The Hydrogen Risks For Homeowners & Public Money — CleanTech Talk

Hydrogen diffuses through pipes, explodes more easily and under more conditions, and takes 3 times the energy to ship or pipe.

ByMichael Barnard

In the first half of the podcast, Paul Martin and I talked about the newly formed Hydrogen Science Coalition, of which Paul is a founding member, embrittlement of steel and increased leakage in transmission. In this second half, we delve into more on hydrogen leakage, especially in homes, the problem of increased risks from hydrogen in buildings, shipping boil-off rate, global supply implications, and more.

We start with a discussion of the end-to-end losses of natural gas vs hydrogen across transmission and distribution. In the first half we had discussed the problem with the transmission piping network for natural gas, but the distribution network is a big problem as well. Much modern piping is polyethylene, replacing cast iron pipes which constantly break. While it has advantages, hydrogen diffuses through polyethylene without any cracks at all. That means that we can’t reuse existing piping in many, many cases, a fundamental disconnect on claims of reuse of infrastructure assets by natural gas utilities.

We digressed into hydrogen boil-off in shipping. When you have a gas stored as a liquid by keeping it cold at reasonable temperatures, the cryogenic liquid turns into gas with any heat coming in. With ammonia and LNG, you can run compression and cooling equipment and return it, as they are liquids at much higher temperatures than hydrogen with its 24° Kelvin boiling point. The way to deal with this is to create the biggest, spherical, vacuum-insulated tanks possible, but even so, the boil-off rate is 0.2% per day. Shipping hydrogen tanks ones are likely to be worse because they can’t be as big. At the scale of trucks, the surface area to volume ratio leads to 1% losses per day.

This is true for hydrogen storage tanks at airports, where liquid hydrogen is the only option. Every airport would have to make hydrogen near the airport and have a hydrogen liquification facility at every airport, in Martin’s opinion. This eliminates economies of scale for centralized hydrogen manufacturing and liquification, making it even more expensive as an aviation fuel.

Hydrogen has another pernicious problem, that of spin of the electrons in hydrogen atoms. Basically, they have different spins at different temperatures, and as you cool the hydrogen, it gives off heat due to changes in spin. When the first people made liquid hydrogen at 24° Kelvin, it turned back to gas the next day due to this problem. This means more equipment, energy, and expense.

Liquifying hydrogen takes 3 times the energy as liquifying natural gas, then you lose 0.2% to 1% of the hydrogen per day due to boil-off. Shipping hydrogen would be 5-7 times as expensive as shipping LNG as a result.

And of course, putting it into pipes and moving it requires 3 times the energy to compress and move the hydrogen, so all compressors would have to be replaced.

So there are multiple loss problems along the supply chain, but when we get it into homes, things get even more problematic. We’ve had 100 years of experience making natural gas appliances safe in homes. There are no certified home appliances for hydrogen today, and no jurisdiction has existing building codes that support hydrogen appliances. As I’ve pointed out a few times, building codes and approvals are a patchwork that vary by municipality, not by country. Every city would have to update its building codes and processes to allow hydrogen appliances, a massive regulatory burden.

The next problem is that hydrogen has a much wider explosive range than natural gas. The lower explosive limit of methane is 6% while hydrogen is 4%. The upper explosive limit of hydrogen is 75%, vastly higher than natural gas’ 15%. This means that there is a much broader range of leaked hydrogen that will explode in homes. And hydrogen ignites with a third of the energy of natural gas as well. The odds of an explosion in buildings with hydrogen vs natural gas are much higher.

But wait, there’s more. Natural gas smells not because methane smells, but because we add odorants as a safety feature. The mercaptans we use in natural gas can’t be used with hydrogen because they react to it. While there are odorants that work with hydrogen, they cause fuel cells to fail. That means that two hydrogen distribution networks would be required, one for hydrogen appliances and one for fuel cells, and fuel cells would have to be outside of the home, not inside. The requirements for a hydrogen odorant are very high, and Martin doesn’t think they’ve found one, and that there might not be one.

We shifted into a discussion of engineers being paid a great deal of money to do interesting work to try to figure out the problems with hydrogen, among other things, where the problems and economics make the effort not worth doing. Martin has been one of them in the past, and I’ve dealt with numerous aerospace engineers who wasted a lot of time in airborne wind energy, and many of them pivoted to the electric vertical take-off and landing space, both of which I’ve written about extensively.

Martin’s concern isn’t about engineers wasting their time, but about public money going into these realms. If rich people and venture capitalists want to make very low probability bets, that’s their business. Public money that could be spent earnestly solving the decarbonization problem ends up being spent on the emperor’s new clothes instead. Right now the hydrogen #hopium epidemic are the missing clothes de jour, and they mostly aren’t earnest at all. While there are individuals who actually are earnest about hydrogen as a fuel, the fossil fuel industry isn’t earnest. To paraphrase Michael Liebreich, hydrogen is a no-lose bet for the fossil fuel industry. Either they push hydrogen and it delays decarbonization and hence the fossil fuel industry wins, or the fossil fuel industry gets dragged into the future with tens of billions of public money for blue hydrogen, and they win.

As a case in point, the Suncor-ATCO proposed facility in Edmonton is asking for CAD$1.3 billion from the government to build a blue hydrogen facility for hydrogen to be used in an Edmonton refinery. Alberta’s crude is sour, which is to say it has a lot of sulphur, and hydrogen is used to desulphurize it. As per my projection of hydrogen demand through 2100, high-sulphur crude will be off the market first, and we have to stop refining crude oil into fuels regardless.

Bunker fuels and asphalt for roads and roofing shingles are effectively waste products of refinery, residuum, so with the radical reduction in refining, we’ll have to find replacements for roads and roofs as well, while the shipping industry will have to refuel regardless.

One mystery Martin keeps poking at is the lack of any movement in global bunker fuel markets with the banning of residuum as a shipping fuel that came in in 2020. Martin has customers who expected a glut on the residuum market who were going to take advantage of it to process residuum into allowed products, but the glut never appeared. The assumption is that marine shippers are simply still burning it in international waters, flouting the unenforced rules.

The cost of shipping per ton mile is 40%-60% fuel, even using the cheapest fossil fuels available, slow-sailing to conserve fuel, and treating the atmosphere and oceans as open sewers. Every fuel alternative is going to be more expensive. Of course, 40% of all shipping is oil, gas, and coal, so that’s going away. Another 15% is raw iron ore, and with increased shipping costs, much more local processing of iron ore and other products will be done, so more finished, higher-value products will be shipped instead.

Right now we use cheap energy as a mask for poor organization. Absurd supply chains that jump all over the earth are coming to an end. In a future where fossil CO2 emissions are expensive, recycling of materials will become more prevalent. Steel and aluminum are already among the most recycled materials in the world, and that will simply increase. Electric minimills near to the sources of scrap, powered by renewables, will radically reduce the shipping of steel and its constituents.

Aluminum is easier to decarbonize than steel, so Martin projects that per unit of strength, aluminum will be used a lot more as a structural component. The direct electrolytic process for aluminum running on renewables has been around for 70 years. Some of the steps in aluminum which currently use fossil fuels can be replaced more easily than the blast furnace for steel.

Martin ended with his thoughts for policy makers and those who have their ears. First, it’s as simple as the Drake wince vs approve meme. In the top panel, Drake is wincing and in the bottom, he’s nodding in approval. Hydrogen as a fuel is in the top of the meme, and replacing current black hydrogen use with green hydrogen is the approval in the bottom. Second is no to hydrogen blending, it’s just hydrogen as a fuel. And finally, no to hydrogen as a transportation fuel, because it’s both ineffective and inefficient.

Originally published on CleanTechnica Pro.

CleanTech Talk — EVs, Solar, Batteries, AI, Tesla · New Hydrogen Science Coalition Busts #hopium with Paul Martin — Part 2

AUSTRALIA

Emission Control: Goldman Sachs estimates hydrogen generation could become a

$1tn per year market

Energy
March 18, 2022 | Jessica Cummins

Goldman Sachs says hydrogen generation could become a $1 trillion per year 

market

Queensland Government announces $3,000 rebate for EV purchases under 

$58k

Billionaire backed Sun Cable raises $210mn

Yep, you heard that right.

Green hydrogen, the ultimate de-carbonisation solution, and its market share has the potential to reach US$1tn by 2050, according to Goldman Sachs latest report Carbonomics: The Clean Hydrogen Revolution.

As policy support continues to gain pace around the world, with roughly 30 national hydrogen strategies and roadmaps pledging a >400-fold increase in clean hydrogen installed capacity this decade compared with 2020, the American multinational investment banking firm says policy, affordability and scalability seem to be converging to create “unprecedented momentum for the clean hydrogen economy.”

It says green hydrogen’s total addressable market (TAM) has the potential to double to US$250bn by 2030 and reach US$1tn by 2050, on top of a net zero by 2050 scenario calling for US$5tn of cumulative investments.

These investments would be focused on the direct supply chain of clean hydrogen, it said, specifically the investments required for its production, storage, distribution, transmission, and global trade.

Investments required in the clean hydrogen supply chain for net zero.

“We view these as solely capex investments (not including opex or other costs) in the direct supply chain of clean hydrogen and not including capex associated with end markets (industry, transport, buildings) or upstream capex associated with the power generation plants required for electricity generation for green hydrogen,” Goldman Sach highlighted.

“This corresponds to an annual average of US$55/165 bn per annum required to 2030/50E, respectively.”

Average annual hydrogen investment requirements for net zero by 2050
(US$bn).

Goldman Sachs states four interconnected technologies are emerging as “transformational” in the path to net zero and have a key role to play in the next frontier of clean tech – renewable power, clean hydrogen, battery energy storage, and carbon capture technologies.

The total installed electrolyser capacity for green hydrogen production was only around 0.3 GW by the end of 2020 but the industry is moving at a remarkable pace, Goldman Sach notes, with the current projects pipeline suggesting an installed electrolysis capacity of close to 80 GW by end-2030.

This includes projects currently under construction, having undertaken FID (final investment decision) and pre-FID (feasibility study), and assuming projects meet the guided start-up timeline.

“If we were to consider projects in earlier stages of development (pre-feasibility study stage, ‘concept’ projects), then this figure would go close to 120 GW,” the authors explained.

Under all three of the firms’ global hydrogen demand paths – the bull, base, and bear – global hydrogen demand increases at least 2-fold on the path to net zero.

Queensland supercharges the future of electric vehicles

This week, the Queensland State Government announced a $3,000 subsidy for drivers who choose to switch to an electric vehicle as part of a new package to help reach the state’s goal of net-zero emissions by 2032.

Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk revealed on Wednesday the government will spend $45mn on subsidies for upfront car purchases over the next three years and another $10 mn spent building more charging stations.

The $3,000 subsidy will be available for anyone buying an electric vehicle worth a total of $58,000.

While the move marks a positive step in the right direction, Electric Vehicle Council head of policy Jake Whitehead says Australia needs federal leadership to get the level of support required to drive uptake, attract more EV models into the Australian market, drive down prices through increasing competition, and ultimately align uptake with Net Zero by 2050 while reducing the cost of transport and energy for Australian households and businesses.

“The key barrier is getting more vehicles supplied to our market and as long we don’t have a fuel efficiency standard, or some kind of sales mandate, combined with significant incentives, we are just going to be an afterthought for manufacturers of electric vehicles around the world,” he said.

“At the moment we don’t have the settings to encourage those vehicles to be sent here.”

Aussie EV sales accounted for a 1.95% market share of new vehicles in 2021, up from 0.87% in 2020, and although it demonstrates a clear improvement, it is clear there is still a serious amount of work that needs to be done.

“EV sales need to be over 50% by 2030 to be on a trajectory to net zero – we are at 2% now, we have eight years to get to 50%.

“Even though there has been a vocal voicing of this need to have a fuel efficiency standard, we haven’t seen any policy to introduce a zero-emission sales mandate where we would see more electric vehicles encouraged into the Australian market,” he said.

Location to be a key driver in green hydrogen economics

In January this year, British oil giant BP and the Ministry of Energy and Minerals in Oman signed a strategic framework agreement and Renewables Data Collection Agreement, outlining the potential development of a multiple, gigawatt, world-class renewable energy and green hydrogen facility by 2030.

As part of the agreement, BP will capture and evaluate solar and wind data from 8,000km of land – an area more than five times the size of Greater London – which will be used to approve the future developments of renewable energy hubs at suitable locations within this area to take advantage of these resources.

The renewable energy resources could also supply renewable power for the development of green hydrogen, targeting both domestic and global export markets.

BP’s CEO said at the time the company is not “just investing in energy” but investing in Oman to create and develop infrastructure and support local supply chains needed to users in “this next generation of energy leaders.”

Global energy, renewables, and mining research consultancy group WoodMac says the agreement highlights how location will be critical to green hydrogen project economics.

“With the entire green hydrogen value chain being nascent, getting access to the best location for consistent renewable power has a significant impact on project values,” it said.

“The importance of capturing and analysing the renewables data on a large scale is analogous to geological surveys aimed at identifying technically and commercially visible hydrocarbon reserves.

“The 8000km in the BP/Oman project aims to map the best spots and locations for renewable development.

“Our analysis indicates that Oman’s green hydrogen levelised costs could reach US$2/kg by 2030, which positions Oman very favourably.”

Cannon-Brookes and Twiggy lead Sun Cable raising

Billionaire backed Sun Cable, the proponents of a subsea cable that will transfer Australian solar power 4200km from Darwin to Singapore has completed a $210mn Series B capital raise this week led by Mike Cannon-Brookes’ Grok Ventures and Twiggy Forrest’s Squadron Energy.

Sun Cable says funds will support its +$30bn Australia-Asia PowerLink (AAP) project, which will include a 17-20GW solar array, the world’s biggest battery at a scale of 36-42GWh and the world’s longest subsea cable.

Once fully developed, the project will be seven times the size of the largest solar generation sites of Bhadla Solar Park (2.7 GW) of 160km2 in India and the Golmud Desert Solar Park 2.8 (GWAC) in China and 25 times the size of the largest existing battery storage system of 1.6GWh in Moss Landing, California.

Grok Ventures principal Cannon-Brookes, one of the two bidders rejected by AGL to take over its coal assets, said Sun Cable’s project brings Australia one step closer to realising its renewables exporting potential.

“We can power the world with clean energy and Sun Cable is harnessing that at scale,” he said.

“It’s a blueprint for how we export energy across the world, we fully back this vision.”

Scientists Discover a New, Sustainable Way To Make Hydrogen for Fuel Cells and Fertilizers

By RIKEN MARCH 17, 2022

A new sustainable and practical method for producing hydrogen from water has been discovered by a team of researchers at the RIKEN Center for Sustainable Resource Science (CSRS) in Japan led by Ryuhei Nakamura. Unlike current methods, the new method does not require rare metals that are expensive or in short supply. Instead, hydrogen for fuel cells and agricultural fertilizers can now be produced using cobalt and manganese, two fairly common metals. The study was published in Nature Catalysis.

Unlike conventional fossil fuels that generate carbon dioxide upon combustion, hydrogen is a clean fuel that only produces water as a byproduct. If hydrogen can be extracted from water using renewable electricity, the energy grid can be made clean, renewable, and sustainable. Additionally, hydrogen is the key ingredient needed to produce ammonia, which is used in virtually all synthetic fertilizers. But instead of cleanly extracting hydrogen from water, currently, ammonia plants use fossil fuels to produce the hydrogen they need.

So why are we still using fossil fuels? One reason is that the hydrogen extraction process itself—electrolysis—is expensive and not yet sustainable.

“This is primarily due to a lack of good catalysts,” says Nakamura. “In addition to being able to withstand the harsh acidic environment, the catalyst must be very active. If not, the amount of electricity needed for the reaction to produce a given amount of hydrogen soars, and with it, so does the cost.”

Currently, the most active catalysts for water electrolysis are rare metals like platinum and iridium, which creates a dilemma because they are expensive and considered “endangered species” among metals. Switching the whole planet to hydrogen fuel right now would require about 800 years’ worth of iridium production, an amount which might not even exist. On the other hand, abundant metals such as iron and nickel are not active enough and tend to dissolve immediately in the harsh acidic electrolysis environment.

In their search for a better catalyst, the researchers looked at mixed cobalt and manganese oxides. Cobalt oxides can be active for the required reaction, but corrode very quickly in the acidic environment. Manganese oxides are more stable, but are not nearly active enough. By combining them, the researchers hoped to take advantage of their complimentary properties. They also had to consider the high current density needed for practical application outside the laboratory. “For industrial scale hydrogen production, we needed to set our study’s target current density to about 10 to 100 times higher than what has been used in past experiments,” says co-first author Shuang Kong. “The high currents led to a number of problems such as physical decomposition of the catalyst.”

Eventually, the team overcame these issues by trial and error, and discovered an active and stable catalyst by inserting manganese into the spinel lattice of Co₃O₄, producing the mixed cobalt manganese oxide Co₂MnO₄.

Testing showed that Co₂MnO₄ performed very well. Activation levels were close to those for state-of-the art iridium oxides. Additionally, the new catalyst lasted over two months at a current density of 200 milliamperes per square centimeter, which could make it effective for practical use. Compared with other non-rare metal catalysts, which typically last only days or weeks at much lower current densities, the new electrocatalyst could be a game changer.

“We have achieved what has eluded scientists for decades,” says co-first author Ailong Li. “Hydrogen production using a highly active and stable catalyst made from abundant metals. In the long run, we believe that this is a huge step towards creating a sustainable hydrogen economy. Like other renewable technologies such as solar cells and wind power, we expect the cost of green hydrogen technology to plummet in the near future as more advances are made.”

The next step in lab will be to find ways to extend the lifetime of the new catalyst and increase its activity levels even more. “There is always room for improvement,” says Nakamura, “and we continue to strive for a non-rare metal catalyst that matches the performance of current iridium and platinum catalysts.”

Reference: “Enhancing the stability of cobalt spinel oxide towards sustainable oxygen evolution in acid” by Ailong Li, Shuang Kong, Chenxi Guo, Hideshi Ooka, Kiyohiro Adachi, Daisuke Hashizume, Qike Jiang, Hongxian Han, Jianping Xiao and Ryuhei Nakamura, 14 February 2022, Nature Catalysis.
DOI: 10.1038/s41929-021-00732-9

Geothermal energy as a means to decarbonize the energy mix of megacities

Download PDF
Article
Open Access
Published: 18 March 2022
Carlos A. Vargas,
Luca Caracciolo &
Philip J. Ball
Communications Earth & Environment volume 3, Article number: 66 (2022) 

Cite this article


Abstract


The global number of megacities is projected to increase from 33 to 43 by 2030. Megacities are critical for the world’s economy; however, their resource management is particularly challenging. The increase of energy demand, in parallel to population growth and climate change, requires urgent investment in sustainable energies. We examine the megacities of Bogotá, Los Angeles, and Jakarta and reveal that the potential geothermal resource base is enough to cover the residential electricity demand by 1.14, 4.25, 1.84 times, respectively. Geothermal energy, a clean baseload resource independent from weather conditions, could significantly contribute to energy needs, improved air quality, and the decarbonization of the world’s megacities. We conclude that it is critical that governments and public are educated about the benefits of geothermal. Moreover, those energy policies coupled with investment in research and development are needed to ensure geothermal is successfully integrated into the future energy mix.

Introduction

2007 was the year when, for the first time in human history, the percentage of people living in cities exceeded that of people living in the country1. The increasing population in urban areas determined the escalation of megacities (population of >10 million). There are 33 megacities worldwide, but it is estimated that this number will rise to 43 by 20302 (Fig. 1). Today, >50% of the world’s population lives in urban areas, which is forecast to increase to 68% by 2050. The associated greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) will grow from 70 to 80% of the world’s GHG discharges in 20503.
Fig. 1: Worldwide distribution of geothermal gradient anomalies.



Locations of volcanic belts (red triangles) and hydrocarbons occurrences (white circles correspond to oil fields and yellow pentagons correspond to gas fields) have been combined with distribution of megacities (green stars). The ring of fire is presented as the yellow hatched polygon. Statistics of participation of energy production technologies are shown in the lower panel (left pies), as well as costs of energy production of one kWh (right pies) for Bogotá, Los Angeles, and Jakarta cities (purple squares on the map). Coordinate system in WGS-84.
Full size image

Urban centres account for 67–76% of global final energy consumption, of which an estimated 71–76% is fossil fuel derived4. By 2050 the energy growth for heating and cooling of buildings could increase between 7 and 40% based on 2010 statistics5. The Urban Heat Island (UHI), effects within mega-urban cities6 will magnify the issues associated with global warming7. Importantly, megacities today generate about 20% of the world’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP). Megacities worldwide face six common challenges: transportation, electricity, water, waste, sanitation, and security. Therefore, it is clear the importance of megacities, especially in light of environmental challenges and climate change on a global scale. Dealing with these challenges requires careful planning and optimization of economic resources.

Both energy demand and consumption will increase in parallel to population growth making electricity and the decarbonization of heating and cooling needs, and the air quality are some of the most challenging issues to deal with for the future of megacities. Most megacities are distributed in less developed regions, and many of these low GDP regions are experiencing dramatic economic growth (Table 1). It is imperative therefore that sustainability and energy resilience is part of the development strategies for megacities. Despite the technological advancement, the use of sustainable, and greener forms of energy are underdeveloped8. There are comparative assessments of peak and annual electric cooling and heating electricity usage at the city-scale, including OECD (Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development) and non-OECD member cities9. They propose that OECD cities show a cooling electricity response of 35–90 W/°C/capita above room temperature for cooling. In tropical/subtropical cities outside the OECD suggest that current demand reaches 2–9 W/°C/capita, indicating significant growth in temperature-dependent electricity demand as air conditioning is adopted. A similar situation is observed on the heating process, with subtropical cities adopting electric heaters, increasing electricity generation and delivery concerns.

Table 1 Population, urbanized area, and heating and cooling degree days of world’s largest cities.
Full size table

While renewable energies like wind and solar are considered potential suppliers for megacities and are highly cost-effective sources for electricity, they are also related to some technical problems. For instance, wind turbines can be noisy, occasionally impact the physical environment, are aesthetically an eyesore, and are weather dependent. Solar panels, unless installed on the roof of buildings, require considerable space. Solar panel parks not only require re-purposing of land and potential destruction of forests, but they can also change the surrounding soil’s temperature with consequences in some ecosystems. In contrast, geothermal energy is rarely considered despite several megacities worldwide are located in regions with anomalously high geothermal gradient, especially around the ring of fire, a plate boundary zone with high tectonic and volcanic activity that surrounds the Pacific Ocean (Fig. 1). The benefits geothermal brings over wind and solar are that it is baseload, meaning it is availably 24/day, it is not dependent on any day/night cycles and weather conditions thus, it has a high-capacity factor, bringing stability to the grid, and importantly, it requires a small land footprint10,11. Electricity derived from geothermal developments may be able not only to meet the increase energy requirements of megacities but also contribute to the future energy demands. In addition to the residential sector, there are also other industry applications that can use heat from geothermal circuits, such as agriculture in greenhouses, food preservation, textile industry, etc.

Geothermal energy for power production today can be applied using conventional, high, and low-temperature hydrothermal systems. Moreover, there are several ongoing research programs examining the possibility of supercritical geothermal systems, which significantly increase the power density10,11. Engineered concepts such as Enhanced Geothermal Systems (EGS), where the rock is fractured to increase the natural permeability extend the geothermal play potential. Furthermore, emerging Advanced (closed-loop) Geothermal Systems (AGS) as they are often called10,11, potentially open the concept of geothermal heat and power to an even wider geographic application. Geothermal energy use, particularly EGS, where fractures are introduced into the subsurface are often sighted as causing induced earthquakes. Studies past and present are designed to mitigate these concerns through detailed pre-drilling research, including stress field analysis and modelling12,13,14, in addition, projects require increased public relationship building and education15,16,17,18.

According to Ourworldindata19, Colombia is a net energy exporter with ~2.5 times its total consumption in 2019 sent outside the country (535 TWh, of which low-carbon sources represent ~68.58%). Recently, USA has become a net exporter of energy, largely due to success in its fracking industry, which supports the domestic delivery of ~100% energy of its consumption (26,291 TWh, of which low-carbon sources represent ~39.95%), and excess to other countries. In contrast, Indonesia has become a marginal importer with ~9.21% of its consumption (2475 TWh, of which low-carbon sources is ~16.95%). The three countries presented as examples in this paper are signatories of the Paris Climate Change Agreement with challenging targets to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 2030 and promise accelerated sustainable and resilient development20,21. The treaty outlines a target reduction of emissions below the 2005 baseline, which means a decrease of 51% for Colombia: 50% for the USA, and 41% for Indonesia. These reductions are mainly based on strategies of energy efficiency, incorporation of renewable energy, waste reduction, increasing fuel efficiency in transportation and logistics, etc.

Energy demand from megacities varies according to the level of development. Indicators used to evaluate the relationship between the energy use by a country and its level of development are controversial22; however, a suitable variable is the energy consumed worldwide to produce the goods and services demanded by that country, i.e., its energy footprint. Thereby, megacities as strategic places where goods are produced or delivered, become intimately related with the level of development of countries that host them. Megacities in Northern America, Europe, and Japan use on average, per capita, more than 60 GJ (16.6 MWh)—and up to 100 GJ (27.7 MWh) e.g., Los Angeles and New York23. In some megacities, new initiatives to improve air-quality through the increased use of electric vehicles may also challenge demand on electrification.

This study was inspired by initiatives, such as the Green Deal Agreement, which highlight the need for climate neutrality by 205024. We investigate the geothermal potential in Bogotá (Colombia) and follow the same workflow with Los Angeles (California) and Jakarta (Indonesia) as case studies. From the geothermal resource potential, we calculate a geothermal resource base (GRB)/energy consumption ratio. This concept could, however, be easily applied to any other megacity in the world. In addition, based on current and future energy statistics, we consider the decarbonization potential of geothermal for the three cities studied. Finally, we argue that the adoption of governmental incentives, regulation and a planned framework for decarbonizing power systems through renewable energy technologies, in particular the use of geothermal energy, could provide an important contribution to the energy demand, decarbonization, and air-quality improvement of megacities today and in the future, improving the quality of life for many people and helping to reduce energy poverty.

CONTIUE READING 

With surging inflation, how do current prices compare to Alberta's last oil boom?


Adam Lachacz
CTVNewsEdmonton.ca 

Digital Producer
Published March 18, 2022 

As the price of transportation, groceries, and housing continues to pressure Albertans' budgets, one economist says our cost of living for some expenses is actually less than it was back during the last oil boom in 2007.

Alexander Gainer, an associate lecturer with the University of Alberta economics department, says most prices now are cheaper than 15 years ago once you adjust for inflation.

"When we calculate real price, it's just a way to adjust for inflation so that we can compare prices between different years to make it more of an apples-to-apples comparison," Gainer told CTV News Edmonton.

When it comes to housing, the average price in Edmonton 15 years ago was $382,000. When adjusted to the real cost, that figure is just below $516,000. In 2022, the average single-family home in Edmonton is approximately $494,000.

"On top of this, interest rates are really low now, so people's monthly mortgage rate would be much lower than it was in 2007," Gainer said.

While the cost of living in Alberta still remains one of the lowest in Canada, inflation is really affecting the price of groceries.

The cost of one kilogram of prime rib was around $19 in 2007. Adjusted for inflation would be closer to $26 today, but we pay $43.

"Meat prices are one of the biggest drivers of inflation and cost of living right now," Gainer added.

Gainer says that gas prices are also higher now than they were in 2007. Today, the cost of regular in Alberta hovered around $1.66. Fifteen years ago, the price of gas was 97 cents a litre, with an adjusted price of $1.33.

The average hourly wage in 2007 was around $21. Adjusted for inflation, that would be $29. In Alberta today, that would be slightly less than $33 per hour.

USED TO STABLE INFLATION

According to a Leger poll released this week, 82 per cent of respondents in Alberta indicated that inflation represents either a "very serious" or "somewhat serious" problem. Only one per cent said inflation was not a serious problem to them at all.

"Inflation in Alberta and Canada has been between one and three per cent for most months for the last few decades," Gainer told CTV News. "But, starting around last summer it really started accelerating. It's a lot higher. We are around five per cent by the latest data."

Sixty-two per cent of Albertans that took part in the national poll rated the state of their household finances as "very good," while 35 and 25 per cent said it was "poor" or "very poor," respectively.

Of those that responded to the poll, Leger says more than 90 per cent of respondents indicated the worst impacts of inflation were felt by Albertans when paying for groceries, gas, and household utilities.

As inflation rises, the poll asked what steps Albertans were already or planning to take. According to the survey, 85 per cent of respondents said they were reducing food waste to make their money spent on groceries go further and that 81 per cent were buying less expensive food items.

Latest figures peg inflation at more than 5.5 per cent in Alberta, Gainer said. That is not expected to slow down until this summer, when most economists predict it will gradually decrease to around 3 per cent, which is considered within the normal range.

RELIEF LIKELY TO COME LATER THIS YEAR

Gainer says the major drivers of inflation are supply chain lingering supply chain challenges, labour shortages, and the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

"We've seen it drive up oil prices and therefore gas prices right away, that's visible. In a few months, pretty soon, we are going to see that drive up the cost of food as well," Gainer said.

While many people point to government aid provided during the pandemic as another driver of inflation, Gainer says those factors aren't the largest culprit.

"The stimulus that the different levels of government have undertaken and the low-interest rate the Bank of Canada has likely caused a bit of this inflation, but they are not the main culprit here," Gainer said.

"It's really tough to make predictions right now," Gainer said.

"The Bank of Canada and most economists, this was before Russia invaded Ukraine, expect prices to be high through the first half of 2022, and then they expect prices to ease later this year," he added.

The Leger poll, conducted by web survey, had a sample of 1,515 people in Canada, including 195 respondents in Alberta. Data was collected from March 11 and 13.

According to Leger, a margin of error cannot be associated with a non-probability sample. For comparison services, Leger says a sample of similar size would have a plus-minus 2.5 per cent margin of error, 19 times out of 20.

With files from CTV News Edmonton's Jessica Robb

 

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Jasper warns of 'severe' labour shortage

Fairmont Jasper Park Lodge. (CTV News Edmonton)

Joanne McQuarrie
Jasper Fitzhugh
The Local Journalism Initiative
Contact
Published March 17, 2022 

Jasper's labour shortage has become more acute in recent months ahead of a tourist season that is expected to be busy due to loosening health restrictions.

Ginette Marcoux, executive director of the Jasper Employment and Education Centre (JEEC), warned that COVID-19 vaccination requirements may exacerbate the labour shortage.

She noted how a balance needed to be struck between keeping people safe and making sure those seeking jobs feel welcome, vaccinations or not.

“With the lifting of mandatory vaccinations for Alberta Health Services (AHS) and Government of Alberta employees this week, I wonder if employers in Jasper are considering walking back their own vaccination requirements,” she said.

Marcoux said tight labour markets are expected to continue this year, and with that, employers may start lifting their vaccination policies in order to secure more workers.

“We understand that some employers have corporate directives and that it may take time to change policy,” she said.

“JEEC has recently lifted their own mandatory vaccination requirement for new hires in order to consider all skilled candidates when hiring.”

Marcoux spoke with a regional occupational H&S consultant for the Yellowhead area and said they confirmed that many employers east of Jasper-Hinton and Edson-have not implemented any vaccine requirements.

“Finding a way to keep people safe is something we all care about, and ensuring that jobseekers feel welcome to work in Jasper regardless of vaccination may be in our best interest,” Marcoux said.

“Recently, our centre has seen an influx of jobseekers that have either quit or been laid off because they're not vaccinated. Some of these workers are leaving our community at a time when we need workers the most. Can we afford that?”

In its February Job Trends newsletter, JEEC reported how the ski hill was at capacity on the weekends, hotels were reporting low vacancies and restaurants had waitlists.

As of March, there were 310 employers postings and 647 job vacancies.

The destination is now expected to experience a busy summer season as restrictions continue to ease and people begin to travel more freely.

“This is a very confusing time for people,” said Pattie Pavlov, executive director of the Jasper Park Chamber of Commerce.

“We're asking people to be kind, respect people for what works best for them. Most people I've talked to have their staff still wearing masks, but not all.”

Pavlov said she will be meeting with provincial and federal staff in the next three-to-four weeks about the “severe” shortage of workers in Jasper.

“That is one of our top priorities. They need to realize there is a crisis here. The worker shortage, it's been bad and it's getting worse.”

In addition to the shortage of workers, Pavlov said the Chamber is advocating for housing in Jasper.

“You can't have one without the other,” she said.

“You want people to come here and work and enjoy the environment. Where are they going to sleep?”

She said it is not that employers don't want to offer housing to their staff, but rather there are no places to buy.

“Finding a place where you can sign a lease for your staff is near to impossible.”

James Jackson, president and CEO at Tourism Jasper, said the labour shortage in Jasper was “serious.”

“It's something we've known about for some time now. We saw this coming in 2020.”

In 2021, the Tourism Jasper board allocated over $100,000 for its labour attraction campaign.

“The focus is on people in large urban centres who are underemployed, not getting the hours,” Jackson said.

Another focus is high school graduates.

“We want them to stay until the end of October or longer,” Jackson said.

“The third focus is post-secondary graduates, who graduate in April and aren't returning to their studies.”

Jackson said there are a couple of ways to look at local accommodations.

The first is an “acute” perspective, or what's happening today.

“We acknowledge there's a housing shortage. That won't change this year.”

Another way is a long-term approach, working collaboratively with partners in the community and beyond.

Jackson said Tourism Jasper is hosting a round table with Randy Boissonnault, Minister of Tourism and Associate Minister of Finance, who will be in Jasper on March 18 and 19.

“We have to continue to advocate for affordable housing in Jasper,” Jackson said.

“Labour and accommodation will be at the top of the agenda.”

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Rich dinosaur history makes Coates Conservation Lands a find in the Edmonton area

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'An exciting place for paleontologists and it's a cool place to

go walking,' says dino hunter Philip Currie

Adrienne Lamb, Rick Bremness · CBC News · Posted: Mar 19, 2022 

Edmonton and Area Land Trust staffer Nikki Paskar spends time at Coates Conservation Lands southwest of Edmonton. (Adrienne Lamb/CBC)

Nikki Paskar carefully navigates the hiking trail at Coates Conservation Lands, one hour southwest of Edmonton.

"This place is so special to me," says Paskar, conservation coordinator with the Edmonton and Area Land Trust. "You can sit in the serenity of the forest and just relax and think." 

This 32-hectare space features a 1.3-kilometre trail, which meanders through the forest to the bottom of Willow Creek connecting with the North Saskatchewan River a few kilometres away. 

This land is a wildlife corridor for fox, coyote, moose, snowshoe hare and is also home to a variety of birds, Paskar says. 

Tag along on a tour of Coates Conservation Lands, a natural area with a rich dinosaur history, an hour southwest of Edmonton. 1:39

You can see more from Coates Conservation Lands and 55 other green space gems in the capital region on this map.

Open to the public in 2016, the land was donated to the land trust by Ethel Coates who wanted to see the spot "conserved in perpetuity." 

A natural legacy

Born in 1922 to a farming family in Carbon, Alta., Coates spent 45 years working for Imperial Oil and traveled the world. 

Her niece Cheryl Bissell says Coates taught her family about birds, how to ski and canoe.

"She made you pay attention to nature and all of its offerings, all the while relishing in it herself," Bissell says.

Adventure and nature lover Ethel Coates donated the land to the trust. (Submitted by Edmonton and Area Land Trust)

 

Coates decided to retire in the Calmar area and found "her little piece of heaven" in Willow Creek.

For close to 30 years she gardened, kept bees, walked the hills and valleys and skated on the creek. 

"She loved her land with a passion and never ever wanted to leave it," Bissell says.

Coates died in 2014 at the age of 92. 

In addition to her zeal for nature there was another reason to protect the space — dinosaurs.

A dinosaur bone identified in Willow Creek in the summer of 2015 at Coates Conservation Lands. (Submitted by Edmonton and Area Land Trust)

Dinosaur discoveries

"In the early 1990s Hadrosaur footprints were extracted from the area via helicopter and brought to the Royal Tyrrell Museum," Paskar says.

"Shortly after that they found Albertosaurus skin impressions as well as a number of dinosaur bones."

• Backyard dino dig 'all I need,' says world-renowned palaeontologist Philip Currie
• Hot Tip: It's warming up and we're sharing some sweet spots to stretch your legs
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Philip Currie remembers it well.

"It's a pretty cool story," says the paleontology professor at the University of Alberta.

The world-renowned dinosaur hunter was called to the area in 1994 to investigate a find by 12-year-old Tess Owen and her father Tom Owen. 

The skin impression of an Albertosaurus, a type of tyrannosaur, was found at the bottom of the creek. The fossil may have fallen from the cliff above although, Currie says, they weren't able to pinpoint the exact spot. 

It's now in the back collections of the Royal Tyrell Museum in Drumheller, where researchers are still studying it.

"In fact, it has attracted a lot of attention over the years because skin impressions of tyrannosaurs are pretty rare," Currie says.

Philip Currie leads a team of University of Alberta students unearthing dinosaur bones at a quarry in south Edmonton in 2017. (Jane Robertson/CBC)

Alberta is rich with specimens and the Edmonton area is no exception. 

"Even people who dig sewers hit dinosaur bones periodically," Currie says.

Protected areas like Coates, where people can wander and observe, are fantastic.

"I think it's an exciting place for paleontologists and it's a cool place to go walking."

Coates and 10 other natural areas are open to the public under the stewardship of the Edmonton and Area Land Trust.

The day-use area has interpretive signs along the trail and a small parking lot at the intersection of Township Road 502A and Range Road 280.

A view of Willow Creek running through Coates Conservation Lands. (David Bajer/CBC)

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Adrienne Lamb

Adrienne Lamb is an award-winning journalist based in Edmonton. She's the host and producer of Our Edmonton featured weekly on CBC TV. Adrienne has spent the last couple of decades telling stories across Canada.

Ancient handprints on cave walls in Spain found to include children's hands

Credit: Pixabay/CC0 Public Domain

A trio of researchers from Universidad de Cantabria and the University of Cambridge has found evidence suggesting that up to a quarter of all ancient handprints found on cave walls in Spain were made using children's hands. In their paper published in the Journal of Archaeological Science, Verónica Fernández-Navarro, Edgard Camarós and Diego Garate describe their study of ancient hand prints found in five Spanish caves and what they believe their findings suggest about ancient hand prints on cave walls in general.

Over the past several decades, hand prints on cave walls have come to represent ancient cave art as much as drawings of animals. Scientists studying the handprints have generally agreed that they, along with the animal drawings, were all likely done by males in a given group. In this new effort, the researchers have found evidence suggesting that up to a quarter of all cave hand prints were made using children's hands.

The researchers began their work by noting that there is very little mention of the impact or activities of children in ancient societies. That led them to wonder about some of the art on the walls of caves across Europe and in Spain in particular—and that led them to take a closer look at the hand prints.

In studying the hand prints, the researchers noted that most of them appeared to have been made using stencils, rather than applying ink to the hand and pressing it against the wall. They also found that most of the stenciled hands had been created using a common technique of the time—placing a hand near a wall and blowing pigments at it using a hollow bone or reed. They further noted that rather than placing their hands on the wall, most of the prints had been done by holding the hand a little distance from the wall—a means for generating a stencil with a slightly 3D look. In replicating the technique with their own hands, they found that such an approach led to a stenciled hand that was slightly larger than the hand used to create it. They then closely studied hundreds of the hand prints, taking careful measurements of each while using 3D photogrammetric models as references.

In looking at their data, they found that up to 25% of the hand prints on the walls in five caves in Spain were of children's hands, some of which could have come from toddlers or even infants. They suggest their findings indicate that doing cave art was a group activity shared among all members, including children. They also suggest their findings hint that some other ancient forms of art, left behind as artifacts, may have been done by children.

Hand and footprint art dates to mid-Ice Age

More information: Verónica Fernández-Navarro et al, Visualizing childhood in Upper Palaeolithic societies: Experimental and archaeological approach to artists' age estimation through cave art hand stencils, Journal of Archaeological Science (2022). DOI: 10.1016/j.jas.2022.105574

Journal information: Journal of Archaeological Science 

© 2022 Science X Network

Ancient ancestors evolved to be strong and snappy, study finds

by University of Bristol

Dunkleosteus – one of the animals involved in the research. Credit: Nobu Tamura

Researchers led by the University of Bristol show that the earliest jaws in the fossil record were caught in a trade-off between maximizing their strength and their speed

Almost all vertebrates are jawed vertebrates, including humans, first evolving more than 400 million years ago and distinguished by their teeth-bearing jaws. Humans owe their evolutionary success to the evolution of jaws, which allowed animals to process a wider variety of foods.

Jaws evolved from the gill arches, a series of structures in fish that support their gills. A new study, published in the journal Science Advances today, explores how a breathing structure came to be a biting structure. To do this, researchers based at Bristol's School of Earth Sciences collected data on the shapes of fossil jaws during their early evolution and mathematical models to characterize them. These models allowed the team to extrapolate a wide range of theoretical jaw shapes that could have been explored by the first evolving jaws. These theoretical jaws were tested for their strength—how likely they were to break during a bite, and their speed—how efficiently they could be opened and closed. These two functions are in a trade-off—meaning that increasing the strength usually means decreasing the speed or vice versa.

Comparing the real and theoretical jaw shapes revealed that jaw evolution has been constrained to shapes that have the highest possible speed and strength. Specifically, the earliest jaws in the dataset were extremely optimal, and some groups evolved away from this optimum over time. These results suggest that the evolution of biting was very quick.

William Deakin, Ph.D. student at the University of Bristol and lead author, said: "Jaws are an extremely important feature to gnathostomes—or jaw-mouths. They are not only extremely widespread, but almost all creatures that have them, use them in the same way—to grab food and process it. That's more than can be said for an arm or a foot or a tail, which can be used for all sorts of things.

"This makes jaws extremely useful to anyone studying the evolution of function. Very different jaws from very different animals can be tested in similar ways. Here we have shown that studies on a large variety of jaws, using theoretical morphology and adaptive landscapes to capture their variety in function, can help shed some light on evolutionary questions."

Philip Donoghue, Professor of Palaeobiology at Bristol and co-author of the study, said: "The earliest jawed vertebrates have jaws in all shapes and sizes, long thought to reflect adaptation to different functions. Our study shows that most of this variation was equally optimal for strength and speed, making for fearsome predators."

Emily Rayfield, also a Professor of Palaeobiology at Bristol and co-author of the study, added: "The new software that Will developed to analyze the evolution of jawed vertebrates, is unique. It allows us to map the design space of key anatomical innovations, like jaws, and determine their functional properties. We plan to use it uncover many more of the secrets of evolutionary history."Jaws: How an African ray-finned fish is helping us to rethink the fundamentals of evolution

More information: William J. Deakin et al, Increasing morphological disparity and decreasing optimality for jaw speed and strength during the radiation of jawed vertebrates, Science Advances (2022). DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.abl3644. www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv.abl3644

Journal information: Science Advances 

Provided by University of Bristol 

Albertans could lose power, heat as disconnection moratorium lifts next month

In Alberta, residents cannot be disconnected from their utilities during winter months, defined as Oct. 15 to April 15 each year.

Author of the article: Dylan Short
Publishing date: Mar 19, 2022 • 

 

Albertans who have fallen behind on their energy bills could see services limited or disconnected starting in mid-April. 

PHOTO BY DARREN MAKOWICHUK /Postmedia

More than 1,000 Albertans could be at risk of being disconnected from their utilities next month when the provincial restriction on stopping services is lifted.

In Alberta, residents cannot be disconnected from their utilities during winter months, defined as Oct. 15 to April 15 each year. This year’s winter has seen bills across the province skyrocket, leading the Opposition NDP to raise concerns over next month’s deadline.

Energy critic Kathleen Ganley attempted to continue to the freeze of disconnections through the summer until next year’s moratorium becomes active. However, that proposal was defeated in the legislative assembly.

NDP Leader Rachel Notley said Friday that she believes there are “tens of thousands” of Albertans who are behind on their bills.

“We don’t know the exact details, but we do know that the government has the opportunity to protect those families,” said Notley while presenting a proposal to combat rising inflation. “That is what we are asking them to do.”

When the NDP was in power, it implemented a rate cap in 2016 that limited costs to 6.8 cents per kilowatt for regulated rate option contracts. That price cap was scrapped by the current United Conservative government in 2019.

Associate Minister of Natural Gas and Electricity Dale Nally said in a statement that data on potential disconnects is not yet available but that last year, there were 1,485 disconnections reported to the provincial Utility Consumer Advocate as part of the reconnection program. In 2017-18 there were more than 3,000 reported disconnects.

Those reports do not include all stoppages of services, but rather outline how many people did not have access to their utilities throughout the summer months up until Oct. 15 of last year.

“We regularly keep in contact with retailers about market conditions and issues like disconnections. This week, there was not an above-average number of disconnections disclosed to us compared to what has been seen in past years on April 15,” said Nally in a statement. “We will stay in close contact with these retailers and take action if these numbers rise to concerning levels. The true impact of accounts in arrears from the January to February billing cycles will not be known until about May or June.”

Albertans have been hit hard by rising utility bills as demand driven by extreme weather has been coupled with market factors driving up prices with some Calgarians reporting nearly a doubling on their bills compared to last year. In response, the government implemented a natural gas rebate that will kick in next winter if prices exceed $6.50 per gigajoule. The UCP’s projections in its latest budget do not expect prices to reach those prices but Finance Minister Travis Toews said Albertans will be protected if prices continue to rise.

The government has also created a $150 retroactive rebate for electricity prices over the past three months and has reduced provincial taxes on gasoline to help ease record inflation rates brought on in part by soaring gas prices and unprecedented demand in the face of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Enmax, the company that supplies power to a large number of Calgarians, cited privacy reasons as it said it could not provide numbers on how many residents are at risk of losing power. Spokesperson Chinta Puxley said Enmax will reach out to customers on load limiters — devices that restrict power to a few essential items in the home — to help find manageable payment options.

Epcor, which provides power to Edmontonians, said it expects the same number of people to be on load limiters as in previous years when April 15 arrives. It, too, said the company would work with customers who are behind on their payments.

Nally said the most important thing Albertans can do if they fear they are facing a loss in utilities is to stay in contact with their providers. He also said they can contact the Utility Consumer Advocate for more information on specialized programs or contract support.

“Retailers have committed to exploring every option possible to help their customers stay connected with payment plans or other solutions, and they will proactively reach out if a customer is nearing disconnection,” said Nally.

Nally said accepting the NDP’s proposal to extend the moratorium on removing services would cost Albertans in the long run as other consumers would have to pick up the bill.

THOSE OTHER CONSUMERS ARE BUSINESSES

dshort@Postmedia.com

ANTI-VAXXERS RALLY

Vancouver plaza flooded with protesters and counter-protesters on Saturday (PHOTOS)

Aly Laube
DAILY HIVE
Mar 19 2022, 

Community Over Convoys/Twitter

If you heard a commotion downtown on Saturday afternoon, it was probably the protesters at Jack Poole Plaza.

Vancouver Police said they had to shut down several roads in the area near Coal Harbour because of the congestion.

Protestors took over the plaza on March 19, with convoy supporters on one side and counter-protestors on the other.

“There were people protesting for freedom and then people counter-protesting the freedom protesters,” the VPD said in an email to Daily Hive Vancouver.

There were around 1,500 people by 3 pm.

Mask mandates have already been lifted in the province, but these protests might keep happening until all laws related to COVID-19 are dropped.

Recently, BC Premier John Horgan told convoy protestors to “give their head a shake,” which also agitated some people who support them.

Counter-protestors spotted Canadian conspiracy theorist Chris Sky at Jack Poole Plaza with a camera crew.

The Community Over Convoys group, which organizes against “Freedom Convoy” supporters in Vancouver, tweeted they were “kicked out” of the space by VPD after being told they needed a permit.

They also tweeted about several arguments between the two groups, with convoy supporters allegedly getting confrontational and following them even after VPD told them to leave.


Daily Hive Vancouver reached out to Community Over Convoys for comment and will update this story.

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