Daily Climate News - March 26
Green Hydrogen opportunity in Africa; converting CO2 to methanol using solar energy; water risk for fashion brands
I like to give the worse news first - your favourite chocolate may see a price hike as there’s a cocoa supply shortage from West Africa. Bad weather, fungal and viral plant disease, and aging trees with low yield are to be blamed.
Cocoa has more than tripled in cost over the past year and is up 129% in 2024.
…The International Cocoa Organization has forecast a supply deficit of 374,000 tons for the 2023-24 season, a 405% increase from a deficit of 74,000 tons in the previous season.
Green Hydrogen in Africa
Africa has very high renewable potential - capacity factors in top locations such as Mauritania, Namibia and Morrocco can exceed those in Canada, Iberia and Middle East by 20%.
Analysis from the Hydrogen Council and Mckinsey & Co finds potential for Africa to be not just a producer, but also an exporter of green hydrogen. There may be significant opportunity to export to Europe, due to proximity, and using pipelines for transport. This may be a big economic opportunity for the continent and could generate $15 billion annually from exports by 2050.
If Africa were to capture an estimated 15% of the trade volume of clean global hydrogen and derivatives as a result of competitive pricing and import diversification strategies in a global commodity market, this would then translate into 1 Mtpa of hydrogen equivalents exported to Europe and Asia in 2030, which would grow to 5 Mtpa in 2040 and 11 Mtpa in 2050. In addition, the bunkering of hydrogen-derived fuels on main shipping routes could provide a 2 Mtpa opportunity in 2050.
Hydrogen projects have high capex, which contributes ~80% of the levelized cost of hydrogen (LCOH). The cost of producing green hydrogen projects in Africa may be high due to high financing costs arising from country-related and project execution risks.
Hydrogen Council | Report (PDF)
Converting CO2 into methanol using solar energy
Carbon valorisation is an approach to reducing emissions that converts CO2 into synthetic fuels and other products through chemical processes, or directly uses it in industrial applications. For example, using CO2 to
boost photosynthesis of fruits and vegetables in greenhouses
manufacture urea or salicylic acid
produce calcium or magnesium carbonates for use in construction
make synthetic fuels - methane, methanol, gasoline, kerosene
up-cycle into plastics such as polycarbonates and polyurethane
Carbon valorisation technologies are new and experimental and have high costs. Because CO2 is a highly stable molecule, both high energy and catalysts are required to convert it chemically into other forms. This has typically been done at very high temperatures (550-750℃) using hydrogen from steam reforming - an emissions-intensive process. Another way to do this is using photocatalysis - using catalysts that can absorb sunlight.
In photocatalysis, light is shone on a semiconductor material that excites electrons, enabling them to travel through the material to react with CO2 and water, leading to a variety of useful products, including methanol, which can be used as a green fuel.
Existing photo-catalysts require complex syntheses, costly processing or use of rare elements such as silver, yttrium or ruthenium. Research groups from several universities have together developed an efficient photocatalyst using carbon nitride (C3N4) and copper that has rates of methanol formation “9 times higher than the greatest already reported”. The catalyst uses only a small amount of metal, is stable in water and has low waste and high yield. And because the structure is largely based on carbon, it is sustainable too.
Innovation News | Article in Sustainable Energy & Fuels
Offshore Wind
Norway has postponed until 2025 its 1.5GW floating offshore wind tender to establish a subsidy model before awarding contracts. Power Technology
When offshore wind farms (OWFs) reach end-of-life, they are sometimes left in the sea to exist as marine artificial structures around which marine life may reproduce and grow. A review of data on the ecological effects of this practice reveals that OWFs may increase fish abundance but do not improve invertebrate abundance in the areas in which they exist. Similar results are observed for decommissioned oil rigs in the sea.
we found no evidence to support or rebut the common assumption that these structures function as artificial reefs (ARs). Beyond simply assessing their ability to replicate the functions of natural reefs, our meta-analysis also assessed the environmental value of oil & gas (O&G) and OWFs compared to natural sedimentary habitats, highlighting only limited ecological benefits (if reefed) or loss (if removed)—elevated local abundance of fish at both O&G and OWFs, and elevated local biomass of fish at O&G.
Sustainability
Fashion brands and retailers must prioritise water risk management, says Planet Tracker in a new report. The risks arise from increasing water scarcity, potential legislation on water usage, changes in water costs and low public opinion of unsustainable practices. Textile supply chains are concentrated in area of high water stress.
Planet Tracker analysis suggests this can significantly impact future sales and margins
A brand operating with a typical 55% gross margin and 15% EBIT margin would see a -3% fall in operating profit from a +1% increase in COGS driven by water-related disruption.
Israel-based UBQ uses a patented process to convert mixed waste into homogenous thermoplastics that can be used in multiple industrial applications. First, metal and glass are removed, then the waste is broken down into its components - lignin, cellulose, fibers and sugars. These chemical components are then assembled into a “matrix” that is used as a feedstock in making thermoplastics for products such as car parts, footwear, planters, pipes, roofing and packaging. Waste Dive | UBQ Materials
Top Stories
Turkey has extended its anti-dumping provisions on Solar panels to more Asian countries. A tariff of $25/m2 will be applied to imports from Vietnam, Thailand, Malaysia, Croatia and Jordan. A tariff of $20/m2 on Solar panels imported from China is already applicable since 2023. pv magazine
India’s Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE) has launched a Standards & Labelling program for solar inverters specifying minimum efficiency requirements for inverters of different capacities.
Since January 1, 2024, vessels offloading cargo at European ports have been required to pay a carbon price for 40% of their emissions. Analysis of 560 single journeys of ships by Transport & Environment has found that ETS surcharge passed on to customers is much higher than actual ETS costs. The surcharge is applicable at the container level, and is higher for refrigerated containers that use energy on board.
Our analysis shows that profits from the ETS surcharges are likely to outstrip shipping companies’ actual ETS costs. Based on these findings, container liners are projected to generate considerable windfall profits up to €325,000 per journey. Annually, some ships will bring in more than €1 million in windfall profits.
…Out of a total of 565 journeys, only 79, or 14%, did not produce profits in our analysis.
More rapid melting of glaciers due to rising temperatures has put communities in Peru’s Andes mountains at high risk of floods. The last such flood in 1941 is estimated to have killed ~5000 people. The Guardian
UK is using AI to track hedgehogs under its National Hedgehog Monitoring Programme to determine how their populations have changed year-on-year in different habitats. The Guardian
You can read over 200 stories from March 26 on Telborg.
Follow us on Twitter, Youtube and LinkedIn.
Let me know if I can help with anything! Enjoy your day!
Best,
Soumya Gupta
Founder, Telborg.com | SummaryWithAI.com