Renewable Energy's Rise Creates Challenges for Traditional Power Utilities

By Rystad Energy - Sep 18, 2024

• The increasing prevalence of renewable energy sources, particularly solar power, is disrupting the traditional power industry and creating challenges for utilities.
• 
  
• To remain competitive, energy companies must adopt holistic thinking, diversify their portfolios, and embrace customer-centric strategies.
• 
  
• The integration of data analytics, software, and smart systems will be crucial for optimizing market performance and navigating the evolving energy landscape.

Renewable energy generation in Europe has surged over 280% since 2000 and now accounts for more than 50% of the continent’s total power generation. Solar power has seen particularly strong growth in recent years due to significant cost declines. However, the rise of renewables has also led to challenges for the power industry, as the sector’s underlying profitability declines and an increasingly competitive energy landscape emerges. 

Apart from hydropower, the operational performance of most renewable power assets is determined by a combination of weather and consumption patterns, meaning they cannot be ‘market optimized’ to generate when prices are high in the way that gas power assets can, for instance. This especially hits solar power plants, as these typically generate power in the middle of the day when, although cooling systems run full throttle during summertime in Europe, demand is not sufficient of offtake generation, which leads to low realized prices. In addition, solar panels do not generate any power at night, when prices often are higher. An increasingly popular solution for asset owners is to pair intermittent renewables with power storage capabilities, such as batteries. However, these only offset the shortcoming in part. As a result, capture rates (the prices attained compared to average market prices over time) for solar power are plummeting along with increased deployment of the technology.  

While initially masked by the power price response in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and Europe’s ensuing shift away from Russian gas, wholesale power prices across Europe are increasingly under pressure from hybrid renewable projects with close-to-zero marginal costs, which in turn is undercutting the revenue potential of the region’s power market. 

Meanwhile, governmental support for renewable energy is also changing. Renewable projects are underwritten through governmental support mechanisms such as contracts for difference (CfDs) and feed-in tariffs, which guarantee predictable revenue streams for renewable energy producers. However, as the cost of renewable energy technologies have decreased, these support schemes may gradually be scaled back. 

Compounding this is the evolving nature of the energy landscape which has intensified competition within the sector. Europe’s power sector was previously dominated by dedicated renewable developers and utilities, but is now seeing new entrants such as oil and gas companies, power traders and innovative power demand management players. Similarly, new types of demand is emerging such as data center players requiring consistent, high-volume, 24-hour power supply.  

The solution to the current challenges lies in diversification and innovation, driving balanced portfolio generation profiles and enabling market optimization. Beyond building and leveraging the full flexibility of a diversified portfolio of solar, wind, storage, and thermal generation, more customer-centric strategies are emerging. Octopus Energy is a British software and power trading company that works to balance power supply and demand through demand-side smart devices such as electric vehicle (EV) chargers, lighting systems, and heat pumps. Similarly, integrated oil and gas players such as TotalEnergies are using the knowledge attained in business-to-consumer markets through the gasoline and retail end of the business to enter the demand-side power market, mimicking their success in oil and gas.  

The integration and interconnection of systems across the entire power market value chain, along with the efficient processing of large datasets and the automation of energy dispatch, are becoming essential for modern energy companies. Software and smart systems will be key to this, emphasizing advanced technical capabilities and data analytics over the traditional supply-to-market business model that utilities have traditionally subscribed to. By embracing these changes, energy companies can better position themselves for success in a rapidly changing power industry. 

By Rystad Energy

Geothermal Energy Could Outperform Nuclear Power

GEOTHERMAL IS FRACKING

By Haley Zaremba - Sep 19, 2024

• Enhanced geothermal systems, utilizing fracking technology, could unlock vast geothermal resources and make geothermal energy widely accessible.
• 
  
• Geothermal energy offers a reliable, base-load power source with zero carbon emissions, and has the potential to outperform nuclear energy.
• 
  
• With strong bipartisan support and public-private investment, geothermal energy is poised for rapid growth and could play a crucial role in meeting future energy demands and combating climate change.

Geothermal is about to have its moment in the sun. Heat from the Earth’s core could provide a clean, steady, and limitless source of renewable energy to humans. The trick is finding the right technology to harness that heat. 

Until very recently, geothermal energy for commercial use has only been feasible in places where that heat naturally reaches the surface of the Earth, such as geysers and hot springs. For example, Iceland gets a quarter of its energy from geothermal energy. But Iceland is a geological anomaly. Globally, geothermal energy accounts for just 0.5% of renewable energy. But now, the application of fracking technology borrowed from the oil and gas sector could totally revolutionize geothermal energy availability, and possibly even bring it to your own backyard.

Geothermal energy can be tapped anywhere and everywhere, if you have the will and the way to dig deep enough. And this could soon be possible at an economically viable scale through a method known as ‘enhanced geothermal systems’ which can tap into heat far, far below the ground. According to a 2023 report from Esquire, this technology, adapted from hydraulic fracturing used in the oil and gas industry, will “allow us to exploit the energy underfoot across the country, all with a carbon impact that is vanishingly small compared to most sources we depend on now.” These deep wells would pump out hot water, which can be used in turn to produce energy through various methods, before injecting that water back into the ground.

The potential for enhanced geothermal is massive – the Economist even projects that it could outperform nuclear energy output, while offering similar benefits. Like nuclear, geothermal operates with proven technologies, offers base-load, on-demand energy, and produces zero carbon emissions. The United States Department of Energy (DoE) has posited that geothermal energy could power up to 260 million homes nationwide by 2050. 

It also has major bipartisan appeal, a huge boon to any new technologies hoping to get sizable and continued funding from government entities and private interests alike. The DoE projects that as little as  $25 billion in public-private investment (less than the cost of the Vogtle nuclear power plant alone) by 2030 would allow the domestic geothermal sector to “reach liftoff” and set the industry up to reach a commercial scale by mid-century. Already, the federal government is funding research proving early-stage geothermal technology and setting the stage for the privatized acceleration of research and development. 

Just this month, representatives from major oil companies and tech startups, as well as scientists and climate groups, met in Houston to kick off a $10 million series of summits focused on harnessing experience and technology gleaned from oil and gas to “build a new stalwart of the American power sector.” A bustling geothermal startup scene has cropped up in Texas as the stars align for geothermal’s meteoric rise in the United States energy mix.

Despite the groundswell of support for enhanced geothermal technologies and a bullish attitude from the private and public sectors alike, the geothermal sector still has a long way to go to achieve its potential. “As things currently stand, the geothermal sector has struggled with the common problems of emerging industries: the difficulty of raising sufficient money for projects that, however promising, have yet to prove themselves,” The Hill recently reported. 

But if successful, commercial-scale geothermal energy's potential applications and impacts are nearly limitless. It would introduce a critical new source of dependable, zero-carbon power to the energy mix and provide a potential solution to some of our most pressing energy security issues. Already, pundits are positing that geothermal could feed the insatiable energy demands of Artificial Intelligence, as well as providing an avenue to cheaply produce green hydrogen, which could be essential in decarbonizing hard-to-abate sectors such as heavy-duty trucking, shipping, aviation, iron and steel, and chemicals and petrochemicals.

By Haley Zaremba for Oilprice.com 

TotalEnergies Starts Natural Gas Production From Argentinian Offshore Field

By Tsvetana Paraskova - Sep 20, 2024

French supermajor TotalEnergies announced on Friday the start of natural gas production from the Fenix gas field offshore in southern Argentina.

The Fenix field has been developed to have a production capacity of 10 million cubic meters per day, or 70,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day, (boe/d). The field, 60 km (37 miles) off the coast of Tierra del Fuego in Southern Argentina, consists of a new unmanned platform and is connected to the existing facilities at the Cuenca Marina Austral 1 (CMA-1) concession, which TotalEnergies operates.

The natural gas produced at Fenix is sent through a subsea pipeline to the TotalEnergies-operated Véga Pléyade platform and is subsequently treated onshore at the Río Cullen and Cañadon Alfa facilities, which are also operated by the French company.

According to TotalEnergies, Fenix is a low-cost, low-emissions development, with a carbon intensity of 9 kg CO2e/boe, which uses existing infrastructure.“Fenix will contribute to maintaining our gas production plateau in Tierra del Fuego and ensure a reliable supply to the Argentinean gas market,” said Javier Rielo, Senior Vice President Americas, Exploration & Production at TotalEnergies.

“With its low break-even and low carbon intensity, Fenix perfectly matches the Company's low-cost and low-emission strategy,” Rielo added.

TotalEnergies has been operating in Argentina since 1978, and has interests offshore, onshore, and in the Neuquen province, home to the Vaca Muertra shale.

Argentina plans to raise oil and gas output and exports from Vaca Muerta in the coming years.

Supertankers could begin docking in Argentina to load oil from the country’s shale patch after a pipeline is set to connect Vaca Muerta with a terminal at Punta Colorada port capable of handling the so-called very large crude carriers (VLCCs).

Argentina is also moving a step closer to exporting LNG and monetizing its huge resource in Vaca Muerta after maritime LNG infrastructure firm Golar LNG signed a 20-year deal with Pan American Energy (PAE) for the deployment of a Floating Liquefied Natural Gas (FLNG) vessel in Argentina.

By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com

TotalEnergies Set to Develop $9 Billion Suriname Oil Resources

By Charles Kennedy - Sep 20, 2024

French supermajor TotalEnergies has started to scour the market for deepwater rigs and support vessels to begin development of massive resources discovered offshore Suriname, anonymous sources with knowledge of the tenders told Bloomberg on Friday.

Exploration and resource development in the Atlantic Basin is now alive more than ever, following the huge developments offshore Guyana led by ExxonMobil and the plans of TotalEnergies to tap the discovered resources in Guyana’s neighbor, Suriname.

TotalEnergies, which partners with APA Corp offshore Suriname, has already made several discoveries in the area. The companies are expected to make as early as next month the final investment decision (FID) to develop part of the resources, according to Bloomberg’s sources.

TotalEnergies has reportedly ordered a hull for a 200,000-bpd production vessel, the clearest sign yet that the French supermajor would be moving to develop the project.

“They have reserved this hull,” Annand Jagesar, managing director of Suriname’s state oil company, Staatsolie, told Bloomberg.

“You’re not going to pay a lot of money for that to have it sitting around,” Jagesar added.

TotalEnergies and APA plan to make the final investment decision on the Block 58 project by the end of 2024, targeting first oil in 2028.

Crude oil discoveries in Suriname have opened access to some 2.4 billion barrels in reserves, Wood Mackenzie analysts have estimated. The consultancy also reported the South American nation holds some 12.5 trillion cubic feet in natural gas reserves.

A total of nine offshore discoveries have been made in Suriname in the last six years but commercial development of any of them is still in the future. 

Suriname is often seen as a candidate for a repeat of Guyana’s oil boom since the two neighboring countries share one hydrocarbon basin. However, exploration efforts have taken longer in Suriname and the colossal success of Exxon with the Stabroek Block and its dozen discoveries has yet to be replicated in Guyana’s neighbor.

By Charles Kennedy for Oilprice.com

 

 HEWERS OF WOOD, DRAWERS OF WATER

Canada’s Role in Global Energy Supply Critical for U.S., Says RBC Chief

By Julianne Geiger - Sep 20, 2024,

RBC CEO Dave McKay believes Canada plays a critical role in the energy security of the United States, especially when it comes to supplying oil and gas to Asia. Speaking in Toronto, McKay highlighted that while the U.S. focuses on "Buy American," they rely on Canadian energy to meet global demands.

The United States needs Canada’s energy resources—particularly oil and LNG—to support Asia, which allows the U.S. to divert its energy supplies to Europe, according to McKay. Canada’s Trans Mountain pipeline expansion and upcoming LNG exports will be keyplayers in this dynamic.

Asia’s demand for cleaner energy, especially natural gas, is growing rapidly. The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) projects a significant rise in Asian oil and gas demand through 2050, with Canada in a prime position to capitalize.

However, McKay warned that federal policies, such as the proposed oil and gas emissions cap, could limit Canada's production, undermining its ability to meet growing demand. He emphasized the need for Canada to continue leveraging its vast energy resources while pursuing a balanced approach to clean tech and emission reductions.

Canada must strike a balance between traditional energy exports and cleaner energy solutions, especially as the world faces increasing energy demands and climate challenges, McKay said.

The exponential growth of artificial intelligence is posing a challenge for energy that is expected to account for 3.5% of global electricity consumption by 2030. In the United States, data centers could reach 9% of electricity generation by the end of the decade—double their current levels. To meet this demand, more renewables and simply more energy production in general will be needed to avoid crippling energy shortages.

By Julianne Geiger for Oilprice.com

 

Human Rights Concerns Loom Over Germany-Central Asia Summit

By RFE/RL staff - Sep 20, 2024

• German Chancellor Olaf Scholz emphasized the strategic importance of closer cooperation with Central Asian countries, particularly in light of global uncertainty.
• 
  
• The leaders discussed economic partnerships and the potential for Central Asia to become a hub for technology and production.
• 
  
• Human rights concerns in Central Asia and the situation in Afghanistan were also addressed during the summit, with Scholz calling for improvements in human rights and expressing concern over the Taliban's rule.
• 
  

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz on September 17 told the leaders of the five Central Asian states that the development of cooperation with their countries was "a strategic goal" for Germany.

"Never before has the exchange between our societies been so close -- and it is constantly increasing: politically, economically, and culturally," Scholz said, adding that Berlin wants "to continue and further intensify this."

Speaking in Astana at the second summit of the Central Asian states and Germany, Scholz said that "especially in times of global uncertainty, we need close, trusting international partners."

Scholz last met with the Central Asian leaders at their first summit with Germany held in Berlin in September 2023 amid efforts to counter Russian influence in the region.

The host of the second summit, Kazakh President Qasym-Zhomart Toqaev, expressed gratitude to German entities that have established cooperation between "one of the world's leading nations in terms of economic and technological innovations" and the countries of Central Asia.

Central Asia is a "dynamically developing region with an enormous potential for development and wide opportunities for mutually profitable partnership," Toqaev said at the summit.

"By uniting east and west, north and south, Central Asia can become a center of attraction of technologies, localization of production, and producing outputs with a high added value," he said, adding that the region was "open for cooperation in different spheres."

Presidents Sadyr Japarov of Kyrgyzstan, Emomali Rahmon of Tajikistan, Serdar Berdymukhammedov of Turkmenistan, and Shavkat Mirziyoev of Uzbekistan also stressed the importance of cooperation with Germany, but not all agree with Scholz on recognition of the Taliban-led government in Afghanistan, which he said came to power "illegally."

Scholz also called ongoing developments in Afghanistan "depressing" and stressed that the situation faced by Afghan women under Taliban rule was "intolerable."

Human Rights Watch (HRW) last week issued a statement calling on Scholz to focus on human rights in the five tightly controlled Central Asian nations during this year's summit.

"Serious human rights concerns across the region include suppression of the rights to protest and express opinions, including online, jailing of activists, torture in detention, crackdowns on civil society, violence against women, impunity for abusive security forces, and a lack of free and fair elections," the HRW statement said.

"The German government cannot pretend closer ties with Central Asia are possible without a significant improvement in human rights in the region. The upcoming summit offers a chance to make this clear," it added.

By RFE/RL 

Chinese Company Busted Showing Off Humanoid Robots That Actually Have Humans Inside

THIS ARTICLE HELD UP BY GOOGLE

Victor Tangermann
Sat 31 August 2024

Robotplay

Footage making the rounds on social media shows what appear to be astonishingly lifelike humanoid robots posing at the World Robot Conference in Beijing last week.

But instead of showing off the latest and greatest in humanoid robotics, two of the "robots" turned out to be human women cosplaying as futuristic gynoids, presumably hired by animatronics company Ex-Robots.

"Many people think these are all robots without realizing they’re actually two human beings cosplayed as robots among the animatronics," reporter Byron Wan tweeted.

While somewhat uncanny at first glimpse, the illusion was shattered once an image of one of the hired women having lunch at the event started circulating online. Even humanoid robot cosplayers have to eat, it turns out.

https://twitter.com/Byron_Wan/status/1828001329945755876

Fool Me Once

It's not the first time we've come across humans dressed as robots on stage. In 2022, Tesla was widely mocked for hiring a dancer in a tight spandex costume to masquerade as the company's newly-announced Optimus robot.

However, the cosplayers hired by Ex-robots proved far more convincing. Readers on X-formerly-Twitter had to step in once one particularly gullible user claimed the cosplayers were "straight out of sci-fi" humanoid robots.

"The original post, clearly says these are fake robot girls," a community note attached to the post reads. "Account owner is farming engagement."

Despite hiring human cosplayers for their booth at the conference, Ex-Robots has in fact developed (admittedly less convincing) humanoid robots, which can make various facial expressions to express ersatz emotions.

In June, Reuters reported on the company's progress, showing footage of silicone arms and feet littering tables.

"The model we're making is multi-modal and capable of emotional expression," Ex-Robots CEO Li Boyang told Reuters at the time. "It can perceive the surrounding environment and produce appropriate facial feedback."

Why the company chose to hire human cosplayers for last week's World Robot Conference remains unclear. Were they hired as "booth babes," an outdated and sexist form of promotion? Or were they purposefully there to trick attendees into thinking they were robots?

Given the reception of the videos on social media, it's possible it's a mix of both.

 NETHERLANDS

Mammoet launches world's biggest land-based crane

Wednesday, 11 September 2024

Dutch heavy lifting and transport specialist Mammoet has launched the world's strongest land-based crane, the SK6000, which it says "unlocks new modular construction options for nuclear facilities, with increased cost-effectiveness and safety".

The SK6000 crane (Image: Mammoet)

The company says the new crane "re-defines the scale of human construction, allowing large energy and infrastructure projects to build from bigger pieces, in parallel - reaching first power sooner, and more cost-effectively."

In addition to applications in offshore wind projects and in the oil and gas sector, Mammoet also envisages its use in nuclear new-build projects.

"As more new-build nuclear plants are greenlit, the SK6000 helps the sector to benefit from similar tried-and-tested construction methodologies - helping projects to reach completion sooner and deliver low carbon energy to communities," it said.

Nuclear power reactors, large and small, are increasingly being designed for modular construction, involving the off-site fabrication of large-scale complex systems, which are then transported to site for final installation and assembly. Such techniques can significantly reduce construction risk and help deliver new power plants to schedule and cost.

The SK6000 has a maximum capacity of 6000 tonnes, and is capable of lifting components up to 3000 tonnes to a height of 220 metres. The crane design uses containerisation techniques for ease of deployment, and can be transported using shipping containers to any location worldwide.

It also offers full electric power capability from battery or supply from the grid, allowing customers to reduce the carbon impact of projects significantly.

"This crane is truly a world record feat of engineering, with a production schedule to match," said Gavin Kerr, Director Global Services at Mammoet. "Hundreds of colleagues have been directly involved with its development across the business. There are very few companies on Earth - if any - that could have brought this crane into reality, and we are immensely proud to be able to do so."

The SK6000 is currently undergoing testing at Mammoet's Westdorpe facility in the Netherlands, ready for deployment to its first project later in the year.

 UPDATE

Scale of microplastics in Antarctic revealed in preliminary survey results

By Alex Hunt

World Nuclear News, in Vienna

Wednesday, 18 September 2024

The first results of the pioneering scientific research project launched earlier this year have catalogued microplastic particles in the sea water, sediment and animals in Antarctica.

(Image: IAEA)

The preliminary results were outlined during an International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) General Conference session focusing on the study, which is supported by Argentina and forms part of the wider IAEA NUTEC plastics initiative, which aims to use nuclear technologies to tackle plastic pollution.

Nathalie Bernard, from the IAEA Marine Environment Laboratories and University of Buenos Aires, unveiling the results, said that "sadly we have found microplastics everywhere, on every sample, every matrix".  She said that the concentrations of microplastics varied by location and by day.

More than 250 samples were collected from the Almirante Irizer icebreaker, which sailed 27,209 kilometres over 125 days covering 84 sampling stations. Over the course of a week 166 samples were collected from Argentina's Carlini research station base as part of what was described as the first study of microplastics pollution from South America to Antarctica.

The samples were of water, of sediment and also of penguin droppings and shellfish. Bernard said: "All of these results were possible thanks to nuclear techniques, specifically vibrational microspectroscopy which allows us not only to count, but also identify polymers. We were able to analyse particles as small as 20 microns (WNN note: for comparison a human hair is about 100 microns) and this is important because we found out that almost 90% of the particles we analysed were smaller than 100 microns and ... most of the studies conducted before have focused on larger particles, larger than 300 microns, which clearly overlooks the larger majority."

The preliminary results - with 30% of the samples analysed so far, found that in terms of distribution in water, in Buenos Aires it was 256 microplastic particles per litre, compared with 5 microplastics particles per litre in the Antarctic Ocean and 21 microplastics particles per litre at Carlini Station in the Antarctic.

The Carlini samples found 6000-15,000 microplastic particles per kilogramme of sediment, 15 microplastic particles per square metre of sand and 200-4000 microplastic particles per biological sample of shellfish or penguin droppings.

The prevalence and type of microplastics was shown to the session (Image: WNN photo/IAEA/Bernard slide)

There were 11 different types of plastics found in the samples, 62% were "Teflon-like microplastics" and 29% were polyethylene-like. Examples of the types of products using the types of plastics found included frying pans, PVC pipes and plastic drinks bottles.

The early theories about the possible sources of the pollution in Antarctica include fisheries, local human activities and global sources, via the atmosphere or ocean currents.

Bernard said that the conclusions of the preliminary study was that "we know now that microplastics are everywhere, that we can find different levels and types between the sites and that the levels in Antarctica are relatively low if we compare them with highly populated industrial zones - but they are far away from zero, which is what it was thought to be until recently in Antarctica.".

The next steps are to finalise the analysis and do extra checks before sharing the results globally and using the figures as a baseline for future surveys, to assess possible pollution sources and inform policy makers for local and global actions in line with the Antarctic Treaty.

The meeting also heard progress reports on the United Nations actions to end plastics pollution and how the NUTEC initiative can help with plastics upcycling using irradiation to allow plastic waste to not just be traditionally recycled, but also used in cement or in wood/plastic composits - one of the examples given was Argentina using radiation-modified railway sleepers from plastic waste.

Argentina's Foreign Affairs Minister Diana Mondino said that the country was one of the original signatories of the Antarctic Treaty and said: "There's growing concern in understanding the impact in the Antarctic ecosystem from plastics and microplastics." She said the results had prompted the creation of a regional group in Latin America led by Argentina to focus on the issue.

IAEA Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi said the NUTEC initiative had been well received because "we do have a serious problem with microplastics, nanoplastics and we did also have a scarcity of information, objective information". He said having the facts was important so people can take "informed decisions when it comes to the protection of this environment, which is so pristine and that we all care for".

"This is not a simple environmental endeavour that we take for the sake of knowing a little bit more - the idea is that we provide important information that is relevant for fisheries, relevant for very important economic activities in all our countries."

Australia's ambassador Ian Biggs said that Australia had a major stake in the international effort in Antarctica and he said that according to projections there could soon be a tonne of plastic in the ocean for every three tonnes of fish, saying this showed the necessity of action to tackle plastic pollution and he said Australia believed that the NUTEC programme was "making a real difference in helping countries address pressing global challenges on plastic pollution".

More than 400 samples were taken during the study (Image: Still from IAEA video)

The background

The IAEA's NUTEC plastics scheme was established in 2020 and uses a series of monitoring laboratories to use nuclear technology to sample and analyse microplastics - which are bits of plastic less than 5 millimetres in diameter - in the environment. There are more than 60 countries participating in monitoring of microplastics in the sea, and the goal is to equip more than 50 laboratories with the technology to form a global monitoring network.

The aim is to then be able to take action to bring in measures designed to reduce the sources of the pollution - at least 30 countries are involved in developing innovative recycling technology, including using irradiation to treat plastics and make them fit for reuse, or for a wider range of reuses. This process uses gamma and electron beam radiation technologies to modify certain types of plastic waste, breaking down plastic polymers judged not to be of sufficient quality into smaller components and then allowing them to be used to generate new plastic products.

The IAEA cites studies suggesting that only around 10% of plastic produced between 1950 and 2015 has been recycled, with the majority (about 60%) going to landfill, meaning action is imperative given estimates that there will be one tonne of plastic for every three tonnes of fish within a few years.

Grossi visited an IAEA mission in Antarctica in January with Argentina's president to see the start of work for the project, with the IAEA explaining that "there is still almost no information available on where and how much microplastics arrive in the Antarctic and how much is taken up by Antarctic organisms. There is also very little data existing on the types of microplastics reaching this pristine area through ocean currents, atmospheric deposition and the presence of humans in the Antarctic".

It also said the "presence of microplastics can contribute to accelerating the ice-loss in Antarctica by reducing ice reflectivity, altering surface roughness, promoting microbial activity, acting as thermal insulators, and contributing to mechanical weakening of the ice structure".