Industry Decarbonization Newsletter

Landfills are bad due to their methane emissions. But properly managed landfilling of plastics can avoid most emissions. Should we landfill to permanently keep carbon out of the atmosphere? ⛰️
More in my latest newsletter, link above.

What should be called unrecyclable is not so clear. Chemical recycling may allow us to recycle plenty of "unrecyclable waste" - if it works. Big "if". 🧪

CCU? I kinda like CCU, but going from energy-rich waste to low-energy CO2 and back to something high-energy like Methanol does not strike me as the best idea. ↕️
Avoiding waste is good, recycling is much better than burning. But particularly plastic recycling has limits. ♻️

Waste incinerator operators will often claim that 1/2 of their CO2 doesn't count 🌿 or even that they have net-negative emissions 🌎. I disagree.
Are waste incinerators a sector that needs CCS? I have looked at a number of projects, and there's a common theme: costs are higher than expected. 💰💰💰

Just Stop Burning Trash Waste-to-energy plants are a massive source of carbon dioxide emissions. Yet, it is not obvious what the best solution for high-emitting incinerators would be. Should incinerators be equiped with carb...

We have to talk about burning trash🗑️🔥
Waste incinerators are an enormous source of CO2 🏭💨🌎. For example, in Germany, a country where waste-to-energy is common, their emissions are higher than those of cement 🔌💡 🧵 industrydecarbonization.com/news/just-st...

What's up with the Production of E-Fuels in Chile? In 2022, Siemens Energy, Porsche, and HIF inaugurated a pilot plant for the production of E-Methanol and E-Gasoline in southern Chile. The Haru Oni plant was intended to be just the beginning — with p...

Want to read more? Check my latest Newsletter industrydecarbonization.com/news/whats-u...

* Haru Oni wouldn't have happened without a generous subsidy from the German government. The person who signed the subsidy grant got a new job soon afterwards - at HIF, the company running the plant.💰✍🤝🏻

* Haru Oni is a small pilot plant, but it was supposed to be only the beginning. HIF and its partners wanted to increase production 400-fold by 2025, 4,000-fold by 2027. Yet... construction for these larger plants hasn't even started.🏗️

* Fuel with CO2 from the air? Well... while HIF has announced multiple times that they want to build a direct air capture plant, that still hasn't happened.💨

* Haru Oni's main product isn't fuel for cars, it's Methanol. Only a small share is converted to Gasoline. Internally, the project was called a Power-to-Methanol plant, but PR and public perception was all about E-Fuels for cars.🚗🧪

Have you heard that Porsche is producing E-Fuels in Chile & that those may provide a future for combustion engines?🚗⚡⛽
In 2022, Porsche, Siemens Energy, and Chilean HIF inaugurated the Haru Oni E-Fuels plant, promising fuels for cars, made from green electricity&CO2 from the air. How's it doing?🔌💡🧵

There's a strange discrepancy between HIF's PR that primarily talks about fuels for cars and actual plans and internal documents that look like they're primarily interested in producing Methanol.

A HIF lobbyist was previously directly responsible for Haru Oni's subsidies in Germany's Ministry of Economics.

What's up with the Production of E-Fuels in Chile? In 2022, Siemens Energy, Porsche, and HIF inaugurated a pilot plant for the production of E-Methanol and E-Gasoline in southern Chile. The Haru Oni plant was intended to be just the beginning — with p...

Running cars on E-Fuels, made with CO2 from the air and green Hydrogen?🚗⛽🌿⚡

In 2022, Siemens Energy, Porsche & HIF inaugurated the Haru Oni pilot plant in Chile, which turns CO2 and Hydrogen into Methanol + small amounts of Gasoline. How's it going? 🔌💡 🧵
industrydecarbonization.com/news/whats-u...

YouTube video by Decarbonize Everything This Hydrogen Ferry makes no sense

Do you need Hydrogen to power a small ship🚢 covering a distance of 5 kilometers? No. It can easily be done with batteries🔋

Yet the MF Hydra in 🇳🇴 runs on LH2💧, transported🚚 more than 1,300km from🇩🇪

Where and how is that Hydrogen produced? Unclear.

🎥 www.youtube.com/watch?v=DhzN...

Despite potential for expansion, electricity supply is currently limited, building new plants takes time, & Landsvirkjun has other priorities. E-Fuels producers have filed a complaint to the EFTA🇪🇺 Surveillance Authority, which now investigates whether Landsvirkjun violates European free trade🏦 rules

This attracts cleantech companies that want to produce green energy carriers like Hydrogen and E-Fuels⚡⛽. But Iceland's largest and state-owned power company Landsvirkjun currently does not want to sell💴 electricity to them.

Iceland's E-Fuels Controversy Hydrogen and E-Fuels companies want to utilize Iceland's abundant renewable energy sources. But Iceland's largest energy company Landsvirkjun does not want to sell electricity to them. E-Fuels produce...

Hydrogen and E-Fuels⚡⛽ producers think Iceland's🇮🇸 power⚡ company Landsvirkjun may be violating European🇪🇺 trade rules. Iceland uses 100% renewable electricity from hydropower🌊 and geothermal🌋 energy. industrydecarbonization.com/news/iceland...
🔌💡 🧵

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If you find stories like this interesting, you will find a subscribe button at the end of the text or here: industrydecarbonization.com/subscribe.html

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I also looked at some of these E-Fuels ⚡⛽ projects and was wondering where they will get their carbon from. Spoiler: there aren't many great options in Iceland🇮🇸

Iceland is part of EFTA🇪🇺, countries that are not part of the EU, but are closely aligned with it. E-Fuels organization VOR has filed a complaint to the EFTA Surveillance Authority, which now investigates whether Landsvirjun is violating trade rules.

Landsvirkjun does not have enough electricity⚡. Building new plants is delayed by slow permitting processes📝. Landsvirkjun has therefore set out priorities - one could say it has an "opinionated" approach to its customers. Are they even allowed to do that?

Iceland's E-Fuels Controversy Hydrogen and E-Fuels companies want to utilize Iceland's abundant renewable energy sources. But Iceland's largest energy company Landsvirkjun does not want to sell electricity to them. E-Fuels produce...

Imagine you want to produce E-Fuels⚡⛽ but the power company does not want to sell to you🔌💡
That appears to be what E-Fuels producers faced in Iceland🇮🇸. The country uses 100% renewable⚡. Yet, Iceland's Landsvirkjun does not want to sell to E-Fuels projects🧵
industrydecarbonization.com/news/iceland...

Subscribe Here you can subscribe to the Industry Decarbonization Newsletter via E-Mail.

If you find stories like this interesting: I am covering industrial decarbonization and cleantech developments in my newsletter, and hydrogen's promises and failures will certainly remain a major part of that. Subscribe here if you're interested: industrydecarbonization.com/subscribe.html

Linde does not reply, Norled does not answer to questions about the source of its hydrogen. The ministry that funded the electrolyzer with millions either does not know or does not want to say whether it is actually running.

More in my latest newsletter, link see above.

That ship, the MF Hydra, started operating in 2023. What is going on here? Where is that hydrogen coming from? Nobody wants to talk.

What happened to that electrolyzer? It was supposed to start production in 2022. That didn't happen. Is it running today? Unclear.📅 What I do know, however, is that in 2021, Linde entered an agreement with ferry company Norled to supply hydrogen from that electrolyzer to a ship in Norway.

This steam reformer is located in the chemical complex Leuna in Germany and belongs to Linde.🧪🏭

Some years ago, Linde wanted to expand the production of fossil hydrogen in Leuna. But that changed, and in 2021, Linde announced plans for a 24-Megawatt electrolyzer to produce green hydrogen in Leuna.

What happened to Linde's Hydrogen Electrolyzer in Leuna/Germany, & what mystery hydrogen powers a ferry in Norway? 🌱💧🚢🇳🇴

In the image, you can see a steam methane reformer. It turns fossil gas into hydrogen & a lot of CO2, which is how H2 is made today.🏭🔥🌏
industrydecarbonization.com/news/why-pow...

How to make Green Fuels for Shipping: E-Methanol Technologies that utilize carbon dioxide and green hydrogen can turn electric energy into fuels like methanol. The first e-methanol plant has been running since 2012.

Here's my republished 2022 article about E-Methanol production for shipping fuels, with some minor corrections and an update section at the end: industrydecarbonization.com/archive/how-...