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G7 to play crucial role in reducing emissions from heavy industry


Worldwide Emissions abatement After a two-day meeting in Berlin under Germany’s 2022 presidency of the G7 group of advanced economies, Climate, Energy and Environment Ministers issued on 27 May a communiqué setting out a wide range of actions to tackle ‘the triple global crisis of climate change, biodiversity loss and pollution’ while condemning Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and warning of its consequences. Notably, G7 ministers committed to the goal of achieving predominantly decarbonised electricity sectors by 2035, as mapped out in an International Energy Agency report in October 2021, and recognised multiple aspects of the IEA’s work on the clean energy transition and energy security, including a recent major report on how to put carbon dioxide emissions from heavy industries such as steel and cement on a path towards net zero. The IEA’s analysis and activities were cited throughout the communiqué, spanning many key areas including efforts to improve energy efficiency, the need for increased investment in renewables, tracking of methane emissions, ensuring sufficient critical mineral supplies for clean energy technologies, and the IEA’s ‘10 point plan to reduce the European Union’s reliance on natural gas and to cut oil use’ which were produced in response to the energy market impacts of Russia’s invasion. The communiqué devoted particular attention to the IEA’s recent report ‘Achieving Net Zero Heavy Industry Sectors In G7 members’,which was produced at the request of Germany’s presidency to inform policy makers, industrial leaders and other decision makers ahead of the G7 Berlin summit. The report lays out a series of


recommendations for G7 economies to advance the transition towards near zero emission steel and cement production, building on the IEA’s 2021 report ‘Net Zero by 2050: a roadmap for the Global energy Sector’.


“There is no way to reach net zero without dramatic reductions in emissions from heavy industry, and G7 economies have both a responsibility and an opportunity to take a leadership role in driving that forward,” said IEA executive director Fatih Birol. “This new report sets out realistic and actionable steps for G7 members that can provide a catalyst for the global progress that is urgently needed.” “To achieve our goal to limit the global temperature rise to 1.5 degrees, we have to decarbonise our industries. Especially in sectors where emissions are high but hard-to-abate like steel and cement, we have to fundamentally shift production methods,” said Robert Habeck, Germany’s Federal minister for Economic Affairs and Climate Action. “The IEA report ‘Achieving Net Zero Heavy Industry Sectors in G7 Members’ shows us pathways and advances our understanding of the tools and definitions we need. It brings us a big step further to jointly create an international economic and political environment that incentivises investments in green and low carbon production facilities. We want the G7 to be a pioneer in this process.” Heavy industry is responsible for more than 15% of coal use and about 10% of oil and gas use in G7 members. This makes the net zero transition in heavy industry an important pillar for reducing the reliance on fossil fuels in the G7 in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. However, many of the technologies for


significantly reducing emissions from heavy industry are still at large prototype or demonstration stage.


The IEA report sets out a toolbox that G7 members can draw upon and recommends that they set out ambitious long-term energy transition targets for heavy industry while supporting demonstration and early commercial projects through targeted finance and other risks mitigation measures. Heavy industry’s direct CO2


emissions


amount to around 6 billion tonnes per year, more than one-sixth of total CO2


emissions


from the global energy system. Producers of steel and cement in particular face unique challenges to drastically reduce their emissions footprint. The G7’s economic heft, technology leadership and international alliances present it with a special role in leading the way and inspiring successful energy transitions in these crucial sectors, the IEA report says. Among many recommendations the report indicates that supply-side efforts could also leverage essential private investment, while on the demand side, the report recommends using carbon contracts for difference, public procurement rules, mandates, quotas and other related measures to create differentiated markets for steel and cement production with near zero emissions.


The report also calls for G7 governments to adopt stable, absolute and ambitious thresholds for material production with near zero emissions. It suggests that G7 members should work with industry to establish agreed-upon thresholds, definitions and measurement standards for what constitutes steel and cement production with near zero emissions.


Drax to trial new carbon capture technology UK Carbon capture


Drax is collaborating with the University of Nottingham and Promethean Particles at its North Yorkshire power station in trials of an innovative new carbon capture technology. The trial is part of Drax’s ‘bioenergy with carbon capture and storage’ (BECCS) innovation programme and a successful trial could see the technology deployed in future BECCS plants. The new process uses a type of solid sorbent called a metal-organic framework (MOF), which has been pioneered and developed by


Promethean Particles. It can capture the CO2 released when sustainable biomass is used to generate electricity. CCS technologies typically use liquid solvents.


MOFs have a simple structure, which means they can be tailored to separate and soak up


specific molecules, making them excellent for CCS. The trial will last for two months and will allow all three organisations to find out if this new carbon capture process performs well in real conditions on large-scale projects, and if it will be cost effective. One of its advantages over solvents it that less energy is needed to remove the CO2


from the sorbent once it has


been removed from the flue gas stream. Professor Ed Lester, the project leader, University of Nottingham, commented: “This is a fantastic opportunity to showcase how these solid adsorbents perform in an industrial setting. We know that this project is gathering a lot of interest across many industrial sectors that currently generate large amounts of CO2


”.


Drax Group, which has converted its North Yorkshire power station to use sustainable


biomass instead of coal, plans to deploy the BECCS through the next decade. This project would form the world’s largest carbon capture power project, delivering a significant proportion of the negative emissions needed for the UK to meet its climate targets. How it works. the process takes place in two columns. Flue gas enters the first column, where the metal-organic framework separates the CO2


which bonds physically to the MOF by adsorption into its pores. The depleted flue gas is exhausted to atmosphere. In the second chamber process heat is used to remove the trapped CO2


and regenerate the MOF. Physical


bonds require less energy for their release than solvent based methods. The resulting pure stream of CO2


stored for re-use or sequestration. www.modernpowersystems.com | June 2022 | 5 is then compressed and


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