Global Climate News - Aug 12-13
RECs are not preferred carbon credits, Colonising Mars, Developing Alternatives to Critical Minerals
In this newsletter
Renewable energy certificates not preferred carbon credits
Colonising Mars
Developing alternatives to critical minerals
Top stories
Renewable Energy Certificates not preferred carbon credits
Carbon credit registries like Verra and Gold Standard stopped considering new renewable energy projects as a source of carbon credits from 2019, however a large number of carbon credits in voluntary carbon markets continue to come from renewable projects commissioned before 2019. The Integrity Council for Voluntary Carbon Markets (ICVCM), an independent governance body for the voluntary carbon market, has now announced that eight renewable energy methodologies - including grid-connected renewables, biomass-based power plants, geothermal for space heating, electrification of rural communities, off-grid renewables, and replacing sulfur hexaflouride (SF₆) with an alternative cover gas - will no longer receive its high-integrity CCP (core carbon principle) label.
The Governing Board decided that eight methodologies used to design and implement renewable energy projects fail to meet the CCP Assessment Framework requirements on additionality because they are insufficiently rigorous in assessing whether the projects would have gone ahead without the incentive of carbon credit revenues. These methodologies cover approximately 236 million unretired credits, making up 32% of the voluntary carbon market.
Renewable energy credits are preferred offsets purchased by many corporate buyers, and are currently priced at $2/tonne, less than half the price of offsets generated from nature-based carbon projects such as those for forest protection.
In addition, ICVCM has approved methodologies for detecting and repairing methane leaks in the gas industry, and for methane capture from landfill sites.
Meanwhile, India witnessed a record high trading of Renewable Energy Certificates at 3150 million units in July 2024, with a price of INR 120 ($1.43) per certificate.
ICVCM Press Release | Climate Home News
Colonising Mars
New research indicates that releasing dust nanoparticles made from Martian soils into the atmosphere can help raise temperatures on Mars, a necessary condition for biological life to flourish on the planet. These particles, at a scale of millions of tonnes, could help increase temperatures by 50 degrees fahrenheit.
One-third of Mars’ surface has shallow-buried H2O, but it is currently too cold for use by life. Proposals to warm Mars using greenhouse gases require a large mass of ingredients that are rare on Mars’ surface. However, we show here that artificial aerosols made from materials that are readily available at Mars—for example, conductive nano-rods that are ~9 micrometers long—could warm Mars >5 × 103 times more effectively than the best gases. Such nanoparticles forward-scatter sunlight and efficiently block upwelling thermal infrared…For a 10-year particle lifetime, two climate models indicate that sustained release at 30 liters per second would globally warm Mars by ≳30 kelvin and start to melt the ice. Therefore, if nanoparticles can be made at scale on (or delivered to) Mars, then the barrier to warming of Mars appears to be less high than previously thought.
Another group has discovered a species of desert moss that can survive temperatures as low as -196 ℃, resist high levels of gamma radiation, and “survive and maintain vitality in simulated Mars conditions.”
Developing Alternatives to Critical Minerals
The US is funding projects to develop alternatives to critical minerals. These include -
making high-purity synthetic graphite from CO₂-based feedstocks,
developing catalysts for hydrogen production that use 40% less platinum than current catalysts,
testing the use of boron nitride as a semiconductor material (motivated by restrictions on Gallium exports from China),
scaling a lithium-iron phosphate battery production process from bench-scale to pilot-scale
DoE Press Release | List of projects
Top Stories
Italy has introduced a draft bill that will simplify the regulatory approval process for renewable energy projects. It will also introduce fines for renewable energy projects built without a permit, especially those in protected natural areas. Reuters
Canada-based CarbonRx plans to use robots for planting trees for its carbon removal projects in Canada. The robots will be provided by Adroid, which allows companies to procure robots for a wide range of applications (agriculture, cleaning, delivery, intra-facility transport) on a subscription model. Press Release
India will allow mixing upto 35% lignin, obtained from rice straw, in bitumen used for building roads. ET Energy
Executives of UK’s National Grid have warned of blackouts in London and Southeast England by 2028 due to network congestion, resulting from large-scale integration of wind and solar, and outdated market rules. OGV Energy | The Telegraph (gated)
Good read on networked geothermal from The Guardian. Gas utilities can convert to thermal utilities by using existing gas pipes for geothermal systems. Geothermal is also very energy efficient for heating.
A networked geothermal system is extremely efficient. It scores a “coefficient of performance”, or Cop, of 6, meaning for every one unit of energy going in, you get six units of heat out. By contrast, gas furnaces have a Cop of less than 1. An air-source heat pump in the same neighbourhood might have to run when it’s 10 degrees out, meaning it’ll have to work harder to provide the same amount of heat. Accordingly, its Cop of 2 or 3 would still far outpace a gas furnace, but not approach geothermal’s Cop of 6.
Geothermal is also safer. Leakages in gas pipes can lead to explosions, whereas pipes for geothermal systems will carry water and propylene glycol (an anti-freeze chemical), which is safe enough to eat.
More countries are looking into nuclear power programmes to meet energy needs.
There are currently around 30 newcomer countries either considering nuclear power or moving forward with plans to construct their first nuclear power plant. Bangladesh, Egypt and Türkiye are constructing their first nuclear power plants and several more countries are expected to build their first plants over the next decade or so. IAEA
Landfill sites release PFAS chemicals not just in water, but also in air, finds new research on 13 landfill sites in the US. While landfill gas is treated before being released into the atmosphere, the treatment systems are not designed to handle PFAS, allowing much of it to escape. The Guardian | Landfill Gas: A Major Pathway for Neutral Per- and Polyflouroalkyl Substance (PFAS) Release
A ‘sustainability’ ranking of 34 sports at the Paris Olympics has given a gold rating to 7 events - athletics, biathlon, hockey, rugby, sailing, skating and skiing/snowboarding.
All [7] have developed sustainability strategies that cover not just their own corporate operations (their headquarters, suppliers and staff), and not even just the sporting events they hold (like the Olympics and world championships), but also the worldwide family of sports participants and spectators.
…Sailing is a sport dependent on the world’s waters. World Sailing sees the protection of these waters as part of its organisational mission. Its sustainability strategy includes modifying technical standards and regulations for equipment to reduce waste, hazardous chemicals and pollution.
Olympic Sports ranked by their Sustainability Strategy, The Conversation (Published Aug 9 2024, Captured Aug 13 2024) Zimbabwe is likely to enact a carbon credit trading bill by the end of 2024.
Under Zimbabwe's rules, 30% of carbon credit revenue will go to the state for the first 10 years of any project. Developers must spend another quarter on community initiatives related to climate change and adaptation.
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