The Energy Crunch Is Adding Billions To Oil Tycoons’ Net Worth

By Alex Kimani - Nov 02, 2021, 7:00 PM CDT

• The global energy crunch has sent oil and natural gas prices into the stratosphere, and the tycoons of the industry are reaping the benefits.
• Some of China’s richest energy tycoons are focused on renewables and electric vehicles.
• Elon Musk has become the world’s richest man as the world moves to adopt greener transportation solutions.

As the surge in oil prices continues amid increasing demand and a supply crunch, energy stocks have been soaring–and the world's oil tycoons are laughing all the way to the bank. 

According to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, energy billionaires globally have seen their combined net worth jump more than 20 percent in the first half of the year alone, the highest growth in wealth of any group of billionaires in the index compiled by Bloomberg.

Here's a rundown of how the world's richest energy billionaires have seen their fortunes multiply in this epic oil and gas bull market. The list only includes people who have primarily made their money in oil and gas and does not include clean energy investors.

#1. Mukesh Ambani

      Country:India

      Industry: Oil, Downstream

      Net Worth: $95.8B

      YTD Change: +$19.1B (+24.9%)

With a net worth approaching $100B, Mukesh Ambani is the world's 11th richest man and the richest energy investor.

Ambani controls India's Reliance Industries (NSE: RELIANCE), the world's largest oil refining complex. The Mumbai-based conglomerate's other businesses include a 4G wireless network across India. 

Last year, Reliance Industries overtook ExxonMobil (NYSE:XOM) to become the world's largest publicly traded energy company. However, an epic 56.4% YTD run by XOM has seen it reclaim its position as top dog with a market cap of $272.9B vs. $229.4B by Reliance. RIL shares have climbed at a less torrid pace of 27.7% over the timeframe.

RIL's energy business accounts for ~80% of the company's revenue. However, investors have chosen to focus on Chairman Mukesh Ambani's plan to grow the company's digital and retail arms. Reliance's big bet in non-energy businesses such as telecom, retail, and digital services has helped it to vastly expand its revenue base, clocking in a net profit of Rs 39,588 crore (about $5.3B) in FY19, making it by far India's most profitable company.  For perspective, second-placed Indian Oil Corp. finished the year with a net profit of Rs 17,274 crore ($2.3B). 

#2.  Leonid Mikhelson

       Country: Russia

       Industry: Natural Gas

       Net Worth: $33.3B

       YTD Change: +$8.6B (+34.6%)

Leonid Mikhelson is the chief executive officer of Novatek, Russia's largest non-state-owned natural gas provider. The billionaire owns about one-quarter of the publicly traded company, which produces about 10% of the country's gas. He also holds a 36% stake in closely held petrochemical producer Sibur.       

#3.  Harold Hamm

       Country: United States

       Industry: Oil & Gas

       Net Worth: $14.8B

       YTD Change: +$9.8B (+190.7%)

Harold Hamm is chairman of Continental Resources (NYSE:CLR), the biggest oil producer in the Bakken oil basin in North Dakota and Montana. The Oklahoma City-based publicly traded company has seen its shares climb a blistering 199.4% in the year-to-date hence the massive jump in Hamm's net worth.

As of December 31, 2020, CLR's proved reserves were 1,104 million barrels of crude oil equivalent (MMBoe) with proved developed reserves of 627 MMBoe. The company pumped more than 300,000 barrels of oil or the equivalent per day in 2020, with around two-thirds of that coming from its operations in the Bakken.  CLR has a market cap of $17.6B.   

#4.  Leonid Fedun

       Country: Russia

       Industry: Oil & Gas

       Net Worth: $9.7B

       YTD Change: +$3.0B (+44.9%)

Fedun is a vice president and board member of Lukoil Oil Company, one of the leading oil producers in Russia.

Fedun led the privatization of Lukoil and retains with his family about 12% of the company. According to Bloomberg, the oil billionaire has collected more than $1.5 billion in dividends from his stake in Lukoil.

#5.  Richard Kinder

       Country: United States

       Industry: Oil & Gas

       Net Worth: $8.2B

       YTD Change: +$1.4B (+20.1%)

Richard Kinder is the chairman and largest shareholder of Kinder Morgan Inc. (NYSE:KMI), a publicly traded energy storage and pipeline company. KMI operates 144 terminals and 83,000 miles of pipeline that transport natural gas, crude oil, ethanol, and other petroleum products.

Kinder served as chief executive officer from the company's founding in 1997 until 2015.       

Kinder Morgan shares have been slipping after the company reported Q3 earnings that missed expectations while revenues rose 30% Y/Y to $3.8B. According to Credit Suisse, investors likely were positioning for a better than expected Q3 report given the strong macroeconomic backdrop, but "not all those tailwinds materialized."

Mizuho analysts say tension remains between wanting Kinder Morgan to get more aggressive with areas such as carbon capture, but the firm "continues to like KMI's leverage to the gas macro" as well as its "disciplined approach to not sacrificing returns as more capital is spent on the energy transition."

KMI shares are still up 22.5% in the year-to-date.

Clean energy billionaires

Readers will notice that China is conspicuous by its absence on this list, and for good reason: China's richest energy billionaires have actually made their money in clean energy and not oil and gas.

Zeng Yuqun, Huang Shilin, Pei Zhenhua, and Li Ping together are worth an astounding $62 billion, with the "green" portion of that wealth representing the lion's share, according to Bloomberg Green. These Chinese billionaires all own CATL, which is the global leader in EV battery manufacturing, supplying all the big players on the EV auto scene.

Three other Chinese billionaires--Wang Chuanfu, Lv Xiangyang, Xia Zuoquan--are majority owners of EV company BYD (along with Berkshire Hathaway) and are worth a combined $33.5 billion, about half of which is "green". 

Right up there, too, is Eve Energy chairman Liu Jincheng with a net worth of nearly $11 billion thanks to a company that supplies major EV manufacturers, including Daimler, BMW, and Xpeng Inc. (NYSE:XPEV).

And let's not forget one of the year's most attractive EV stocks where investors made a ton playing the volatility--Tencent-backed Nio Ltd (NYSE:NIO), Chinese biggest EV manufacturer whose founder, Li Bin, has a net worth of over $9 billion--all "green".

Finally, the four majority owners of LONGi Green Energy Technology Co Ltd--Li Zhenguo, Li Chunan, Li Xiyan, and Zhong Baoshen--are worth a combined $16+ billion thanks to their company's status as the biggest manufacturer of monocrystalline silicon wafers in the world. And it's only getting bigger, with the recent completion of a duo floating PV plant in Ho Tam Bo in Vietnam.

But it's not all Chinese in the green billionaire space: There's always American-made Elon Musk, the Tesla CEO whose net worth topped $310 billion this year--a stunning figure that represents an over 80-percent increase in wealth just this year. 

By Alex Kimani for Oilprice.com

‘Time has come’ for U.S. farms to cut methane emissions -Agriculture Secretary

U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said on Wednesday “the time has come” for American farmers to slash their greenhouse gas emissions by taking advantage of newly announced incentives designed to fight climate change.

Vilsack’s Agriculture Department this week unveiled a raft of incentive-based programs for farmers to reduce emissions of potent greenhouse gas methane, including loans and grants for building or improving manure digesters, or transitioning to lower-emission manure management practices like composting.

The programs were part of the White House’s broader methane plan https://www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/US-Methane-Emissions-Reduction-Action-Plan-1.pdf announced Tuesday to coincide with the global climate conference in Glasgow, Scotland. The plan focused on tough new proposed regulations from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to crack down on methane from the oil and gas industry.

Agriculture contributes 9.6% to U.S. greenhouse gas emissions, according to EPA, and about 36% of methane emissions, mostly from livestock.

“Agriculture will respond to this because they have historically responded to financial and market incentives,” Vilsack said in an interview with Reuters on Wednesday. “They appreciate the time has come.”

Some advocacy groups have slammed the USDA approach. They say money for digesters, which capture methane to produce electricity or natural gas, amounts to a subsidy for the biggest farm polluters.

Ben Lilliston, director of rural strategies and climate change at the Institute for Agriculture & Trade Policy, said the plan would create “perverse incentives to produce more manure, and more water and air pollution for rural communities.”

Other critics blasted USDA for proposing voluntary programs instead of real regulations like the EPA rules for the oil industry.

“If President Biden is serious about tackling methane, he needs to be serious about regulating industrial animal agriculture,” said Chloë Waterman, senior program manager at Friends of the Earth, in a statement.

Vilsack said the agency is balancing the need to reduce methane emissions while ensuring meat and dairy producers can meet global food demand. He also said the agriculture industry is less receptive to regulation than other industries.

“You find significant reluctance to regulation on the farm, but great acceptance of incentives,” he said.

In addition to the incentives, USDA will collect data on farm methane and conduct research on methane reduction strategies, like changing livestock feed to reduce animal emissions. It also announced a $4 billion partnership https://www.reuters.com/business/environment/us-uae-lead-4-bln-effort-help-farming-adapt-climate-change-2021-11-02 with the United Arab Emirates to study climate adaptation, and a new collaboration with the European Union. (Reporting by Leah Douglas; Editing by David Gregorio)

US bank pulls out of Adani's Australian coal mine project

Source: PTI
November 08, 2021 

Bank of New York Mellon Corp has pulled out of providing financial services to the Adani group and its Carmichael coal mine in Australia, saying the venture is incompatible with its environmental, social and governance rules.


IMAGE: Kindly note that this image has been posted for representational purposes only. Photograph: James Regan/Reuters.

The US investment bank is the latest global financial institution to distance itself from the project after a campaign by local indigenous people.

More like this


Controversies hit Adani's Carmichael coal mine project


Adani group strikes 1st coal from its Australia mine

In a statement, BNY Mellon said it had reviewed its relationship with the Adani group and "has decided to resign from all legacy transactions with Adani in Australia and will not pursue additional transactions with Adani in Australia".

"BNY Mellon has determined this business is not aligned without ESG (environmental, social and governance) principles," it said.

An e-mail sent to Adani Group for comments remained unanswered.

Adani group, which rebranded its Australian mining business as Bravus Mining & Resources, is targeting the first shipment from Carmichael by year-end. It opted to self-fund the project after failing to secure external financing.

The mine is expected to produce about 10 million tonnes of coal a year.

BNY Melon said it had never provided funding to the mine or a railway line and port that form part of the project.

It had provided "third-party administrative services under a small number of legacy contracts with the Adani group in Australia, which includes acting as security trustee".

Security trustees act as representatives of groups of banks that form syndicates to provide loans to companies.

BNY Mellon said upon resigning, it is required to honour contractual obligations during the unwinding of these transactions until its roles are terminated.

Client confidentiality rules, it said, prevented it from commenting on specific customers. "For the avoidance of doubt, BNY Mellon is not currently entering into, and does not intend to enter into, any new contracts with Adani in Australia."

The bank's ESG commitments include "the efficient use of natural resources, mitigating climate-related risks, and leveraging innovative energy solutions", "effectively managing" relationships with stakeholders including "the communities in which we operate" and "operating with strong ethical business practices".

'MAYBE' TECH

Green hydrogen: How half the water flushing a toilet could power your home for days


"But then realising the potential for green hydrogen to replace fossil fuels, I wanted to be part of this change."

Green solutions will only be adopted if they are the most economically attractive. And that's our mission at an after to make green hydrogen cost-competitive with fossil fuels.

Vaitea Cowan
Co-founder, Enapter

With headquarters in Germany, the company has deployed its ion exchange membrane electrolysers in over 100 projects across 33 countries. The technology turns renewable electricity into emission-free hydrogen gas.

Developed more quickly and cheaply than once thought possible, the AEM electrolyser already fuels cars and planes, powers industry and heats homes.

Is green hydrogen less sustainable than we thought?

Everything you need to know about the hydrogen revolution going on in the Netherlands

Enapter's hydrogen generators have recently won Prince William’s Earthshot Prize in the 'Fix Our Climate' category.

What is green hydrogen?

Much of the planet's hydrogen is locked up in water. So-called 'green' hydrogen is an emission-free way of extracting it. This extraction relies on renewable energy, which is used to power electrolysis. Electrolysis is the chemical process needed to separate the hydrogen and oxygen atoms in the water.

The 22-year-old on a mission to find the greenest projects in Europe

Extracting hydrogen this way has been facing criticism, because of its low efficiency and high cost. Enapter says, however, that their AEM Electrolyser solves these problems and provides a quick and easy way to produce green energy, even at home.
Half of the water used to flush a toilet can power a home for days

Enapter says its electrolyser uses about 2.4 litres of water to generate enough hydrogen for a couple's home for several days.

However, the exact number of days depends on the power storage capacity. This amount of water is equal to half of the water used for flushing a toilet once (5 litres), and eight times less than the water consumption of a dishwasher (20 litres).

The Earthshot Prize will help Enapter to start mass production.

"The production site, we started to build six weeks ago, will go into mass production at the beginning of 2023", says Vaitea.

By 2050, Enapter’s hopes to produce 10% of the world’s hydrogen.

'World will need up to 280 million tonnes of blue hydrogen a year by 2050': Hydrogen Council


Daryl Wilson, executive director of the Hydrogen Council.Photo: Hydrogen Council

Fossil-fuel-led lobby group says that up to 40% of hydrogen being produced by mid-century will come from natural gas, as it calls upon world leaders to step up investment in H2

The world will need to produce between 140 and 280 million tonnes of blue hydrogen — derived from fossil fuels with incomplete carbon capture and storage — annually by 2050 in order to reach net-zero emissions, according to a new report from the Hydrogen Council.

The current global demand for hydrogen is roughly 70-75 million tonnes a year, but the Hydrogen for Net Zero report says the world will need 690 million tonnes of green and blue H2 by 2050 — 20-40% of which will be blue. This total hydrogen usage would equate to about 23% of global final energy demand.

The fossil-fuel-led lobby group — whose steering members include oil companies Saudi Aramco, BP, Equinor, Shell, TotalEnergies, Sinopec and Adnoc — does not mention in its report that blue hydrogen is far from a zero-emission technology.


Climate impact of blue hydrogen would be similar to green H2 if emissions were minimised: study

Read more

It is only possible to capture up to 98% of the CO2 emitted in the process of methane reforming, according to blue hydrogen proponents such as Equinor, although levels of about 90% are said to be more realistic.

And the leakage of methane — which is 84 times more potent a greenhouse gas than CO2 over a 20-year period — is a constant and real risk. According to recent estimates by the International Energy Agency, the oil & gas sector emitted about 70 million tonnes of methane in 2020 — the equivalent of around 2.1 billion tonnes of CO2, or 6.66% of annual global energy-related emissions.

In fact, every stage of the blue hydrogen production process — from extracting natural gas to transporting it, capturing the CO2 and moving it to storage, and compressing and transporting the hydrogen — has the potential for greenhouse gas emissions, especially if the power required is supplied from fossil fuels.


Earlier this week, more than 100 countries signed a commitment to reduce methane leakage by 30% before 2030, but key emitters Russia, China, India and Australia did not.

According to one recent peer-reviewed study that focused on historic methane leakage and carbon capture rates, blue hydrogen actually results in 20% more greenhouse gas emissions over its lifecycle than burning natural gas. While a recent yet-to-be-peer-reviewed study found that emissions could reach a low of a maximum low of 20 grams of CO2 equivalent (CO2e) for every megajoule of hydrogen (ie, 2.4kg of CO2e per kg of hydrogen) if the blue H2 is produced with zero upstream methane leakage and 93% carbon capture.

Norway and the Netherlands have a methane leakage rate of 0.01%, but the US leaks 1.8-2.5% of the fossil gas it produces, according to a January 2021 analysis commissioned by the US Environmental Defense Fund.
A lot of hydrogen

The Hydrogen Council report, co-authored by council members and consultancy McKinsey, claims that the world will need 690 million tonnes of green and blue hydrogen in 2050 in order to meet hydrogen demand of 660 million tonnes “due to losses in the supply chain, such as those from conversions to or from carriers, leakage in pipelines, or boil-off from liquid hydrogen storage or distribution”.


COP 26 | 'Widespread use of green hydrogen in heating and cars is not only stupid — it’s practically impossible’Read more


'Green hydrogen currently cheaper to produce in Europe than grey and blue H2 due to high natural gas and carbon prices'Read more

Between 400 and 550 million tonnes will be green, requiring 3,000-4,000GW of electrolysers and 4,500-6,500GW of renewables capacity dedicated to hydrogen production — up to 24% of the 27GW of green energy that the IEA says will be needed to reach net zero emissions in 2050.

By the end of 2020, the world had only installed 714GW of solar, 182.8GW of onshore wind and 34.4GW of offshore wind, according to the International Renewable Energy Agency (Irena).

The report does not spell out what the future demand for clean hydrogen will be on a sector-by-sector basis, but explains: “In terms of end uses, hydrogen is critical for decarbonizing industry (e.g., as feedstock for steel and fertilisers), long-range ground mobility (eg, as fuel in heavy-duty trucks, coaches, long-range passenger vehicles, and trains), international travel (eg, to produce synthetic fuels for maritime vessels and aviation), heating applications (eg, as high-grade industrial heat), and power generation (eg, as dispatchable power generation and backup power).”

The Hydrogen Council has published the study during the the COP26 climate change conference in Glasgow, as part of a bid to convince “world leaders — public and private — to show concerted effort to materialise announced hydrogen plans around the globe to get the world on track with climate targets”.

“There is clear momentum in hydrogen investments, but a transformation of such magnitude requires unprecedented mobilisation of public and private resources through strong partnerships and policy support,” said Tom Linebarger, CEO of Cummins and co-chair of the Hydrogen Council. “We look forward to working with governments on hydrogen for the benefit of our shared climate goals.”
Other 2050 hydrogen demand forecasts

Predictions for hydrogen demand in 2050 vary widely.

The International Energy Agency’s recent Net Zero by 2050 “roadmap” declares that 520 million tonnes of clean hydrogen would be needed by mid-century, with 197.6 million tonnes being blue and 332.4 million tonnes being green.

Analyst Wood Mackenzie recently predicted a low-carbon hydrogen demand (both green and blue) of 211 million tonnes by 2050.

The Energy Transitions Commission says clean hydrogen demand by mid-century will be 500-800 million tonnes, but that 85% of that would be green, with only 15% — 75 to 120 million tonnes being blue.

And Michael Barnard, chief strategist of Canadian consultancy firm TFIE, believes that hydrogen demand will actually fall in the coming decades as demand for hydrogen from the oil refining and ammonia fertilizer sectors shrink, with electric technologies replacing the fossil fuels used for road transport and heating, and biofuels being used for shipping and aviation.(Copyright)

BLUE H2

Nations agree to ensure clean hydrogen is affordable and available globally by 2030


UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson speaks during the World Leaders' Summit "Accelerating Clean Technology Innovation and Deployment" session at COP26.Photo: AFP/Getty


A total of 32 countries, plus the EU, will work to accelerate the growth of renewable and 'low-carbon' H2 — one of four new 'Glasgow Breakthroughs' goals that seek significant progress on clean tech by the end of the decade

A total of 32 countries, plus the EU, have agreed to work together to accelerate the development and deployment of clean H2 and ensure that “affordable renewable and low-carbon hydrogen is globally available by 2030”.

The pact — agreed at COP26 by nations including the US, China and India — was one of four so-called “Glasgow Breakthroughs” — new global goals aiming to make clean technology and sustainable solutions “the most affordable, accessible and attractive option” for their respective sectors by the end of this decade.

The other 2030 targets in the “Breakthrough Agenda” are: to make clean power “the most affordable and reliable option for all countries”; for zero-emission road vehicles to become “the new normal”, and for near-zero-emission steel to become the “preferred choice in global markets”.


'Beware fossil fuel vested interests': UN backs renewable hydrogen to meet climate goalsRead more


'Hydrogen Council resorts to warped logic and dubious assumptions to make the case for H2 cars'Read more

Beyond these one-line aims, a statement announcing the agreements revealed no detail as to how these goals would be met in practice, other than saying that the International Energy Agency (IEA) will produce annual progress reports — in collaboration with the International Renewable Energy Agency (Irena), the UN High-Level Climate Action Champions and “other institutions, bodies and industry leaders”.

The current UN “champions” are two businessmen — the UK’s Nigel Topping and Chile’s Gonzalo Muñoz — who last month warned policymakers to beware of the “vested interests” of fossil-fuel companies seeking to use hydrogen as a lifeline for their existing operations, and that green H2 was “the only option strictly aligned” with global climate goals.

This puts them in direct opposition to the fossil-fuel-led lobby group, the Hydrogen Council, which argues that 20-40% of all H2 produced in 2050 will be blue — produced from fossil fuels with incomplete carbon capture and storage. The Hydrogen Council is listed in the Breakthrough Agenda statement as one of the eight “leading initiatives for international collaboration” on the development of H2, potentially giving it a role in the annual progress reports.


For the hydrogen target, the progress reports will focus specifically on the production costs, volumes, greenhouse gas abatement and “investments in the research, development and demonstration and deployment” of “renewable and low-carbon hydrogen”.

Countries that signed up to the H2 target include the US, China, India, Japan, South Korea, the UK, France, Germany, Australia, Canada and Chile.

“The 2020s must be a decade of delivery across all major emitting sectors,” said the statement from 41 countries plus the EU (not all of which signed up to the hydrogen part of the agenda).

“While we acknowledge our different national circumstances, we will endeavour to work together in each sector, including through public-private collaboration and by mobilising finance at scale, to make the global transition to a clean economy faster, lower cost and easier for all, while making solutions to adaptation more affordable and inclusive.


'There is no commercial case for green hydrogen — unless government incentives or quotas are put in place', say CEOsRead more

“The benefits of this Agenda go beyond tackling climate change alone. Our ambition is to catalyse the growth of markets, jobs and economic development globally for clean technologies and sustainable solutions, support the achievement of the UN Sustainable Development Goals, strengthen the climate resilience of our societies and realise multiple cobenefits such as cleaner air, water and better health.”

The statement concluded by saying: “We invite all other states to join the Breakthrough Agenda.”

The countries that signed up to the H2 target are: Australia, Belgium, Canada, Chile, China, Denmark, Egypt, Finland, France, Germany, Guinea Bissau, India, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Kenya, Lithuania, Norway, Mauritania, Morocco, Namibia, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Panama, Slovakia, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Turkey, the UK and the US.(Copyright)
Technology

Renewables Provided 92.3% Of Kenya’s Electricity Generation In 2020!

By Remeredzai Joseph Kuhudza
Published4 days ago

As the world races to decarbonize, Kenya’s electricity sector is well on the way to being powered by 100% renewables. According to the latest Economic Survey from the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS), the total installed electricity generation capacity increased a little to 2,836.7 MW in 2020 from 2,818.9 MW in 2019.

There was modest growth in most of the major generation sources, with geothermal’s share of the installed generation capacity increasing by 4.2% to 863.1 MW, while solar capacity increased by 3.0% to 52.5 MW in 2020. There was a 7.8 MW rise to 834.0 MW in hydroelectric’s share. There was more good news as the generation from thermal sources decreased slightly to 749.1 MW in 2020. Of the 2,836.7 MW installed, 2,705.3 MW can be classified as the “effective capacity.” The KNBS report defines the effective capacity as the maximum electric output a power station is expected to achieve given current operating constraints.


Although the 749.6 MW installed capacity from thermal sources makes up about 26% of the total installed capacity, there was more good news when it comes to the total electricity generated in 2020. Thermal power plants were responsible for just under 7% of the electricity generated. In total, local electricity generation increased by 0.5 % to 11,466.9 GWh in 2020. There was also a decline in imports. The contribution from imports declined by 35.5 % to 136.7 GWh. Electricity transmission and distributive losses were 2,790.7 GWh in 2020, which is pretty high and comes to about 24.3 % of total electricity supply. A whopping 92.3% of the local generation was generated from renewables. Exports increased by 2.1% to 16.5 GWh in 2020.

Here is a breakdown of the 11 466.9 GWh generated in 2020:





Geothermal led the way at 44%, followed by hydro at 36%. Wind was at 11%, then thermal oil at 7%, followed by some utility-scale solar and other sources at 1% each. Kenya’s Great Rift Valley has an estimated geothermal potential of 10,000 MW. This dependable clean energy potential puts Kenya in a great position to get to 100% from renewables very quickly. As the economy grows, electricity from geothermal can be a key anchor.

We hope to see some growth in the utility-scale solar space, which still only contributes 1% to the total generation as of December 2020. Interestingly, the 52.5 MW from utility-scale plants is close to the total contribution of rooftop solar plants in Kenya’s commercial and industrial sector. The commercial and industrial (C&I) solar market has been growing very fast in sub-Saharan Africa over the last five years. The C&I sector is the fastest-growing solar segment in Kenya, with about 50 MWp installed as of December 2020. No doubt we will continue to see more solar panels going onto the roofs and carports of malls, schools, office blocks, and factories around Kenya.

All this clean electricity puts Kenya in a very nice position to lead the transition to electric mobility on the continent. The transport sector is a major source of pollution. Based on the average age of vehicles, the type of vehicle, the engine capacity, and distance covered in a year, the average tailpipe CO2 emissions in Nairobi are about 3.03 tonnes of CO2 per year per vehicle. Accelerating the transition to electric mobility in Kenya will make a huge difference. Plus, all those electric vehicles will be charging with some very clean electricity. Firms in the Kenyan EV space, such as Opibus, are starting to attract some huge investments. These developments will help catalyze the transition to electric mobility. Exciting times ahead for Kenya.


Image courtesy of Opibus

WHY

Rooftop system converts CO2, water and sunlight into kerosene
By Michael Irving
November 03, 2021


The solar fuel reactor harnessing heat from concentrated sunlight to convert carbon dioxide and water into syngas
ETH Zurich

Engineers at ETH Zurich have demonstrated a pilot system that can produce fuels from sunlight and air. The device captures carbon dioxide and water from the atmosphere and uses solar energy to convert it into syngas, which is then converted into liquid fuel that’s essentially carbon neutral.

With a clearer understanding of the damage caused by human carbon dioxide emissions, there’s plenty of work being done to transition towards electric vehicles, hydrogen power, fuel cells and other sustainable forms of energy. However, these advances will require big changes to the existing infrastructure, which can slow down their implementation.

In the meantime, synthetic fuels could be a decent solution. These are made to mimic current liquid hydrocarbon fuels but are produced from renewable sources, such as biomass, waste products or carbon already in the atmosphere. And because they replace or complement fossil fuels, they can be “dropped into” existing engines and infrastructure.

In the new study, researchers at ETH Zurich developed and tested a new system that can produce these drop-in fuels using just sunlight and air. The resulting fuel is carbon neutral, releasing only as much carbon dioxide when burned as its production removed from the air originally.

The system is comprised of three units – a direct air capture unit, a solar redox unit, and a gas-to-liquid unit. The first section sucks in ambient air, and uses adsorption to pull carbon dioxide and water out of it. These are then piped into the second unit, where solar energy is harnessed to trigger chemical reactions.

A parabolic concentrator focuses sunlight by a factor of 3,000 onto the solar reactor, creating temperatures of 1,500 °C (2,732 °F). Inside the reactor is a ceramic structure made of cerium oxide, which absorbs oxygen from the incoming carbon dioxide and water, producing hydrogen and carbon monoxide – syngas.

The syngas itself could be collected for use, or it can be funneled to the third unit, where it’s converted into liquid hydrocarbon fuels like kerosene or methanol.

To test the concept, the researchers set up a small 5-kW pilot system on the roof of a building. Running for seven hours a day in intermittent sunlight, the device was able to produce 32 ml (1.1 oz) of methanol each day.

That’s not a whole lot, but the team says it shows that the concept works and could be scaled up to commercial production. A large-scale plant could look like a solar thermal power plant, with a field of concentrators focusing sunlight onto a central tower. The team calculates that a plant using 10 of these fields, each collecting 100 MW of solar radiative power, could produce 95,000 L (25,000 gal) of kerosene per day. That’s enough to get an Airbus A350 from London to New York and back again.

To cover the entire demand of kerosene in aviation, the team calculates that around 45,000 km2 (17,375 sq miles) of solar plants would be needed. Unfortunately, high upfront costs to set up these plants would make these fuels more expensive than the fossil fuels they’re replacing, so subsidies and support would be needed to get them off the ground, which may limit their viability.

The research was published in the journal Nature. Take a tour of the system in the video below

Antarctica breakthrough after scientists found evidence for warm 'ancient forest' in ice

ANTARCTICA stunned scientists after they found evidence for an ancient forest deep within the continent's sea ice.

By JOEL DAY
08:22, Sun, Nov 7, 2021 

Antarctica: Scientists find area where no life exists

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Antarctica is the Earth's fifth largest and most southerly continent. With temperature often dropping below -90C, it is one of the most inhospitable places on the planet, with only the most hardy of lifeforms able to survive. This hasn't stopped humans from venturing to the barren land, with anywhere between 1,000 and 5,000 people living there.

The wonders of adaptation have led to a thriving wild animal population, with around 235 different species calling Antarctica home.

While the Antarctica of today is nothing more than a desert of ice, previous research suggests that the region was once a hotbed of life and a temperate forest.

The breakthrough discovery was made after a mission found fossilised plant roots preserved under the ocean since the time of the dinosaurs.

Explored during the science journal Nature's short documentary, 'An ancient Antarctic rainforest', the narrator noted: "It seems this freezing landscape was once home to a lush forest."

Antarctica: Scientists found evidence for an ancient rainforest beneath the ice's surface (Image: Youtube/Nature)

Ice desert: Despite being one of the harshest regions on Earth, countless species call it home (Image: GETTY)


Johann Klages, a scientist from the Alfred Wegener Institute in Germany who led the research, said: "90 million years ago, a temperate rainforest existed in West Antarctica only 900 kilometres away from the South Pole."

He and his team found the evidence after setting out with a special drill to extract a core of material stretching down 30 metres into the sea floor in 2020.

The discovery was unprecedented: they found that the annual mean temperature of a strip of western Antarctic coastline was 12 degrees.

This would have made for a landscape of swampy rainforest.

Expedition: The researchers journeyed to the continent in 2020 (Image: Youtube/Nature)

He said: "When we recovered the core, we could already see what was inside and that it was very unusual.

"And therefore we decided to scan them in a CT scanner back home."

A visualisation of what the scientists found is shown, with a long, green and yellow thread-like material revealing the different properties of the item found within the ice.

Mr Klages said: "So what we see there is the overview of the CT-scanned core and the yellow strata that we see is the sandstone, and now we transition into the network of fossil roots.

Ancient rainforest: An artist's impression of what the region could have looked like (Image: Youtube/Nature)

Strata: Analysis of the materials found in the ice revealed a network of plant roots (Image: Youtube/Nature)


"We can nicely see how the roots are connected with each other and are pristinely preserved.

"We have thin roots, we have thick roots, and it's really a network as you would go to the forest near you and drill into the current forest."

Studying the core, including analysis of fossilised pollen and spores, even more information about the environment of the ancient rainforest was offered.

Mr Klages explained: "It revealed a very warm temperature for this latitude, and annual mean temperatures that are similar to those of Northern Italy.


Ice stores: The researchers analysing the ice stores (Image: Youtube/Nature)


"It would be very certain that also dinosaurs and insects lived in that environment, and in an environment that was dark for about four months during the year because we have the polar night."

This was one of the warmest periods in Earth's history.

Carbon dioxide levels were several times higher than they are today.

British study suggests violent video games do not lead to real violence

By HealthDay News

A British study found violent video games don't increase the chance people will engage in real world violence. File Photo by Keizo Mori/UPI | License Photo

Will boys fixated on gore-filled video games become violent in real life? Many parents may worry that's the case, but new and reassuring research finds violent video games don't trigger actual violence in kids.

The study included boys aged 8 to 18, the group most likely to play violent video games, and examined two types of violence: aggression against other people, and destruction of things/property.

The researchers found no evidence that the boys' violence against other people increased after playing a violent video game.

However, parents did report that their children were more likely to break things after playing violent video games.

The study was published recently in the Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization.

"Taken together, these results suggest that violent video games may agitate children, but this agitation does not translate into violence against other people -- which is the type of violence which we care about most," said study author Agne Suziedelyte.

She is a senior lecturer in City, University of London's department of economics.

"A likely explanation for my results is that video game playing usually takes place at home, where opportunities to engage in violence are lower," Suziedelyte said in a university news release.
"This 'incapacitation' effect is especially important for violence-prone boys who may be especially attracted to violent video games," Suiedelyte said.

Suziedelyte noted there are calls for governments to restrict access to violent video games.

But these findings suggest that "policies that place restrictions on video game sales to minors are unlikely to reduce violence," Suziedelyte said.

Previous research has found little evidence of a connection between violent video games and real-life violence.

The possible link is often brought up after mass shootings where perpetrators had an interest in violent video games.

But some experts suggest that other factors, such as mental illness or easy access to guns, are more likely explanations for mass shootings.

In 2013, former President Barack Obama called for more government funding for research on video games and violence.

More information

The American Academy of Pediatrics offers advice on video games.

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