Global Climate News - June 19-20
Latest solar prices in India; EU's High Seas Treaty and Nature Restoration Law; Denmark and Norway exploring CO2 storage; Nuclear cogeneration to power water desalination and hydrogen production;
In this newsletter
News from Governments
Carbon Capture and Storage
Nuclear Cogeneration - Heat + Power
Top stories
Clean Energy Economics
INR 2.62/kWh ($0.031/kWh) - Lowest price for solar power approved for India’s Khavda Solar Park in Gujarat Mercom
News from Governments
The European Union
Has adopted the High Seas Treaty that will ensure measures for marine genetic resources, establishing marine protected areas, obligations and procedures for environmental impact assessments, and capacity-building and transfer of marine technology
Has adopted the Nature Restoration Law that requires action for restoration of specific habitats and species
This law aims to put measures in place to restore at least 20% of the EU’s land and sea areas by 2030, and all ecosystems in need of restoration by 2050.
It sets specific, legally binding targets and obligations for nature restoration in terrestrial, marine, freshwater, forest, agricultural and urban ecosystems. Specific measures include protecting pollinators and grassland butterflies, protecting urban green spaces and planting at least three billion additional trees by 2030 at the EU level. European Council
Is proposing a revision of its waste framework directive, with a focus on the food and textile sectors.
The proposed directive sets binding targets on food waste reduction by 2030:
10% in processing and manufacturing
30% per capita in retail, restaurants, food services and households
On textiles, the proposed revision “would require fashion brands and textile producers to pay fees in order to help fund the textile waste collection and treatment costs”.
is considering a Green Claims Directive to ensure reliable, comparable and verifiable environmental claims are made to consumers.
This new proposal specifically targets explicit environmental claims (written or oral text) and environmental labels that companies use voluntarily when marketing their greenness and which cover the environmental impacts, aspects or performance of a product or trader. It also applies to existing and future environmental labelling schemes, both public and private ones.
is considering making soil health monitoring obligatory
Member states, supported by the Commission, will first monitor and then assess the health of all soils in their territory, so that sustainable soil management practices and other appropriate measures can be taken by authorities and landowners across the EU. Member states will determine sampling points for monitoring, on the basis of an EU common methodology.
Here’s a good update from Planet Tracker on EU environmental legislation post the elections.
Also, the draft EU budget for 2025 has proposed €2.4 billion for environment and climate action including
€771 million for the LIFE programme to support climate change mitigation and adaptation, and €1.5 billion for the Just Transition Fund to make sure that the green transition works for all.
Carbon Capture and Storage
Denmark has awarded its first ever licenses for exploring carbon storage onshore. Government Press Release
Norway has offered 4 companies licenses related to CO2 storage exploration on the Norwegian Continental Shelf. Government Press Release
Nuclear Co-generation - electricity + heat from nuclear power plants
Operating nuclear power plants around the globe. help avoid more than 1 giga tonne of CO2 emissions annually. In its latest publication, the IAEA provides an overview for using nuclear cogeneration - using heat and electricity from the nuclear power plant - for powering industrial and commercial applications such as water desalination and production of hydrogen.
Water desalination
There are two kinds of methods for water desalination - a) distillation-based, in which water is evaporated leaving solutes and impurities behind and condensed again as pure water, and b) membrane-based, that use energy to drive water across a membrane against a concentration gradient such as in reverse osmosis. Nuclear reactors can be used with the latter membrane-based solutions that operate at low temperatures
Countries with water desalination currently powered by nuclear reactors - India, China, Japan, Pakistan, Russia
Hydrogen and Maritime
Nuclear can be used for decarbonising shipping through on-board SMRs to provide electricity for producing hydrogen, ammonia, synthetic fuels. Nuclear propulsion is already used in navy applications. Here’s a video of two of Russia’s largest nuclear-powered icebreakers navigating the Arctics.
The report estimates the levelised cost of electricity (LCOE) for a co-generation plant that uses nuclear power and heat for water desalination and hydrogen production. The LCOE ranges from $0.045-0.09/kWh depending on different reactor and application configurations.
LCOE Estimates from different nuclear cogeneration plant combinations for use in water desalination and hydrogen production, Src: Nuclear Cogeneration for Climate Change Mitigation and Sustainability, IAEA (2024) Considering the lowest cost of product (hydrogen), lowest lifecycle CO2 emissions and lowest thermal discharge (i.e. lowest loss of energy as heat), the configuration in Case 6 - High temperature reactor combined with steam-based electrolysis for producing hydrogen is the most optimal option
China and Japan have plans to use small modular reactors for hydrogen production by 2030. South Korea and Russia are also carrying out research for this.
Case studies from Canada, China, USA
Canada’s SMR roadmap considers 3 major applications -
baseload power generation to replace end-of-life coal power plants
heat + power for heavy industry and remote mines
off grid power + district heating + desalination in remote communities to replace diesel-based power
China’s Qinshan nuclear power plant supplies energy for district heating since late 2022. Total project investment of USD 135 million (as of 2022)
After the project is fully completed and put into operation, the heating capacity is expected to be 704,000 GJ/a, which can save 196 million kWh of electricity consumption comparing with the electric heating. Comparing with coal-fired thermal power units, it can reduce the burning of standard coal by about 24,600 t annually, and correspondingly reduce annual emission of sulphur dioxide by 1817 t, nitrogen oxide by 908 t and carbon dioxide by 59,000t.
The Tianwan Nuclear Power Plant in China will supply steam to nearby petrochemical industries
The NPP provides electricity to desalinate the seawater for industrial use. Part of high temperature steam is extracted from the main steam system of the secondary circuit as a heating steam source to produce steam for industrial use
The US is working on demonstration projects for producing hydrogen using nuclear power at 4 sites - Nine Mile (started producing hydrogen in March 2023), David-Besse, Prairie Island and Palo Verde
Bonus: Video of Sevmorput, Russia’s nuclear-powered cargo vessel
IAEA - Nuclear Cogeneration for Climate Change Mitigation and Sustainability, 2024 (PDF)
Top Stories
Norway’s government is funding the development of hydrogen and ammonia-powered ships. Offshore Energy
Australia’s opposition party has announced its intent to build the country’s first nuclear power plant ahead of elections. ET Energy
French nuclear energy firm framatome has received funding from the European Union to “accelerate the development and delivery of a 100% sovereign European fuel for the VVER pressurized water reactors operated in Europe.” framatome Press Release
Canada has announced that it will ban open-net salmon farming in British Columbia coastal waters by 2029. The Guardian | Government Press Release
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