2.5-Billion-Year-Old Rocks Reveal Volcanic Eruptions Spurred First “Whiffs” of Oxygen in Earth’s Atmosphere

By UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON NOVEMBER 6, 2021

Roger Buick in 2004 at the Mount McRae Shale in Western Australia. Rocks drilled near here show “whiffs” of oxygen occurred before the Great Oxidation Event, 2.4 billion years ago. New analyses show a slightly earlier spike in the element mercury emitted by volcanoes, which could have boosted populations of single-celled organisms to produce a temporary “whiff” of oxygen. Credit: Roger Buick/University of Washington

A new analysis of 2.5-billion-year-old rocks from Australia finds that volcanic eruptions may have stimulated population surges of marine microorganisms, creating the first puffs of oxygen into the atmosphere. This would change existing stories of Earth’s early atmosphere, which assumed that most changes in the early atmosphere were controlled by geologic or chemical processes.

Though focused on Earth’s early history, the research also has implications for extraterrestrial life and even climate change. The study led by the University of Washington, the University of Michigan and other institutions was published recently in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

“What has started to become obvious in the past few decades is there actually are quite a number of connections between the solid, nonliving Earth and the evolution of life,” said first author Jana Meixnerová, a UW doctoral student in Earth and space sciences. “But what are the specific connections that facilitated the evolution of life on Earth as we know it?”

In its earliest days, Earth had no oxygen in its atmosphere and few, if any, oxygen-breathing lifeforms. Earth’s atmosphere became permanently oxygen-rich about 2.4 billion years ago, likely after an explosion of lifeforms that photosynthesize, transforming carbon dioxide and water into oxygen.

But in 2007, co-author Ariel Anbar at Arizona State University analyzed rocks from the Mount McRae Shale in Western Australia, reporting a short-term whiff of oxygen about 50 to 100 million years before it became a permanent fixture in the atmosphere. More recent research has confirmed other, earlier short-term oxygen spikes, but hasn’t explained their rise and fall.

These are drill-cores of rocks from the Mount McRae Shale in Western Australia. Previous analysis showed a “whiff” of atmospheric oxygen preceding the Great Oxidation Event, 2.4 billion years ago. New analyses show a slightly earlier spike in minerals produced by volcanoes, which may have fertilized early communities of microbes to produce the oxygen. Credit: Roger Buick/University of Washington

In the new study, researchers at the University of Michigan, led by co-corresponding author Joel Blum, analyzed the same ancient rocks for the concentration and number of neutrons in the element mercury, emitted by volcanic eruptions. Large volcanic eruptions blast mercury gas into the upper atmosphere, where today it circulates for a year or two before raining out onto Earth’s surface. The new analysis shows a spike in mercury a few million years before the temporary rise in oxygen.

“Sure enough, in the rock below the transient spike in oxygen we found evidence of mercury, both in its abundance and isotopes, that would most reasonably be explained by volcanic eruptions into the atmosphere,” said co-author Roger Buick, a UW professor of Earth and Space Sciences.

Where there were volcanic emissions, the authors reason, there must have been lava and volcanic ash fields. And those nutrient-rich rocks would have weathered in the wind and rain, releasing phosphorus into rivers that could fertilize nearby coastal areas, allowing oxygen-producing cyanobacteria and other single-celled lifeforms to flourish.

“There are other nutrients that modulate biological activity on short timescales, but phosphorus is the one that is most important on long timescales,” Meixnerová said.

Today, phosphorus is plentiful in biological material and in agricultural fertilizer. But in very ancient times, weathering of volcanic rocks would have been the main source for this scarce resource.

“During weathering under the Archaean atmosphere, the fresh basaltic rock would have slowly dissolved, releasing the essential macro-nutrient phosphorus into the rivers. That would have fed microbes that were living in the shallow coastal zones and triggered increased biological productivity that would have created, as a byproduct, an oxygen spike,” Meixnerová said.

The precise location of those volcanoes and lava fields is unknown, but large lava fields of about the right age exist in modern-day India, Canada and elsewhere, Buick said.

“Our study suggests that for these transient whiffs of oxygen, the immediate trigger was an increase in oxygen production, rather than a decrease in oxygen consumption by rocks or other nonliving processes,” Buick said. “It’s important because the presence of oxygen in the atmosphere is fundamental – it’s the biggest driver for the evolution of large, complex life.”

Ultimately, researchers say the study suggests how a planet’s geology might affect any life evolving on its surface, an understanding that aids in identifying habitable exoplanets, or planets outside our solar system, in the search for life in the universe.

Reference: “Mercury abundance and isotopic composition indicate subaerial volcanism prior to the end-Archean “whiff” of oxygen” by Jana Meixnerová, Joel D. Blum, Marcus W. Johnson, Eva E. Stüeken, Michael A. Kipp, Ariel D. Anbar and Roger Buick, 17 August 2021, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2107511118

Other authors of the paper are co-corresponding author Eva Stüeken, a former UW astrobiology graduate student now at the University of St. Andrews in Scotland; Michael Kipp, a former UW graduate student now at the California Institute of Technology; and Marcus Johnson at the University of Michigan. The study was funded by NASA, the NASA-funded UW Virtual Planetary Laboratory team and the MacArthur Professorship to Blum at the University of Michigan.

'MAYBE' TECH

Rolls-Royce consortium ‘secures funding’ for modular nuclear reactor

08 NOV 2021

 BY TIYA THOMAS-ALEXANDER


A consortium led by Rolls-Royce is poised to confirm it has secured huge backing from private investors for its small nuclear power plant plans.

Confirmation of funding from a consortium of backers is set to be announced in the next few days, according to the BBC. The government previously pledged to invest up to £210m in match funding if private investors could be found.

Rolls-Royce has been working on plans for small modular reactors (SMRs), which would cost around £2bn to build, it claims. This would be around one-tenth the cost of full-size plants such as Hinkley Point C. The announcement is expected to set out plans for four initial SMRs.

Laing O’Rourke and Bam Nuttall were part of a consortium with Rolls-Royce that invested £18m in development of the plan in 2019, with the government matching that. It is unconfirmed if they are part of the new consortium.

SMRs are designed to be built through 75 per cent modular construction, with parts assembled on site.

Rolls-Royce responded to say they had no comment as did a spokesperson for the National Nuclear Lab. The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) has been approached for comment.

New nuclear power plants have become key to the government’s decarbonisation plans for the UK. At least one new full-size plant is set to be approved before the end of parliament in 2024, with Sizewell C the most likely candidate. Last month, the government announced a £120m funding boost for small and large nuclear projects.

Rolls-Royce sells nuclear controls arm, closes in on small-scale nuclear investment

A block of four small modular reactors would be capable of generating nearly 500 MWs of power

Rolls designs the power plants for the Royal Navy's nuclear submarines

Rolls-Royce Holdings PLC (LSE:RR.) said it has completed the sale of its nuclear controls business but is expected to put this deal in the shade in the coming days with confirmation that plans for a new type of smaller nuclear reactor have received investor backing.

On Monday the FTSE 100 group said its civil nuclear instrumentation & control (I&C) business is now owned by Framatome, concluding a deal first announced last December and following regulatory clearance.

The proceeds will contribute to management's pandemic target to generate at least £2bn from disposals and will be used to help strengthen its balance sheet as it looks to return to an investment grade credit profile.

There were also reports on Monday that Rolls-Royce could make the announcement as soon as Tuesday on its small-scale nuclear plans.

Downing Street previously said it would provide £210mln in funding if that could be matched by investment from other sources. A consortium of investors has agreed to provide capital, the BBC reported.

Rolls, which makes power systems for aeroplanes, ships and submarines, is thought to have developed a design using four small modular reactors (SMRs), similar to those used in nuclear-powered submarines.

A block of four SMRs would be capable of generating nearly 500 megawatts (MWs) of power.

They will cost around £2bn each, which compares to the £20bn cost of reactors at the Hinkley Point nuclear plant in development in Somerset and another plant planned at Sizewell in Suffolk.

Grossi 'absolutely confident' of nuclear's inclusion in EU taxonomy

The International Atomic Energy Agency's (IAEA's) Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi said he is "absolutely confident" that "some arrangement" will be made to accept nuclear energy in the EU's taxonomy of sustainable investment. In an on-stage interview at COP26, he said the escalation of gas prices has increased political interest in nuclear power.

Grossi during his interview at COP26 (Image: Jonathan Cobb)

The interview at COP26 marked a new era of engagement for the IAEA in the United Nations Framework Convention of Climate Change process to address climate change. Although the agency has participated regularly in COP events, it has not previously taken a prominent position to represent nuclear energy and explain its role.

Grossi told his interviewer, the British journalist Gillian Tett, that achieving net-zero without nuclear power would be "extremely difficult, far more expensive and longer." That is one reason why, "There is an increased recognition that it is part of the solution and it will be part of the solution."

Considering recent price rises in gas and electricity markets, Grossi said, "We have seen this movie before with oil and with other volatility of prices.

"It is obvious that what we've seen with gas prices multiplying has only increased the interest - the urgency of interest - in countries which are dependent or fragile on gas provision from other suppliers," said Grossi.

COP "is the place to have such a message [of energy security]", said Grossi, "because you are looking in the frame of political decisions that are 10-15 years down the line. But that fits perfectly well. You need to have stable markets, price-wise and also environmentally-wise and in every respect."

Tett described the European Union's debate over its taxonomy of sustainable investments as "a bout of civil war." She asked whether Grossi thought nuclear would be included. "It will be," was his answer, "I'm absolutely confident. We saw the other day the President of the European Commission (Ursula von der Leyen) saying we need it as a stable source.

"I will not meddle," said Grossi. "I was in Brussels last week. It's not that people tell me what will happen. They are going to find some arrangement to include it."

He continued, "Let's look at the science. There's a political thing, but there is also science: the Joint Research Centre - the highest scientific body of the European Commission - came to the conclusion that nuclear does not do significant harm more than the other sources.

"It will be included in one way or another, for sure," he said. "In the EU, half of the countries using nuclear want more. I'm sure they will find some consensus."

Researched and written by World Nuclear News

Chile's desert dumping ground for fast fashion leftovers

Paula BUSTAMANTE
Sun, 7 November 2021



Piles of used clothes have been discarded in Chile's Atacama Desert

 (AFP/MARTIN BERNETTI)

Women search for used clothes amid tons discarded in the Atacama desert, in Alto Hospicio, Iquique, Chile

 (AFP/MARTIN BERNETTI)

Men work at a factory that recycles used clothes discarded in the Atacama desert for housing insulation panels, in Alto Hospicio, Iquique, Chile 

(AFP/MARTIN BERNETTI)

Fast fashion advertising "has helped to convince us that clothing makes us more attractive, that it makes us stylish and even cures our anxiety," said Monica Zarini, who makes lamp shades, notebooks, containers and bags from recycled clothing (AFP/MARTIN BERNETTI)


A mountain of discarded clothing including Christmas sweaters and ski boots cuts a strange sight in Chile's Atacama, the driest desert in the world, which is increasingly suffering from pollution created by fast fashion.

The social impact of rampant consumerism in the clothing industry -- such as child labor in factories or derisory wages -- is well-known, but the disastrous effect on the environment is less publicized.

Chile has long been a hub of secondhand and unsold clothing, made in China or Bangladesh and passing through Europe, Asia or the United States before arriving in Chile, where it is resold around Latin America.

Some 59,000 tons of clothing arrive each year at the Iquique port in the Alto Hospicio free zone in northern Chile.

Clothing merchants from the capital Santiago, 1,800 kilometers (1,100 miles) to the south, buy some, while much is smuggled out to other Latin American countries. But at least 39,000 tons that cannot be sold end up in rubbish dumps in the desert.

"This clothing arrives from all over the world," Alex Carreno, a former employee in the port's import area, told AFP.

"What is not sold to Santiago nor sent to other countries stays in the free zone" as no one pays the necessary tariffs to take it away.

"The problem is that the clothing is not biodegradable and has chemical products, so it is not accepted in the municipal landfills," said Franklin Zepeda, the founder of EcoFibra, a company that makes insulation panels using discarded clothing.

"I wanted to stop being the problem and start being the solution," he told AFP about the firm he created in 2018.

- Water waste -

According to a 2019 UN report, global clothing production doubled between 2000 and 2014, and the industry is "responsible for 20 percent of total water waste on a global level."

To make a single pair of jeans requires 7,500 liters (2,000 gallons) of water.

The same report said that clothing and footwear manufacturing contributes eight percent of global greenhouse gases, and that "every second, an amount of textiles equivalent to a garbage truck is buried or burnt."

Whether the clothing piles are left out in the open or buried underground, they pollute the environment, releasing pollutants into the air or underground water channels.

Clothing, either synthetic or treated with chemicals, can take 200 years to biodegrade and is as toxic as discarded tires or plastics.

Not all the clothing goes to waste: some of the poorest people from this region of 300,000 inhabitants pick through the dumps to find things they need or can sell in their local neighborhood.

Venezuelan migrants Sofia and Jenny, who crossed into Chile only a few days earlier on a 350-kilometer journey, search through a clothing pile as their babies crawl over it.

The women are looking for "things for the cold," given the desert's nighttime temperatures drop to levels unheard of in their tropical homeland.

- Changing attitudes -

Chile, the richest country in South America, is known for the voracious consumerism of its inhabitants.

Fast fashion advertising "has helped to convince us that clothing makes us more attractive, that it makes us stylish and even cures our anxiety," said Monica Zarini, who makes lamp shades, notebooks, containers and bags from recycled clothing.

Things are changing, though, according to Rosario Hevia, who opened a store to recycle children's clothes before founding in 2019 Ecocitex, a company that creates yarn from pieces of discarded textiles and clothing in a poor state. The process uses neither water nor chemicals.

"For many years we consumed, and no one seemed to care that more and more textile waste was being generated," she said.

"But now, people are starting to question themselves."

pb/bc/to

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”.


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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”.


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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.


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“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)
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