Welcome to European Tribune. It's gone a bit quiet around here these days, but it's still going.
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by Oui (Oui) on Fri Mar 31st, 2023 at 09:40:52 PM EST
autorecyclingworld | Illegal ELV exports from the EU - a serious concern, Aug 2020
"We must assume that more than 4 million tonnes of valuable raw materials are lost to European industry. Plant capacities in the EU are definitely not being fully utilised and we urgently need political support," continued Födinger.

The environmental damage is immense according to the mentioned survey and on the basis of previous studies2. The improper and professional disposal of end-of-life vehicles releases between 20 and 55 million litres of hazardous liquids into the environment each year. In 2017 alone, illegal dismantling of end-of-life vehicles released around 630 tonnes of refrigerant, causing ozone-depleting emissions of around 900,000 CO2  equivalents. In addition, Member States suffer immense fiscal damage when end-of-life vehicles are treated in unauthorised facilities.  ...

azom | New Study on Worldwide Regulations toward Lithium-ion Battery Recycling, Jan 2022
... The study published in ACS Energy Letters has explored the role of regulation in battery recycling, focusing mainly on regulatory environments in China, the EU, and the USA as these are major economies that impact the lithium-ion battery market. Regulations are likely to play a key role in the sector as it grows, to help realize the environmental and economic benefits of lithium-ion battery recycling....
indiatimes | Electric cars are taking off, but where when will battery recycling follow?, Dec 2022
...Battery recycling is still relatively new in North America, but more mature companies abroad could provida hint of what's to come. In China, for example, ther are many recyclers but a shortage of material.

"They have too much capacity and too few batteries to recyle," said Hans Eric Melin, who founded Circular Energy Storage, a consulting frim that specializes in the market for old lithium-ion batteries. "I think that's exactly the situation that we will face in both Europe and North America."...

euractiv | Car batteries could kick-start the European raw materials recycling market
almost all the 16 raw materials that the European Commission deems critical are currently not being recycled in Europe. Most of the recyclable waste is shipped to Asian countries like China or South Korea.
[...]
UNODC | MONITORING GLOBAL TRANSBOUNDARY E-WASTE FLOWS, Sep 2022 slide deck
• Southeast Asia, similarly to North Africa, is an emerging hub for re-exporting e-waste.
• There is possible intra-regional trade of low quality or counterfeit EEE.
• After the China ban, the main imports of e-waste have shifted from China to Malaysia, Vietnam, and Thailand.
The demand for graphite, which accounts for around 50% of batteries material, for instance, is expected to skyrocket by 14 times by 2050. However, up until now, graphite is not recycled within the EU.
[...]
"The amount of energy that it actually takes to recycle graphite is pretty much the same and produces the same amount of CO2 as producing new graphite. So environmentally, there is not such a big case to actually recycle graphite," [Julia] Poliscanova from Transport & Environment said.

"The problem is the specific graphite we use in batteries mostly comes from China. So it's about diversification more than recycling when it comes to graphite," she added.


IEA | Global Supply Chains of EV Batteries (2022)
by Cat on Sat Apr 1st, 2023 at 08:24:51 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Joint Statement by the EU and the US following the 10th EU-US Energy Council, 4 Apr
1. The tenth European Union (EU) - United States Energy Council ("Council") met today in Brussels, chaired by EU High Representative/Vice President Josep Borrell Fontelles, European Energy Commissioner Kadri Simson, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, and US Deputy Secretary of Energy David M. Turk. Minister Tobias Billström of the Swedish Ministry for Foreign Affairs represented the Presidency of the Council of the European Union.
[...]
16. The EU and the United States also intend to continue working together to foster energy investments aiding the transition towards climate neutrality in a transparent and mutually reinforcing manner avoiding zero-sum competition at the transatlantic level and around the globe. The Council noted the vital importance of diversifying and securing supply chains for critical minerals and raw materials necessary for the energy transition to net-zero emissions by 2050, and reinforced the value of EU-US collaboration in fora such as the Minerals Security Partnership, the Conference on Critical Materials and Minerals and the International Energy Agency [IEA] Critical Minerals Working Party. The Council invited its Energy Policy Working Group to explore possible further cooperation areas in view of achieving shared energy and climate objectives.
[...]
Multilateral Cooperation

21. The Council acknowledged progress on multilateral initiatives and intends to continue discussing strategic topics and coordinating positions ahead of major multilateral events. The strong EU-US relationship has paved the way for more ambitious global climate and energy actions, including at international fora such as climate COPs, G7, G20, International Energy Agency [IEA], Clean Energy Ministerial, Mission Innovation, the Partnership for Transatlantic Energy and Climate Cooperation (P-TECC), International Renewable Energy Agency [IRENA], including through advancing "Just Energy Transition Partnerships" with third countries, and in fusion through both the ITER international agreement and EURATOM research. The EU and the United States intend to intensify joint work towards making energy efficiency a global priority.

archived sourced or processed, critical raw material, value chain bankruptcy court

APsplainin
Many electric vehicles to lose big tax credit with new [Inflation Reduction Act] rules
'War of the states': EV, chip makers lavished with ["]subsidies["]
AP reference: Good Jobs First User Guide to tax refunds, tax-free bonds, and foregone tax revenue
example profile: Maryland

by Cat on Tue Apr 4th, 2023 at 05:19:10 PM EST
[ Parent ]
rollcall | Treasury tops up TAX CREDITS where fossil fuel jobs were lost, 4 Apr
...The Treasury Department released guidance Tuesday detailing how clean energy producers can receive more in federal tax credits if they build climate-friendly projects in areas [states] that were once hubs for coal and oil jobs. The Treasury is offering the credits under an August law that contained $270 billion in tax breaks for clean energy.

The Energy Department separately rolled out an initiative to spend $450 million from the 2021 bipartisan [Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act for clean energy-related experimental projects on land formerly used for mining....

hankyoreh | US to require Korean chipmakers to cough up trade secrets in exchange for incentives tax credits, 29 Mar
Based on the CHIPS and Science Act, the US Department of Commerce [Gina "School Lunch Debt" Raimondo] is insisting that companies building semiconductor production facilities in the US have to submit sensitive core business secrets such as semiconductor yields (the percentage of items without defects) when applying for incentives tax credits.

The request goes above and beyond ordinary business information such as general plans for procuring investment funds. It appears intended as a basis for detailed assessments of business information from investing companies, such as Samsung Electronics, with funds to be recovered if "surplus profits" are discovered.
[...]

"knowledge transfer" term sheet
The department also requested the submission of detailed forecasts for the facilities' operation in a category labeled "financial model." Companies are to provide information about quarterly operation rates for facilities, wafer production volumes, yields, and anticipated prices and sales by product type.
[...]
Under this system, companies such as Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix would ultimately have to provide the US with detailed information on yields and other business secrets and assume wide-ranging responsibilities for production workforce education in order to receive subsidies tax credits/abatements/reimbusements/increment financing.

In a so-called "guardrail" announced on March 21, the department said that companies receiving subsidies tax credits may not expand production in China by more than 5% over a ten-year period. This would leave South Korean companies that want subsidies tax credits in the position of bearing the burden of unforeseen developments that arise.
[...]

hankyoreh | At 13 months running, S. Korea faces longest trade deficit streak since Asian financial crisis, 3 Apr
by Cat on Thu Apr 6th, 2023 at 07:36:28 PM EST
[ Parent ]
DW | Why Poland is taking so long to build floating gas terminal?, 2027/2028
Polish energy expert, Piotr Przybyło, believes that compared with Germany, Poland is doing the terminal on the cheap. "Germany has had much greater fiscal flexibility," he told DW, adding that since the two German terminals have started operating, the cost of renting the floating terminals has risen by 50%. "That means Poland will lose even more in the longer term," he added.
[...]
In Poland, it is necessary to build a much larger scope of infrastructure than in Germany, [[Rice University, TX market expert Anna] Mikulska said. Undersea transmission infrastructure and a berth for mooring the FSRU unit, as well as onshore gas pipelines with a total length of about 250 kilometers (155 miles), should be built from scratch, she added.
[...]
The United States accounted for more than half of PKN Orlen's total LNG imports last year, or 3.4 bcm, the Polish importer said. In 2023, the US will remain Poland's primary supplier of LNG, due to two long-term contracts with Cheniere Energy and Venture Global.
Poland's PKN Orlen seeks compensation after Russia halts oil deliveries, 6 Mar
Poland's PKN Orlen receives first supplies of gas from US, 11 Mar
Poland's PKN Orlen ends final Russian oil contract without penalties, says CEO, 5 Apr
by Cat on Sun Apr 9th, 2023 at 01:28:18 AM EST
[ Parent ]
background
euobserver | EU starts talks on 11th round of Russia sanctions, 21 Mar
New sanctions should include Moldovan oligarchs helping Russia to destabilise the EU candidate country, Estonia, France, and Romania also said. And they should include Russian nuclear firm Rosatom, Lithuania added. The Rosatom sanctions could include board members and new contracts, Lithuania's Gabrielius Landsbergis said, leaving Rosatom free to finish up ongoing projects in Bulgaria and Hungary.
republicworld | Ursula Von Der Leyen Says New Sanctions On Russia Will Address Question Of 'circumvention', 24 Mar
...While the anonymous source did not reveal any details of the new sanctions, it was reported that Baltic and Finnish foreign ministers have said that the EU could sanction Russian nuclear energy giant Rosatom and Russians who have aided in evading the sanctions all this time...
archived Coal-fired Poland goes nuclear, 31 Oct, Westinghouse School of Economics
foreground
Russia-U.S. tensions could lead to uranium export ban, causing uranium price to soar [09.03.23]
Adnani pointed out that 20 percent of the United States's energy generation is from nuclear power, and that the U.S. produces very little uranium domestically. Most of the country's uranium is imported from Russia, Kazakhstan, and Uzbekistan.

"The U.S. is the largest consumer of uranium in the world," he said. "They consume 50 million pounds per annum. There is almost zero domestic production capabilities right now."

Adnani, who has two decades of experience in the uranium industry, said that if the U.S. sanctions Russian uranium or Russia enacts an export ban, the results would "shake this market," causing "upward pressure" on the uranium price. However, he said that the uranium price, which is currently trading at around $51 per pound, needs to reach at least $60 in order to make mining economically feasible.

archived How's that EU Rosatom "embargo" going?

bloomberg | World's Top Uranium Miner Sees Clients Switching From Russia, 11 Apr if wishes

Some nuclear plants in Eastern Europe, which previously sourced enriched uranium from Russia, are seeking contracts from 2025, Kazatomprom Chief Executive Officer Yerzhan Mukanov said.
[...]
Kazatomprom plans to open a third export route this year, shipping uranium via one of China's ports, the CEO said. The miner currently ships the atomic fuel through Russia and across the Caspian Sea to the Black Sea.

There is growing demand from China, which is seeking uranium to load planned new nuclear power plants and to increase its own stockpiles, Mukanov said. China's goal is to have "uninterrupted long-term supplies," he said.

archived deliveries to a new Chinese reactor
by Cat on Wed Apr 12th, 2023 at 07:12:23 PM EST
[ Parent ]
rollcall | As European TAX looms, a border FEE draws bipartisan focus, ally v ally carbon CREDITS
[...]
[CA Rep Scott] Peters and [DE Rep Chris] Coons introduced legislation last Congress to implement a tax on a range of imported commodities, specifically steel, aluminum, cement, iron, and the three fossil fuels: coal, oil, and gas.

The uptick in congressional interest comes as the European Union, The World's Largest trading bloc, is on track to implement the first phase of a carbon border scheme in October. The policy will place fees on certain of imported goods, including iron and steel, cement, fertilizer, aluminum, and electricity.
[...]
Greg Bertelsen, CEO of the Climate Leadership Council, an advocacy group that supports carbon pricing, said the origins of Republicans' interest in carbon border adjustment tools typically stems from economic or trade reasons, while the climate upside is secondary. For Democrats in Congress, it's often the reverse. No matter the topic that piqued other members' interest, the climate reduction benefits align with their agenda, Bertelsen said by phone.

< wipes tears >
During a February hearing of the Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee, [ND Rep Kevin] Cramer said he is interested in a carbon border mechanism, because it would recognize that "carbon-intensive companies" in the U.S. already operate under higher [?!] environmental standards than foreign competitors.
[...]
"The U.K. has done the hard part, which is the carbon price. The tariff part is relatively easy"
The EU's actions have ruffled members of Congress, as Christoph Heusgen, chairman of the Munich Security Conference [!], said in March, when he told Vice President Kamala Harris the 2022 [Inflation Reduction Act] has stimulated some irritation in Europe, where some firms see the law as an unfair economic edge. "It has raised a lot of concern on this side of the Atlantic," Huesgen said. "But we have been reminded also by members of Congress about CBAM on our side."
[...]
The U.S. imported about $468 billion worth of goods to [sic] the EU in 2019, according to Walter, but the new border mechanism would affect a fraction -- about $1.4 billion -- [Third Way international policy dir Lindsey Walter]said.

By forcing [!] competition, carbon border mechanisms could be useful in lowering emissions from the industrial sector, a notoriously difficult slice of the economy, both domestically and globally, to de[-]carbonize.

"It's incredibly challenging to reduce industrial emissions," Walter said, adding that greenhouse gas emissions from industry are on track to soon [?!] be the largest source of emissions in America, surpassing those from transportation and electricity generation.

archived anti-coercion instrument, DW security talking points in Munich Security Conference 2023: Visions and eNtiTiES, a counterweight to USAmerica's Inflation Reduction Act in Energy as a Weapon of War: Russia, Ukraine, and Europe in Challenging Times
by Cat on Thu Apr 13th, 2023 at 10:26:53 PM EST
[ Parent ]
rollcall | Lawmakers question `rushed' US-Japan EV minerals deal, 13 Apr geology
"It's clear this agreement is one of convenience," House Ways and Means Committee ranking member Richard E. Neal [!], D-Mass., and Senate Finance Chair Ron Wyden, D-Ore., said in a statement. "Even among allies, the United States should only enter into agreements that account for the realities of an industry, learn from past agreements, and raise standards."
[...]
The recent deal with Japan is an example of these so-called Critical Minerals Agreements, and Treasury touted it as containing "robust obligations" to ensure free trade in critical minerals and "detailed undertakings related to the enforcement of labor and environmental laws."

But lawmakers such as House Ways and Means Trade Subcommittee ranking member Earl Blumenauer, D-Ore., said the administration is "redefining a Free Trade Agreement" with the guidance, and Rep. Dan Kildee, D-Mich., also a member of the subcommittee, accused the administration of "bypassing Congress' role in ratifying free trade agreements" with the deal.

U.S. excludes oil for Japan from Russia's Sakhalin-2 from price cap (23.11.22)
Japan will not ban imports of Russian oil, natural gas (10.03.23)
Japan buys Russian oil above $60-a-barrel cap, breaking with US allies: report (02.04.23)
Japan Splits With [Price Cap Coalition] on Russian Oil Purchases (04.04.23)
...Some industry experts have predicted that Japan will fully replace Russia as an energy partner with Qatar [+$$$] or the United States [+$$$]...
Because the deal was rushed, a Democratic aide said that it doesn't include enforceable or binding provisions that are a part of other congressionally approved free trade agreements. That, in turn, means the deal lacks specific commitments to kick China out of Japan's supply chain or binding environmental or labor standards.
[...]
BULLETIN
Since there was no legislative discussion of the trade agreement, lawmakers know few details about how the U.S. and Japan plan to decrease their reliance on China. Japan is a top processor and producer of permanent magnet motors used in EVs made of so-called rare earth minerals, but it still gets much of its raw materials from China, said Mark Seddon, senior metals consulting manager at energy market intelligence group Argus Media.
[...]
by Cat on Thu Apr 13th, 2023 at 11:21:15 PM EST
[ Parent ]
ABC News | FBI warns against using public USB charging ports, 11 Apr THREAT
[...]
The public charging stations could be a conduit for bad actors to introduce malware onto personal devices, officials warn.

"Avoid using free charging stations in airports, hotels, or shopping centers," the FBI Denver said. "Bad actors have figured out ways to use public USB ports to introduce malware and monitoring software onto devices. Carry your own charger and USB cord and use an electrical outlet instead."
[...]
While officials did not offer statistics about the prevalence of juice jacking, people have increasingly suffered from cyber-theft in recent years. Americans lost $10.3 billion to a wide variety of internet scams last year, according to an FBI report released last month.

by Cat on Mon Apr 17th, 2023 at 04:36:13 PM EST
[ Parent ]
These 14 EVs are the only ones left that get the tax credit, 17 Apr
Americans can purchase 91 models of electric cars and trucks -- but as of Tuesday, only 14 of them will qualify for federal tax breaks intended to persuade motorists to forsake their gas-guzzlers.

That number is sure to change.

archived YoY critical mineral content escalator, 2023-2026, vdL meets Joe
But for now, new Biden administration rules first announced March 31 will sharply winnow the number of vehicles now eligible for the [$3,750 - ]$7,500 tax credit, a long-awaited list that the Treasury Department published Monday morning.
Renault never stood a chance.
The new list is a big win for automakers in the U.S.—the Detroit Big Three of Ford, General Motors, and Stellantis [FKA Chrysler - (Fiat - Daimler)]—plus Tesla. But vehicles from European and Asian companies such as Volvo, BMW, Volkswagen[, HYUNDAI, KIA, TOYOTA, BYD,] and Nissan are losing the [HEV, PHEV, FCEV, and EV] tax credits that they had been eligible for until now.

[Fed-qualified EV Inflation Reduction Table: make | model | year | min MSRP | tax credit amt]

HOLD THE PHONE...
Volkswagen becomes first foreign carmaker to qualify for electric vehicle [TAX] credit, 19 Apr
... Volkswagen officials had said on Monday that they expected the ID.4 to qualify for the full federal tax credit of $7,500 but that the company was still awaiting the proper documentation from its battery supplier [!] to submit to the Treasury Department....
Thefts prompt 17 states to urge [manufactures'] recall of Kia, Hyundai cars, 21 Apr
ignition lock installation d/b/a "safety feature"
by Cat on Fri Apr 21st, 2023 at 09:21:44 AM EST
[ Parent ]
S&P Global Commodity Insights, 17 Apr
Commodity: Metals
Region: EMEA, Asia

The following black mass symbols have been created in market data category BAT (Battery Metals). They will appear on following Publications: Platts Metals Daily, Platts Metals Weekly, Platts Metals Monthly, and Platts Battery Metals Weekly publications.
[...]
BAT LBMCA00 c 0 DW CNY MT LFP Black Mass DDP China Percent Lithium Yuan/MT ... BAT NBMCC03 c 0 MA N/A PCT Ni-Co Black Mass DDP China Nickel Payables MAvg
[...]
BAT NBMED00 c 0 DW USD MT Ni-Co Black Mass EXW Europe Calculated Price USD/MT ... BAT NBMEB00 c 0 DW N/A PCT Ni-Co Black Mass EXW Europe Cobalt Payables .... BAT NBMEA00 c 0 DW N/A PCT Ni-Co Black Mass EXW Europe Lithium Payables ... BAT NBMEC00 c 0 DW N/A PCT Ni-Co Black Mass EXW Europe Nickel Payables
[...]

ahjgroup | Black mass and the battery revolution: An overview of experimental research conducted by Alfred H. Knight, 10 Jan 2023, illustrated
...An anticipated shortfall in the availability of battery minerals is predicted by some investigators to result in a greater reliance on the recycling of end-of-life (EoL) LIB. Experimental research commissioned and conducted by Alfred H Knight and our partners explores the phase characteristics of the commercially important intermediate material, known as 'black mass.'

'Black mass' is the industry term used to describe a type of e-waste comprising crushed and shredded EoL battery cells. It contains mixtures of valuable metals including lithium, manganese, cobalt, and nickel.

Initially, waste batteries are collected, sorted, discharged, and disassembled. This is followed by mechanical crushing, drying, sorting sieving and pyrolysis to 700°C [1292°F!] to remove any remaining electrolyte and potentially hazardous to health fluorine-containing components. The resulting material is what is referred to in the battery recycling industry as 'black mass'....

by Cat on Mon Apr 17th, 2023 at 04:27:44 PM EST
[ Parent ]
European "largest NPP"? Or no?
"World's biggest"? Or no?
USD payment plan? Or no?

Rumble | Putin and Erdogan take part in inauguration ceremony for 1st fuel delivery to Akkuyu NPP, 27 Apr 2023, A/V (EN,TR, RU), 00:48:31
speakers: M. Grossi (IAEA), A. Likhachev (Rosatom), F. Dönmez (TR Energy Min), V. V. Putin (RU pres), R. T. Erdoğan (TR pres); parity watch: TRY:RUB, 1:4.19; TRY:USD, 1:0.05

dailysabah | Türkiye gains nuclear status as Akkuyu receives 1st fuel delivery, 27 Apr

... The plant will be fully operational by 2028 and supply 10% of Türkiye's electricity consumption, the president also said, noting that the Akkuyu project will contribute USD 1.5 billion (TRY 29.15 billion) annually to decrease Türkiye's natural gas imports and will have a "positive impact" national income.
[...]
Akkuyu is the world's first NPP project implemented through a build-own-operate model
BOO
NEIM, "Financing nuclear projects—new options?" (2014)
beware Rosatom
IAEA, "Financing Nuclear Power" (2018)
power purchase agreement (PPA) case studies
Under the long-term contract, Rosatom has agreed to provide the power plant's design, construction, maintenance, operation and decommissioning.

The firm holds a 99.2% stake in the project estimated to cost around USD 20 billion (TRY 388.53 billion), marking it the biggest investment in Türkiye's history implemented in a single site....

reference
Nuclear Power in Turkey (Updated March 2023)
Akkuyu | project history, 2010-2022
"After a long break due to financial and political reasons, Türkiye decided to turn to Russia's many years of experience in the field of nuclear technology."
Akkuyu | Fourth tier of the containment at Akkuyu NPP Unit 2 is completed, 15 Apr 2023
press
dailysabah | Turkey, Russia sign agreement to trade in local currencies, 8 Oct 2019
easternherald | The Turkish President Inaugurates The First Gas Pumping Operations From The Black Sea, 21 Apr
rigzone | Türkiye Gives Tax Cuts For $10B Offshore Gas Project, 21 Apr
"According to a presidential decree published in the Official Gazette...."
dailySabah | Türkiye's Enerjisa, German ENERCON ink MoU for wind turbines, 27 Apr
by Cat on Thu Apr 27th, 2023 at 04:53:40 PM EST
[ Parent ]
APsplainin Turkey's Erdogan appears via video link after health scare, 27 Apr
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan inaugurated a nuclear power plant via video Thursday in his first public appearance since falling ill on live TV and canceling campaign stops, as he sought to dispel concerns about his health weeks before a crucial election.

The 69-year-old leader looked pale sitting behind a desk SURROUNDED by Cabinet members, aides, and political allies to preside at the event marking the delivery of the first fuel to the Russian-built Akkuyu Nuclear Power Plant in southern Turkey.
[...]
The ceremony was the latest in a series of infrastructure and defense projects that Erdogan has undertaken to try to boost support in THE ELECTION. Last week, he marked the first delivery of natural gas discovered in the Black Sea and announced plans to provide free natural gas for households for a month.
[...]

by Cat on Thu Apr 27th, 2023 at 06:43:25 PM EST
[ Parent ]



'Sapere aude'
by Oui (Oui) on Fri Apr 14th, 2023 at 08:39:42 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Daily CO2, NOAA Mauna Loa Observatory in Hawaii
CO2 past | CO2 now | CO2 future ppm ...
NASA Vital Signs
NOAA direct and proxy measurements
Orbiting Carbon Observatory, OCO-2 dashboard
"Global environmental changes observed by NASA, ESA, and JAXA"

"our atmosphere"

archived cone of silence in Geotherapy Not Geoengineering, Please

Japan, US agree to cooperate on geothermal energy, 15 Apr marketing plan

The ["memorandum of commitment"] signed by Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm and Japan's minister of economy, trade and industry, Yasutoshi Nishimura, says that geothermal energy is recognized as a "renewable energy technology that the United States and Japan can work together to advance."
[...]
The agreement did not specify expected spending but said each side would bear the costs associated with their own activities.
[...]
So far, Japan's geothermal capacity has been underutilized. It has dozens of small power plants run on the steaming hot springs dotted across the country, but together they account for less than 1% of its total power generating capacity.
[...]
Biomass and geothermal power also contribute less than 1% of U.S. generating capacity, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.
wut
The U.S. has the largest estimated geothermal potential, according to Japan's National Industrial Institute of Science and Technology, followed by Indonesia and Japan.
"Currently, Indonesia has about 2.28 gigawatts of installed geothermal power capacity; the US has 2.6 gigawatts of installed geothermal power capacity, the most in the world." wow.
But Japan ranks 9th in installed geothermal power generating capacity, while the U.S. is The Global Leader™.
Silent Library of Project Finance

Pumping Heat a Mile Underground Is Helping One City Cut Carbon (2023)

The experimental technology, called aquifer thermal energy storage, pumps hot water 1,300 meters below the surface, then brings it back up for use in municipal systems known as district heating when it's needed. If all goes as planned, by next year the technology will be able to provide heat to more than 13,000 households.

Energy storage is a crucial component of any transition to a lower-carbon economy. The primary sources of renewable energy, wind turbines, and solar collection panels, provide power only when the wind is blowing or the sun is shining. So they must be augmented either by conventional plants that can be brought quickly on- and off[-]line to meet shifts in demand, or by storage systems.

World's largest compressed air grid "batteries" will store up to 10GWh (2021)
technology that's been in use for decades is compressed air energy storage (CAES), which can store energy on a grid scale and is billed as having the reliability of pumped hydro, without the same constraints on where you can build it. The McIntosh Plant that's been running in Alabama since 1991 is still one of the largest energy storage plants in the world, at 110 MW and 2.86 GWh. The new Hydrostor®facilities are set to snatch the title though, providing almost twice the storage capacity. They will run on an updated version of the technology called advanced compressed air energy storage (A-CAES).
Compressed Air Energy Storage, 2016 - 2023
Compressed air energy storage (CAES) is based around the gas turbine cycle. Surplus power is used to compress air using a rotary compressor and then store it, often in an underground chamber. When the power is required, it is released from the chamber and passed through an air turbine that generates electricity from the flow of high pressure air. Output from the plant can be boosted by burning natural gas in the high pressure air before it enters the air turbine, as would happen in a conventional gas turbine. However this has the penalty of producing carbon dioxide emissions, which the plain storage plant does not. More advanced plants can store heat during air compression and releasing it during the expansion phase. Only two commercial CAES plants have ever been built.
[...]
by Cat on Sat Apr 15th, 2023 at 05:52:14 PM EST
[ Parent ]
G7 energy, environment leaders haggle over climate strategy, 15 Apr sales kit
Energy and environment ministers from the [Gang of Nine] wealthy nations met on Saturday in northern Japan, seeking to reconcile the world's heavy reliance on fossil fuels with the urgency of ending carbon emissions to stave off the worst consequences of climate change.
[...]
IEA Electricity Market Report 2023 (01.02.23)
2022 Set a Global Record for Coal Generation (01.02.23)
Chinese coal boom a 'direct threat' to 1.5C goal, analysts warn (14.03.23)
Declining coal prices reflect a reshaping of global energy trade (31.03.23)
'End of the fossil age': Wind and solar broke energy records last year, report reveals, (12.04.23)
Speaking on the sidelines of the meetings, US Presidential Envoy for Climate John Kerry said the G-7 was "powerfully positioned to be able to lead" in the effort to stem global warming. "We appreciate Japan's leadership and its stewardship of G-7 this year."
UN experts 'deeply disappointed' by decision to discharge Fukushima water (15.04.21)
Micronesia denounces Japan plan to release Fukushima water into Pacific (22.09.22)
Japan's Cabinet OKs bills to extend nuclear reactor lifespan beyond 60 years (01.03.23)
Despite opposition, Japan may soon dump Fukushima wastewater (24.01.23)
New images from inside Fukushima reactor spark safety worry (04.04.23)
But differences persist over how and how quickly, carbon emissions can be erased, especially at a time when THE WAR IN UKRAINE has deepened concerns over energy security, complicating that effort.
GTFO
The G-7 nations hope to lead by example, US Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm said: "We expect that those countries see that this can be done and the nations that have the wherewithal to make these investments to first out give hope to others to be able to do it as the technology lowers the cost [?!]."
[...]
Race to Zero: California's bumpy road to electrify cars and trucks (06.02.23)
Electric car owners' costs jump (13.12.22)
There's a strong business case for climate-friendly policies, Granholm said, given the estimated €20 trillion global market in ["]clean energy["] by 2030.

"People see people getting jobs in this area. People who start to drive electric vehicles and don't need to pay gasoline prices know that it's much cheaper to drive EVs. It's all becoming obvious to people," she said while touring the Suiso Frontier, the world's first and only liquid hydrogen carrier, a showcase of the latest technology for what Japan's leaders call a "hydrogen society."

The Suiso Frontier has been built by Kawasaki Heavy Industries (KHI) to transport liquefied hydrogen from the Port of Hastings, Victoria [AU], to Kobe, Japan.
[...]
All together, now: Thank you for our hydrogen society, PUTIN!
by Cat on Sat Apr 15th, 2023 at 07:37:06 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Nekrasova, et al.,"Inorganic Sorbents for Wastewater Treatment from Radioactive Contaminants," Inorganics, 11(3) published 16 March 2023
The production and application of radionuclide-containing materials generate liquid radioactive waste (LRW) of various chemical compositions and activity levels. LRW presents the most severe potential environmental hazard due to its large volume and high total activity. Furthermore, during radiation accidents at the nuclear fuel cycle facilities, an uncontrolled release and migration of radioactive substances result in environmental pollution. As such, the radiation accidents at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant of the USSR, in 1986 and Fukushima-1 Nuclear Power Plant of Japan, in 2011 brought an enormous environmental damage. Therefore, developing and upgrading techniques for decontaminating liquid radioactive waste and radioactively contaminated natural water is an important and challenging issue.

Physical adsorption and ion exchange-based sorption methods adopt a high profile among the physicochemical methods used for decontaminating aqueous solutions from toxic and radioactive impurities. Physical adsorption methods with various types of adsorbents, primarily active carbons, are mainly used at the initial stages of polluted water treatment to remove oil products, surfactants, uranium, and heavy metals.
[...]

by Cat on Tue Apr 18th, 2023 at 05:49:38 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Three-year extension for Northern Ireland veterinary medicines arrangements | Dec. 19, 2022 |

BVA and others were concerned more than half of all medicines currently available in Northern Ireland would have been discontinued from 1 January.

The post-Brexit grace period that allowed veterinary medicines to enter Northern Ireland without checks was due to expire at the end of this month, but it has now been extended to December 2025.

The European Commission said it had listened to concerns from stakeholders about the potential impact on animal health and welfare, food safety and public health, and that the decision meant citizens and businesses in Northern Ireland will continue to be able to buy veterinary medical products from inside the UK.

Animal health 'disaster'

Changes were pending as part of the latest implementation of the post-Brexit Northern Ireland Protocol, which aims to prevent a hard border between the province and the Republic of Ireland, but requires more checks and restrictions on goods leaving Great Britain for Northern Ireland.

In October, BVA president Malcolm Morley called on UK and EU leaders to work together to avert an animal welfare "disaster" if nearly half of all vet medicine supplies were effectively halted overnight.

He said all vet sectors would be affected and, in particular, cited lack of availability of Salmonella vaccines for poultry vets.

The welfare of broiler chickens in the EU

'Sapere aude'

by Oui (Oui) on Sun Apr 16th, 2023 at 07:11:17 AM EST
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euronews | Are wind droughts a threat to the booming North Sea wind power industry?, 17 Apr
[...]
It's not hard to guess why the North Sea has been chosen. It's one of the windiest places on earth. By the end of this decade, the goal is for offshore wind to generate 65 gigawatts - that's the equivalent of 30 nuclear reactors.

What happens when the wind speed drops?

But what happens when the wind speed drops? And is global warming causing so-called wind droughts to happen more often?

"Climate change definitely can have an impact on wind variability," says Matti Juhani Koivisto, Senior Researcher at DTU Wind and Energy Systems. "There's a lot of uncertainty, we should say, between the models. But they seem to show a slight increase in variability, especially a bit more wind droughts."
[...]
"At lower wind speeds turbines produce less power," says Kenneth Thomsen, Head of Division at DTU Wind Turbine Design. "But we can change the design so that we have a bigger rotor compared to the generator and then it meets the rated power, sooner at a lower wind speed. And it means that it produces more constant power, even at lower wind speeds."

In the years ahead, our ability to measure and assess wind variability will be vital. Having reliable data about wind droughts and predictions of the conditions that we may face, will be crucial to manage effectively, with wind being just one component in a broader renewable European energy system.

Copernicus
ESOTC 2021 | EUROPE | IMPACT Low winds
The wind conditions over Europe in 2021 were first assessed by comparing the annual and quarterly average wind speeds at 100 metres above the surface to their average for the 1991-2020 reference period, using the ERA5 re[-]analysis dataset (Figure 1a). The 2021 annual mean wind speed was most below average in northwestern and central Europe, in a band stretching from the UK and Ireland, and their adjacent seas, to Germany and Czechia. This region experienced wind speeds as much as 10% below average in some places. In contrast, stronger-than-average winds prevailed over most of southeastern Europe, from Italy to Türkiye.
[...]
C3S | Vortex
[...]
The decarbonisation of the energy sector will mean a growing share of renewables in final energy consumption (renewable energy represented 21.8% of energy consumed in the EU in 2021) and wind energy will be a key constituent in the EU's renewable basket. According to Wind Europe, the EU's electricity demand will more than double, from 3,000 TWh today to 6,800 TWh by 2050, with wind accounting for 50% of the EU's electricity mix. To make the most of Europe's wind resource, stakeholders all along the wind power supply chain—from planners to power plant operators—will need access to high quality data on wind variability across the continent. This is something that C3S provides.
[...]
Vortex - modelled data for the wind industry

The Vortex technology is based on a weather research and forecasting (WRF) model, which is a state-of-the-art non-linear flow code developed through a collaborative effort by several atmospheric research centres with contributions from the wind energy community. Vortex takes ERA5 data (of which the smallest grid unit is 25 kilometres) and uses it as a starting point to develop products that can reach a resolution of 100 metres. This is the level of detail needed to design windfarms and optimise their operations.
[...]
[Vortex CEO Pep Moreno, A/V (EN), 00:01:26]

"the whole renewable sector suffers a lack of reliable information"
by Cat on Tue Apr 18th, 2023 at 02:11:03 AM EST
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