It’s possible that I shall make an ass of myself. But in that case one can always get out of it with a little dialectic. I have, of course, so worded my proposition as to be right either way (K.Marx, Letter to F.Engels on the Indian Mutiny)
Thursday, November 25, 2021
Hydrogen as a future energy source in Western Canada
The level of industrial interest in hydrogen as a future energy source has grown dramatically. Pathways for generating, and utilizing hydrogen are being investigated by many operating companies as solutions toward satisfying decarbonization ambitions, and longer-term net-zero goals.
During the past year, Fluor Canada and GoobieTulk Inc. (GTI) have performed an in-depth review of hydrogen as a future energy source in Western Canada. The business case success criteria for using hydrogen as a future energy source was centered around five key attributes. These were 1) a meaningful reduction in greenhouse gas emissions, 2) the potential for immediate technology implementation, 3) the use of proven world-scale hydrogen production plants, 4) an acceptable cash-cost of hydrogen production and 5) standalone competitiveness as a source of alternative energy.
The review involved comparing different hydrogen manufacturing technologies – steam-methane reforming, autothermal reforming and electrolyzer-produced hydrogen as alternative pathways to hydrogen production. Autothermal reforming presented the most compelling arguments; economy-of-scale production rate, de-risked technology, lowest cash-cost of operation and highest carbon capture rate, to name a few.
Additionally, the review encompassed potential Alberta hydrogen markets, such as using hydrogen as a transportation fuel, as an alternative to natural gas, replacing current “grey” hydrogen with “blue” hydrogen, the blending of hydrogen into West-coast LNG supply (i.e., natural gas) pipelines and considerations around using hydrogen for West-coast ammonia and methanol production.29dk2902l
Several conclusions are outlined in the report, however, one compelling conclusion stood out. A business case exists to continue with the development of an Alberta-based project – to use hydrogen as a future energy source in Alberta, having potential to replace traditional transportation fuels. The compelling storyline satisfies the business case success criteria on several fronts, these being, 1) the ability to capture 96% of the CO2, 2) the potential for immediate technology implementation, 3) proven, de-risked world-scale hydrogen production, 4) the lowest quantity of natural gas required per gigajoule (GJ) of hydrogen produced, and 5) practically the lowest-cost hydrogen production location in the world.
The headwinds to this pathway relate to the nascent hydrogen transportation fuel market in Western Canada. Relative to the scale of demand for conventional transportation fuels, demand for hydrogen as a transportation fuel does not currently exist. A catalyst is required to enable this market to evolve in Western Canada.
As noted in the recently released Alberta Hydrogen Roadmap, Alberta has the potential to be a supplier-of-choice for clean hydrogen as a transportation fuel once zero-emission vehicles are more widely adopted.
David Mercer Director, Head of Technology – Energy Solutions, Fluor Canada
MORE MYTHOLOGY
COP26: Architectural firm envisions skyscrapers that capture CO2
Architectural firm Skidmore, Owings & Merrill gave a presentation last week at COP26 suggesting that skyscrapers of the future could remove more carbon dioxide out of the air than they emit. They have come up with a design for such a skyscraper called the Urban Sequoia in homage to the famous redwood trees.
In theirpresentation, representatives for SOM noted thaturban areasare the primary emitters ofcarbon dioxide, accounting for approximately a third of all greenhouse gases emitted into the atmosphere. And the problem is only going to grow worse as the population of the world grows. They suggest that one way to reduce emissions is to change the way large buildings are designed—instead of being huge emitters, they claim, the buildings could actually be huge collectors.
The team at SOM envisions skyscrapers incorporating technology that either sequesters carbon pulled from the air or stores it for sale to manufacturers. They see buildings made of materials that absorb carbon, serving as a carbon sink over the course of their lifetimes. They also see buildings with areas dedicated to growing plants and algae—both of which could be used to capture carbon and to provide fuel for the building. And they also suggest that the building itself could be designed in a way that captures carbon from the air using what they describe as a "stack effect." In such a design, air would be drawn into a central part of the building, where carbon-extraction devices could be put to work 24 hours a day. They suggest such a building would have a lifetime of approximately 60 years during which it would absorb up to four times as much carbon as was released.
The team at SOM point out that carbon extracted from a building could be used to create road paving materials, pipes or other parts of urban structures. And they suggest that if all new buildings were made to collect more carbon than they emit, urban greenhouse gas emissions could be greatly reduced—perhaps by as much as 1.6 billion tons a year.Cities and climate change: Why low-rise buildings are the future, not skyscrapers
Space launch costs are dropping rapidly. Solar panels are cheaper than ever. Could space-based solar power soon be price-competitive with nuclear? Promoted as a zero-carbon solution, classified military space planes have also been conducting experiments into wireless power transmission. The FT's Peggy Hollinger looks at whether space-based solar power can move beyond science fiction.
Ambitions to make hydrogen a key energy carrier for a climate friendly future are misguided, says Anthony Patt. Wherever possible, including ground transportation and heating, we should replace fossil fuels with the direct use of renewable electricity.
To save the climate, the world needs to stop using fossil fuels by mid-century. We are finally headed in the right direction. Nearly all new power-sector investment is going into renewable energy sources. Battery electric vehicles (BEVs) are becoming popular. Most new buildings are being built with non-fossil heating systems. The pace of change needs to accelerate, and stronger climate policies are required. Yet one of the most serious threats to all of this is masquerading as clean energy's friend: hydrogen.
The wrong carrier of hope
Hydrogen is an energy carrier, like electricity, not an energy source. We can produce it three ways. Gray hydrogen, currently accounting for nearly all hydrogen used, is obtained from methane, in a process that generates substantial CO2 and fugitive methane emissions. Blue hydrogen is like gray, but with carbon capture and storage to reduce CO2 emissions. Unfortunately, fugitive methane emissions and process inefficiencies lead even blue hydrogen to have higher greenhouse gas emissions than whatever oil and natural gas it might replace.
Green hydrogen is made from water, using renewable electricity for electrolysis. It generates no direct emissions and is the only climate friendly option. The problem with green hydrogen is that, in most cases, using renewable energy directly would be more efficient, less expensive, and demand fewer natural resources and new infrastructure. From a systems perspective these issues are crucial.
Competitive and reasonable
Consider ground transport. Current BEVs are cost-competitive with gasoline and diesel cars and have a rapidly growing market share. They offer sufficient range to satisfy 99% of all trips, and for the other 1%, high speed chargers provide over 400 km of range in less than 30 minutes, equivalent to breaks people need anyway. Recent work shows that battery electric trucks, which so-far have lagged behind cars, function equally well in terms of both economics and range, even for long distances. There have been concerns about the environmental impacts of battery production; these can and are being addressed through circular economy solutions.
The core infrastructure for charging BEVs—the electricity grid—already exists. As the number of BEVs on the road rises, we will need to augment both renewable power supply and the distribution grid. But importantly, the diffusion of BEVs and needed infrastructure upgrades can happen simultaneously.
The story is similar for heat pumps, which are the most efficient way of using renewable power to heat buildings and many industrial processes. They are cost-competitive with fossil heating systems now, and infrastructure improvements can occur simultaneously with their expanding market share.
Inefficient, expensive, and slow
So what about hydrogen? Hydrogen fuel-cell electric vehicles' (FCEVs) primary advantage is that they refuel faster than BEVs can charge. This no longer matters much, as BEV range and charging speeds have increased. Their first disadvantage is that FCEVs' overall efficiency—electricity, to green hydrogen, back to electricity, to wheel—is half to a third that of BEVs. Higher energy use makes them significantly more expensive, compared to both BEVs and gasoline or diesel. And we would need an extensive new infrastructure for hydrogen distribution and fuelling, which unlike that for BEVs would need to be in place before FCEVs are suitable for any mass market at all.
In the case of heating, there are so-called "hydrogen-ready" boilers coming to market that can burn a mixture of natural gas and hydrogen. Pure hydrogen boilers, which is what we ultimately would need, don't yet exist. Boilers offer some short-term advantages over heat-pumps, in terms of less need to renovate some older buildings. But then there are the same disadvantages as with FCEVs. Efficiency: it would take about six times more renewable electricity to produce the needed green hydrogen, compared to using a heat pump to heat the same building. Costs: these are higher, because of the greater energy use. Infrastructure: a second parallel hydrogen delivery system would be required before pure hydrogen boilers—which is what we really need by 2050—can begin to enter the market.
Just as important, scaling up renewable electricity supply fast enough is probably going to be the main bottleneck in the transition away from fossil fuels. In Switzerland, for example, we currently install solar photovoltaic (PV) capacity faster than ever, and yet we will need to quickly ramp-up installation rates by an additional factor of four in order to fully electrify ground transportation and partially electrify heating by 2050. If green hydrogen becomes prevalent, the ramp-up will have to be even faster, and the challenges much greater.
The hydrogen hype
Despite these problems, there is a huge amount of political enthusiasm for hydrogen. To be clear: there are some applications where hydrogen will help us decarbonize, notably seasonal energy storage, steel production, and as an intermediate step in producing sustainable aviation fuels (see ETH News). But policies being discussed extend far beyond these.
The EU's Hydrogen Strategy, for example, envisions making hydrogen a key energy carrier for ground transport and heating, and would dedicate billions of Euros in public funding towards R&D and infrastructure planning. The Swiss government has no such plans vis-à-vis heating, but cantonal governments have signaled that they see expanding infrastructure for BEVs and FCEVs as having equal priority. It just doesn't make sense.
So why the hype?
The hype appears to come from corporate lobbying in the policy process. The European hydrogen lobby spends over €50 million annually, outperforming environmental NGOs by a factor of five in terms of meeting and providing pre-packaged strategies to overworked policy-makers.
And that does make sense, because the transition to renewable energy threatens to make their entire industry obsolete. Prioritizing hydrogen will slow it all down, prolonging the use of existing assets. If hydrogen demand expands faster than the supply of renewable energy to manufacture green hydrogen, we will be forced to continue using gray or blue hydrogen, which rely on natural gas. Finally, the fossil energy industry's primary skill set lies in processing, storing, and delivering fuel to customers through pipelines and points of sale.
Sounding the alarm
I am not the only one who is worried. One of the leading global energy sector and cleantech analysts, Daniel Liebreich, has suggested that the oil sector is lobbying for hydrogen "because it wants to delay electrification." A group of prominent British scientists have written to their government expressing concern about hydrogen development.
In a few limited applications, green hydrogen may help us decarbonize. But for ground transport and heating, which together account for the majority of energy consumption, hydrogen is a really bad idea. It's the fossil energy industry's last best chance for survival, and they are playing the political game accordingly.
If they win, it will delay the transition to clean energy. Generate higher emissions in the meantime. Require more land and resource for energy production. And cost more. Environment and society will lose.
More information: Marc A. Melliger et al, Anxiety vs reality – Sufficiency of battery electric vehicle range in Switzerland and Finland, Transportation Research Part D: Transport and Environment (2018). DOI: 10.1016/j.trd.2018.08.011
Björn Nykvist et al, The feasibility of heavy battery electric trucks, Joule (2021). DOI: 10.1016/J.JOULE.2021.03.007 Joris Baars et al, Circular economy strategies for electric vehicle batteries reduce reliance on raw materials, Nature Sustainability (2020). DOI: 10.1038/s41893-020-00607-0
Robert W. Howarth et al, How green is blue hydrogen?, Energy Science & Engineering (2021). DOI: 10.1002/ese3.956
Alberta’s updated COVID-19 QR code, which is supposed to meet the Canadian standard for domestic and international travel, was largely unavailable the first day residents were able to download it.
The province said on Tuesday the QR code would be updated on Wednesday, but users reported issues with the Alberta Covid Records website.
As of Wednesday night, the website had been updated to include a message stating the new vaccine record will be unavailable while the issues were worked out.
The province's website states the updated QR code is unavailable.
Earlier Wednesday, Alberta Health told CTV News the website would be updated “ASAP,” but the province later tweeted it was still unavailable.
Albertans were still able to access the previous version of the QR code.
The Alberta government says the original code will still be accepted for the Restrictions Exemption Program, if there are Albertans who do not plan to travel. Alberta’s QR code scanning app is supposed to recognize both the current and updated code.
The province also says the app can scan codes issued by other provinces and territories, as well as Canadian Armed Forces records.
For international travelers who were vaccinated outside Canada, out-of-country vaccine records can be used along with ID such as a passport.
New Brunswick
No single source for 9 Moncton legionnaires' disease cases
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Public Health found several smaller 'clusters' of cases in outbreak that was declared over in October
Dr. Yves Léger, a regional medical officer of health, declared a legionnaires' disease outbreak in the Moncton region Aug. 6 when six people were sick. (Shane Magee/CBC)
Public Health says testing determined there was no single source for nine legionnaires' disease cases in the Moncton region this year as it announced the end of its investigation.
In the first update in more than two months, Dr. Yves Léger, regional medical officer of health, laid out a complex explanation of the cases.
"I think we can clearly say that we were not definitely dealing with one outbreak per se, which usually means an increase in cases that are linked to one common source," Léger told reporters Wednesday in a news conference. "In fact, there were a few distinct clusters or grouping of cases."
Léger said there are three separate groups within those nine cases based on laboratory testing, but he left open the possibility none within those three groups are linked to common sources.
The outbreak investigation was declared over in late October, though this wasn't disclosed until Wednesday. The total number of cases is one higher than what had been previously made public in mid-September.
Léger had declared an outbreak Aug. 6 when Public Health was aware of six people ill with legionnaires' disease, a severe form of pneumonia that's fatal in about 10 to 15 per cent of cases. Seven of the nine were hospitalized, one person died.
Legionnaires' disease is caused by inhaling legionella bacteria, which is found in many natural waterways. It's also found in man-made systems like decorative fountains, spas and cooling towers.
Léger told reporters he declared an outbreak because it was unusual to see so many cases reported in such a short period, raising suspicions they were dealing with an outbreak similar to one traced to cooling towers in Moncton in 2019 that infected 16 people.
Cooling towers have often been determined to be the source of outbreaks. The mechanical equipment is part of a centralized air-cooling system for a variety of types of buildings. Bacteria can grow and spread into the community on mist carried from the towers by the wind. The illness doesn't spread person-to-person.
Cooling towers on an industrial building in Moncton. (Pierre Fournier/CBC)
However, Léger said a series of subsequent laboratory tests of samples from patients and from cooling towers in the region led Public Health to determine the cases weren't all linked to one source as they were in 2019.
Instead, he said they may be what's known as sporadic cases that occur but aren't part of an outbreak. In some of those cases, a specific source can't be found. An average of five cases were reported per year across New Brunswick, according to a 2018 report.
The first of the nine cases was reported to Public Health on July 26, while the last case was reported Sept. 15. The people infected ranged from their mid-20s to early 90s.
Public Health tested at 69 cooling towers at 42 locations in the Moncton region.
Four had elevated bacteria levels and were cleaned and later tested, but none had high enough bacteria levels to require an immediate shutdown. He didn't name the four locations with towers that had elevated bacteria levels.
I certainly don't have any reason to believe that there's any ongoing risk in the community from cooling towers. - Dr. Yves Léger
Léger said lab testing showed a mix of different strains of legionella bacteria in those cooling towers.
Testing linked one patient's infection to bacteria found in cooling towers, but that same strain was found in two separate cooling towers located three kilometres apart, making it hard to determine how the person was infected.
Léger, asked whether there's a risk to people in Moncton given no single source was determined, said the bacteria is present everywhere in the environment.
He said people can reduce their risk by making sure hot-water systems such as hot tubs are properly maintained.
"In terms of looking at the outcome of our investigation here in our nine cases, I certainly don't have any reason to believe that there's any ongoing risk in the community from cooling towers," he said, noting they tested every cooling tower they are aware of in the region.
He reiterated that recommendations he issued following the 2019 outbreak for a cooling tower registry and associated maintenance rules are still important to implement.
Dorothy Shephard, the province's health minister, told CBC in September she expects legislation to implement those recommendations will be introduced next year.
ARTS TECHNICA / A man walks by the building entrance of Israeli cyber company
NSO Group at one of its branches in the Arava Desert on November 11, 2021, in Sapir, Israel. Amir Levy | Getty Images
Apple is suing NSO Group Technologies, the Israeli military-grade spyware manufacturer that created surveillance software used to target the mobile phones of journalists, political dissidents, and human rights activists, to block it from using Apple products.
The iPhone maker’s lawsuit, filed on Tuesday in federal court in California, alleged that NSO, the largest known Israeli cyber warfare company, had spied on and targeted Apple users. It is seeking damages as well as an order stopping NSO from using any Apple software, device, or services.
NSO develops and sells its spyware, known as Pegasus, which exploits vulnerabilities in iPhones and Android smartphones and allows those who deploy it to infiltrate a target’s device unnoticed.
Apple’s suit provided new details about a recently patched vulnerability, nicknamed FORCEDENTRY, that was used by NSO’s clients for about eight months to deliver code to an unspecified number of targets.
NSO said its software had saved “thousands of lives . . . around the world” and that its technology helped governments “catch paedophiles and terrorists.”
The company has never provided any evidence to back up those claims, citing confidentiality agreements with the government agencies that NSO sells to with the approval of the Israeli authorities.
It has recently appealed to the Israeli government to help lobby the White House to remove NSO from a US Department of Commerce blacklist for selling a technology that has resulted in “transnational repression,” according to two people familiar with the request.Advertisement
It is not known if the Israeli government has acted on that request.
The US government announced this month that it had added NSO Group and rival Tel Aviv-based Candiru to the trade blacklist, which would restrict exports of US hardware and software to the companies, as it cracks down on the global hacking-for-hire industry.
Apple’s lawsuit comes as Moody’s cut NSO’s debt two notches to eight levels below investment grade, indicating a high risk of default on $500 million in loans.
The company had fully drawn down a bank credit line, Moody’s said, and tight liquidity meant NSO could breach a covenant on its debt, leading to a default.
Pegasus was revealed in July to have been used to target smartphones belonging to dozens of journalists, human rights activists, and politicians, according to an investigation by a consortium of newspapers.
“State-sponsored actors like the NSO Group spend millions of dollars on sophisticated surveillance technologies without effective accountability. That needs to change,” Craig Federighi, Apple’s senior vice-president of software engineering, said in a statement. “Apple devices are the most secure consumer hardware on the market—but private companies developing state-sponsored spyware have become even more dangerous.”
Apple’s complaint comes just weeks after the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit held that NSO and its parent company Q Cyber were not sovereign entities and therefore were not shielded from an earlier lawsuit brought by Facebook accusing NSO of targeting users of its WhatsApp messaging service.
In the complaint, Apple called NSO a group of “notorious” and “amoral” hackers that act as “mercenaries” creating cyber-surveillance machinery “that invites routine and flagrant abuse” for commercial gain.
The US company accused NSO of violating multiple federal and state laws “arising out of their egregious, deliberate, and concerted efforts in 2021 to target and attack Apple customers.”
Apple issued an emergency software update in September after a vulnerability from Pegasus was exposed by researchers at the University of Toronto’s Citizen Lab.
Apple suing 'hacker-for-hire' firm NSO that Canadian cyber watchdog Citizen Lab warned them about
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Pegasus spyware has been used to target Apple products
Cybersecurity experts say NSO is a dangerous menace, not the 'lawful interception' it claims to be. (Mark Lenniha/The Associated Press)
Tech giant Apple announced Tuesday it is suing Israel's NSO Group, the world's most infamous hacker-for-hire company for creating and selling software designed to break into their devices.
The tech giant said in a complaint filed in federal court in California that NSO Group employees are "amoral 21st century mercenaries who have created highly sophisticated cyber-surveillance machinery that invites routine and flagrant abuse."
"State-sponsored actors like the NSO Group spend millions of dollars on sophisticated surveillance technologies without effective accountability. That needs to change," said Craig Federighi, Apple's senior vice-president of software engineering.
The move by Apple comes after cybersecurity watchdog group Citizen Lab, at the University of Toronto, warned Apple of a vulnerability in its software that could allow a type of spyware called Pegasus to infect Apple devices without the user doing anything or knowing about it.
How Pegasus works
Security researchers have found Pegasus being used around the world to break into the phones of human rights activists, journalists and even members of the Catholic clergy.
Pegasus infiltrates phones to vacuum up personal and location data and surreptitiously controls the smartphone's microphones and cameras. Researchers have found several examples of NSO Group tools using so-called "zero click" exploits that infect targeted mobile phones without any user interaction.
NSO claims it created the spyware for legitimate law enforcement purposes, but cybersecurity experts have long suspected the company has no qualms about who or what it sells its services to.
"It is important for all of us to have awareness of what NSO Group has been up to," said Chester Wisniewski, principal research scientist at security firm Sophos, in an interview with CBC News.
"Those of us who look into spyware, which is ultimately what NSO Group produces, have suspected them of doing this for years."
The hacker company did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
"Mercenary spyware firms like NSO Group have facilitated some of the world's worst human rights abuses and acts of transnational repression while enriching themselves and their investors," Citizen Lab's director Ron Deibert said in a statement. "They claim they are selling a carefully controlled "lawful interception" tool, but in reality what they are providing is despotism-as-a-service."
Wisniewski agrees that Citizen Lab deserves some credit, both for finding the proof of what NSO was up to and drawing attention to it by bringing the focus to such a high profile company such as Apple.
"If Citizen Lab hadn't done the work they had done, Apple probably wouldn't be as upset about it, and therefore they wouldn't have done anything," he said.
Exiled NSA contractor Edward Snowden also credited Citizen Lab with shining a light on the issue.
Growing list of lawsuits
It's the latest blow to the hacking firm, which was recently blacklisted by the U.S. Commerce Department and is currently being sued by social media giant Facebook.
The Biden administration announced this month that NSO Group and another Israeli cybersecurity firm called Candiru were being added to the "entity list," which limits their access to U.S. components and technology by requiring government permission for exports.
Apple also announced Tuesday that it was donating $10 million US, as well as any damages won in the NSO Group lawsuit, to cybersurveillance researchers and advocates.
While he welcomes Apple's move, Wisniewski says it ultimately probably won't solve the problem.
"It's unlikely to have any effect whatsoever on NSO Group continuing to do what they do," he said. "It's not going to stop them from producing spy tools and continuing to sell them to governments."
Tesla Giga Berlin Workers Reportedly Planning To Organize A Union
Trade union IG Metall claims Tesla is offering pay 20 percent below that of German automakers.
Nov 24, 2021
By: Dan Mihalascu
Elon Musk’s stance on labor unions is well known, with Tesla being the only large US automaker lacking a unionized workforce in its home country.
That might not necessarily fly with Tesla’s German workers who are reportedly planning to elect a works council to represent their interests at the massive EV plant near Berlin. German trade union IG Metall made the announcement on November 23 as Tesla is waiting to get permit approval to start production.
Seven employees at the Grünheide plant have already taken the first step toward setting up a union and they plan to choose a committee on November 29 that will run elections for a works council, IG Metall said according to Reuters. None of the seven employees are IG Metall members.
"A works council ensures that the interests of the workforce have a voice and a weight. This is in line with the democratic work culture in Germany.”
Birgit Dietze, IG Metall district leader in Berlin, Brandenburg and Saxony
Mind you, the trade union representative added that the election of a works council will not take place soon as only about a sixth of the plant’s 12,000 workers have been hired so far.
German labor law states that employees must be at a company for six months before they can run in a works council election. With most of the people hired so far being middle or senior managers, any body formed in the near future is likely to be dominated by management figures, the union said. A new election for a works council can only be called after two years, and only if the workforce has more than doubled.
IG Metall claims that applicants have told it that Tesla is offering pay 20 percent below the collectively bargained wages offered at German automakers. Furthermore, the contracts offered to employees are unconventional by German standards as they offer packages with stock options and bonuses rather than predetermined holiday pay.
It will be interesting to see how this will play out given that Elon Musk is known for his rocky relationship with organized labor. Earlier this year, the chief executive was ordered by the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) to delete a 2018 tweet threatening US employees with the loss of stock options if they formed a union.
A reaction from Elon Musk is yet to appear, but he has already expressed irritation for German laws and processes. In a letter to authorities in April, he complained that the country’s complex planning requirements were at odds with the urgency required to fight climate change. Gallery: Tesla Gigafactory Berlin-Brandenburg County Fair 15 Photos
German union fears new Tesla works council will be top heavy
Logo of the electric-vehicle maker Tesla is seen near a shopping complex in Beijing
BERLIN (Reuters) – A works council being set up by Tesla staff at the company’s new Gruenheide plant near Berlin risks being unrepresentative as most of the employees hired so far are middle or senior managers, Germany’s largest union warned on Tuesday.
IG Metall said seven Tesla employees, none of whom were its members, had called a meeting for Monday to choose a committee to run elections https://reut.rs/3oVsGf8 for a council that would remain in position for at least two years.
“We’re happy there’s been a starting shot,” Birgit Dietze, head of IG Metall’s regional office for Berlin-Brandenburg-Saxony where Tesla’s factory https://reut.rs/30XbqxO is located, told Reuters.
“What’s important is that the workers’ council is really there for all employees … for us it’s a little too soon.”
Tesla did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Under German labour law, employees must be at a company for six months before they can run in a works council election – meaning any body formed in the near future is likely to be dominated by management figures, the union said.
Dietze said a new election can only be called after two years, and only then if the workforce has more than doubled. IG Metall says Tesla has hired about one in six of the 12,000 workers due to be recruited for the site so far.
The U.S electric vehicle maker is operating at Gruenheide under pre-approval permits as it awaits the green light from local authorities to start production. Tesla hopes to receive final approval by the end of 2021.
Chief Executive Elon Musk has sparred with organised labour in the past and was ordered https://reut.rs/3xhTFFk in March to delete a tweet from 2018 threatening to strip U.S. employees of their stock options if they formed a union.
IG Metall set up an office near the Gruenheide plant earlier this year to provide support. Dietze said the union would not have advocated setting up a works council until a wider pool of workers had been hired.
(Reporting by Victoria Waldersee; Editing by David Clarke)
Tesla employees in Germany plan works council
Tue, November 23, 2021, 9:38 AM·1 min read
BERLIN, Nov 23 (Reuters) - Employees at Tesla's huge new factory near Berlin will elect a works council to represent their interests, a German trade union said on Tuesday.
The IG Metall trade union said seven employees had taken the first step towards setting up a works council, planning to choose an election committee on Nov. 29.
"A works council ensures that the interests of the workforce have a voice and a weight. This is in line with the democratic work culture in Germany," said Birgit Dietze, IG Metall district leader in Berlin, Brandenburg and Saxony.
The Tesla plant near Berlin will employ 12,000 workers, although only about a sixth of that have been hired so far, meaning the election of a works council will not take place soon, IG Metall said.
IG Metall has said applicants have told it that Tesla, whose CEO Elon Must is known for his rocky relationship with organised labour, is offering pay 20% below the collectively bargained wages offered at other German automakers.
Tesla is also shaking up conventional German contracts by offering packages with stock options and bonuses rather than predetermined holiday pay.
Tesla did not immediately respond to a phone call or email request for comment.
Earlier this year, Musk was ordered to delete a 2018 tweet threatening that U.S. employees would lose their stock options if they formed a union.
Musk has made his irritation for German laws and processes known, saying in a letter to authorities in April that the country's complex planning requirements were at odds with the urgency needed to fight climate change.
(Reporting by Ilona Wissenbach Writing by Emma Thomasson Editing by Mark Potter)
'MAYBE' TECH
Giant pipeline in U.S. Midwest tests future of carbon capture
Leah Douglas Tue., November 23, 2021
FILE PHOTO: An ethanol plant with its giant corn silos next to a cornfield
(Reuters) - Dan Tronchetti received a letter in August that alarmed him: Summit Carbon Solutions, a company he'd never heard of, wanted his permission to conduct survey work for a 2,000-mile pipeline it planned to route through his Iowa corn and soybean fields.
The project, dubbed the Midwest Carbon Express, had ambitions to become the world's largest carbon dioxide pipeline, moving climate-warming greenhouse gases from Midwest biofuels plants to North Dakota for permanent storage underground.
But Tronchetti's first concern was for his livelihood. "It would go more than half a mile through prime farmland," he said.
The 65-year-old is among dozens of landowners along the route who are refusing to cede their property to the project, according to Reuters interviews with five landowners, four community groups organizing opposition, several academics and industry sources plus a review of filings with state regulators.
The impasse could escalate into potential court battles if Summit tries to seize the land by claiming eminent domain. Such legal fights contributed to the cancellation of the Keystone XL oil pipeline this year.
The outcome of the dispute poses huge stakes for Summit's $4.5 billion project, and for the Midwest ethanol producers it would serve who are hoping to wipe away their carbon footprints and burnish their green credentials.
It also represents what could be the biggest test yet for the carbon capture and storage (CCS) industry, which has struggled for years but which advocates say could become a powerful tool in the global fight against climate change.
Underground geological formations in the United States have the potential to store 2.6 trillion tons of planet-warming CO2, enough to cover all of America's historical emissions and those to come for centuries, according to the Department of Energy.
But there are open questions about whether CCS can ever fill them. Despite billions of dollars of public investment over the past decade, the technology remains relatively untested.
The United States boasts just 12 operational commercial CCS facilities that together have an annual capacity to store away 19.64 million tons of carbon, about 0.4% of national emissions.
Many other projects have been proposed but have either failed to reach startup or have been suspended because of financial or operational issues, including the $1 billion Petra Nova plant in Texas last year.
Health issues are also a concern. A 2020 liquid CO2 pipeline rupture in Yazoo County, Mississippi, for example, sickened dozens of people.
Jerald Schnoor, a professor at the University of Iowa’s engineering school and former chair of the Iowa Climate Change Advisory Council, said his "high hopes" for CCS had flagged in recent years after the string of project failures.
But he added that ethanol plants were theoretically prime sites for carbon capture, as they produce a highly concentrated stream of CO2.
"If you accept that climate change is a serious problem, and I do, then this large opportunity of CO2 to capture makes sense," he added.
Summit told Reuters its pipeline project would work, be safe, and help the agriculture industry by providing a critical new revenue stream for the 31 corn ethanol plants that have signed on with the company.
"This is a pretty transformative project for ethanol to compete in a lower carbon world," said Justin Kirchhoff, the president of Summit Ag Investors, the parent company of Summit Carbon Solutions.
The Biden administration is also encouraging the technology in its bid to decarbonize the U.S. economy by 2050, and has proposed a big hike in tax credits for its use that is now being debated in Congress. Summit would be a big beneficiary.
FEAR OF CROP DAMAGE
Summit first proposed the Midwest Carbon Express in February and has been working to get its route approved in the five states it will pass through.
Iowa, where state law has required Summit to hold public hearings in nearly every county, has emerged as the most contentious.
The state's farmers have been outspoken opponents to the project at these meetings, and several – including Tronchetti – are petitioning the Iowa Utilities Board to release the names of other landowners along the route so they can organize.
Summit is fighting that effort, according to a Reuters review of the docket, arguing that publishing the list would give advantage to its competitors.
The farmers in the path of the pipeline are mainly concerned about damage to their crops during and after installation of the line, when soil will be disturbed and compacted.
Research published by Iowa State University this month found that first and second-year yields in the right-of-way of the nearby Dakota Access crude oil pipeline were 25% lower for soybeans and 15% lower for corn.
Summit said in a filing with Iowa regulators that it plans to compensate farmers for potential damage by paying them the full value of the crops typically grown on the affected tract in the first year of construction and operation, with diminishing payments over the following two years.
Landowners fear that if they refuse to sign voluntary agreements for Summit to use their land for the pipeline, they could take it under eminent domain laws, as has happened with some oil and gas pipeline projects.
Despite that risk, Tronchetti and Bev Kutz, a Nebraska cattle farmer in the path of the pipeline, told Reuters that they and their neighbors had refused to let Summit surveyors onto their property.
"This is a private company seeking something that isn't in the best interest of the public," Kutz said.
The project also faces opposition from some local green groups, like the Iowa chapters of the Sierra Club and Food & Water Watch, who have expressed safety fears and concerns that the project will be used for enhanced oil recovery (EOR).
Most existing CCS projects employ EOR, where the captured carbon is used to raise pressure in oil fields to boost crude production, something that climate activists say undermines the technology's green goals.
Summit said it hadn't ruled out EOR, but that its main focus was permanent storage.
The company declined to tell Reuters how much of the pipeline route it had been able to secure from landowners, but said it was optimistic.
"We are encouraged by the response we have received from landowners and look forward to continuing those conversations," said spokesperson Jesse Harris.
SUBSIDIES AND CREDITS
CCS has been slow going around the world. There are just 27 operational commercial CCS facilities globally, according to the Global CCS Institute, with capacity in top emitter China at around 2 million tons a year.
The Midwest Carbon Express, with the capacity to carry away 12 million tonnes of CO2 a year, would outstrip the current biggest project, the natural gas Century Plant in Texas, which can capture some 8 million tons of CO2 per year.
Summit's financial model relies on federal subsidies for CCS, as well as the proceeds from low carbon fuel credits generated by biofuels from the plants it serves.
The Biden administration’s federal budget reconciliation bill would, if passed, hike tax credits for carbon sequestration from $50 per ton of carbon to $85 per ton.
Summit has estimated the pipeline will eventually carry 12 million tons of CO2 each year from ethanol facilities, enough to generate $1 billion annually in tax credits at the higher rate.
The fuel from the plants could then be sold into states like California or Washington which have or are developing low carbon fuel markets, generating lucrative tradable credits.
All of this money could become an important revenue stream for the ethanol sector, which has plateaued in recent years.
But the pipeline’s support for the ethanol industry falls flat with some environmentalists, who criticize the business for shifting millions of acres of pastureland, idle croplands, and forests into corn crop production.
“We’re wedding two highly polluting forms of energy in this macabre dance," Mitch Jones, policy director of Food & Water Watch, said of ethanol and crude oil obtained through EOR.
(Writing by Leah Douglas; Editing by Richard Valdmanis and Pravin Char)
