ZERO

Industry with CCS

Camilla Svendsen Skriung — 2012-02-03T13:25:00Z

CO2 reductions within the industry sector will be necessary to establish a sustainable and competitive industry sector in Europe. There is no easy fix to cut emissions from processing industries. A large part of the greenhouse gas emissions from industries are not caused by energy use that can be replaced by renewables or removed in other ways. Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) is a technology which has the potential to give significant reductions in CO2 emissions, given a sound and lasting financial and political framework.

Among the speakers are: Juho Lipponen, Head of CCS Unit, IEA, Dr. Jörg Rothermel, Association of the German Chemical Industry, Sigve Apeland, Gassco and Hauke Hermann, Öko-institut

In the panel-discussion are, among others: Dr. Peer Hoth, BMWi, Dr. Jörg Rothermel and Marius Gjerset, ZERO

The seminar will be held on the 20th March 2012 from 09.00 – 17.00 in the venues of the Mercator Stiftung's in Berlin.

Adress:
Neue Promenade 6
10178 Berlin
Germany
Web: http://www.stiftung-mercator.de

You can find more information about the seminar and the program here (pdf)

For registration, please go to this link: https://www.formstack.com/forms/zero10-ccs1

ZERO hope to see you in Berlin on the 20th of March!

Klimameldingen utsatt igjen

Bastian E. Klunde — 2012-01-31T12:20:17Z

I uken som har gått siden Erik Solheim orienterte om at klimameldingen var utsatt, har mange har ment mye om hva som gjør klimameldingen så vanskelig for regjeringen. Vi i ZERO har ikke deltatt i den spekulasjonen, men vi har konstatert at det er svært beklagelig at regjeringen utsetter dette viktige arbeidet.

I tiden fremover kommer vi til å fortsette å oppdatere klimameldingssiden vår, så når ting begynner å bevege seg skal du finne alt du trenger av informasjon her.

Vi oppfordrer alle til å opprettholde presset på regjeringspartiene, slik at vi først og fremst får en god klimamelding. Når den først kommer.

UNFCCC seeks host for Climate Technology Centre

Indira Mann — 2012-01-27T16:49:08Z

The secretariat of the UN Climate Change Convention (UNFCCC) has issued the call following a request by governments at the UN climate change conference in Durban last year to launch the process of selecting a suitable host for the CTC.

The centre will take forward the Technology Mechanism – set up at the UN conference in Cancun in 2010 – which is intended to promote the development and knowledge-transfer of “climate-sound” technologies that will eventually be put into practice.

UNFCCC executive secretary, Christiana Figueres, said: “At the UN Climate Change Conference in Durban, governments gave themselves a heavy workload for 2012, and the call for proposals is the first big follow-on step from that meeting. It is also a major step towards delivering real and tangible transfer of technologies and know-how to developing countries,”

The CTC and its network will help developing countries to select technologies and set up resulting projects and strategies. It intends to achieve this through collaboration between governments, international organisations, the research community, academia and the private sector.

The secretariat has asked interested organisations, including consortia, to submit their proposals for hosting the CTC by March 16 with a view to it becoming fully operational in 2012. These proposals will then be assessed by an evaluation panel - comprising six members of the Technology Executive Committee – which will recommend a shortlist, before the successful host is approved at the next UN Climate Change Conference in Qatar at the end of 2012.

UNFCCC press release, 19 January 2012

Read the call for proposals here.

A$2.3m funding for Australian CCS trio

Indira Mann — 2012-01-18T13:05:44Z

The total package, amounting to A$2.3 million, aims to help speed up the development of CCS technologies for commercial-scale use as part of the country’s moves to tackle climate change.

Research agency CSIRO is set to benefit from a $1.84 million grant towards studying the potential impact of capture technology on air quality.
The CarbonNet project, a planned CO2 transport-and-storage hub for Latrobe Valley, Victoria, will be funded A$240,000 to conduct a measuring, monitoring, and verification study of stored emissions.
WorleyParsons will receive A$226,000 to analyse the impact of post-combustion capture on an existing coal-fired power plant, Loy Yang A, also in Latrobe Valley.

Holger Bietz, GCCSI’s general manager for projects, financial and commercial, said: “Our announcement today of funding to CCS demonstration projects and research points to the pressing demand to accelerate deployment of this important technology in Australia,” he said. “It also helps to cement Australia’s position as a global leader in pursuing CCS as a climate mitigation tool.”

He added: “The work with CSIRO in particular will draw international attention, given that it will develop a methodology to allow regulators to safely approve capture projects in Australia and any jurisdiction around the world.”

As of last Friday, the GCCSI has provided a total of A$37 million towards CCS projects worldwide, with about 16% of that figure going to Australian projects or activities.

Read GCCSI’s press release here.

Materials Roadmap boost for low-carbon technologies

Indira Mann — 2012-01-12T17:16:04Z

The roadmap – produced under the SETIS system to support delivery of a European energy technology policy – puts forward the case for key R&D activities and proposes a comprehensive European programme.

Among the energy technologies considered are wind, solar power, the fossil fuel energy sector (including carbon capture and storage), geothermal, bio-energy and nuclear fission.

With regard to the fossil fuel sector, the roadmap proposes an R&D programme that includes materials for post combustion capture – such as solvents and advanced solvents – and the development of oxygen carriers and sorbents for precombustion technologies with a lower cost per tonne of CO2 separated.

And in order to speed the progress of its results from research to market, the programme also includes several industrial pilots to validate findings and test the performance of materials under realistic operating conditions.

The roadmap’s introduction states: “We need new energy technologies – not just any low carbon technologies, but more efficient and cost-competitive low carbon technologies. Materials play a pivotal role in the solution, providing the means to generate and conserve energy in a more efficient and cost-competitive manner.”

To download the roadmap, click here.

Read the EC’s press release here.

To find out more about the EC’s SET-Plan to move towards a low-carbon economy by 2050, click here.

ZERO arrangerer frokostseminar om kraft fra land

Cato Buch — 2012-01-09T15:15:00Z

Tirsdag 7. februar kl. 07:30- 10:00 inviterer ZERO til god frokost og en faglig start på dagen i lokalene til Hambro’s Café i Oslo. (http://bit.ly/yfmAiS).

Olje- og energiminister Ola Borten Moe har i høst uttalt at oljeindustrien må gjennomføre nye miljø- og klimatiltak på norsk sokkel og at han ønsker å få til elektrifisering av storfunnet Avaldsnes som ligger i området kalt Utsirahøyden. Første oljefelt i rekka blant feltene på Utsirahøyden, Luno, skal søke om utbygging i løpet av våren. Dette blir Ola Borten Moes første elektrifiseringstest som olje- og energiminister. (http://bit.ly/wnwO1x)

Seminaret åpnes av ZEROs Kari Elisabeth Kaski som presenterer ZEROs siste rapport (http://www.zero.no/klima/strom-fra-land-til-olje-og-gassplattformer) om potensialet for elektrifisering av sokkelen og mulighetene for å redusere klimagassutslippene fra oljeindustrien betydelig.

Sjefsingeniør i OD, Arne Nilsen, vil innlede om aktuelle prosjekter på sokkelen i dag og om elektrifisering av områder på norsk sokkel. Kjartan Hauglum, prosjektleder i Statnett, vil fortelle om sammenhengen mellom utbygging av kraftnett og elektrifisering. Han vil også se på kraftsituasjonen i området hvor det er aktuelt å hente kraft fra til Utsirahøyden og Avaldsnes.

Seminaret er gratis. Påmelding til kari@zero.no

Programmet:


07:30	Kaffe og frokost
08:00	Åpning og innledning om potensialet for elektrifisering av norsk petroleumsvirksomhet	Kari Elisabeth Kaski, politisk rådgiver, olje og gass, ZERO
08:15	Regjeringens ambisjoner	Ivar Vigdenes, politisk rådgiver, Olje- og energidepartementet
08:45	Elektrifisering gir næringsmuligheter	Steffen Waal, administrerende direktør, ABB AS
09:05	Hva skjer på sokkelen i dag?	Arne Nilsen, sjefsingeniør, Oljedirektoratet
09:25	Nettutbygging og elektrifisering av sokkelen	Kjartan Hauglum, prosjektleder, Statnett
09:45	Elektrifisering av Hild	Øyvind Fjellvang, Deputy Project Director, Hild Project, Total
10:00	Avslutning	ZERO

FutureGen 2.0 test drilling 'successful'

Indira Mann — 2012-01-05T19:47:12Z

Over the next few weeks, data collected from the well - including caprock and reservoir rock core samples from the Mt Simon sandstone formation - will undergo further testing to confirm the geology for CO2 storage, but the Alliance said preliminary findings were "extremely positive".

Ken Humphreys, CEO of the FutureGen Alliance, said: “This is an important milestone in the FutureGen 2.0 programme and was completed ahead of schedule. The drilling team reached the final depth on time and collected critical data and subsurface samples.

"Preliminary sample testing indicates that the geology is suitable to store CO2 from the Meredosia power plant. This data from the characterisation well will not only benefit FutureGen 2.0, but will also add to the understanding of the Illinois geology.”

The drill rig will now be removed from the well site and a smaller service rig installed in order to conduct hydrologic testing of the reservoir rock. Results from this testing will provide important data for designing the CO2 storage site, the Alliance said. Once testing is complete, the well will be configured as a monitoring well for future phases of the project.

The FutureGen Alliance restructured – and renamed – the original FutureGen project. It now aims to refit one 200MW unit at Ameren's power plant in Meredosia, Illinois, with advanced oxy-combustion technology that will capture around 90% of the plant’s emissions.. The project has received a $1 billion commitment in federal funding from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. The FutureGen Alliance is a non-profit membership organisation created to develop and demonstrate near-zero emissions coal technology.

Read FutureGen Alliance's press release here.

Felles krav om klimafond

Bastian E. Klunde — 2011-12-21T13:05:37Z

I dag har Zero, Norsk Industri og Industri Energi sendt et felles brev til Statsminister Jens Stoltenberg. De tre organisasjonene ber om at Statsministeren inngår en avtale med industrien om kutt i klimagassutslipp, og oppretter et klimatiltaksfond. Fondet bør opprettes snarlig, og finansieres gjennom statlige inntekter fra oljevirksomheten.

Les brevet i sin helhet her.