Canadian Pacific girds for potential rail strike next month

Christopher Reynolds, The Canadian Press

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Canadian Pacific Kansas City Ltd. is steeling itself for the possibility of a strike by some 3,300 workers next month, as the clock ticks down toward a negotiation deadline.

“The way I see it, the positions have not changed a lot,” chief executive Keith Creel told analysts on a conference call Wednesday.

“Obviously hope for the best, but you have to make sure you plan for the worst as well.”

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The potential work stoppage helps account for what Creel called a "responsibly conservative" forecast that predicts only a slight uptick in cargo volumes this year.

"If the strike isn't as long as what we might think would be — or if we don't have a strike at all — then sure, we've got some upside," the CEO said.

With 6,000 workers at rival Canadian National Railway Co. in talks with their employer as well, the possibility of work stoppages at two rail companies looms this spring, which combined could grind virtually all freight rail traffic in Canada to a halt.

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In February, CPKC and CN asked the federal labour minister to appoint a conciliator for the bargaining process over a new collective agreement for train conductors, engineers and yard workers. The notice of dispute started the clock on a possible strike or lockout, which could occur as soon as May 22.

Commuters in Canada's three biggest cities would also be affected. Among the potential strikers are dispatchers who direct passenger trains on CPKC-owned rails used by riders on Toronto's GO Transit network as well in the Montreal and Vancouver regions.

The Teamsters Canada Rail Conference has said safety is at stake, claiming that the country's two main railways aim to eliminate all "safety-critical rest provisions" from their collective agreements.

"This is just not true, to be very clear," CN chief network operating officer Patrick Whitehead said Tuesday.

Creel said Canadian Pacific has offered workers a "win-win scenario."

"But it takes change. It takes leaders that are willing to see the wisdom in it, the benefit in it. And at this point that has not happened," he said.

On Wednesday, CPKC reported its first-quarter net income attributable to controlling shareholders fell three per cent year over year to $775 million for the quarter ended March 31.

But the Calgary-based company's core adjusted operating income stayed flat at about $1.26 billion when compared with the combined income of Canadian Pacific and Kansas City Southern a year earlier. The former acquired the latter in December 2021 in North American's first major rail merger in decades, but had to wait to merge operations until April last year following regulatory approval of the deal.

Strong U.S. grain shipments to Canada, Mexico and overseas helped boost total revenues by two per cent year over year versus the combined revenue of the two companies last year, though a weaker Canadian grain harvest dampened the results.

Inbound containers surged at the Port of Vancouver to the point that congestion hampered traffic in late March and early April, according to German shipping giant Hapag-Lloyd.

The bottleneck barely registered on CPKC's results, however, with average train speed up 13 per cent and dwell time — the time a railcar spends waiting in a terminal — reduced by 10 per cent.

"Operating metrics look good, really good," said analyst Walter Spracklin of RBC Dominion Securities.

CPKC chief marketing officer John Brooks said the return of ships to Vancouver and Prince Rupert after last summer's 13-day strike by B.C. dockworkers drove the container rebound, as did "some impacts from the Red Sea and potential looming East Coast labour disruptions."

Ongoing missile strikes by Iran-backed Houthi militants in Yemen have pushed major container carriers to steer clear of the area. The crisis prompted many shippers that had recently switched to the Suez Canal to return to transpacific routes between Asia and North America.

Meanwhile, tense talks between Montreal port employers and the union representing some 1,200 dockworkers have stirred up more fears of yet another possible strike this spring. Longshore workers rejected an offer by management earlier this week, voting more than 99.5 per cent against the would-be deal.

CPKC said revenue for its most recent quarter rose two per cent to $3.52 billion from a combined $3.46 billion last year.

The railway said its core adjusted combined diluted earnings per share amounted to 93 cents in its latest quarter, up from 90 cents a year earlier and roughly in line with analysts' predictions, according to LSEG Data & Analytics.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 24, 2024.

 

Outage At Norway’s Hammerfest LNG Extended Until Saturday

By Charles Kennedy - Apr 26, 2024

The Hammerfest LNG export plant offshore Norway is expected to remain offline until Saturday, April 27, following a gas leak earlier this week, according to the latest data from gas infrastructure operator Gassco published on Friday.  

The gas treatment plant at Equinor’s Hammerfest LNG, the only large-scale LNG export plant in Europe, was taken offline on Tuesday in an unplanned outage after a gas leak prompted evacuation at the facility.

The current assessment provided by Gassco is that the LNG export plant will return online on at 1000 GMT on Saturday.

Earlier this week, Equinor said that the facility would remain offline until Friday, April 26, because of a gas leak during maintenance.

The leak has been stopped and all 54 people at the plant at the time of the incident were accounted for. Equinor is still investigating the cause of the leak and said it was too early to make an estimate about a possible delay to production resumption, the Norwegian energy major said on Tuesday.

The Hammerfest LNG plant at Melkoeya has the capacity to deliver about 6.5 billion cubic meters of gas per year, enough to supply about 6.5 million European homes. Exports from Hammerfest represent about 5% of all Norwegian natural gas exports.  

Norway is now the single biggest provider of natural gas to Europe after Russia’s Gazprom cut off most of its supply to the EU after the Russian invasion of Ukraine in early 2022.

Gas leaks and other incidents are not uncommon for Hammerfest LNG. Last year in May, Equinor shut down the plant due to a gas leak.

Hammerfest LNG, which receives gas from the Snøhvit field operated by Equinor, was offline for a year and a half after a fire at the facility in September 2020. The plant, Europe’s only large-scale LNG export facility, resumed operations in March 2022.

The plant was again taken offline in early May 2023, due to a compressor failure, and was offline until May 19. It was also shut down for a previous leak in March 2023.

By Charles Kennedy for Oilprice.com

$2-Trillion Funding Gap Casts Shadow over Energy Transition

By Irina Slav - Apr 24, 2024

• Blackrock: investments in the energy transition are falling behind.
• 
  
• Blackrock: annual investments in the shift away from hydrocarbons need to almost double from their current record levels.
• 
  
• Blackrock: government assistance would need to come in the form of favorable energy pricing policies and market deregulation.

Investments in the energy transition are falling way short of what is needed for its success. The fresh warning comes from BlackRock, which said annual investments in the shift away from hydrocarbons need to almost double from their current record levels. But it’s getting less likely this would ever happen.

In a new edition of its Investment Institute Transition Scenario, the bank said that moving the transition forward would require more money from both public and private sources and that, for its part, would require “alignment between government action, companies and partnerships with communities,” according to Michael Dennis, head of APAC Alternatives Strategy & Capital Markets at BlackRock, as quoted by CNBC.

BlackRock mentioned the $4-trillion figure as the necessary sum to be invested in the transition annually back in December when it released the original IITS. The amount was as impressive then as it is now, not least because it was double the amount of earlier investment estimates. What makes it even more impressive is the fact that last year’s record transition investments came in at less than half that, at $1.8 trillion.

There is little hope that this will change, at least in a positive direction. As more and more analysts begin to issue warnings about the effects of higher interest rates on transition industries, investors are turning away, too, and returning to oil and gas. It must be the worst imaginable transition scenario that not even the BlackRock analysts could come up with in their report.

Last month, Equinor vice president of international exploration and production Philippe Mathieu said investor sentiment towards the oil and gas industry had “completely shifted” from a few years ago. Speaking at CERAWeek, Mathieu said that while the transition remains a priority, energy security has also become one following the pandemic and the Ukraine war.

He was not the only one, either. Investors are flocking to energy stocks seeking to protect themselves against inflation and take advantage of higher oil prices, Reuters reported recently, citing a portfolio manager from Wealth Enhancement Group as saying, “If inflation is going to pop up again ... the hedge is to have some commodities exposure.”

The situation is very much different for transition companies. Many of these are struggling to stay afloat amid higher-for-longer rates despite generous government help. Many are folding or, in the case of European companies, relocating to the U.S. where government help is even more generous. Turning in a profit has become a major challenge, and investors are not sticking around to find out if wind and solar developers are going to overcome it.

This makes filling the $2-trillion annual gap quite a challenge as well—especially since close to two-thirds of the necessary money—at least in the developing world—would need to come from the private sector, according to BlackRock’s Dennis. The funds, he says, are there, but they need to be mobilized and this could only happen with government help.

This help, according to the executive, would need to come in the form of favorable energy pricing policies and market deregulation. Indeed, deregulation is a favorite of energy investors as it tends to make electricity more expensive for consumers, pushing returns for the suppliers higher. However, deregulation is tricky business in developing nations with high levels of poverty—it does not win more voters.

Energy market deregulation is not the only tricky part of the transition. Lately, it seems that everything has become quite tricky and risky, from EV sales, which dropped the moment incentives were phased out, to solar installations, which are driving down European electricity prices, with some plunging below zero. Whether the $2-trillion annual investment gap calculated by BlackRock would ever be filled remains an open question.

By Irina Slav for Oilprice.com

China Is Winning The Race for Affordable EVs

STATE CAPITALI$M VS MONOPOLY CAPITALI$M

By Tsvetana Paraskova - Apr 24, 2024

• EV sales in China are soaring as domestic manufacturers aggressively cut prices.
• 
  
• In China alone, EV sales are set to jump to about 10 million this year, accounting for about 45% of all car sales in the country.
• 
  
• To compare, the U.S. will see roughly one in nine cars sold in 2024 to be electric.

While U.S. and European automakers struggle with weaker demand for electric vehicles, China is churning out a growing number of small and cheap EVs that are taking over the domestic car market and other markets in Asia.

Affordability has been a key driver of consumer choices when buying a car. The average consumer in the U.S. and Europe has yet to afford an EV manufactured by a Western carmaker. That's not the case in China, where generous government subsidies have helped EV manufacturers make many models priced on par or even lower than gasoline cars of the same class.  

EV sales in China are soaring as domestic manufacturers aggressively cut prices, undercutting Tesla and the legacy manufacturers.

The Chinese strategy is a winner in Southeast Asia, where demand for electric small city cars and two- and three-wheelers is set to grow exponentially in the coming years.

In China alone, EV sales are set to jump to about 10 million this year, accounting for about 45% of all car sales in the country, the International Energy Agency (IEA) said in its Global EV Outlook 2024 report this week.

To compare, the U.S. will see roughly one in nine cars sold in 2024 to be electric, while in Europe, electric cars are still set to represent about one in four cars sold despite a generally weak outlook for passenger car sales and the phase-out of subsidies in some countries, noted the agency advocating for a fast transition to EVs and clean energy.

This year's EV outlook by the IEA stresses the most important factor for the rapid uptake of electric cars—affordability.

"The pace of the transition to electric vehicles hinges on their affordability," the agency says.

China is already winning in affordability, leaving Western carmakers, including Tesla, struggling to balance price cuts with heavily eroded profit margins.

The IEA has estimated that more than 60% of electric cars sold in China in 2023 were already cheaper than their average combustion engine equivalent. However, EVs sold in Europe and the U.S. remain between 10% to 50% more expensive than their combustion-engine equivalents, depending on the country and car segment.

Moreover, two-thirds of all available EV models globally last year were mostly the more expensive SUVs, large cars, and pick-up trucks, the agency noted.  

"In 2023, 55% to 95% of the electric car sales across major emerging and developing economies were large models that are unaffordable for the average consumer, hindering mass-market uptake," the IEA said.

But Chinese carmakers expanding overseas have been offering since 2022 smaller and much more affordable models that "have quickly become bestsellers," the agency added.

Chinese manufacturers have an advantage in conquering smaller markets in Asia, such as Vietnam and Thailand, where EV sales picked up last year.

Europe and the U.S. are unhappy with the Chinese competition in the EV sector, which enjoys generous support from China's authorities.

The Chinese government has granted direct subsidies of at least $3.7 billion (3.4 billion euros) to EV manufacturer BYD, which has been one of the main beneficiaries of China's massive subsidies for green technologies, a German think tank that advises the government said in a report earlier this month.

"China's subsidy policy has been a controversial issue for years: European industries often struggle to compete with Chinese counterparts on price," said Dirk Dohse, Research Director at the Kiel Institute and co-author of the report

The EU and European carmakers are already spooked by Chinese EV manufacturers' plans to boost sales in the EU.

The EU launched in October anti-subsidy investigations into EU imports of EVs from China to determine whether the value chains in China benefit from illegal subsidization and "whether this subsidization causes or threatens to cause economic injury to EU BEV producers."

The findings of the investigation will establish whether it is in the EU's interest to impose anti-subsidy duties on EV imports from China, the European Commission said at the time. The EU probe into the Chinese subsidies is ongoing and set to conclude by November, but the bloc could impose tariffs as early as July.

By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com

Energy Efficiency is Critical for a Sustainable Future

By Felicity Bradstock - Apr 26, 2024

• Energy efficiency is often overlooked in favor of ramping up renewable energy capacity.
• 
  
• Energy waste is a major problem, with around three-quarters of global energy wasted due to inefficient systems and behaviors.
• 
  
• Improving energy efficiency and reducing energy waste can cut carbon emissions, save money, and alleviate the burden on green energy production.

As governments focus on developing their renewable energy capacity, many are overlooking a vital element to boosting clean energy security –energy waste management. Countries worldwide must fix their existing systems to ensure that energy is not lost in transit and use and that electricity grids are prepared for the influx of new clean energy projects expected over the coming decades. 

The founder and chairman of the environmental non-profit organization Solar Impulse Foundation, Bertrand Piccard, is calling for greater focus on reducing energy waste instead of merely ramping up renewable energy capacity. Piccard highlighted that around three-quarters of global energy is wasted “due to inappropriate behavior and inefficient systems or infrastructures.” He explained, “So if we try to replace fossil [fuel] energy with renewables without being efficient, without reducing the consumption, it’s hopeless.” 

Piccard emphasized the potential oversupply of solar panels from China to Europe, as governments ramp up their solar energy capacity targets. China has been hugely successful in producing vast amounts of panels at a low cost. This has led to far less solar panel manufacturing in more expensive regions, such as Europe, and a greater reliance on China to provide panels worldwide. This has made it difficult for domestic manufacturers to compete, which has led governments to consider the introduction of tariffs on China’s renewable energy exports, which we could soon see in the U.S. 

China is expected to sell huge quantities of solar panels to countries around the world, allowing them to develop low-cost solar energy projects. This reflects the significant advancement made in solar power technology. However, it could also lead to an overreliance on increasing capacity rather than improving efficiency across all energy sources and reducing energy use. 

Professor Nick Eyre, a professor of Energy and Climate Policy at the University of Oxford, explained, “Historically, energy efficiency has delivered the largest share of greenhouse gas mitigation, and reinventing it for the era of renewables will enable us to continue this trend and achieve net zero by 2050.” 

Meanwhile, Mark Maslin, a professor of Earth System Science at the University College London, stated, “Energy efficiency is crucial if we are to have a fighting chance of honoring the Paris Agreement of 2015, reaching net zero and keeping climate warming under 1.5°C. We must remember the IEA has stated that energy efficiency will be able to provide one-third of the carbon saving required towards net zero. We can achieve this and ramp up energy efficiency by electrifying as much of our energy system as possible, enabling flexibility in energy supply, demand and storage, and re-using waste heat.” 

A 2023 whitepaper by Danfoss Climate Solutions entitled Energy Efficiency 2.0: Engineering the Future Energy System suggested that the EU and U.K. may be able to achieve annual societal cost savings of $11.2 billion by 2030 and $16.6 billion by 2050 by maximizing the potential of demand-side flexibility. This would help the region cut CO2 emissions by an estimated 40 million tonnes and reduce the electricity generation from natural gas by 106 TWh, or about one-fifth of the EU’s natural gas consumption for electricity generation in 2022. The publication also stated that transitioning away from fossil fuels to a fully electrified system could cut up to 40 percent of final energy consumption. 

Danfoss also highlights the need to ensure energy efficiency in emerging technologies. The hydrogen market is growing at an accelerated pace, as governments and companies worldwide look for cleaner fuel alternatives to power hard-to-abate industries such as manufacturing and aviation. Converting renewable energy into hydrogen via electrolysis requires large amounts of energy, which many believe could better be used directly as electricity. Therefore, we must develop high-efficiency electrolysis technologies to enhance the conversion process, as well as focus on reducing the demand for hydrogen. 

The whitepaper suggests that is possible and necessary to strategically integrate sectors that deploy excess heat to lower energy demand and boost efficiency. The report states that by the end of the decade, up to 53 percent of the global energy input will be wasted as excess heat, but that this heat can be captured and reused to power machinery, as well as heat buildings and water through deeper sectoral integration. 

At present, we live under the illusion of false abundance. The energy systems in place globally are highly inefficient and the world’s energy demand is continuing to rise. Therefore, governments are scrambling to rapidly replace the existing energy supply with renewable alternatives to support decarbonization efforts. Meanwhile, little is being done to reduce inefficiencies and curb unnecessary energy use. Improving energy efficiency and reducing excess use will help decrease carbon emissions as well as alleviate the burden on governments seeking to ramp up green energy production at an unsustainable pace. 

 

Are Heat Pumps the Future of Residential and Commercial Heating?

By Felicity Bradstock - Apr 25, 2024,

• Heat pumps offer a net-zero heating and cooling solution, powered by electricity from renewable sources.
• 
  
• Governments worldwide are phasing out gas boilers and introducing incentives to promote the adoption of heat pumps.
• 
  
• Companies are investing in heat pump manufacturing to meet the growing demand for this clean energy technology.

Heat pumps are hotting up as governments worldwide search for alternatives to gas boilers. They can both warm and cool buildings and are powered by electricity, rather than fossil fuels, helping to decarbonise homes and offices. Governments worldwide are beginning to invest heavily in the technology as they strive to trade old boilers out for innovative heat pump technology to support a green transition.

We have long relied on fossil fuels to heat residential and office buildings. Most boilers continue to be powered by natural gas, which contributes to the release of CO2 into the atmosphere. However, several companies around the globe are now offering alternative heat pump technology that can be powered using electricity from renewable sources to provide net-zero heating and cooling. 

Heat pumps work similarly to refrigerators and air conditioning systems, extracting heat from a source, such as the surrounding air, geothermal energy stored in the ground, or nearby sources of water or waste heat from a factory. It intensifies the heat and transfers it to wherever it is needed. As heat pumps transfer rather than produce heat, they are far more efficient than other heating technologies, resulting in lower energy bills. They consist of a compressor, which moves a refrigerant through a refrigeration cycle, and a heat exchanger, which extracts heat from the source. Heat is delivered using either forced air or hydronic systems, such as radiators or under?floor heating. They can also be used with a tank to provide hot water. To cool, the pump reroutes indoor heat outdoors.

One of the main challenges to the wide-scale rollout of heat pumps is the threat of overburdening the grid. In many countries, the current electrical infrastructure is outdated and insufficient in capacity to link new renewable energy projects to homes and businesses. Many electric grids were developed around energy hubs, which were largely fuelled by coal, oil, and gas. As companies develop renewable energy projects in atypical energy regions, new transmission infrastructure will be required to connect this energy to the grid. However, in many cases, this means a complete overhaul, costing a great deal of time and money. Therefore, in most places, it is not yet possible to introduce a countrywide shift from gas boilers to heat pumps. Several governments have, therefore, announced a gradual phasing out of boilers in favour of cleaner alternatives over the coming decades. 

Companies have been able to improve heat pump technology significantly in recent years thanks to greater support from governments worldwide and financial incentives to decarbonise. In the U.S., consumers are being offered attractive tax credits and rebates to buy and install heat pump systems. This has encouraged unlikely players to invest heavily in heat pump technology. Carrier Global, whose founder invented air conditioning, is betting big on heat pumps. Last April, Carrier acquired the German heat pump company Viessmann Climate Solutions for around $13 billion. David Gitlin, the CEO of Carrier Global, stated “We all know that sustainability is a megatrend… HVAC has to have a critical seat at the table.”

Carrier’s chief technology and sustainability officer, Hakan Yilmaz, explained, “HVAC is at an inflexion point right now, with a tremendous shift toward electrification, going from fossil fuel-burning boilers and furnaces to heat pumps.” Yilmaz added, “In addition, the cooling side of HVAC is expected to triple by 2050 because 2.8 billion people live in hot climate zones and only about 8 percent have access to HVAC today.” 

The International Energy Agency (IEA) sees heat pump technology as key to progressing a global green transition. An IEA report on the potential for heat pump usage in China highlights the country’s ongoing reliance on coal for its heating needs. In Chinese industries, heat consumption increased by 13 percent between 2010 and 2022. In addition, heat provision accounts for 40 precent of China’s CO2 emissions and coal use. The use of heat pumps is becoming more commonplace in China, with the technology accounting for eight precent of heating equipment sales for buildings in 2022. China is the biggest manufacturer of decentralised heat pumps for buildings and can increase production to support the commercial rollout of the systems to significantly reduce carbon emissions in the coming years. 

In the U.K., applications for heat pump grants have risen sharply in the last year, with new applications for grants increasing by 75 percent in February, compared to the same month last year. The government introduced its Boiler Upgrade Scheme two years ago, aimed at decarbonising heating. Lord Callanan, Minister for Energy Efficiency and Green Finance, stated, “Demand for heat pumps is soaring, as we make it easier than ever to make the switch to electric heating without big upfront costs… Our boosted £7,500 grants are helping people create a warm home and lower their emissions. And with applications up 75%, it’s clear our approach is hugely popular with many families.” By the end of February, there had been 35,741 applications and a total pay-out of around £127 million in vouchers to customers.

Thanks to significant improvements in heat pump technology in recent years, interest in the technology is increasing. Governments are spending more on the technology and more companies are investing in manufacturing projects, supported by financial incentives, such as tax breaks and grants. Several countries are planning to make the shift from gas boilers to renewable-electricity heat pumps in the coming decades to help decarbonise heating. However, to achieve this, governments must invest heavily in making improvements to their grid systems to ensure the necessary infrastructure is in place to deliver clean energy to houses and businesses countrywide.

The Renewable Energy Boom Has a Waste Problem

By Felicity Bradstock - Apr 25, 2024

• Renewable energy waste is a growing problem due to the increasing use of solar panels and wind turbines.
• 
  
• Improper disposal of renewable energy equipment can lead to environmental and health problems.
• 
  
• Governments need to establish clear standards and regulations for energy waste disposal to ensure that it is done safely and responsibly.

As the global renewable energy capacity increases, so does the amount of waste from end-of-life equipment from solar, wind and other renewable energy activities. If we don’t address this problem soon it could become a whole new threat to the environment and human health. While a transition away from fossil fuels to alternative green energy sources is helping the world to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions and combat climate change, it is important to consider the implications that new energy activities may have on the environment. 

Solar panels and wind turbines have a limited lifespan and need to be disposed of appropriately once they reach this point. While some components can be recycled and reused, much of the old equipment ends up in landfills due to the lack of infrastructure in place to manage the materials suitably. Renewable energy equipment, such as solar panels, contains components that can be harmful to humans, such as lead and cadmium, as well as other materials, like glass, aluminum, and silicon, which can be harmful to the environment if disposed of improperly. 

One way that out-of-use equipment can be managed is through the creation of standards, such as the Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) directive from the European Union, which provides guidelines for the gathering, handling, recycling, and recovery of solar panels. The U.S. Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) also addresses the correct disposal of solar panels. However, many countries have yet to introduce clear standards for renewable energy equipment disposal, which has led to dangerous methods of disposal. 

Several countries around the globe are rapidly increasing their solar and wind energy capacity, which relies on the production and installation of millions of solar panels and turbines. Tens of millions of solar panels are being installed each year in the U.S. alone, and globally the figure is over a hundred million. Despite the accelerated pace of the rollout, there are few recycling facilities prepared to manage old equipment. 

Some countries are managing equipment disposal better than others. For example, France claims that 90 percent recycling efficiency is achieved in some of its flagship disposal facilities. However, others do not have mechanisms in place to even consider recycling old equipment. While it is important to put proper waste disposal mechanisms in place for the safety of people and the environment, it can also be a lucrative business. According to a study by the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) and the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), the cumulative value of materials that can be recycled from solar photovoltaic (PV) waste is estimated at $4 billion by 2040 and $8.8. billion by 2050. 

Supplies of many of the materials used to produce green energy equipment are finite, meaning it is important to recycle materials to reproduce equipment to continue to produce renewable energy. Jinlei Feng, a program officer at IRENA, explained, “By 2050, there will be more than 210 million tonnes of cumulative solar PV waste globally and more than three-quarters of that waste will be generated after 2040 and 40% in the last five years between 2045-2050. Feng added, “Annual solar PV waste generation will touch 10 million tonnes by 2040 and increase to 20 million tonnes by 2050.”

India is currently trying to navigate solar waste problem. Pavagada in the south of India is home to the world’s third-largest solar power plant, which holds 25 million panels across a 50 km2 park, with a capacity of 2,050MW. There are 11 other giant solar parks across the country, with plans to develop a further 39 across 12 states by 2026. However, with great solar ambitions comes significant waste. India is aiming for a solar output capacity of 280GW by 2030, of which 70.1GW is already installed. One study predicts that this will produce an accumulation of over 600,000 tonnes of solar waste by the end of the decade, which could increase 32-fold to over 19 million tonnes by 2050. 

Although there are protocols in place to manage the disposal of old equipment, which state that solar waste from the plants must be transferred to e-waste contractors, authorized by the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), within a specified timeframe – typically 90 or 180 days – few abide by these rules. Most solar farms are in remote areas and must pay to transport old equipment to authorised contractors. Solar glass has no real value, meaning there is little incentive for waste contractors to collect and manage the equipment. This has led to the development of a network of informal operators – who dismantle, aggregate, transport and recycle panels. Instead of ensuring proper disposal methods are followed, many operators sell their waste equipment to informal buyers, meaning the materials cannot be recycled and repurposed, and many of the materials end up harming both people and the environment. 

To ensure that renewable energy equipment is disposed of appropriately, and recycled where possible, governments must establish clear standards and regulations for energy waste disposal. Further, they must ensure the mechanisms are in place and funding is available to guarantee proper disposal takes place. Without the necessary standards, green energy equipment could contribute to environmental and health problems in the coming decades. 

By Felicity Bradstock for Oilprice.com 

 

Breakthrough in Sodium Battery Chemistry Promises Lower Costs

By Brian Westenhaus - Apr 27, 2024

• Osaka Metropolitan University researchers have developed a mass synthesis process for sodium-containing sulfides.
• 
  
• The new process yields solid sulfide electrolyte with the world's highest reported sodium ion conductivity and glass electrolyte with high formability.
• 
  
• Mass synthesis of such electrolytes with high conductivity and formability is key to the practical use of all-solid-state sodium batteries.

Osaka Metropolitan University researchers have developed a mass synthesis process for sodium-containing sulfides. Mass synthesis of electrolytes with high conductivity and formability is key to the practical use of all-solid-state sodium batteries, thought to be safer than lithium-ion batteries and less expensive, as sodium is far more plentiful than lithium.

The report discussing the discovery results has been published in the journal Energy Storage Materials and Inorganic Chemistry. The researchers developed a process that can lead to mass synthesis yields solid sulfide electrolyte with the world’s highest reported sodium ion conductivity and glass electrolyte with high formability.

Synthesized material for all-solid-state sodium batteries. The synthesized solid sulfide electrolyte Na2.88Sb0.88W0.12S4 has the world’s highest reported sodium ion conductivity. Image Credit: Atsushi Sakuda, Osaka Metropolitan University. Click here for the largest image at the press release page.

The pursuit of greener energy also requires efficient rechargeable batteries to store that energy.

While lithium-ion batteries are currently the most widely used, all-solid-state sodium batteries are attracting attention as sodium is far more plentiful than lithium. That should make sodium batteries less expensive, and solid-state batteries are thought to be safer, but processing issues mean mass production has been difficult.

Osaka Metropolitan University Associate Professor Atsushi Sakuda and Professor Akitoshi Hayashi, both of the Graduate School of Engineering, led a research team in developing a process that can lead to mass synthesis for sodium-containing sulfides.

Using sodium polysulfides (sulfides with two or more atoms of sulfur) as both the material and the flux, which promotes fusion, the team created a solid sulfide electrolyte with the world’s highest reported sodium ion conductivity — about 10 times higher than required for practical use — and a glass electrolyte with high reduction resistance.

Mass synthesis of such electrolytes with high conductivity and formability is key to the practical use of all-solid-state sodium batteries.

Professor Sakuda commented. “This newly developed process is useful for the production of almost all sodium-containing sulfide materials, including solid electrolytes and electrode active materials.  Also, compared to conventional methods, this process makes it easier to obtain materials that display higher performance, so we believe it will become a mainstream process for the future development of materials for all-solid-state sodium batteries.”

**

If this development can get the sodium battery chemistry into mass production it will be a sea change in the costs for many of the popular electronics. That’s because the battery is a major cost component in many devices, especially the lower cost ones.

Let's hope this tech gets the sodium technology closer to the mass market

By Brian Westenhaus via New Energy and Fuel