Renewables and Energy

The infrastructure and supply chains of a new green world are being built, but they are still extremely concentrated. Changing this trend could mean more democratic governance, more resilience to crises and geopolitical conflicts, and likely lower prices.  The clean energy transition has a mountain to climb. Contrary to past energy transitions, we now not only have to add to an energy mix to meet growing demand but have to meet this demand while also phasing out fossil sources. Energy demand is set to increase by  nearly 50% in 2050  (compared to 2020) according to America’s Energy Information Administration. I think this forecast is a lowball. McKinsey & Co reckons a  tripling by 2050  which I suspect is directionally more accurate. Major drivers of this transition are the declining energy costs of from clean sources (which depend on technological innovation, learning and sufficient supply), and increasingly, concerns about energy security.  Coal, oil ...

  Energy Magnetics Magnetic fields can be used to make electricity Moving a magnet around a coil of wire, or moving a coil of wire around a magnet, pushes the electrons in the wire and creates an electrical current. Electricity generators essentially convert kinetic energy (the energy of motion) into electrical energy. As the energy in magnets lasts for many years,  the wheel is able to rotate and keep on spinning without the need to ever stop , thus the motion of the spinning wheel creates power for many years. This is what makes a magnetic powered generator into a perpetual generator. The magnetic generator is  able to provide the necessary amount of energy for entire house with . Non-consumable load for the house can be accumulated by batteries, charging them, which are connected to the generator.

  Energy Ammonia Ammonia is both a chemical energy store and a fuel , where energy is released by the breaking and making of chemical bonds. For ammonia (NH3), the net energy gain arises from breaking nitrogen-hydrogen bonds which, together with oxygen, produces nitrogen and water. Ammonia can be burnt in an engine or used in a fuel cell to produce electricity . When used, ammonia's only by-products are water and nitrogen. The maritime industry is likely to be an early adopter, replacing the use of fuel oil in marine engines. What is ammonia?  Ammonia is a pungent gas that is widely used to make agricultural fertilizers. Green ammonia production is where the process of making ammonia is 100% renewable and carbon-free.   Blue hydrogen is where carbon emissions from the steam methane reforming (SMR) process are captured and stored (CCS). Green hydrogen is produced using water electrolysis to generate hydrogen and oxygen, using sustainable electricity in the process.  E...

  Compresses Air Energy Storage Compressed-air energy storage  (CAES) is a way to  store energy  for later use using  compressed air . At a  utility  scale, energy generated during periods of low demand can be released during  peak load  periods. [1] The first utility scale CAES project has been built in Huntorf, Germany, being still operational. [2]  While the Huntorf CAES plant was initially developed as a load balancer for  fossil fuel-generated electricity , the global shift towards  renewable energy  has led to a renewed interest in CAES systems, [3]  to help highly intermittent energy sources like  photovoltaics  and  wind  satisfy fluctuating electricity demands. [4] One ongoing challenge in large scale CAES design is the management of thermal energy since the compression of air leads to an unwanted temperature increase that not only reduces operational efficiency but can also lead to damage...

  Clean Coal Coal Treatment Cleaning coal prior to combustion  can significantly reduce the levels of sulphur emissions from a power plant as well as reducing the amount of ash and slag produced . Physical cleaning, as outlined above, can have a beneficial effect on plant performance and maintenance schedules. Clean coal is almost an oxymoron . To be completely pollution-free, the CO2 from burning coal would have to be captured and disposed of, and that is expensive and requires a lot of power and equipment. Coal cleaning is a process by which impurities such as  sulfur, ash, and rock  are removed from coal to upgrade its value. Coal cleaning processes are categorized as either physical cleaning or chemical cleaning.

  World’s largest carbon removal plant goes live.  Orca, an Iceland–based direct air capture plant operated by Swedish startup Climeworks, cost $10 million–$15 million to build. Right now, it captures the equivalent of 4,000 tons of CO2 per year—equivalent to 250 US residents—but aims to get that figure up to 500,000 tons by 2030. Climeworks says it’s planning to build an even bigger plant due to high demand for carbon removal—something echoed two months later by US officials.

  Blue Hydrogen "Blue" hydrogen -- an energy source that involves a process of making hydrogen by using methane in natural gas -- is being lauded as a clean, green energy to help reduce global warming. But  Cornell and Stanford University researchers believe it may harm the climate more than burning fossil fuel . Carbon capture technology at hydrogen plants prevents CO2 from being released allowing it to be stored or used in other industrial processes.

  Emperor’s New Battery For months now, my colleague Jason Williams has been alerting his readers to what he calls the new “emperor of energy storage.” I mean, just look at this thing: Using weights and pulleys to store and use energy which has little waste.

  The global lithium space is on fire. In the past two years, as evidenced by the  Global X Lithium and Battery Tech ETF (NYSE: LIT),  it’s up nearly 120%. It’s outperforming the S&P (the red line) by a factor of six.   There’s a reason Goldman Sachs is calling it “the new gasoline.” And  The Economist  says it's “the world’s hottest commodity.”

  The World Nuclear Association forecasts a 55% growth in nuclear power to 2040. Pro-nuclear catalysts include growing energy needs, climate goals, and major government policy shifts in favor of advanced nuclear reactors. America produced only 21,000 pounds of yellowcake uranium in 2021 - a tiny fraction of what we need. Just consider that a typical reactor needs around 200 tons of uranium every year. To offset this deficit, the U.S. purchases more than 45 million pounds of enriched uranium each year, with nearly half coming from Russian state-owned entities - our geopolitical foes. With so many factors working in its favor, experts believe the nuclear comeback will breathe new life into the dormant domestic uranium industry - and may lead to a new bull market for the metal.