Tata Steel Launches Hydrogen Trial For Steel Production

By Tsvetana Paraskova - Apr 24, 2023

Tata Steel, the giant Indian steelmaker, on Monday said it had started injecting hydrogen gas at a major plant in the world’s first test of such a large quantity of hydrogen gas continuously injected in a blast furnace. 

The trial, part of Tata Steel’s plan to reduce coke consumption and carbon dioxide emissions, is injecting record-high volumes of hydrogen gas and is expected to continue for a few days. 

The trial involves the injection of hydrogen gas using 40% of the injection systems of the blast furnace at Jamshedpur Works. If successful, the use of hydrogen gas has the potential to reduce the coke rate by 10%, which would mean around 7-10% reduction in CO2 emissions per ton of crude steel produced, Tata Steel said on Twitter. 

“This endeavour, aligned with the TataSteel’s vision of becoming NetZero by 2045, is part of the larger pursuit of becoming industry leader in sustainability,” the Indian company added.

Steel-making is one of the industries where emissions and the use of fossil fuels are hard to abate as production cannot come from readily available renewable energy sources such as wind and solar power generation. 

Industry players have vowed to reduce their emissions and are working to find alternatives. 

For example, Sweden-based company H2 Green Steel was founded in 2020 with the ambition to accelerate the decarbonization of the steel industry using green hydrogen. The founder and largest shareholder of H2 Green Steel is Vargas, which is also co-founder of Swedish battery maker Northvolt. 

H2 Green Steel has its first green steel plant under development in Boden, northern Sweden. The plant is expected to produce five million tons of green steel—manufactured with clean energy—by 2030. The green steel production in Boden will be powered by one of the world’s largest green hydrogen plants, running on renewable electricity. Instead of emitting large amounts of CO2, as in traditional steelmaking processes, the primary emission will be water.  

Europe Looks To Turn North Sea Into Green Energy Hub

By Michael Kern - Apr 24, 2023

The leaders of some of Europe's biggest economies are set to pledge to turn the North Sea into an offshore wind, hydrogen, and carbon capture energy hub. 

The heads of state and government of Belgium, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, France, Ireland, Norway, and the United Kingdom are meeting on Monday for the second edition of the North Sea Summit in the Belgian city of Ostend. The summit is also attended by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and the EU Commissioner for Energy Kadri Simson. 

The summit of some of the EU's biggest economies and allies Norway and the UK is expected to pledge a combined 120 gigawatts (GW) of North Sea offshore wind capacity by 2030, according to a draft of the leaders' communique seen by Reuters. The offshore wind goal for 2050 would be set at 300 GW, compared to the current installed capacity of 25 GW. 

"In response to Russia's aggression against Ukraine and attempts of energy blackmail against Europe we will accelerate our efforts to reduce fossil fuel consumption as well as dependence on fossil fuel imports," according to the draft statement Reuters has seen. 

The leaders will also pledge to work together on carbon capture and storage (CCS) and hydrogen projects in the North Sea. 

Separately, the EU and Norway signed today a new EU-Norway Green Alliance to cooperate on fighting climate change and boosting clean energy production, including by focusing on hydrogen and offshore renewable energy. 

Early this year, Norway's energy major Equinor and Germany's RWE agreed to work together to develop large-scale value chains for low-carbon hydrogen. 

The North Sea has the potential to become the site of massive offshore hydrogen production from offshore wind and a hydrogen pipeline network connecting northwest European countries, a study by consultancy DNV showed last month.  

Biden To Veto Congressional Efforts To Overturn Solar Tariff Waivers

By Alex Kimani - Apr 24, 2023

U.S. President Joe Biden will veto a bipartisan resolution to overturn his policy to waive solar tariffs on four Southeast Asian nations for two years, according to an exclusive Reuters report. 

Last June, Biden waived tariffs on solar panels from Thailand, Vietnam Cambodia and Malaysia in a bid to create a "bridge" while U.S. manufacturing ramped up. 

However, last week, a U.S. House of Representatives committee voted in favor of restoring the tariffs on the solar panels, with Rep. Bill Posey, R-Fla., the primary sponsor of the resolution. 

The solar dispute dates back to February 2022 after Auxin Solar, a California-based solar-panel manufacturer, requested the U.S. Commerce Department to investigate if Chinese solar companies are assembling their products in the four Asian countries before shipping them to America in a bid to evade U.S. tariffs

But the White House is firmly opposed to the attempt to overturn the waivers, pointing to an increase in domestic solar production as a sign that Biden's policy has been successful.

"This legislation would sabotage U.S. enerecurity. It would undermine our momentum in creating a massive new domestic industry. It would sideline workers who are fired up to build these projects and operate them across the country," Ali Zaidi, Biden's national climate adviser, has told Reuters.

The United States is on track to grow domestic solar panel manufacturing capacity 8-fold by the end of 2024, an official has told Reuters, adding that Biden will not issue an extension on the tariff waivers because domestic manufacturing has taken off.

"Given the strong trends in the domestic solar industry, the President does not intend to extend the tariff suspension at the conclusion of the 24-month period in June 2024," the White House said in a "Statement of Administration Policy" obtained by Reuters.

Republicans in Congress, sometimes with the support of Democrats, have frequently used the Congressional Review Act to block Biden administration regulations. Both chambers passed a resolution this Congress to eliminate a rule from the EPA and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to define the waters that fall under protection of the Clean Water Act. Biden vetoed that measure, and another about investment and the Labor Department but signed in March a resolution to block Washington, D.C., from overhauling its criminal laws. 

By Alex Kimani for Oilprice.com

Transandino Oil Pipeline Bombed In Colombia

By Michael Kern - Apr 25, 2023

The Transandino oil pipeline was bombed on Sunday, Ecopetrol has announced, noting that the 85,000-bpd piece of infrastructure was not carrying oil at the time.

Per a Reuters report, the attack on the pipeline has yet to be attributed to any one group but the area where the blast occurred is known for activity from the National Liberation Army, a guerilla group, and FARC—another guerilla army that has rejected a peace deal with the Colombian government.

FARC is the biggest guerilla formation in Colombia and although a certain percentage of its members demilitarized after the 2016 deal with the government, the majority remained active.

Guerilla activity has had a devastating effect on Colombia’s oil industry, with the head of the country’s industry association estimating back in 2016 that it would take $70 billion to keep the industry going over the ten years to 2026.

Meanwhile, the current president of Colombia wants to shrink the country’s oil production in anticipation of peak oil demand and the energy transition. As things stand today, Colombia’s oil industry does not have a very long life anyway, even at current rates of production, which average about 700,000 bpd.

Even so, the new chief executive of Ecopetrol said this week that the company plans to improve exploration results by using the latest technology available, including AI.

This, according to Ricardo Roa, could boost Colombia’s oil output to 1 million barrels daily, Reuters reported. Recovery rates could improve by at least 2 percent, Roa also said, from the current unimpressive 19 percent.

Meanwhile, however, the challenges that guerilla groups pose to infrastructure remain. Ecopetrol loses thousands of barrels of crude from thieves who siphon off crude from the Transandino pipeline to use in the production of cocaine or as fuel for illegal mining, Reuters reported after the latest spill caused by oil theft.

EU Boosts Energy Infrastructure Security After Nord Stream Sabotage

By Tsvetana Paraskova - Apr 25, 2023

The European Union has stepped up security measures and protection of its critical energy infrastructure following the sabotage on the Nord Stream natural gas pipelines last autumn, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said at the North Sea Summit late on Monday.

“We know that our critical infrastructures are under threat,” von der Leyen said.  

The EU has improved preparedness and coordinated responses at EU level to protect critical energy infrastructure, the EC president added.

The EU is currently working on a stress-test program to identify weaknesses and increase preparedness, von der Leyen noted.   

Early this year, the EU and NATO launched a task force to enhance the protection and resilience of energy and other critical infrastructure. The EU, NATO, and western countries have increased surveillance and defense capabilities following the sabotage of the Nord Stream pipelines.

Gas leaks in each of the Nord Stream 1 and 2 pipelines were discovered at the end of September 2022 from the infrastructure just outside Swedish and Danish territorial waters in the Baltic Sea.

Nord Stream 2 was never put into operation after Germany axed the certification process following the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Russia, for its part, shut down Nord Stream 1 indefinitely in early September, claiming an inability to repair gas turbines because of the Western sanctions.

Traces of explosives were found near the sites of the explosions, Sweden said last November, noting that the incident was “gross sabotage.”

Earlier this month, Mats Ljungqvist, the prosecutor leading the Swedish investigation, told Reuters that the investigation into the sabotage considers the involvement of a state actor as the “absolute main scenario,” but it would be difficult to determine who did it.  

“The people who did this have probably been aware that they would leave clues behind and probably took care so that the evidence would not point in one direction, but in several directions,” Ljungqvist told Reuters.

Iran Oil Workers Join Labor Protest

By RFE/RL staff - Apr 25, 2023

Workers from several industries in Iran, including the oil sector, continue to strike in protest of inadequate wage increases and deteriorating living conditions amid spiraling inflation and a widening gap between household income and expenses.

Strikes have been ongoing in several cities for months, with workers from petrochemical, mining, and steel industries demonstrating as well.

In the oil industry, workers have called for a 79 percent wage increase for contract workers in both industrial and nonindustrial factories, almost three times the amount offered by the government.

The workers have rejected the proposal, made by Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi's government, which also pledged to curb inflation this year.

The Supreme Labor Council resolved to raise the minimum wage for workers in the Iranian New Year, which commenced on March 21, by only 27 percent compared with the previous year while the inflation rate in Iran has been running at around 40 percent for the past two years.

Adding to the economic pressure on Iranian households, the Iranian Labor News Agency reported a 40 percent increase in the prices of goods and services in the first month of the new year.

Other unions and groups, such as teachers and retirees, have also launched mass protests and strikes in recent weeks. The workers are demanding better working conditions, payment of overdue debts, and higher wage increases, reflecting the harsh economic conditions faced by many Iranians.

Unrest has rattled Iran since last summer in response to declining living standards, wage arrears, and a lack of welfare support. Labor law in Iran does not recognize the right of workers to form independent unions.

Adding to the dissent, the death in September of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini in police custody for allegedly wearing a head scarf improperly breathed new life into the demonstrations, which officials across the country have tried to quell with harsh measures.

The activist HRANA news agency says that more than 500 people have been killed during the unrest, including 71 minors, as security forces try to stifle widespread dissent.

Thousands have been arrested in the clampdown, with the judiciary handing down harsh sentences -- including the death penalty -- to protesters.

By RFE/RL