just clean energy transition.
COP26 provides a unique chance to redefine the future of humanity, and if we come together as one, we can accelerate global action to address climate change. This will, however, require a significant increase in ambition and political courage. The world is looking for thought leadership from the United Kingdom this November. World Nuclear Association has proudly represented the global nuclear industry in the UN Climate Change Conferences since COP5, and we look forward to continuing to make the case for nuclear power as a key technology for building a cleaner and brighter future in Glasgow.
Yours sincerely,
Dr Sama Bilbao y León
New island discovered south of Tokyo after submarine volcano erupts
A new island has been discovered near Iwoto Island located around 1,200 kilometers south of Tokyo after a submarine volcano began erupting late last week, the Japan Coast Guard said Monday.
The new island is C-shaped, with a diameter of approximately one kilometer. It was discovered after the volcano some 50 km south of Iwoto in the Ogasawara Islands in the Pacific Ocean started erupting on Friday.
The Japan Meteorological Agency has issued warnings about smoke and large ash deposits in nearby waters as an active eruption is expected to continue.
The coast guard found the newly formed island when it observed the eruption from the air on Sunday, according to the weather agency. Pumice created by the volcanic activity was also found by the coast guard floating across a 60-km area in a northwest direction.
Given the location, however, the new island is unlikely to affect the country's territorial waters or exclusive economic zone even if it remains above the surface.
The Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) reported that a submarine eruption occurred at Fukutoku-Okanoba volcano at 06:20 local time on August 13, 2021. The eruption is still ongoing…
The eruptive plume of white vapor is being hit by lightning bolts caused by the friction of the pyroclasts expelled at high speed.
Fukutoku-Okanoba is a submarine volcano 5 km NE of the small pyramidal island Minami-iwo-jima in the Japanese Volcano Island chain.
Its summit is just 14 meters (46 feet) below sea level. Its last major eruption was in early February 2010. - PropheticWorship Gathering
WATCH AS VOLCANO UNDERWATER CREATES ITS OWN LIGHTING
Wind power firm aims to nip nimbyism in the bud with tulip-shaped turbines
Want to improve your business's eco-credentials, make an artistic statement and ward off nimby naysayers? Wind turbine firm Flower Turbines may be the ticket
For some, wind turbines symbolise a commitment to a greener planet; others see them as noisy, dangerous and ugly.
Now, a firm based in the Netherlands and also in the US hopes to counter nimby (not in my back yard) complaints with its tulip-shaped ‘eco-art’ design. Flower Turbines say their products pose no danger to birds or other wildlife, and create a noise that is at such a low frequency, humans can’t hear it.
They’re designed to be installed by businesses who want to improve their sustainability while making an artistic statement.
Roy Osinga (pictured, third from right), European director of Flower Turbines, said: “Our product – compared to big windmills – is silent, and good-looking, which makes it very successful for building in cities.”
Itochu's 'blue' ammonia from Canada to power Japan's green future
Large facility to produce 1m tons a year from natural gas
Itochu will build the new ammonia plant in an industrial zone in the Canadian province of Alberta.
FUMIE YAKU, Nikkei staff writer
August 3, 2021 TOKYO -- Japanese trading house Itochu is set to begin commercial production of ammonia in Canada in 2026 at what is slated to be one of the world's largest manufacturing facilities for the clean-burning fuel.
Japan’s Itochu joins forces on Canadian ammonia output
Japanese trading house Itochu plans to help produce and sell ammonia from gas in Canada's Alberta province from 2026, in a venture that will capture and store the carbon dioxide (CO2) produced.
Itochu will work on the project with Petronas Energy Canada, the Canadian subsidiary of Malaysian state-owned oil firm Petronas, and an unspecified Canadian infrastructure company. Itochu will be in charge of sales and logistics of the ammonia, considering potential exports to Japanese power, metal and petrochemical producers. The companies are targeting to start construction of the 1mn t/yr plant in 2023.
The companies plan to use natural gas generated from Petronas' oil fields in Alberta as the ammonia feedstock, while capturing and storing CO2 emitted during the production process to manufacture so-called blue ammonia. Itochu and the partners plan to send the CO2 to existing carbon capture and storage (CCS) facilities managed by Shell or Canadian companies to store it underground. They have not specified to which CCS facilities they will they send the CO2 to. Itochu is also discussing other uses for the CO2 but has not reached a decision.
Itochu has also agreed to study the feasibility of a blue ammonia value chain in Siberia with Russia's Irkutsk Oil. The trading house is leading a global group of 23 firms to research use of green ammonia as vessel fuels, with the fuel produced from renewable energy source with no emissions.
Japan is aiming to develop ammonia supply chains for the country's energy security. Japan's ministry of economy, trade and industry is targeting a 1pc share of hydrogen and ammonia for the first time in Japan's planned April 2030-March 2031 power mix.
By Nanami Oki
Itochu's 'blue' ammonia to power Japan's green future
Japanese trading house Itochu is set to begin commercial production of ammonia in Canada in 2026 at what is slated to be one of the world's largest manufacturing facilities for the clean-burning fuel.
Itochu has agreed to conduct a joint feasibility study with a Canadian subsidiary of Malaysian state energy company Petronas, as well as a local infrastructure company that builds gas pipelines. The $1.3 billion plant will manufacture ammonia from natural gas extracted from a field owned by the Petronas unit, making up to 1 million tons per year.
The trading house plans to ship the fuel to Japan, helping to bring the coal-reliant country a step closer to meeting its emissions-cutting goals. Ammonia generates no carbon dioxide when burned and can be blended with coal to reduce emissions at fossil-fuel power plants.
Plans call for breaking ground on the facility in an Alberta industrial zone in 2023. Itochu and the local infrastructure company will set up a joint venture for the plant. The trading house will handle most of the sales as well as set up a transportation network.
Ammonia is produced by stripping away hydrogen from natural gas and combining it with nitrogen. Itochu plans to capture and store carbon dioxide produced in the process. The resulting fuel, made with a reduced climate impact, is so-called blue ammonia, as opposed to "green" ammonia made using renewable energy sources such as solar power.
Ammonia from the new plant will be shipped from western Canada by sea to Itochu's home country, mainly for sale to power companies as well as manufacturers that generate their own power, such as steel and chemical makers.
A million tons of ammonia blended with coal at a 20-80 ratio is enough to power two 1-gigawatt power station units for a year. The Japanese government aims to have the country consume 3 million tons of ammonia fuel each year by 2030.
The Role of Green and Blue Hydrogen in the Energy Transition - A Technological and Geopolitical Perspective
Hydrogen is currently enjoying a renewed and widespread momentum in many national and international climate strategies. This review paper is focused on analysing the challenges and opportunities that are related to green and blue hydrogen, which are at the basis of different perspectives of a potential hydrogen society. While many governments and private companies are putting significant resources on the development of hydrogen technologies, there still remains a high number of unsolved issues, including technical challenges, economic and geopolitical implications. The hydrogen supply chain includes a large number of steps, resulting in additional energy losses, and while much focus is put on hydrogen generation costs, its transport and storage should not be neglected. A low-carbon hydrogen economy offers promising opportunities not only to fight climate change, but also to enhance energy security and develop local industries in many countries. However, to face the huge challenges of a transition towards a zero-carbon energy system, all available technologies should be allowed to contribute based on measurable indicators, which require a strong international consensus based on transparent standards and targets.
The momentum for electric vehicles makes a car like the Toyota Mirai less enticing.
By Sasha Lekach on August 17, 2021 Road tripping with hydrogen. Credit: Bob Al-Greene / Mashable Composite
My hands were starting to go numb, something that tends not to happen when I'm refueling my car in July.
As I pulled helplessly on the frozen nozzle connected to my loaner 2021 Toyota Mirai, I looked around the San Francisco Shell station, desperate for someone to magically melt the hydrogen pump off the car so I could get out of there. I was testing out the car for its performance, aesthetics, tech, and anything else, but I could already tell I would only be thinking about refueling.
I frantically read and re-read all the signage, noting the warning to not pour water on the connector, and the reassurance that a frozen nozzle wasn't unusual. Eventually it started to warm up, probably from all my stressed out energy, and the nozzle slipped off after a final tug.
At $16.50 per kilogram — meaning over $80 to fill up the Mirai’s 5 kg tank — the high price of hydrogen had already made me wary. But it was the freezing equipment that really showed me why electric vehicles are becoming more accepted while hydrogen-fuel cars like Toyota's Mirai are still niche and special. The Mirai hasn't brought hydrogen into the mainstream like Tesla did with battery electric.
When it comes to alternative fuel vehicles, electric charging isn't a breeze, but at least it doesn't require winter gloves.
Pulling up to the hydrogen station. Credit: Toyota
It's really saying something that hydrogen, an odorless, invisible compressed gas (hence the freezing pump equipment) that fills up the tank quickly, doesn't have an edge over slower electric charging. I was in and out of a hydrogen station within 10 minutes, just like at a gasoline stop. And meanwhile, I've sat plugged into charging stations for over two hours and still left with a partially charged battery. But electrons as fuel still appear to be in the lead when it comes to gaining widespread acceptance.
For one thing, despite the slow refueling, there are more places to charge when out and about with an EV — more than 26,000 public stations nationwide and about a third of those in California alone. As hydrogen has fallen by the wayside as a viable alternative fuel, battery electric charging infrastructure has expanded. There were 47 hydrogen refill stations in California as of earlier this year. Toyota has plans for at least 20 more into 2022. Outside of California, there aren't enough stations for most people to feel comfortable driving a hydrogen-dependent vehicle.
That's not a frunk, it's a fuel cell. Credit: Sasha Lekach / Mashable
Pop open the hood of the Mirai and you'll see the fuel cell stack. It takes hydrogen from the tanks and mixes with oxygen from the outside air, which creates an electric current that's then separated into an electric motor and battery in the back of the car. This is why fuel cell cars are sometimes referred to as "plug-less" electric vehicles. And that hydrogen has to live somewhere in the car, meaning they are also frunk-less.
No matter how electric and fuel cell electric vehicles (FCEVs) stack up, "EVs stepped up and took all the momentum," Daniel Davenport, senior director of automotive for tech consulting firm Capgemini Americas, said in a recent phone call. "In terms of a popularity contest [with hydrogen], electric is winning," Davenport added.
Even in more hydrogen-friendly California, a recent trip in a Mirai from San Francisco up the coast required a pre-meditated driving plan and a separate app, Alt Fuel, to find available hydrogen stations. The last hydrogen station for hundreds of miles was in southern Marin County, on the other side of the Golden Gate Bridge. Talk about range anxiety.
With electric, when there isn't a public electric charging station in sight, you can almost always find a wall outlet and slowly recharge. With the Mirai and its ilk, you can't plug in at home (or wherever you find a plug). Even though the Mirai has a small electric battery, the hydrogen needed to produce the electrons and protons (with water as a by-product) to power the battery is only available at a few public stations. There is no home plug-in option for the Mirai. In all of San Francisco, there were only two stations where I could buy hydrogen.
Hydrogen is part of the bigger effort to reduce oil dependency in transportation, as Robbie Diamond, CEO of SAFE, an energy security nonprofit, wrote in an email. But, he continued, "With much of the fuel delivery infrastructure already in place thanks to the electric grid, EVs are currently closer to realizing the economic, environmental, and national security benefits that come with reduced oil consumption.”
Between Electrify America and other charging network partnerships for free charges, EV tax credits, other federal and state EV infrastructure efforts, and mass production of EVs driving down manufacturing and battery costs, electric vehicles are more and more tempting.
Toyota's hydrogen car qualifies as a zero-emission vehicle, but hydrogen isn't getting the attention, support, or even publicity that EVs receive. It doesn't help that Tesla CEO Elon Musk called hydrogen "stupid" — or that filling up means you might literally freeze the car to the hydrogen dispenser. Monitoring the Mirai. Credit: Sasha Lekach / Mashable
The car drove quietly and smoothly, much like other EVs. Unless I really studied the center screen showing how the energy was flowing through the car, I forgot there was a tank filled with highly pressurized hydrogen gas stored under the hood. It was only until the range started to drop that I'd start to stress about my next hydrogen fill-up.
Toyota is offering a huge incentive package worth $15,000 for three years of free hydrogen fuel to woo Mirai buyers, especially until hydrogen prices drop (if they ever do). The car starts at $49,500 for up to 400 miles of range on certain models. Toyota has been lobbying hard for hydrogen as the hybrid Prius pioneer falls behind the electric space, as the New York Times reported.
But my overall takeaway from my time as an FCEV driver? EVs' head start will freeze out cars like the Mirai — and not just at the hydrogen pump.
Related Video: 10 car companies coming for Tesla's EV crown
As the Biden administration focuses on creating a carbon-free energy sector in the U.S. by the year 2035 and the passage of a Senate infrastructure package set to include major investment into alternative fuels, the majority of ink is being devoted to Biden’s executive order to spur electric vehicle availability.
As it appears the EV vehicle revolution has actually arrived with news from Ford Motor Company of the game-changing 2022 F-150 Lightning Electric Truck, emission-free transportation could take various forms.
EV demand is already faced with challenges to available resources and infrastructure such as a lack of charging stations, shocks to the U.S. electric power grid, the problems facing self-driving systems and issues battery inefficiency.
These issues and more may soon lead to a search for - and investment in - EV alternatives.
The most likely alternative is certainly hydrogen fuel cell power.
As the most abundant element on earth, and indeed the galaxy - Hydrogen as fuel shows immense potential. And as fuel cell systems generate electricity by converting hydrogen and their sole emission is water vapor, their attractiveness in a carbon-free energy strategy is obvious.
Fuel cell technology can be easily be adapted to passenger cars and vans, as well as buses and commercial truck platforms and even the shipping and locomotive markets.
The development of hydrogen flight vehicles is already underway as well.
Hyundai, a pioneer of hydrogen fuel cell technology, already has plans to spend $6.7 billion and produce 700,000 fuel cell systems annually by 2030.
And the impact on the environment is hardly the only benefit expected as Hyundai says that effort will create more than 50,000 jobs. The recent export of the XCIENT Fuel Cell - the world’s first mass-produced fuel cell heavy-duty truck - is a harbinger of things to come. Toyota and Honda are also heavily invested in the promise of hydrogen technology.
The oil and gas industry is still digesting new research that claims blue hydrogen could potentially be worse for the climate than burning natural gas, although some critics have also hit out at the landmark paper.
The study by researchers at Cornell and Stanford universities was published last week in the Energy Science & Engineering journal and is claimed to be a first-of-a-kind peer-reviewed study of blue hydrogen’s lifecycle greenhouse gases footprint.
The study claims to debunk the notion that blue hydrogen represents an emissions-free, or even low-emissions option, citing the large amounts of natural gas needed to fuel the process itself and the escape of “fugitive methane” from wells and other equipment along the supply chain.
For its default assumptions, which include a 3.5% emission rate of methane from natural gas and a 20-year global warming potential, the study found total carbon dioxide equivalent emissions for blue hydrogen are only 9% to 12% less than for grey hydrogen.
Blue hydrogen is produced from natural gas feedstocks, with the CO2 by-product from hydrogen production captured and stored.
If the UK is to succeed in reaching net zero we will need all the tools in our toolbox. We should applaud the government’s global leadership on clean hydrogen
Equinor executive vice president Al Cook
While admitting carbon dioxide emissions were lower, the study notes fugitive methane emissions for blue hydrogen were higher than grey because of an increased use of natural gas to power the carbon capture technology.
The study claims, under its default assumptions, that the greenhouse gas footprint of blue hydrogen is more than 20% greater than burning natural gas or coal for heat and some 60% greater than burning diesel oil for heat.
Even in a sensitivity analysis in which the methane emission rate from natural gas is reduced to a low value of 1.54%, the study found greenhouse gas emissions from blue hydrogen were still higher than just burning natural gas and only 18% to 25% less than for grey hydrogen.
The study authors note their analysis is a “best-case scenario” for blue hydrogen and assumes captured CO2 can be stored indefinitely, which they claim is “an optimistic and unproven assumption”. 'The results are stark'
“Our research is the first in a peer-reviewed journal to lay out the significant lifecycle emissions intensity of blue hydrogen. This is a warning signal to governments that the only 'clean' hydrogen they should invest public funds in is truly net-zero, green hydrogen made from wind and solar energy."
The study also comes as the UK prepares to publish its long awaited hydrogen strategy, with blue hydrogen expected to play a role in the UK’s decarbonisation plans.
However, professor of mechanical engineering at the University of Cambridge, David Cebon, warned politicians to take note of the study’s findings before considering investment in blue hydrogen under the premise that it supports the UK’s climate goals.
“This landmark paper sheds light on the key unknown in the UK’s hydrogen debate: the greenhouse gas footprint of blue hydrogen. The calculation method is rigorous, the assumptions are all solid and the results are stark,” he said.
“Blue hydrogen cannot be considered ‘low-carbon’ or a ‘clean’ solution. In fact, this paper shows that producing blue hydrogen is significantly worse than burning fossil fuels for heat, such as gas or coal, in the first place.” Incorrect assumptions lead to incorrect conclusions
Blue hydrogen and carbon capture and storage is forming a core part of many oil and gas companies energy transition plans as they look to continue to monetise their existing assets in a lower carbon future.
Norwegian giant Equinor is one such player that sees hydrogen playing a key role in the energy transition and is involved in several planned developments, including the proposed Net Carbon Humber development in the UK.
The spokesperson pointed Upstream towards a letter by Equinor’s executive vice president Al Cook that was published in The Times newspaper in the UK on the weekend.
In the letter Cook states that Equinor “strongly” disagrees with the claim that blue hydrogen made from natural gas could be worse for the environment than simply burning the gas for fuel.
In particular, he highlights claims in the study that — in the US — 2.6% of gas is lost to the atmosphere during production and transportation, causing climate change.
“The figure for the UK’s largest blue hydrogen project, Zero Carbon Humber, is in fact less than one hundredth of this,” he states.
“Zero Carbon Humber will be powered by gas from Norway, produced with some of the lowest emissions in the world. If the UK is to succeed in reaching net zero we will need all the tools in our toolbox. We should applaud the government’s global leadership on clean hydrogen.”
Blue hydrogen has transitional role
Meanwhile, Upstream was told by a spokesperson for the Hydrogen Council — a chief executive-led coalition of companies around the world — that it is still reviewing the research paper and its methodology.
“Bringing together 120-plus members from across a multitude of sectors, the Hydrogen Council believes that hydrogen technologies have a key role to play in delivering on global net zero goals,” the spokesperson added.
A spokesperson for independent UK advisory the Climate Change Committee (CCC) also told Upstream it had yet to review the details of the report.
He also highlighted that zero emission green hydrogen, made using electrolysis powered by renewable energy, would take time, with blue hydrogen able to fill in as a “transitional option” to help grow hydrogen, while reducing emissions.
“If we don’t do that, H2 will be less able to contribute to net zero in the areas where it is important as we won’t have given the demand side time to develop,” Joffe said via Twitter.
Officially, the CCC assumes a 95% CO2 capture rate on blue hydrogen production, which is consistent with what large engineering companies, such as Equinor, say is possible, using autothermal reforming technology.
The CCC’s own analysis finds that blue hydrogen could save up to 85% of emissions compared to unabated use of fossil gas, depending on the emissions footprint of fossil gas production being relatively low.
However, the CCC also only recommends hydrogen use be focused in those areas that cannot feasibly be fully decarbonised through other means, such as electrification, because the emissions reduction from blue hydrogen are still “significantly below 100%".(Copyright)
