Sustainability

Scientists in Switzerland say power-to-hydrogen is particularly promising for coupling electricity and heating and offsetting seasonal variation in renewables generation in sector-coupled energy networks. Their analysis indicated the technology may be especially useful in areas with a high ratio of seasonal thermal-to-electric demand.

The U.K. utility is a partner in the Green Hydrogen for Scotland initiative which aims to be fueling commercial vehicles with sustainable hydrogen within two years, starting with a 10 MW electrolyzer on the outskirts of Glasgow.

German tech company Tube Solar AG has secured €10.8 million to develop its cylindrical agrivoltaic modules. The lightweight devices could also be used on roofs until now considered unsuitable for PV.

It is undeniable that easy access to energy has provided tremendous benefits to humankind over the last several decades. But that access has come at a price – one that society only discovered after the fact. From the thousand-year half-lives of spent nuclear fuel to the climate change impact of fossil fuels, access to energy has had a high environmental cost. Renewable energy, especially solar, seeks to provide that same access without the environmental cost. But what is the environmental impact of solar panels and inverters? Is society once again seeking to benefit from an energy source without understanding and addressing its environmental impact? Not this time, writes Green Electronics Council CEO Nancy Gillis.

Analysts at Bloomberg New Energy Finance have quantified the influence of markets around the world. The ranking supplies a snapshot of 25 countries and also offers a five-year outlook.

Businesses, supported by the government, will join forces to strengthen their industry and contribute to the European Green Deal through made-in-EU products.

A national energy strategy which prioritizes coal is being ripped up just two years after its introduction, thanks to Covid-related slumps in demand, but legislators appear likely to look to gas, rather than solar and wind power as an alternative, due to land issues and energy storage costs.

The two nations have brought their national hydrogen strategies together after signing a new agreement for a joint feasibility study into green hydrogen production and trade. The agreement was welcomed around the country as auspicious of Australia’s potential as a global green hydrogen superpower.

Power company Datang Group is reportedly planning to spend around $148 million replacing a coal-fired power plant with a 200 MW solar project in Shanxi province and two solar players are set to issue stock.

Researchers have sounded the alarm. If no serious efforts are made on second-life battery use, recycling and vehicle-to-grid applications, decarbonization efforts may hit the buffers a lot sooner than expected.