Natural and Biological H2, Corrugated Packaging, CCS in Japan
Natural H2 and Biological H2; Life cycle emissions of corrugated packaging; CCS in Japan
News from Governments
The European Union has published a list of 166 projects that will receive regulatory and permitting support, and be eligible for EU financing from the Connecting Europe Facility (CEF). Over half the projects are offshore, smart grid and electricity projects including transmission, storage and even those to connect EU to non-EU countries. There are 65 electrolyzer and hydrogen projects. EC Press Release | EC Projects of common interest
Japan may soon pass legislation designating specific areas for carbon capture and storage and granting permits to CCS operators. The bill will have provisions for
establishing a licensing system for storage business and trial-drilling, establishing a storage right system and a trial-drilling right system, and developing business regulations and safety regulations pertaining to storage businesses and pipeline carbon dioxide transportation businesses.
In addition, Japanese companies are considering liquefying the captured CO2 and transferring it to South Asian countries via ships or pipelines for storage. Power Technology | The Diplomat
Natural Hydrogen (or Geologic Hydrogen)
Hydrogen that exists naturally in deposits, mostly along with helium, in the Earth’s crust has been termed Natural Hydrogen. This was first discovered in Mali (Africa), which also has the world’s only developed Natural Hydrogen deposit at its Bourakebougou field. A large Hydrogen deposit was found earlier this year in the Lorraine region of France and is estimated to contain 250 million tonnes of the gas.
The US Geological Survey attempted to model the global deposits of natural hydrogen - there maybe plenty, but mostly hard to access.
hydrogen supplies are too deeply buried, or too far offshore, or in accumulations that are too small, making it highly unlikely they could ever be economically recovered.
Hydrogen can be formed from many natural processes, but the one likely to generate large quantities is believed to be the reaction of groundwater with iron-rich rocks. The iron in the rocks is oxidised with oxygen from water, and hydrogen is released. MIT scientists, funded by a government grant, are testing catalysts to speed up this process in rocks to make production and extraction cheaper.
Updated hydrogen colour scale:
white - natural hydrogen; priced ~$2/kg
grey - produced from fossil fuels; priced ~$2/kg
blue - produced from fossil fuels with carbon capture; priced >$3/kg
green - electrolysis powered using renewables; priced ~$7/kg
pink - electrolysis powered by nuclear
Biological Hydrogen (bioH2)
Green algae are photosynthetic - under light and enough CO2 + water, they will produce sugar (glucose), releasing oxygen as a by-product. But they also have the ability to make an enzyme - hydrogenase - that can produce hydrogen.
Hydrogenase cannot function when oxygen is present, so [no or] low oxygen levels are needed for hydrogen production. Earlier research found that if you reduce sulphur in the medium in which the algae are present, the normal photosynthesis does not happen and the hydrogenase enzyme uses photosynthesis intermediates to produce hydrogen instead.
So scientists could produce H2 from algae in a 2-step cycle by controlling sulphur levels -
allow photosynthesis at sufficient sulphur levels to produce glucose and oxygen;
then reduce the sulphur levels to stop photosynthesis (to lower oxygen levels) and produce hydrogen using up the energy
Not only does this require continuously changing the medium in which the algae grows, but the hydrogen production would stop when the algae ran out of stored energy, and the cycle would have to be repeated.
Another approach is to introduce bacteria to use up the oxygen in the medium in which the algae grows. But you need the right algae+bacteria combination so the two don’t compete for nutrients. That is what researchers were able to get in recent experiments. In a medium containing yeast extract and mannitol, they were able to get sustained hydrogen production for 25 days - in previous work this was only 10-15 days.
The research could help “H2 production at low temperatures between 23℃ and 30℃ and atmospheric pressure, which could be integrated with wastewater treatment.”
pv magazine | Research Paper in Science of The Total Environment, Elsevier
Life cycle assessment of corrugated packaging
Corrugated board uses a middle layer of fluting that acts as a cushion and partial insulator.
The industry claims that there’s a 90%+ recovery rate and 52% average recycled content in corrugated packaging.
Depending on the cleanliness of the recovered paper and the configuration of the particular stock preparation system, between 85% and 95% of the recovered paper can be used to produce recycled containerboard.
In a recent study, the environmental impact of corrugated packaging was assessed across 4 stages - pulp & paper-making; converting the boards into corrugated packaging; use (includes transport to use phase); and end-of-life (landfilling/burning).
Key findings:
Pulp and paper-making are responsible for most CO2 emissions, which are significantly offset by trees planted for producing the containerboard
energy use (both electricity and natural gas) across the value chain is the greatest source of CO2 emissions
pulp and paper-making also contribute to ozone depletion (release of chloromethane, methyl bromide, 1,1,1-trichloroethane, halon 1211), NOx emissions in air
energy use in paper and pulp-making also causes particulate matter pollution
use of water in pulp and paper-making has increased 10.5% between 2014 and 2020
Supply Chain Dive | Fibrebox - Corrugated Life Cycle Assessments | Production process on pages 74 and 75 for those curious
Top Stories
As per latest measurements from US’ National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), levels of carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide were 50%, 160% and 25%, respectively, higher than pre-industrial levels in 2023. For carbon dioxide, 2023 was recorded as the 12th consecutive year when atmospheric levels rose by more than 2 part per million (ppm) - from 2001 to 2013, the increase was over 1.5 ppm in all years, but above 2 ppm in only 5 (out of 13).
Src: NOAA The amount of CO2 in the atmosphere today is comparable to where it was around 4.3 million years ago during the mid-Pliocene epoch, when sea level was about 75 feet higher than today, the average temperature was 7 degrees Fahrenheit higher than in pre-industrial times, and large forests occupied areas of the Arctic that are now tundra.
In March this year, US government announced it was accepting applications for grant funding through a $1.2 billion program that would help infra projects use “low-embodied carbon construction materials and products”. Rocky Mountain Institute has come up with 4 approaches that large infra-building agencies, such as state departments of transportation, can use to apply for grants under this program
include Environmental Product Declaration (EPD), a third-party certification of the sustainability of the product, in the procurement process
update material specifications for low-emissions best practices, such as eliminating the minimum limit for Portland cement
demonstration projects for mixes of low-carbon concrete (in low-risk applications)
pilots with alternative materials (See Berlin’s CRCLR House)
RMI | RMI - Four Priority Low-Carbon Concrete Initiatives for FHWA LCTM Applications (PDF)
Swedish-Israeli company Eco Wave Power is conducting a feasibility study for wave energy at 77 sites along the US coastline. Offshore Energy
The Rooftop Solar market in Europe grew by 53% in 2023, driven by legislation changes.
Germany, France, Greece, Spain, Bulgaria and Romania removed the need for construction permits for rooftop PV, while Portugal, Greece, Bulgaria and Spain have introduced a “positive silence” for small-scale PV projects, according to which the absence of a reply by relevant authorities entails the approval of the permit.
ECEEE | Clean Energy Wire | Climate Action Network Report (PDF)
Italian automaker Ferrari is collaborating with the University of Bologna and electronics company NXP on a lithium cell research centre, E-cells lab, based at the university.
The laboratory consists of two areas: the first is dedicated to preparing electrochemical materials, the second to analysis, tests and determining the characteristics of the materials themselves. There will be a particular focus on solid states, fast charging, thermal charging, cell safety and performance. The results will help Ferrari to develop a shared language with its cell suppliers, with the aim of optimising the performance of the batteries that will be assembled in the Maranello plants.
Interesting read on Carbon Capture from CNBC
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Soumya Gupta
Founder, Telborg.com | SummaryWithAI.com
