Global Climate News - June 11-13

Falling levels of ozone-depleting gases; Pumped hydro storage in Australia; Italy's new scheme for renewables; TerraPower's advanced nuclear reactor; eDNA for determining freshwater biodiversity

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1. New research indicates that levels of ozone-depleting hydrochlorofluorocarbons (HCFCs), which have been banned and slated for a complete phase-out by 2040, are declining ahead of schedule.

   The international study shows the total amount of ozone depleting chlorine contained in all HCFCs peaked in 2021. Because these compounds are also potent greenhouse gases, their contribution to climate change also peaked in that year. This maximum occurred five years before the most recent predictions. Although the drop between 2021 and 2023 was less than 1%, it still shows HCFC emissions are heading in the right direction.

   The researchers attribute the declining levels of the harmful gases to the Montreal Protocol and its successive amendments. ET Energy | University of Bristol Press Release | Research Paper

2. The presence of large numbers of freshwater reservoirs is allowing Australia to setup significant Pumped Hydro Storage. Two projects with a combined capacity of 7GW are planned in the state of Queensland alone, a 1GW facility has been proposed in Sydney, and construction on the 2.2GW Snowy 2.0 - which connects 2 existing dams through 27km tunnels and an underground power station - is underway. In 2017, the Australian Renewable Energy Agency identified 22,000 potential sites for pumped hydro projects in the country, with more than 8,000 in New South Wales alone. pv magazine

3. Bulgaria is also planning two pumped hydro storage projects with 800MW capacity and cost €900 million each, expected to be operational by 2032. EIB

4. Italy is introducing a new scheme to support a total generation capacity of 4590MW from not-yet-mature renewable technologies like geothermal, offshore wind, solar power (floating or fixed), thermodynamic solar, floating solar, tidal, wave and other marine energy as well as on biogas and biomass

   The measure, which will run until 31 December 2028, will be financed through a levy included in the electricity bills of final consumers.

   …Depending on the technology, the deadline for successful plants to enter into operation varies between 31 to 60 months.

   Under the scheme, the aid will take the form of a two-way contract for difference for each kWh of electricity produced and fed into the grid, and will be paid for a duration equal to the useful life of the plants.

   EC Press Release

5. India’s power demand reached an all-time high of 250GW on May 30th this year, driven by use of airconditioning to manage record high temperatures. The highest recorded demand in 2023 was 243 GW in September 2023 when prices reached INR 6.5/kWh per unit. In May this year, prices were only moderately high at INR 4.8/kWh due to more generation from coal, gas, solar and a slight increase in hydropower. ET Energy | CRISIL - Summer Surge, June 2024 (PDF)

6. We looked at coal-to-nuclear repowering - repurposing retired coal power plants as nuclear plants - a few weeks ago. US-based TerraPower is building a 345MW advanced reactor in Wyoming, near the site of a coal plant which is planned to be retired soon. Here’s an excerpt from the blog of Bill Gates, co-founder and chairman of TerraPower, explaining why TerraPower’s sodium-cooled reactor is safer than traditional fission reactors:

   A typical reactor keeps the atom-splitting nuclear reaction under control by circulating water around a uranium core. But using water as a coolant presents two challenges. First, water isn’t very good at absorbing heat—it turns to steam and stops absorbing heat at just 100 degrees C. Second, as water gets hot, its pressure goes up, which puts strain on your pipes and other equipment. If there’s an emergency—say, an earthquake cuts off all the electricity to the plant and you can’t keep pumping water—the core continues to make heat, raising the pressure and potentially causing an explosion.

   But what if you could cool your reactor with something other than water? It turns out that, by comparison, liquid metals can absorb a monster amount of heat while maintaining a consistent pressure. The Natrium plant uses liquid sodium, whose boiling point is more than 8 times higher than water’s, so it can absorb all the extra heat generated in the nuclear core. Unlike water, the sodium doesn’t need to be pumped, because as it gets hot, it rises, and as it rises, it cools off. Even if the plant loses power, the sodium just keeps absorbing heat without getting to a dangerous temperature that would cause a meltdown. GatesNotes

   Utility Dive | TerraPower Press Release

7. Renewables supplied 99% of US electricity from January to April this year, as per FERC data. Solar Power World | FERC - Energy Infrastructure Update for April 2024

8. High copper prices are incentivising theft of electric cables at EV charging stations in the US. ET Energy

9. The European Commission has been investigating the state subsidies provided to the electric vehicles value chain in China, and communicating with authorities in China regarding this. It has now announced provisional duties that may apply to battery electric vehicle manufacturers in case no resolution is reached:

   The individual duties the Commission would apply to the three sampled Chinese producers would be: 

   • BYD: 17,4%; 

   • Geely: 20%; and 

   • SAIC: 38,1%. 

   Other BEV producers in China, which cooperated in the investigation but have not been sampled, would be subject to the following weighted average duty: 21%. 

   All other BEV producers in China which did not cooperate in the investigation would be subject to the following residual duty: 38,1%. 

   ET Energy | EC Press Release

10. Good read on environmental DNA (eDNA) for determining biodiversity in freshwater ecosystems.

11. Timeline of upcoming climate policy related events in Europe by Clean Energy Wire

12. New reports - U.S. Plastics Pact Roadmap 2.0, Deloitte analysis on Distributed Energy Resources in the US

You can find all previous posts of this newsletter here.

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