Friday, June 12, 2020
Recycling Renewables and Sustainable Business 39
1 Global EV Market: Already on the Road to Recovery?
https://www.greentechmedia.com/articles/read/global-ev-market-on-the-road-to-recovery
The combination of a pandemic, supply-chain disruptions, economywide lockdowns and a worldwide recession is bad news for virtually every industry, and the electric vehicle sector is no exception. Add a historic decline in oil prices making fossil fuels cheaper at the pump, and 2020 is shaping up to be an especially rough year for the plug-in car market.
2 Falling Clean Energy Costs Can Provide Opportunity to Boost Climate Action in COVID-19 Recovery Packages
https://about.bnef.com/blog/falling-clean-energy-costs-can-provide-opportunity-to-boost-climate-action-in-covid-19-recovery-packages/
As COVID-19 hits the fossil fuel industry, a new report shows that renewable energy is more cost-effective than ever – providing an opportunity to prioritize clean energy in economic recovery packages and bring the world closer to meeting the goals of the Paris Agreement.
Global Trends in Renewable Energy Investment 2020 — from the UN Environment Programme (UNEP), the Frankfurt School-UNEP Collaborating Centre and BloombergNEF (BNEF), available at www.fs-unep-centre.org — analyzes 2019 investment trends, and clean energy commitments made by countries and corporations for the next decade.
3 Carbon accounting for beginners
https://www.pv-magazine.com/2020/06/11/carbon-accounting-for-beginners/
A new report from Rocky Mountain Institute in the U.S. explores the need for companies to disclose information about greenhouse gas emissions throughout their supply chains, and the most effective ways to do this whilst ensuring consistency and comparability of collected data across multiple industries.
4 Tetra Pak commits to net zero emissions & recycled materials
https://www.packagingnews.co.uk/news/markets/drinks/tetra-pak-commits-net-zero-emissions-recycled-materials-11-06-2020
The carton packaging giant is aiming to reach net zero GHG across the value chain by 2050, and is also aiming to produce a fully recyclable package made solely from renewable or recycled materials as well as to offer processing and packaging lines with minimal carbon footprint.
5 Total joins shipping decarbonization movement
https://www.offshore-energy.biz/total-joins-shipping-decarbonization-movement/
The company intends to contribute to the goal by collaborating with companies across the maritime, energy, infrastructure and finance sectors.
The Getting to Zero Coalition’s ambition is to help achieve the target set by the International Maritime Organisation to reduce Greenhouse Gases emissions from shipping by at least 50% by 2050 – compared to 2008 levels.
6 Zinc Highly Effective Against Viruses on Plastic Surfaces
https://www.plasticstoday.com/covid-19/zinc-highly-effective-against-viruses-on-plastic-surfaces/113586495063189
Technology that makes polymers resistant to bacteria, molds, and biofilm by making use of a trace element has been developed by Parx Materials, Rotterdam, The Netherlands. Inspired by the defense mechanism of the human skin is protecting against germs and viruses, that element is zinc. Parx Materials is integrating into polymers that are then have a 99.9% or higher antimicrobial performance of 99.9%.
7 Solar photovoltaic (PV) capacity in mainland Spain surpassed coal-fired
https://www.argusmedia.com/pages/NewsBody.aspx?id=2113565&menu=yes
Solar photovoltaic (PV) capacity in mainland Spain surpassed coal-fired capacity last month after doubling in just one year, data released by power grid operator REE show.
Installed solar PV capacity rose by 378MW month on month to reach 9.276GW at the end of May, up from 8.898GW in April. This was the fastest capacity addition for solar PV so far this year.
8 Melting Permafrost Claims Its First Major Victim, Russia’s Oil & Gas Network
https://cleantechnica.com/2020/06/09/melting-permafrost-claims-its-first-major-victim-russias-oil-gas-network/
Siberia is a pretty popular place lately. It was already in the news a couple of weeks ago because temperatures rose to record highs. This past week a different disaster took place there, a major oil spill.
We have covered melting permafrost in the past. The CO2 and methane gas being released by melting permafrost is already reason enough to make this topic a priority, but it is as detrimental to the people and infrastructure there in the short term as it is for the planet in the long term.
9 Plunging Renewable Energy Prices Mean U.S. Can Hit 90% Clean Electricity By 2035
https://www.forbes.com/sites/energyinnovation/2020/06/09/plunging-renewable-energy-prices-mean-us-can-hit-90-clean-electricity-by-2035at-no-extra-cost/
Renewable energy has historically been considered too expensive and too unreliable to power our grid, but new research has overturned that trope for good. Plummeting wind, solar, and storage prices have fallen so fast that the United States can reach 90% clean electricity by 2035 – without raising customer costs at all from today’s levels, and actually decreasing wholesale power costs 10%.
10 Three Ways That Covid-19 is Impacting The Biofuels Sector
https://about.bnef.com/blog/three-ways-that-covid-19-is-impacting-the-biofuels-sector/
The Covid-19 pandemic has sent a shockwave through the global oil industry, which, along with the subsequent oil prices shock, has created a unique set of challenges for the biofuels sector.
BloombergNEF has identified three ways in which Covid-19 and the oil price shock are disrupting biofuels:
11 Putin’s anger over environmental damage may drive modern reforms
https://www.worldoil.com/news/2020/6/11/putin-s-anger-over-environmental-damage-may-drive-modern-reforms
The mishandling of the biggest Arctic oil spill ever infuriated Russian President Vladimir Putin and could be the catalyst for adoption of modern environmental regulations.
MMC Norilsk Nickel PJSC, Russia’s biggest miner, didn’t make a public statement until two days after the May 29 accident, which leaked over 20,000 tons (150,000 barrels) of diesel into a fragile Arctic river system.
12 Oil Infrastructure Operators Grapple With A New Energy Reality
https://oilprice.com/Energy/Energy-General/Oil-Infrastructure-Operators-Grapple-With-A-New-Energy-Reality.html
Unusual as it may be for an oil pipeline operator to invest in renewable energy, the case for investing in clean energy has never been stronger, according to the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA).
Thanks to a decade of declining costs, renewable power has become increasingly cheaper than any new electricity capacity based on fossil fuels, IRENA said in a report earlier this month.
13 Tesla Set to Get CATL’s Revolutionary Million-Mile Batteries
https://www.energytrend.com/news/20200610-18110.html
Tesla’s battery supplier CATL has shared with Bloomberg that it can now provide the million-mile batteries with life-span of 16 years to the market. This technological breakthrough could be the key to unlock the explosive EV market growth.
In an interview with Bloomberg, the chairman of Tesla’s major battery supplier CATL, Zeng Yuqun, has announced that the company is ready to make Elon Musk’s dream come true: the million-mile batteries
“If someone places an order, we are ready to produce.” said CATL
14 German government agrees on national hydrogen strategy
https://www.canadianmanufacturing.com/environment-and-safety/german-government-agrees-on-national-hydrogen-strategy-255110/
The German government agreed on a long-term strategy for increasing production and use of hydrogen as part of a plan to cut the country’s greenhouse gas emissions.
While hydrogen is currently produced almost exclusively from fossil fuels, the government wants to encourage its production from excess electricity generated by renewable energy sources.
15 Implementing standards in floating PV
https://www.pv-magazine.com/2020/06/09/implementing-standards-in-floating-pv/
Norway-based consultancy DNV GL has created a new consortium aimed at defining standards and recommended practices for the floating PV business.
The Floating Solar joint industry project (JIP) consortium comprises big European energy companies such as Portugal’s EDP, France’s EDF and Norway’s Equinor, as well as German project developer BayWa r.e, Engie unit Compagnie Nationale du Rhône, UK-based independent power producer Mainstream Renewable Power and Norwegian solar developer Scatec Solar, among others.
16 Investors Step Up Pressure On Companies That Don’t Disclose Environmental Risks
https://www.forbes.com/sites/mikescott/2020/06/09/investors-step-up-pressure-on-companies-that-dont-disclose-environmental-risks/
Investors are becoming increasingly assertive and sophisticated in holding companies to account on environmental issues – and it is producing results.
Some 1,051 companies from 49 countries, including ExxonMobil, Facebook and Domino’s Pizza, have been asked to disclose environmental data under the Non-Disclosure Campaign organised by CDP, the non-profit global environmental disclosure platform.
17 UK firms break into Chinese renewable energy market
https://www.offshore-energy.biz/uk-firms-break-into-chinese-renewable-energy-market/
Eight UK organisations have signed new agreements to develop and provide renewable energy technologies, services and research in China.
Aleron Group, Miros Scotland, ZOEX Wave Power, along with Logan Energy, REOptimize Systems, Anakata Wind Power and Blueprint Subsea signed memorandums of understanding during a virtual ceremony hosted in Yantai City, Shandong province.
18 Can Microsoft Halt Climate Change With Its Carbon Negative Plan?
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2020-06-04/can-microsoft-halt-climate-change-with-its-carbon-negative-plan
Over the past four years, Lucas Joppa, Microsoft Corp.’s 37-year-old chief environmental officer, has dislocated and broken one shoulder, separated the other one, broken his right wrist, and also broken his left thumb. In early May he was pretty sure his right thumb was broken, but his hand surgeon said it was a torn ligament. It’s not that he’s clumsy or reckless—he calculates that, given the amount of time he spends on a bike or skis, his “error rate” is about 0.08%—it’s just that he has a tendency not to look before he jumps.
19 Wind Energy Investment To Overtake Oil & Gas In 2022 In Europe
https://oilprice.com/Alternative-Energy/Nuclear-Power/Wind-Energy-Investment-To-Overtake-Oil-Gas-In-2022-In-Europe.html
The oil market collapse caused by the Covid-19 pandemic is set to delay several oil and gas developments in Western Europe, putting capital expenditure in the offshore sector on a continued downwards trajectory through 2022. In light of the postponement of multiple final investment decisions (FIDs) on projects and lower investments in offshore oil and gas, coupled with increasing activity in the offshore wind sector, Rystad Energy expects that the two markets will reach parity as soon as next year. We anticipate that capital expenditure (capex) on offshore wind will surpass upstream O&G spending in Europe in 2022.
20 Coal production to drop 25% in 2020 as solar expected to grow 33%: EIA, SEIA
https://www.utilitydive.com/news/coal-production-to-drop-25-in-2020-as-solar-expected-to-grow-33-eia-sei/579674/
Coal production is anticipated to fall 25% in 2020 due to slowed industrial production under the current economic recession, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration’s short-term outlook released on Tuesday.
Meanwhile, the U.S. solar market hit a record in Q1 of this year, installing 3.6 GW, according to a Thursday report from the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA) and Wood Mackenzie. Though overall installations are expected to fall in 2020 compared to 2019, utility-scale solar’s strong performance is expected to boost the sector’s growth by 33% this year, SEIA and WoodMac found.
21 Global new clean energy investment totaled $282 billion last year
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-renewables-investment-idUSKBN23H281
Global investment in new clean energy capacity rose 1% last year to $282.2 billion, research by UNEP, Bloomberg New Energy Finance and the Frankfurt School-UNEP Collaborating Centre showed on Wednesday.
The United States invested $55.5 billion in 2019, up 28% from the year before as onshore wind developers rushed to take advantage of tax credits before their expected expiry, the report said.
Europe financed $54.6 billion, down 7% from 2018.
22 Scrub that: Pandemic forces ship owners to shelve anti-pollution gear
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-imo-shipping-scrubbers-focus-idUSKBN23J0SW
Ship owners are postponing or cancelling the installation of “scrubbers” that extract harmful sulphur emissions from their vessels as the coronavirus pandemic tightens finances.
The rules aimed to make ships use fuel with a sulphur content of 0.5%, compared with 3.5% previously. Operators had the alternative option to install devices – scrubbers – to strip out the pollutant, which causes lung problems among humans and contributes to acidification of oceans and acid rain, but has not been directly linked to climate change like carbon.
