End of Month global news express
May 2023
Natural gas consumption. It is forecast the second most U.S. natural gas consumption for electricity generation on record this summer (May–September), behind last year, and averaging about 38 billion cubic feet per day (Bcf/d).
Coal consumption. It is expected that coal consumption in the electric power sector will fall by 13% in 2023 compared with last year due to several factors, including lower natural gas prices, more generation from renewable sources, and coal plant retirements.
U.S. gasoline prices. Retail gasoline prices in the forecast average around $3.40 per gallon (gal) during the summer 2023 driving season (April–September), a 20% decrease from the summer of 2022. Regional summer gasoline prices range from near $3.00/gal on the Gulf Coast to about $4.30/gal on the West Coast.
The UK recently passed 1tn (trillion) kWh of electricity generated from renewable energy sources. Meanwhile, National Grid has set out the case for urgent reform to drive the energy transition.
Data from National Grid analytics reveals that it has taken 50 years to reach the 1tn kWh milestone and, based on current projections, it is expected to take just over five years to reach the next trillionth kWh.
Records began in 1970 when renewables represented just 1.9% of total generation, with hydro being the main source at the time (4.5 TWh). Offshore and onshore wind and solar entered the generation mix in 2010, following the emergence of key pieces of legislation including the Energy Review in 2006 and the Renewable Energy Directive in 2009.
Last month, April 2023, 46% of Britain’s electricity came from zero carbon sources, according to the National Grid ESO's (electricity system operator) monthly electricity statistics. The month also saw a new low-carbon intensity record of 33g/kWh on 10 April, with just 0.1% of generation from coal.
As part of its focus on ‘delivering a clean, fair and affordable energy future’, National Grid has set out how industry, government and the regulator can take ‘immediate and decisive action to enable the decarbonisation of the UK power sector by 2035’. It outlines five recommendations in its latest report, calling for specific reforms on planning, the regulatory system, the grid connections process, community benefits and supply chains.
Helion has announced it will provide electricity to Microsoft through a fusion power plant.
The plant, in Washington state, US, is expected to be online by 2028 and will target power generation of 50 MW or greater after a one-year ramp up period.
Helion says its approach to fusion energy differs in three main ways from other approaches. Firstly, it uses a pulsed fusion system, which helps overcome the hardest physics challenges, keeps its fusion device smaller than other approaches, and allows it to adjust the power output based on need. Secondly, its system is built to directly recover electricity, while other fusion systems heat water to create steam to turn a turbine which loses energy in the process. Thirdly, it uses deuterium and helium-3 as fuel, which helps keep its system small and efficient.
Europe’s transition to a net zero economy will require more than $32tn of investments in energy and related technologies between now and 2050, according to a new report from BloombergNEF (BNEF).
The report details a pathway for Europe (comprising the EU, UK, Norway and Switzerland) to reach net zero emissions by 2050, using the lowest cost technology solutions to decarbonise each sector of the economy – dubbed the net zero scenario.
Europe invested $227bn in the low-carbon energy transition in 2022 to stay on track, average annual investments into clean energy supply, electric vehicles (EVs), heat pumps and sustainable materials in Europe need to run at ‘more than three times’ this level for the rest of this decade, and more than four times in the 2030s.
More than two thirds of the investment needed to deliver a net zero energy economy in Europe sits on the demand side. Meaning that a successful transition will rely on consumers adopting clean technologies faster this decade. The biggest single slice of spending is on EVs, which totals $21tn over 2022–2050 under this scenario, while heat pumps see $1.4tn in investment.
Ireland recently announced the provisional results of the country’s first offshore wind auction under the Renewable Electricity Support Scheme (ORESS 1). The round surpassed market expectations both in terms of the total volume of renewable energy procured and the low price at which it was secured. Meanwhile, the UK government has unveiled plans for improved rewards and benefits to be offered to communities backing onshore wind farms in the UK.
Savannah Energy Niger Solar and the government of Niger are to develop two solar photovoltaic (PV) power plants with a combined capacity of up to 200 MW.
The plants are set to be located within 20 km of Maradi and Zinder in southern Niger, with an installed capacity of between 50 MW and 100 MW, for a total potential installed capacity of up to 200 MW.
The projects are expected to increase the country’s grid-connected power generation by over 20%, and are set to reduce annual CO2 emissions by about 260,000 tonnes.
The projects will be linked to the South-Central area of Niger’s electricity grid, with plans to interconnect it with the Western grid zone by 2026 to serve Niamey, through a project funded by the World Bank.
Approval is expected in 2024, with first power generation targeted between 2025 and 2026.
United is to triple its use of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) in 2023, while Neste expands its SAF production capabilities, and Masdar and Airbus unveil a new synthetic SAF collaboration.
US airline operator United has unveiled plans to triple its use of SAF in 2023. It recently began using a blend of SAF on departing flights from San Francisco International Airport and is planning to use a SAF blend later this year at London Heathrow Airport, which could put the airline on track to use approximately 10mn gallons in 2023, nearly three times more than 2022 and close to 10 times more than 2019.
The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has proposed new greenhouse gas (GHG) pollution standards for the country’s coal and natural gas-fired power stations in a bid to tackle the climate crisis and protect public health.
The new proposed standards would avoid more than 600mn tonnes of CO2 emissions through 2042, as well as tens of thousands of tonnes of particulate matter (PM2.5), sulphur dioxide (SO2), and nitrogen oxides (NOx), states the EPA. It also claims the proposal would prevent some 300,000 asthma attacks and 1,300 premature deaths in 2030 alone, and deliver up to $85bn in climate and public health benefits over the next two decades.
Fortum Battery Recycling has started commercial operations at its hydrometallurgical battery material recycling facility in Harjavalta, Finland.
The newly established facility is said to be the largest recycling plant in Europe in terms of recycling capacity, and is also thought to be the first commercial-scale facility in Europe for hydrometallurgical recycling.
The recycling process recovers critical metals from end-of-life lithium ion batteries, as well as battery production waste, and produces secondary metals for new lithium ion batteries on an industrial scale.
It is hoped the facility will ease the rising demand for sustainable battery materials from European battery manufacturers, helping to reduce Europe’s dependence on imported critical battery raw materials.
The European Union (EU) could replace Russian natural gas with green technologies by 2028, according to a new report from the Oxford Sustainable Finance Group, part of the Smith School of Enterprise and the Environment at the University of Oxford Furthermore. It is estimated that up to 90% of the additional investment required, on top of currently planned European Green Deal spending, could be recouped over the next 30 years by eliminating the need to buy gas.
‘The transition from Russian gas to clean energy is not only achievable, but offers multiple benefits. Replacing natural gas with wind and solar energy eliminates the need to pay for gas in future,’ says Dr Gireesh Shrimali, co-author of the report and Head of Transition Finance Research at the Oxford Sustainable Finance Group. ‘By eliminating reliance on importing a fossil fuel with volatile prices and supply, the EU can alleviate energy security concerns, address the cost-of-living crisis through energy costs, and advance its goals to achieve net zero emissions and tackle the climate crisis.’
天然气消耗。 据预测，今年夏天（5 月至 9 月）美国用于发电的天然气消耗量将创历史第二高，仅次于去年，平均每天约 380 亿立方英尺 (Bcf/d)。
煤炭消费。 预计 2023 年电力行业的煤炭消费量将比去年下降 13%，原因包括天然气价格下降、可再生能源发电量增加以及燃煤电厂退役等。
美国汽油价格。 预计 2023 年夏季驾驶季节（4 月至 9 月）的平均零售汽油价格约为每加仑 3.40 美元，比 2022 年夏季下降 20%。墨西哥湾沿岸地区的夏季汽油价格接近 3.00 美元/加仑 在西海岸约为 4.30 美元/加仑。
英国最近通过了 1tn（万亿）千瓦时的可再生能源发电, 与此同时，英国国家电网提出了推动能源转型的紧急改革案例。
来自英国国家电网分析的数据显示，达到 1 万亿千瓦时的里程碑用了 50 年，根据目前的预测，预计需要五年多一点的时间才能达到下一个万亿千瓦时。
记录始于 1970 年，当时可再生能源仅占总发电量的 1.9%，而水电是当时的主要来源（4.5 TWh）。 随着 2006 年能源审查和 2009 年可再生能源指令等关键立法的出现，海上和陆上风能和太阳能于 2010 年进入发电组合。
根据国家电网 ESO（电力系统运营商）的月度电力统计数据，上个月，即 2023 年 4 月，英国 46% 的电力来自零碳能源。 4 月 10 日，该月还创下了 33 克/千瓦时的新低碳强度记录，其中煤炭发电量仅占 0.1%。
作为其“提供清洁、公平和负担得起的能源未来”重点的一部分，英国国家电网阐述了行业、政府和监管机构如何采取“立即和果断的行动，到 2035 年实现英国电力行业的脱碳”。 它在最新报告中概述了五项建议，呼吁对规划、监管体系、电网连接流程、社区利益和供应链进行具体改革。
Helion 已宣布将通过聚变发电厂为微软提供电力. 该工厂位于美国华盛顿州，预计将于 2028 年上线，目标是在一年后达到 50 兆瓦或更高的发电量。
Helion 表示，它的聚变能方法在三个主要方面与其他方法不同。 首先，它使用脉冲聚变系统，这有助于克服最困难的物理挑战，使其聚变装置比其他方法更小，并允许它根据需要调整功率输出。 其次，它的系统是为了直接回收电力而建造的，而其他聚变系统则加热水以产生蒸汽来驱动涡轮机，而涡轮机在这个过程中会损失能量。 第三，它使用氘和氦 3 作为燃料，这有助于保持其系统小而高效。
根据 BloombergNEF (BNEF) 的一份新报告，从现在到 2050 年，欧洲向净零经济转型将需要超过 32 万亿美元的能源和相关技术投资。
该报告详细介绍了欧洲（包括欧盟、英国、挪威和瑞士）到 2050 年实现净零排放的途径，即使用成本最低的技术解决方案使每个经济部门脱碳——被称为净零情景。
欧洲在 2022 年向低碳能源转型投资了2270 亿美元以确保不脱离计划，在这十年的剩余时间里欧洲对清洁能源供应、电动汽车 (EV)、热泵和可持续材料的年均投资需要达到今年的“三倍以上”， 2030 年代则需要四倍多。
在欧洲实现净零能源经济所需的投资中，超过三分之二来自需求方。 这意味着成功的转型将取决于消费者在本十年内更快地采用清洁技术。 最大的单项支出是电动汽车，在这种情况下，2022-2050 年的投资总额为 21 万亿美元，而热泵的投资为 1.4 万亿美元。
爱尔兰最近公布了该国在可再生电力支持计划 (ORESS 1) 下首次海上风电拍卖的临时结果。 该轮融资无论是在采购的可再生能源总量方面还是在低廉的采购价格方面都超出了市场预期。 与此同时，英国政府公布了为支持英国陆上风电场的社区提供更多奖励和福利的计划。
Savannah Energy Niger Solar 和尼日尔政府将开发两个太阳能光伏 (PV) 发电厂，总容量高达 200 兆瓦。
这些电厂将位于尼日尔南部马拉迪和津德尔 20 公里范围内，装机容量在 50 兆瓦至 100 兆瓦之间，总潜在装机容量高达 200 兆瓦。
这些项目预计将使该国的并网发电量增加 20% 以上，并将每年减少约 26 万吨二氧化碳排放量。
这些项目将与尼日尔电网的中南部地区相连，并计划通过世界银行资助的一个项目，到 2026 年将其与西部电网区互连，为尼亚美提供服务。
预计将于 2024 年获得批准，目标是在 2025 年至 2026 年之间实现首次发电。
联合航空计划在 2023 年将其可持续航空燃料 (SAF) 的使用量增加两倍，而 Neste 将扩大其 SAF 生产能力，而 Masdar 和空中客车将推出新的合成 SAF 合作项目。
美国航空公司运营商美联航宣布计划在 2023 年将 SAF 的使用量增加两倍。它最近开始在从旧金山国际机场起飞的航班上使用 SAF 混合物，并计划在今年晚些时候在伦敦希思罗机场使用 SAF 混合物，这可能 使该航空公司有望在 2023 年使用约 1000 万加仑，是 2022 年的近三倍，是 2019 年的近 10 倍。
美国环境保护署 (EPA) 为该国的燃煤和天然气发电站提出了新的温室气体 (GHG) 污染标准，以应对气候危机和保护公众健康。
EPA 表示，到 2042 年，新提议的标准将避免超过 6 亿吨的二氧化碳排放，以及数万吨的颗粒物 (PM2.5)、二氧化硫 (SO2) 和氮氧化物 (NOx)。 它还声称，该提案仅在 2030 年就可以防止约 300,000 例哮喘发作和 1,300 例过早死亡，并在未来二十年内带来高达 850 亿美元的气候和公共卫生效益。
Fortum Battery Recycling的位于芬兰 Harjavalta 的湿法冶金电池材料回收设施已开始商业运营。
据称，就回收能力而言，新建立的设施是欧洲最大的回收工厂，也被认为是欧洲第一个商业规模的湿法冶金回收设施。
回收过程从报废锂离子电池以及电池生产废料中回收关键金属，并以工业规模生产用于新锂离子电池的二次金属。
希望该设施能够缓解欧洲电池制造商对可持续电池材料不断增长的需求，有助于减少欧洲对进口关键电池原材料的依赖。
根据牛津大学史密斯企业与环境学院可持续金融团队的一份新报告，到 2028 年，欧盟 (EU) 可能会用绿色技术取代俄罗斯天然气。 据估计，除了目前计划的欧洲绿色协议支出之外，所需额外投资的高达 90% 可以在未来 30 年内通过消除购买天然气的需要来收回。
“从俄罗斯天然气向清洁能源的转变不仅是可以实现的，而且具有多重优势。 报告合著者、牛津可持续金融团队转型金融研究负责人 Gireesh Shrimali 博士说，用风能和太阳能替代天然气可以消除未来支付天然气费用的需要。 “通过消除对价格和供应不稳定的进口化石燃料的依赖，欧盟可以缓解能源安全问题，通过能源成本解决生活成本危机，并推进其实现净零排放和应对气候危机的目标。
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