Plus: Imperial plans renewable diesel; Germany wants green hydrogen from Namibia; Taiwan plans 15GW offshore wind
Hi Everyone,
I realize it has only been a week since the last update, but there was too much to share to hold it back for another week. Plus, I may need to stretch out the time before you’ll see my next update.
Continue to forward on to colleagues, friends and family and encourage them to subscribe. Are you wishing I’d cover something more than you’re seeing? Let me know, please!
Thanks,
Peter
Comments & Questions
I’ve created a pseudo feature story of my own making, based on a video I watched. Check it out below and tell me what you think it will take to trigger the kind of acceleration in climate action.
Feature Story
Global governments lavish spending on social issues to trigger oil bull market
According to Jeff Currie at Goldman Sachs, the pandemic started out as a health care crisis, but morphed into an epic social crisis that exposed in a very raw form inequality – wealth inequality, income inequality, race inequality, age inequality and more. This focused policy makers to focus on social needs, with every single government spending on this, with Jeff making the case this will create a structural rise in demand as an “absolute game changer.”
“Can the world’s rich create a bull market for oil or any physical good – absolutely not. Only low income groups can create bull markets in physical assets like oil and other commodities. We are stimulating low income groups all over the world at exactly the same time.”
The example given for lavish social spending: the $3.5 trillion US budget package approved by the Senate, but yet to make it through Congress to “to create jobs, slow climate change and strengthen the social safety net”. Jeff says he expects an oil bull market out to at least 2024, while simultaneously the oil supply side is expected to be challenged.
I’ll admit to not making that connection. And if he’s right, it will be a “long goodbye to oil” with important implications for climate change. Yes, we have government and corporate ambition to do better. Question is will the ensuing outrage at not making changes fast enough galvanize real global action.
Check out this CERAWeek video. The 5 minutes where the above topic is discussed is from the 21:30 mark, but watch the full 32 minutes for the full story of the “long goodbye” to oil.
Oil & the Energy Transition: A long goodbye?
CERAWeek Conversations
Finance & Sentiment
Go beyond net-zero and target net-negative emissions, climate scientists urge | edie
A group of world-renowned climate scientists is arguing that ambitions for reaching net-zero emissions by 2050 will no longer be enough to avoid the worst impacts of global heating, in light of the fact that change is happening more rapidly than predicted.
Insurers Can Afford to Drop Oil and Gas—But Many Won’t | BNN Bloomberg
For the insurance industry to fulfill its stated commitment to combat climate change, it may want to accelerate its efforts to exit the oil and gas industry.
Gas producer’s net zero pledge challenged in court by activist | Bloomberg via JWN
Australian oil and gas producer Santos Ltd. will be challenged in court on its claim to have a “clear and credible” path to net zero greenhouse gas emissions from its operations, in a case brought by a climate activist group.
Technology
Hydrogen
Germany ploughs $117m into Siemens Energy-led bid to develop game-changer hydrogen offshore wind | Recharge
Flagship H2Mare project based on Siemens Gamesa turbines aims at building entire value chain to produce green hydrogen at sea.
Acme to set up 3.5GW green hydrogen facility in Oman in US$3.5bn deal | PV Tech
Indian solar developer ACME Group has signed a deal to advance a green hydrogen project in Oman which will be powered by 3GW of solar.
Germany signs deal with Namibia in race for cheap green hydrogen | RECHARGE
Europe’s largest economy closes partnership deal with African nation, which hopes to produce renewable H2 at prices as low as $1.8/kg.
Blue and green hydrogen produce “comparable” levels of emissions, says research body | Energy Voice
A leading European research body has hit back at claims blue hydrogen is “difficult to justify” due to its carbon emissions.
Carbon intensity of blue hydrogen production | Pembina Institute
New research by the Pembina Institute has found the climate benefits of blue hydrogen vary considerably when the entire life cycle of production, including carbon capture are factored in.
British Columbia announces 63-point Hydrogen Strategy | Bennett Jones
the Government of British Columbia released its Hydrogen Strategy outlining 63 actions to be undertaken over the short-term (2020-25), medium-term (2025-30) and long-term (2030-50) to make B.C. a leader in local hydrogen adoption and global hydrogen business.
Hydrogen Alliance established in Canada | Energy News
The Canada Hydrogen Alliance (CH2A), led by Hybrixcel and seeded by GERB Scientific, will promote supply chain innovation, production, and the commercialization of hydrogen-focused technology and hydrogen-powered projects.
[Comment: I can’t find anything more on this entity and it’s members. Anyone with more information, let me know]
Carbon Capture
Swiss Re Signed a $10 Million Carbon Capture Deal | BNN Bloomberg
Reinsurance giant Swiss Re announced Wednesday that it had signed the world’s first long-term agreement to take carbon directly out of the air. The contract with Climeworks AG, one of the world’s leading direct air-capture startups, will net the climate technology company $10 million over 10 years.
Renewable Natural Gas
Chevron and Brightmark expand RNG partnership | Energy Global
Brightmark LLC and Chevron U.S.A. Inc. have announced the second expansion of their previously announced joint venture, Brightmark RNG Holdings LLC, to own projects across the US to produce and market dairy biomethane, a renewable natural gas.
Energy Storage
Iron-air long-duration battery startup Form Energy closes US$240 million funding round | Energy Storage News
Form Energy has closed its Series D financing round, with investors including steel company ArcelorMittal putting US$240 million into the Boston-headquartered iron-air battery startup.
New South Wales government approves plan for 400MW solar farm with 200MWh battery storage | Energy Storage News
Stubbo Solar Farm and Battery, a project under development in New South Wales (NSW), Australia, which would pair 400MW of solar with 200MW / 200MWh of battery energy storage, has taken a step closer to going ahead.
Siemens and Fluence to build renewables-integrating 100MW/200MWh battery project in Germany | Energy Storage News
Siemens has signed a letter of intent for the construction of a turnkey 100MW / 200MWh large-scale battery energy storage system (BESS) in Wunsiedel, northern Bavaria, Germany.
Compressed air energy storage company Hydrostor nets CA$10m of growth capital | Energy Storage News
Hydrostor, a Canadian company with projects under development in North America and Australia using its advanced compressed air energy storage (A-CAES) technology, has secured CA$10 million (US$7.99 million) growth capital.
Solar and Wind
China Muscles In on Middle East Renewables With Alcazar Takeover | BNN Bloomberg
China is making one of its biggest pushes yet into Middle Eastern renewable energy. A group led by state power firm China Three Gorges Corp. is buying Alcazar Energy Partners, a Dubai-based wind and solar developer.
Taiwan Finalises 15 GW Offshore Wind Allocation Plan for 2026-2035 | Offshore Wind Biz
While the draft regulation for Taiwan’s 3rd round of offshore wind auctions was in discussion, it was reported that 1.5 GW of offshore wind capacity would be added each year from 2026 until 2035, instead of previously planned 1 GW – adding 15 GW instead of the initially proposed 10 GW during that period. The upper bidding price limit for the first phase set at approximately € 0.076/kWh.
NSW stuns with 34GW of wind, solar proposals for New England renewable zone | RenewEconomy
The New South Wales government says it has been “swamped” by 34 gigawatts of renewable energy projects for what will be the country’s biggest renewable energy zone in New England, in the state’s north. The massive response to an EOI (expressions of interest) issued by the state Liberal government is more than four times greater than the capacity needed to fill the planned 8GW renewable energy zone.
World’s largest floating wind farm completed in Scotland | RenewEconomy
The 48MW Kincardine Offshore Wind farm has been completed off the coast of Aberdeenshire, Scotland, and classed by the American Bureau of Shipping (ABS) as the world’s largest floating offshore wind farm. Now operational, the Kincardine Offshore Wind farm is expected to generate up to 218GWh worth of electricity each year – enough to power the equivalent of approximately 55,000 Scottish households.
Iraq announces another 2 GW solar project | pv magazine
The Iraqi government has announced that Chinese state-owned conglomerate Power Construction Corporation of China (Power China) is planning to deploy 2 GW of PV capacity across several unspecified locations in Iraq.
Brazil hits 10 GW solar PV milestone, 2GW installed in past 5 months | pv magazine
Strong growth in the distributed-generation PV segment, which includes all installations not exceeding 5 MW in size that operate under the net metering regime, is driving the market, along with a growing number of bilateral power purchase agreements (PPAs) for large-scale solar plants.
Transportation
ExxonMobil’s Imperial Oil plans Canadian renewable diesel project
Financial Post: Imperial expects the project will reduce emissions by three million tonnes, which is the equivalent of taking 650,000 cars off the road.
S&P Global: ExxonMobil is moving further into the renewable fuels space after its Canadian affiliate Imperial Oil advanced plans to build a 20,000 b/d renewable diesel complex on the site of its existing 200,000 b/d Strathcona refinery in Edmonton, Alberta.
Maersk orders eight large container ships to run on ‘carbon-neutral’ e-methanol | Euractiv
Credit: Maersk
After announcing plans to operate a small carbon-neutral vessel by 2023, Danish shipping giant AP Moller-Maersk has ordered eight large ocean-going container vessels capable of running on ‘green’ e-methanol.
Montreal commits $885 million to electric buses, bikes and cars in the next three years | Electric Autonomy
The City of Montreal continues to go big on clean transit, with an “audacious” plan that earmarks nearly $900 million for charging infrastructure, new electric vehicles and zero-emission public transportation.
Siemens will produce 1M more EV chargers in the US in the next 4 years | Electrek
Global tech giant Siemens is about to ramp up its existing EV infrastructure manufacturing output by producing over 1 million VersiCharge Level 2 AC commercial and residential EV chargers for the US market over the next four years.
Blackrock backs rollout of 5,000 EV chargers in Australia, $100m stake in Jolt | The Driven
BlackRock, the world’s largest asset manager with $A9 trillion in assets, has announced it is injecting $100 million in funding into Jolt, an electric car charging startup that wants to make EV ownership more affordable.
BlackRock acquires 3.5GW US wind and solar portfolio | reNEWS
BlackRock Real Assets has acquired National Renewable Solutions (NRS), a Minneapolis-based renewable energy developer focused on early stage wind and solar projects in the US, with assets in New Mexico, Colorado, Arizona and Nevada.
Audi announces ‘Vorsprung 2030’ electrification strategy, sets 2033 expiry for ICE models | Electrek
In its continued journey toward vehicle electrification, Audi has announced goals to become a sustainable, social, and technological leader by 2030. This is all part of a new corporate strategy from Audi called “Vorsprung 2030,” with the goal of accelerating the automaker’s electrified transformation originally slotted for 2026. Furthermore, Audi will continue to phase out internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicle production, approaching an end date of 2033.
Vietnam’s VinFast eyes StoreDot’s fast-charging battery tech for EV units | FutureIOT
Vietnamese electric vehicle (EV) manufacturer VinFast is looking at an extremely fast charging technology that would allow an EV battery to charge to 80% in four to five minutes.
Rivian is ready for R1T electric pickup production, waiting for government approval | Electrek
Rivian says that its R1T electric pickup is basically ready for production and it is now waiting for government approval to start deliveries.
World’s first autonomous, 7MWh electric cargo ship to make voyage with zero crew onboard | Electrek
The Yara Birkeland electric cargo ship / Source: Yara International
According to a report from CNN, the Yara Birkeland electric cargo ship will make its first autonomous voyage between two Norwegian towns (Herøya to Brevik) later this year. While there will be no crew onboard the cargo ship, it will still be closely monitored from three control centers onshore.
Policy
State Oil Companies Take Their First Ungainly Steps Toward Climate Neutrality | BNN Bloomberg
Petroleos Mexicanos left investors with more questions than answers after it announced in late July that it would be disclosing its greenhouse gas emissions on a more regular basis — then refused to discuss why they’d soared by double-digits from April to June, compared to a year ago
Why this is important: “…state producers contribute just over half of today’s worldwide oil supply, a figure that could reach 65% by 2050, according to Rystad Energy. Unlisted state fossil fuel companies are responsible for about 20% of the world’s emissions, and another 19% of global emissions comes from listed state-controlled oil producers…”