Energy Shift: Change what you wish for

Plus: More people enjoying car-free living; $20B for green hydrogen in Oman; $20B for CCS in UK; Autonomous cars expand in China; “Net zero arms race”

Hi everyone,

Ever feel the need to say something important? Long time readers of Energy Shift appreciate getting caught up on the latest meaningful news in the energy transition, along with a sprinkling of my comments. This week, I am offering my take on a topic important to us all: energy use (and emissions) associated with our everyday lives: heating and cooling our homes and getting us around to places we need or want to be.

As usual, skim the rest of the headlines. A version with introductory text for every story is available on my website: StewardingEnergy.com.

Please consider forwarding to a friend or colleague and encourage them to subscribe.
Thanks,
Peter


Peter’s take: Be careful what you wish for…
I hear a lot of attention on reducing the production of oil and gas (energy supply) as being the answer to our climate woes – and this takes many forms – from opposition to new oil production to withholding financing and insurance for oil and gas companies. Not many people are thinking in terms or reducing emissions associated with end-use energy consumption – for heating, cooling and transport – much of which is still powered by oil and natural gas. Until we electrify heating and generate electricity with non-emitting energy production, reducing consumption of energy through retrofits will be among the things needed to reducing emissions necessary to meet climate goals.

For all those thinking the answer to climate change is less oil and gas production, be careful what you wish for. Our systems are not yet converted, so less supply will simply translate to higher oil and gas prices. Demand it still set to rise. Think I might have that wrong? See what WoodMac has to say: The great reopening: What the end of China’s ‘zero-Covid’ strategy means for global energy and natural resources.

And while high energy prices will eventually trigger changes in the system, those high prices will cause a lot of economic pain. Change what you wish for: lower emissions associated with energy consumption. Less car dependent city design, net-zero building codes and circular design are all good places to start. That will lower demand for oil and gas and result in lower emissions.


Feature Story

Car-Free Living Takes Off in Car-Centric Cities | BNN Bloomberg
In Houston and Charlotte, developers are leveraging micromobility, transit investments and zoning reforms to create walkable projects that omit the parking lot.

A rendering of The Plant, a converted industrial space envisioned as the anchor for a car-free development in Houston. Rendering courtesy of Concept Neighborhood.

A car-free development that’s long been hailed as potentially transformative is starting to come to life in Tempe, Arizona.

At Culdesac, a collection of mid-sized apartments and retail spaces with no residential parking, exterior walls have risen. Pavers, murals and desert cactus accent walkways and public spaces, and on-site restaurants and a farmer’s market recently opened. The first group of residents is set to move into a 16-unit building this May. Read more


Finance & Sentiment

$136trn investor coalition pushes big businesses for environmental information | edie
More than 740 investors, collectively managing more than $136bn in assets, are requesting more detailed information on the environmental policies and impact of more than 15,000 companies.

One-third of Americans would consider EV purchase -Reuters/Ipsos poll | Reuters
[Excerpts] The seven-day poll completed on Monday found 34% of all respondents would consider an EV, while 31% said no. There are now more than 80 EV models for sale in the United States. EVs represented nearly 6% of all U.S. sales in 2022, with EV sales up by more than 60% last year.

Set more credible climate strategies or lose our backing, investors tell European chemicals firms | edie
A group of investors managing more than $4trn of assets has written to 13 of Europe’s biggest chemicals companies, imploring them to increase their climate ambitions and credibly prove they are cutting emissions rapidly.

TD Launches $500 Billion Sustainable & Decarbonization Finance Target | ESG Today
[Excerpt] TD’s new sustainable finance goal follows the bank’s prior target, set in 2017, to deploy $100 billion by 2030 toward low-carbon lending, financing, asset management and internal corporate programs. According to the bank’s ESG report, the company reached its target in 2022, eight years ahead of schedule.


Technology

Hydrogen 

$20bn for green hydrogen | Oman signs six deals to build 15GW of electrolyser capacity | Hydrogen Insight
Sultanate concludes its first renewable H2 bidding round with investment commitments from a host of foreign companies including BP, Linde and Uniper

Remote renewable hydrogen project reaches critical milestone with water supply | RenewEconomy
One of the first low-cost renewable hydrogen projects in Western Australia has reached a critical milestone, signing a Binding Agreement to secure more than its needed supply of water for stage one of the project.
Comment: Whenever I see a green hydrogen project in a parched environment, I have to wonder where the water will come from. In this case, some of the water is to come from the Southern Seawater Desalination Plant, a facility that provides 30% of the State’s water supply. It turns out the energy for the desalination plant is offset by renewables – a wind farm and a solar farm. Which makes me similiarly wonder the extent to which the 40 member team at Total Eren has done their homework on the sustainable supply of water for all their green hydrogen projects they have sketched out for Australia – see the next story.

TotalEnergies’ arm unveils 30GW green-hydrogen pipeline in Australia, despite HyEnergy exit | Hydrogen Insight
French oil major TotalEnergies’ renewables arm, Total Eren, has built a green hydrogen project pipeline of up to 30GW in Australia, after a team of 40 spent the past 18 months identifying potential developments, it revealed today.
Comment: see above.

Brussels unveils ‘Hydrogen Bank’ with €800m of initial funding | edie
The European Commission wants to lower hydrogen prices by subsidising production, paying a part of the bill for every kilogram of hydrogen produced, a move that drew cheers from the industry and criticism from experts.
[Comment] They chose to go the reverse auction approach for doling out support for hydrogen production. Critics would have preferred a Carbon Contracts-forDifference (CCfD) approach for sectors most in need of decarbonization. That said, the funding support is important and recognizes the role government must play in nursing this new sector until it gets to the scale where it can compete.

Hydrogen blending exceeds expectations in WEC Energy Group test of Wärtsilä gas-fired engine | Utility Dive
Mixing hydrogen with natural gas to form a bridge between today’s technology and a zero-carbon future has been a popular concept for some time. A demonstration project in the largest grid-connected, gas-fired engine to date reinforces the concept’s potential.

Japan’s Sumitomo Corp signs $250MM deal with Israeli startup for hydrogen tech | The Times of Israel
An Israeli company has signed a strategic agreement with a major Japanese conglomerate to supply its technology for producing hydrogen, a gas widely seen as a source of green power for the future.

Zimbabwe to develop first utility-scale hydrogen power plant | pv magazine
HDF and ZETDC have signed Zimbabwe’s first utility-scale green hydrogen power plant, with 178 GWh of expected annual electricity production. Rystad Energy, meanwhile, says Africa’s total electrolyzer pipeline has hit 114 GW.

UK: Lhyfe and Centrica to Explore Offshore Renewable Green Hydrogen Development | Hydrogen Central
The companies have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) that could accelerate green hydrogen as part of the energy transition in the UK. Under the agreement, Lhyfe and Centrica will explore combining their expertise to collaborate on a pilot green hydrogen production site in the Southern North Sea.

High-pressure alkaline electrolyser maker HydrogenPro to build new 500MW factory in Texas | Hydrogen Insight
The US market is now its top priority, says the Norwegian company, which currently manufacturers all its electrolysers in China. Norwegian manufacturer HydrogenPro says it will build 500MW high-pressure alkaline electrolysers annually at a new factory in Texas that could later be scaled up to several gigawatts.

Tender for 500MW offshore green hydrogen project in North Sea announced by Dutch government | Hydrogen Insight
The planned facility would include a 500MW electrolyser powered by offshore wind that would pump renewable H2 to shore by pipeline.


Carbon Capture 

£20bn over 20 years: UK Government confirms unprecedented carbon capture investment | edie
[Excerpt] The Government is claiming that, with the investment set to be outlined by Hunt, the UK can expect to capture between 20 million and 30 million tonnes of CO2 per year by 2030.

EU sets world’s first target for underground CO2 storage capacity | Euractiv
The European Commission set out a target on Thursday (16 March) to enable 50 million tonnes of annual carbon dioxide injection capacity by 2030, a move that puts the oil and gas industry under pressure.

Drax pauses £2bn carbon capture project | edie
Drax has paused its £2bn investment scheme in bioenergy with carbon capture at its power plant in North Yorkshire, stating that it needs a “firm” offer of support from the UK Government before proceeding.

BP ties up with PetroChina to develop CCUS cluster in southern China | Upstream
BP is set to build a carbon capture, utilisation and storage (CCUS) cluster with PetroChina in Hainan province in southern China. The UK supermajor’s China arm signed a memorandum of understanding with PetroChina’s China Southern Petroleum Exploration and Development to focus on CCUS-based low-carbon projects onshore Hainan.

GE Enters the Fray With New DAC Technology | Energy Intelligence
Industrial conglomerate GE is the latest company to plunge into the nascent direct air capture (DAC) sector and says it plans to launch demonstrations of its technology in 2024.

CF to Invest $1.7B in Louisiana Ammonia and CCS Projects | Chem Analyst
ExxonMobil has been chosen to transport and store captured Carbon dioxide (CO2) from CF Industries’ Waggaman facility in Vermilion Parish, Louisiana. EnLink Midstream LLC has also entered into an agreement with ExxonMobil to transport this CO2 via its pipeline network.

Scientists find a way to suck up carbon pollution, turn it into baking soda and store it in the oceans | CNN
Scientists have set out a way to suck planet-heating carbon pollution from the air, turn it into sodium bicarbonate and store it in oceans, according to a new paper. The technique could be up to three times more efficient than current carbon capture technology, say the authors of the study, published Wednesday in the journal Science Advances.


Green Iron 

Fortescue hails “green iron” breakthrough as own coal-free tech moves to pilot phase | RenewEconomy
Fortescue Future Industries says it has successfully processed “green iron” ore that it says marks a “breakthrough technology” and a major step away from the use of fossil fuels in the steel-making process, one of the world’s dirtiest industries.


Buildings 

UK Government unveils plan for £1.8bn (USD$2.2B) of spending on building energy efficiency | edie
The UK Government has confirmed how it will be allocating almost £2bn of funding to improve the energy efficiency of more than 115,000 homes and public sector buildings like schools and hospitals.
[Comment] Very high energy prices for consumers in the UK have likely contributed to politicians being willing to open the public purse for building retrofits.


Geothermal 

Eavor’s next-generation geothermal project awarded €91,6 million grant for project in Germany | Financial Post
[Excerpt] The project will result in 8,2 MWe and ~44.000 tCO2e GHG emissions avoided per year including anticipated heat offtake and power sales. Eavor estimates that ~20.000 homes will be powered with clean energy harnessed from the Earth.
[Comment] While not yet cost competitive with solar, the appeal of this technology is that it provides continuous energy for district heating in the hundreds of European towns that use such systems. Directional drilling – 7.5 km down with as many as a dozen laterals of 6.5 km makes this possible – albeit an impressively large drilling campaign said to start in July.


Small Modular Reactors 

UK launches competition to support small nuclear reactors | Reuters
British finance minister Jeremy Hunt said he would boost investment in nuclear power by launching a competition for small modular reactors (SMRs), such as those being developed by Rolls-Royce, and funding if the technology proved to be viable.


Energy Storage 

New Zealand considers investing US$9.8 billion in 5TWh of pumped hydro to bridge energy deficit | Energy Storage News
The government of New Zealand is considering the viability of pumped hydro energy storage (PHES) among its options to plug energy deficits of between 3TWh and 5TWh.

Genex takes delivery of 40 Tesla Megapacks for 50MW battery in Australia | RenewEconomy
[Excerpt] Genex has what it calls a “unique” arrangement with Tesla that effectively guarantees minimum revenue and share in higher profits. Tesla will operate the battery using its Autobidder software, which will also help to maximise revenues.

SSE pledges £100m investment boost to pumped hydro scheme in Scotland | edie
SSE has announced plans to invest £100m in the Coire Glas pumped hydro project, but is seeking more support from the UK Government to bring the £1.5bn facility to fruition. The project, planned for the shores of Loch Lochy, would be capable of delivering 30GWh of long-duration energy storage, making it the UK’s largest pumped hydro project in more than four decades once completed. It would more than double Britain’s long-duration energy storage capacity.


Solar and Wind 

Uzbekistan signs deals with ACWA for 1.4GW of solar and 1.5 GWh of battery storage | RenewEconomy
Saudi energy developer and operator ACWA Power has secured agreements to build three solar PV + storage projects in Uzbekistan, one of the world’s largest solar and battery storage project agreements ever signed.

GE is developing a massive 18 MW offshore wind turbine | Electrek
GE Vernova is developing a 17-18 megawatt (MW) Haliade-X offshore wind turbine, CEO Scott Strazik confirmed during the company’s investor conference late last week.

Colombia allocates 5.77 GW of solar in renewables auction | pv magazine
The Colombian authorities assigned 7.49 GW of renewable energy projects in the nation’s latest procurement exercise.


Autonomous Vehicles 

Baidu (BIDU) robotaxis offering fully-driverless rides continue to take over China | Electrek
Apollo Go, tech company Baidu’s robotaxi service, has received a permit to offer fully-driverless rides in Beijing, expanding its autonomous ride-hailing service to three major cities in China. Following the awarded permit, Baidu is now the first company in the entire world to offer fully-driverless rides to the over 21 million residents in China’s capital city.
[Comment] This is rather remarkable – but not entirely surprising for China. When I started this newsletter back in 2017, autonomous vehicle tech held lots of promise – as if it was nearly here. So much so, there were valid concerns that our roads would be clogged with robot cars with nobody in them. More than five years later, things have progressed slowly. So to see this expansion happening in China is worth noting.

Driverless trucks will deliver food to 3 Kroger stores in Texas | KERA News
Gatik will operate 20-foot trucks that are capable of transporting frozen food seven days a week to make multiple deliveries to three Kroger locations from the company’s Dallas distribution center. The trucks will start with a “safety driver” before letting the vehicles on the road on its own.


Transportation 

Volkswagen’s ID. 2all Looks Like the Affordable EV We’ve Been Waiting For | Inverse

Credit: Volkswagen

The company is only planning on releasing the ID. 2all in European markets right now. It’s not exactly a Golf, and it’s not quite a Polo, but Volkswagen’s ID.2all concept has certainly captured our attention with its €25,000 price tag.

Renault CEO’s message to Germany: Car engines are dying, the future is electric | Politico
“I don’t think there’s anybody … that’s developing a completely new engine in Europe,” said de Meo. “Nobody is, you know, from scratch developing a new combustion engine in Europe. … All the money is going to electric or hydrogen technology.”

Volkswagen to Build Battery Plant in Canada to Fast-Track Expansion | BNN Bloomberg
Volkswagen AG has chosen Canada to build its first battery plant outside Europe in a bid to fast-track an expansion in the key US market. The site, in St. Thomas, Ontario, is slated to start production in 2027, Europe’s biggest carmaker said Monday.

Tesla’s Vision of EVs Without Rare Earths Will Spur Magnet Race | Yahoo Finance
Tesla Inc.’s ambition to remove rare earths from future models has producers in the sector reeling, but it also should spur global efforts to deliver alternatives for electric car motors that currently rely on the materials.

Japan’s Nissan slashing EV costs, cuts rare materials use | AP
Japanese automaker Nissan is revving up its electrification shift and slashing costs by using the same components across models and reducing use of expensive rare materials. The company said development and manufacturing costs will be reduced by 30% in 2026 compared to 2019 levels.

Ford Sees Electric-Vehicle Losses Growing to $3 Billion in 2023 | BNN Bloomberg
Ford Motor Co. predicts losses in its electric vehicle business will grow to $3 billion this year as its spends big on new models and factories. The deficit matches its accumulated EV losses over the past two years. Ford this year projects its internal-combustion-engine vehicles will generate about $7 billion in earnings before interest and taxes, which it characterized as a “modest improvement.”

U.K. sets massive rollout of EV chargers in net-zero push | BNN Bloomberg
England’s Surrey County Council and EV-infrastructure company Connected Kerb plan to install 10,000 chargers by 2030, they said in a joint statement. The firm plans to invest £60 million in the project, which is the nation’s largest deployment of on-street EV posts by a local authority.

Foxconn brings EV battery production to two U.S. states |  Teslarati
Foxconn, the iPhone manufacturer that bailed out Lordstown Motors from bankruptcy, announced that it would build electric vehicle batteries in Wisconsin and Ohio on Thursday, hoping to take advantage of the Inflation Reduction Act that incentivizes domestic cell manufacturing.

China’s carmaker BYD breaks ground on Thailand EV plant | China Daily
China’s leading electric vehicle manufacturer BYD held a groundbreaking ceremony on Friday for its first car plant in Thailand, marking the latest move by Chinese automakers to expand their footprint in Southeast Asia. The plant is scheduled to start production in 2024 with an annual capacity of 150,000 new energy vehicles.

Volvo to export all-new compact EV from China: CEO | Nikkei Asia
Volvo’s all-new electric vehicle slated for launch this year will be manufactured in China and exported to Europe and Japan, the Swedish automaker’s CEO said in an interview with Nikkei.


Policy

EU enters “net zero arms race”: European Commission unveils new vision for clean energy revolution | edie
The European Commission has unveiled its highly anticipated proposals for a Net-Zero Industry Act to accelerate the scale-up and manufacturing of clean technologies across the European Union.