Plus: Hyundai investing a billion in hydrogen; PV modules scarce, prices up; Lithium prices up too; UK targets 100% renewable power by 2035
Hi Everyone,
Happy Thanksgiving weekend to all of you Canadians. I trust you’ll find some time to reflect on the blessings in your life.
There was too much content to save up for another week. If you can, take some time to ready the feature story. As always, comments welcome.
Thanks,
Peter
Observations & Comments
I encourage you to read the feature piece by Gregor Macdonald. He lays out a compelling case for oil demand reaching plateau. The use of the word ‘plateau’ is important. Many times I see the word ‘peak’ associated with oil demand which connotes a steep drop thereafter. So in a plateau, there could be modest increases and decreases – neither of which materially affect the plateau designation.
Next – take a look at the hydrogen investments happening – particularly in Asia. Again figures involving the label ‘billion’.
I included a section on buildings with a neat video from explaining the design features of a passive house that doesn’t have a furnace.
Note the prices for solar panels and lithium are on the rise. Supplies are simply not able to keep up with demand. See related stories in the Solar and Energy Storage sections.
Give the rest of the headlines a scan and dive deeper at your leisure.
Feature Story: Insights into key energy trends | Gregor Macdonald
There are good reasons to forecast that global oil demand has now entered a plateau. Let’s start with a big one: the peak in global sales of internal combustion (ICE) vehicles, set back in 2017, triggered by the world’s largest car market, China. Since that time the main tracking agencies, IEA and EIA, have converged to forecast that global road fuel demand is also now peaking. Continue reading…
Finance & Sentiment
European banks canceling fossil fuel companies over ESG liabilities | World Oil
European banks are beginning to drop clients that pose a climate risk rather than face the possibility of higher capital requirements, according to the watchdog overseeing the development.
The case for a more radical climate movement | Vox
Author Andreas Malm on the failures of climate activism and the need for escalation.
Has the climate movement failed? It’s hard to look at the world at this moment and not conclude that the answer is yes. Despite all the activism, despite all the protests, despite all the warnings, the world is still in many ways hostage to the fossil fuel industry.
Rich Countries Fall $10 Billion Short in Climate Finance Pledges | BNN Bloomberg
Rich countries are racing to close a climate-finance shortfall of at least $10 billion, with a handful of European nations planning to increase their pledges this month ahead of crucial talks in Glasgow, Scotland, according to people familiar with the plans.
Avon, Phoenix Group and TfL: Pension schemes covering billions bolster net-zero ambitions | edie
The £10.6bn Transport for London (TfL) pension fund, £4.5bn Avon Pension Fund, and Phoenix Group, which manages £250bn of investments, have all set interim ambitions to reduce financed emissions on the road to net-zero.
‘Staggering’ — Dow plans major petrochemical expansion, shift to net-zero in Alberta | Financial Post
Dow Chemical Co. plans to triple the size of an Alberta petrochemical plant and transition the facility to net-zero emissions in a major project that experts believe will cost upwards of $10 billion, marking the biggest capital investment in the province in 15 years.
Technology
Hydrogen
Hyundai to Invest Over $1 Billion in New Hydrogen Fuel Cell Plants | ESG Today
Global automotive supplier Hyundai Mobis announced today plans to invest $1.1 billion to build two hydrogen cell system plants in Korea. When fully operational, the two facilities are expected to produce 100,000 hydrogen fuel cells every year.
Plug Power Announces Joint Venture with SK Group to Expand Hydrogen Economy in Asia | Investor Observer
Plug Power Inc. and SK E&S, part of South Korea’s SK Group, announced that the companies have formed a joint venture designed to accelerate the use of hydrogen as an alternative energy source in Asian markets.
Air Liquide, Total to Launch World’s Largest Fund for Clean Hydrogen Solutions | Mercom India
The fund aims to raise $1.74 billion and has secured $928 million in initial commitments. Air Liquide, TotalEnergies, VINCI, and other international companies have come together to sponsor the creation of the world’s largest fund exclusively dedicated to clean hydrogen infrastructure solutions.
TC Energy, Nikola collaboration could see hydrogen coursing through fuel pipelines | Financial Post
Calgary-based TC Energy Corp. announced Thursday it would leverage its vast network of pipelines and natural gas resources to establish hydrogen production hubs near highly-travelled truck corridors in the U.S. and Canada.
Norway’s Top Oil Producer Has Multibillion-Dollar Hydrogen Plan | BNN Bloomberg
Equinor ASA, the flagship producer of oil and gas giant Norway, is investing billions of dollars in blue hydrogen on a bet that it can make the fuel more cleanly than anyone else. The company plans around 100 billion kroner ($11.7 billion) of investment in hydrogen — comprising its own spending, partners’ contributions and state funding — by 2035.
Carbon Capture
Made-from-CO2 concrete, lululemons and diamonds spark investor excitement | Reuters
What do diamonds, sunglasses, high-end lululemon sportswear and concrete have to do with climate change? They can all be made using carbon dioxide (CO2), locking up the planet warming gas. And tech startups behind these transformations are grabbing investor attention.
Geothermal
Eavor Technologies secures Canadian federal funding | ThinkGeoEnergy
Announced already last month, Eavor Technolgies has secured C$4.3 million in funding from Sustainable Development Technology Canada (SDTC). This funding will be used for the further development of the Eavor-Loop technology, the first scalable form of clean baseload power.
Buildings
Ireland announces plan to install 600,000 heat pumps by 2030 | pv magazine
The move is part of the National Development Plan 2021-2030, which aims to increase the share of renewable electricity in the generation mix up to 80% and to allocate around 15.5 GW of wind and solar capacity through an auction scheme.
Heat and Buildings Strategy: Scotland sets out investments to deliver net-zero built environment | edie
With still no sign of the UK’s Heat and Buildings Strategy, the Scottish Government has unveiled its intention to cut emissions from the built environment by 68% by 2030 through a £1.8bn investment plan to transform the nation’s building stock to net-zero by 2045.
Passive House 101 – Anatomy of an amazing net-zero cold climate passive house
Check out this video from David Dodge at Green Energy Futures and consider subscribing to his YouTube channel. This amazing net-zero passive house is a bungalow that requires no furnace, even in the northern climes of Calgary, Alberta, Canada where winter temperatures can get as low as -40 Celsius.
Energy Storage
From James Frith at Bloomberg Hyperdrive Daily [Subscribe here]: “Three factors have determined lithium’s dominance in the storage market: low cost, wide availability and flexible performance. Other technologies that have tried to compete generally have struggled to match it across these three areas.”
GM announces new battery facility to develop lithium-metal and solid-state cells | Electrek
[Excerpt from GM] General Motors announced the Wallace Battery Cell Innovation Center, an all-new facility that will significantly expand the company’s battery technology operations and accelerate development and commercialization of longer range, more affordable electric vehicle batteries. The battery engineering team based at the Wallace Center will experiment with many types of future battery chemistry in addition to lithium-metal, including pure silicon and solid-state, along with different cell form factors. The Wallace Center is expected to build batteries ranging in energy density from 600 to 1200 watt-hours per liter, along with crucial battery cell ingredients like cell active materials.
Lithium Jumps Again as Miners Can’t Keep Up With Battery Boom | Energy Now
Lithium prices extended their yearlong rally as surging demand spurs a shortfall of the key battery material. Prices have more than doubled in the past year, according to a Benchmark Mineral Intelligence index of lithium carbonate and hydroxide.
Vanadium redox flow batteries with purported LCOS of $0.10/kWh | pv magazine
Singapore-based VFlowTech has secured funds to scale up manufacturing of its vanadium redox flow batteries. The company currently offers three modular products that can be scaled to multi-megawatt-hour systems.
BASF switches on 5.8MWh NGK sodium-sulfur battery storage system in Belgium | Energy Storage News
BASF and BASF New Business team members at the completed installation of four containerised NGK NAS battery storage units in Antwerp, Belgium. Image: BASF New Business.
A long-duration energy storage system using NGK’s sodium-sulfur (NAS) batteries has been commissioned by a subsidiary of German chemicals company BASF, which seeks out high growth opportunity businesses to work with.
Solar and Wind
PV modules expensive and scarce, no change in sight | pv magazine
Solar PV modules are currently trading at price levels last seen in 2018 and 2019, according to an account manager at PVO International. EPC companies in Europe, in particular, are suffering. A lack of large-scale integrated PV production on the continent is also playing a role.
Tesla expands solar roof installations to anywhere in the US | Electrek
Tesla has decided to expand the market for solar roof tile installations to anywhere in the US. The move comes as Tesla aims to greatly accelerate solar roof installations.
Shell signs partnerships for 800 MW of solar developments in UK | Renewables Now
Royal Dutch Shell Plc (AMS:RDSA) will partner with two UK solar developers on the development of more than 800 MW of solar farms in the UK.
Iraq, Masdar sign implementation agreement for 1GW solar projects | NS Energy
The Iraqi government and UAE-based renewable energy company Masdar have signed an implementation agreement to develop 1GW of solar energy capacity in Iraq. As per the terms of the contract, Masdar will build five solar power plants in the first phase. After the first phase, Iraq and Masdar will develop another 1GW of solar capacity.
Wind Turbine Maker Plans First Big Chinese-Built Plant in Europe | BNN Bloomberg
Chinese wind turbine manufacturer Ming Yang Smart Energy Group Ltd. is planning to set up a major manufacturing facility in Germany in a bid to capture a chunk of Europe’s fast-growing renewable power market.
Autonomous Technology
GM announces ‘Ultra Cruise’ to enable ‘true hands-free driving’, taking OTA update approach | Electrek
GM announced today its new ‘Ultra Cruise’ feature, which they believe will enable “true hands-free driving” on “95% of driving scenarios” in the US and Canada. Interestingly, GM is taking a Tesla-like approach of enabling this capability over time through over-the-air (OTA) software updates.
Transportation
ABB launches world’s fastest charger to plug into surging e-car market | Reuters
ABB has launched the world’s fastest electric car charger, the Swiss engineering company said on Thursday, to plug into the booming demand for electric cars made by Tesla, Hyundai and other automakers.
Airline Industry Targets Net-Zero Carbon Emissions by 2050 | BNN Bloomberg
The airline industry’s main international lobby group adopted a target of eliminating carbon emissions on a net basis by 2050, a goal that will require balancing the fight against climate change with the need to spur demand in the aftermath of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Electric bicycle sales are growing 16x faster than general cycling. Here’s why | Electrek
Electric bicycle sales had been growing at an impressive rate in the US even before the COVID-19 pandemic began. But ever since the pandemic started, sales of e-bikes have skyrocketed. Now the latest numbers show that e-bikes sales aren’t cooling off anytime soon.
Volvo Lands Order for 100 Electric Trucks in ‘Breakthrough’ Deal | BNN Bloomberg
DFDS A/S, Northern Europe’s largest shipping and logistics company, is buying 100 electric heavy trucks from Volvo Group as pollution and noise restrictions overhaul the transport sector.
Policy
UK targets power from 100% renewable sources by 2035 | S&P Global
UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson has said 100% of the country’s electricity could come from renewables by 2035. The goal — outlined during the Conservative Party conference on Oct. 4 — builds on the government’s target to cut CO2 emissions by 78% by 2035 compared with 1990 levels and comes amid a period of stress in the UK energy system caused by rising international gas prices.
Turkey Ratifies Paris Agreement Ahead of Key Climate Summit | BNN Bloomberg
Turkey ratified the Paris Agreement but vowed to implement the climate change accord in a way that avoids it making aggressive cuts in emissions.
UAE becomes first Gulf state to commit to net zero. Oil will still flow | CNN
The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has become the first country in the Persian Gulf to commit to net zero carbon emissions by 2050. But it’s not turning its back on oil just yet.