Tag Archives: biogas

Shell Could Bring EU Green Hydrogen Scheme to US Shores

At-a-Glance:

Shell has just flipped the switch on the biggest green hydrogen plant in the EU, and it looks like the oil and gas giant could have a hand in fostering the renewable H2 revolution here in the US, as well. It better ramp up quickly, though. Global demand for hydrogen has tripled since the 1970s and it has nowhere to go but up. To learn more, read “Shell Could Bring EU Green Hydrogen Scheme to US Shores.”

Key Takeaways:

  • More sustainable hydrogen sources are finally beginning to emerge, including biomass, biogas, wastewater, waste plastic, and electrolysis, which refers to the process of teasing hydrogen from water with an electrical current.
  • Shell built its new green hydrogen plant at its Energy and Chemicals Park in Rheinland, Germany, with a healthy assist from the a consortium of hydrogen stakeholders and the EU’s Fuel Cells and Hydrogen Joint Undertaking.
  • Billed as “the first to use this technology at such a large scale in a refinery,” the new electrolysis plant revved up in July at a capacity of 10 megawatts. Plans are already under way to add 90 megawatts more.
  • In one especially intriguing indication of surging interest in the US, Texas has launched a study aimed at leveraging its wind and solar resources to produce green hydrogen at scale.

Path to 100% Perspective: 

In the energy sector, it is anticipated that green hydrogen will deliver 7 percent of the global energy demand by 2050. Governments will have to invest significant amounts into the infrastructure needed to develop green hydrogen, but those investments require market-ready engines that can run on the fuel once it is readily available. The energy and marine industries are on a decarbonisation journey, and the fuel flexibility of the engines powering these sectors is key to enable the transformation.

Photo by Anton Maksimov juvnsky on Unsplash

What does negative net zero carbon mean?

At-a-Glance:

Negative net-zero carbon. The phrase sounds redundant or oxymoronic. But it is a real thing. You can have less than net-zero carbon emissions if you capture and use emissions that otherwise would be released as greenhouse gas into the atmosphere. To learn more, read “What does negative net zero carbon mean?”

Key Takeaways:

  • Renewable natural gas (RNG), or biogas, is derived from organic waste material. Biogas can be captured and used as fuel in place of traditional natural gas.
  • According to a University of California Davis study, there is so much organic waste available in California that more than 20% of the state’s residential gas needs could be met with RNG.
  • California Air Resources Board (CARB) data shows that the average “carbon intensity” of all renewable natural gas vehicle fuel in the state’s Low Carbon Fuel Standard (LCFS) program was negative for the first time in program history.
  • RNG made up nearly 90% of all natural gas vehicle fuel in the low carbon fuel program and consumed in California in the first half of 2020, up from around 77% in 2019, according to CARB data.
  • According to an EPA study, if you capture all the methane coming off of RNG capture potential areas, you could run about 200,000 trucks on renewable natural gas every year.

Path to 100% Perspective:

The role of natural gas in power generation is increasing as it is being more widely utilized to run power plants that are integrated with intermittent wind and solar systems. As the share of wind and solar capacity increases and the net load to thermal plants decreases, gas power plants can also provide peaking to system balancing. Renewable natural gas can be leveraged as a fuel source to replace fossil-fuel based natural gas, thus moving the world one step closer to decarbonization and a 100% renewable energy future.

 

Photo by Scott Rodgerson on Unsplash