The package forms part of a €10.9 billion ($11.3 billion) investment agreement in new financing to accelerate climate action and clean energy, business investment, health and sustainable transport investment across Europe and around the world.

“As leaders and negotiators from 200 countries meet at COP27 in Egypt to agree policies and resources essential to mitigate and adapt to a changing climate, the EIB approved nearly €11 billion ($11.4 billion) of transformational new investment to harness clean energy, improve sustainable transport and enable companies to cut energy use and innovate,” said Werner Hoyer, president of the European Investment Bank.

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Clean energy, cutting energy use and climate action

The EIB Board of Directors met in Luxembourg to announce the €4 billion investment regarding renewable generation, upgraded energy networks and enhanced energy efficiency.

This includes new financing to reinforce energy networks in Spain, the Czech Republic and Moldova, upgrade district heating and increase the use of biomass for energy generation.

EIB co-financing for regional development projects backed by the European Union across Greece and Estonia as well as sustainable climate mitigation and adaptation urban investment in Cyprus were approved.

The board also backed three new targeted initiatives to streamline financing for private sector renewable energy, energy efficiency and energy access projects in Africa, including through venture debt financing for innovative companies helping to accelerate sustainable energy use on the continent.

Other notable investments from the larger package include:

• Proposals for an electric bus line and river shuttles in Bordeaux as part of €3.4 billion ($3.5 billion) being funnelled into sustainable transport.
• Direct financing from €2.2 billion ($2.3 billion) to support large scale corporate research and development investment by automotive, fuel cell, semiconductor and software companies.

The remaining €1.2 billion ($1.24 billion) is intended to go into modernisation projects for health and urban development.

“Close cooperation between business, public sector and financial partners globally is crucial to unlock investment that cuts emissions, reduces the impact of global energy shocks and tackles climate change,” added Hoyer.

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The state’s larger goal is to install 3,000MW of energy storage by 2030 to help integrate renewables. New York wants to eventually develop 6,000MW.

The awarded funding comes through the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA). The $16.6 million will support the following projects:

• Borrego Solar Systems, Inc. – $2.7 million – To develop, design and construct two stand-alone energy storage systems and perform field demonstrations of a six-hour zinc hybrid cathode energy storage system in New York City to help demonstrate that zinc hybrid technology is economically competitive with lithium-ion.
• JC Solutions, LLC dba RCAM Technologies – $1.2 million – To develop a 3D concrete-printed marine pumped hydroelectric storage system that integrates directly with offshore wind development in support of grid resiliency and reduced reliance on fossil fuel plants to meet periods of peak electric demand.
• Nine Mile Point Nuclear Station, LLC– $12.5 million – To demonstrate nuclear-hydrogen fueled peak power generation paired with a long duration hydrogen energy storage unit to help reduce emissions from the New York Independent System Operator electric grid.
• Power to Hydrogen – $100,000 – To develop a Reversible Fuel Cell System for Hydrogen Production and Energy Storage called the Clean Energy Bridge and to help facilitate the system’s readiness for demonstration and commercial adoption.
• ROCCERA, LLC – $100,000 – To evaluate and demonstrate a novel commercially viable Solid Oxide Electrolyzer Cell prototype for clean hydrogen production together with a corresponding scalable, more efficient manufacturing process.

The additional $17 million in competitive funding would encourage further product development and demonstration projects in energy storage that are 10 to over 100 hours in duration.

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NYSERDA said project submissions should advance, develop or field-test hydrogen, electric, chemical, mechanical or thermal-electric storage technologies that would address cost, performance, siting and renewable integration challenges, such as grid congestion, hosting capacity constraints and lithium-ion siting in New York City.

Proposals will be accepted through October 17, 2022.

To date, NYSERDA’s Renewable Optimization and Energy Storage Innovation Program has enabled the development of 356 projects with over $225 million. NYSERDA initiatives are funded through the State’s 10-year, $6 billion Clean Energy Fund.

NYSERDA, the New York State Department of Public Service and the state’s Department of Environmental Conservation are also working to develop a regulatory clean hydrogen framework.

This includes the evaluation and development of codes and standards, program development to support microgrids that are hydrogen powered rather than by polluting backup generators and funding for hydrogen product development, pilots and demonstrations.]

This post was originally published on Power Engineering.

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The EU’s Commissioner for Energy, Kadri Simson, today called on Europe to “harness geothermal energy’s potential. For too long the benefits of this sector have not been well understood – now is the time to learn.”

She said concerns over energy security and independence had pushed geothermal to the top of the agenda for action.

“We are lucky as Europeans to inhabit land that provides a cheap, clean and renewable source of energy. Our mistake has been not to make the most of this in the past, so let’s learn from that mistake, not repeat it.”

She was speaking in a webinar organised by the European Geothermal Energy Council in the wake of the publication last week of the REPowerEU initiative to wean Europe off Russian oil and gas.

Simson said that currently, 23% of the EU’s total energy consumption and 37% of electricity comes from renewables, thanks in part to previous packages such as the Green Deal and Fit For 55.

In depth: Geothermal potential – Why hot rocks are cool

But she said that “certain sectors lag behind – we are not going far enough and we are not going fast enough”.

Energy as geopolitical weapon

She stressed that “when we adopted these packages, Europe and the world was a different place. Since then, war has returned to our continent. In recent months, energy has been wielded as a geopolitical weapon by Putin’s government. The ripple effect is sending shockwaves across Europe’s energy system.

Renewables, nuclear and energy efficiency in plan to break EU reliance on Russian gas

“We are seeing low flows of gas, combined with levels of storage kept historically low. It contributed to pushing our energy prices sky high, and keeping them there. It has significantly reduced the supply of energy to our continent.”

Simson said that “for years we have known about our changing climate and that renewables will have a starring role in fighting it. With these recent developments, deploying renewables takes on an even more urgent need.

Renewables, including geothermal, are now key to reducing our dependence on Russian fossil fuels and shaping our own self-determined energy future. The time has come to harness Europe’s geothermal potential.”

Proven technology

She outlined “great possibilities” from geothermal, including heating and cooling, renewable electricity, thermal storage, lithium production and for steam for industry.

“Before, the focus was on regions known for geothermal activity. Now we need to realise that geothermal energy is available and can be harnessed. It has the potential to be one of main candidates replacing gas and coal in heating. Geothermal heat pumps are a proven technology.”

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Simson said a Europe with more geothermal energy “will be a Europe less exposed to energy price shocks. And a Europe with a more secure supply of energy.”

And she emphasised a commitment to cut red tape around renewable energy project planning. “We can’t expect to boost renewables if permitting for a project takes years. Simplifying the procedure is essential for all renewables, including geothermal.

“We will work to remove obstacles – including those that may even come from our own legislation.”

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The International Energy Agency today unveiled a 10-point plan which it believes could wean the European Union off Russian gas imports by more than a third by this time next year.

The plan includes measures such as bringing in gas from other countries and boosting national reserves, as well as accelerating the roll out of renewables and increasing energy efficiency in buildings, industry and among consumers.

It also incorporates maximising power from nuclear plants, with a suggestion that countries which are currently planning to retire nuclear plants may want to “revisit those decisions”.

The move comes in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and subsequent fears over Europe’s energy security because of its dependence on Russian gas.

Gas as ‘economic and political weapon’

“For decades the European gas supply has been dominated by Russia and now nobody is under any illusions – Russia is using this as an economic and political weapon,” said IEA executive director Fatih Birol in a press conference.

Last year, the EU imported 155 billion cubic metres of natural gas from Russia, accounting for around 45% of EU gas imports and close to 40% of its total gas consumption.

Birol said the IEA’s 10-point plan “provides practical steps to cut Europe’s reliance on Russian gas imports by over a third within a year while supporting the shift to clean energy in a secure and affordable way.

“Europe needs to rapidly reduce the dominant role of Russia in its energy markets and ramp up the alternatives as quickly as possible.”

The 10-point plan

Here’s a breakdown of the 10 points:

1. No new gas supply contracts to be signed with Russia.

2. Replace Russian supplies with gas from alternative sources, such as Qatar, Algeria and Azerbaijan.

3. Introduce minimum gas storage obligations for European countries to boost system resilience for next winter.

4. Accelerate the deployment of new wind and solar projects, which Birol said could reduce gas use by 6 billion cubic metres within a year. He said Europe is “already a world leader” in renewables and added it could go further by speeding-up the permitting process. “We don’t need to cut corners: we just need to cut red tape.”  

5. Maximise power generation from bioenergy and nuclear, which the IEA estimates could cut gas use by 13 billion cubic metres in a year. Birol said: “For those countries looking at retiring nuclear plants, there may be some merit to revisit those decisions.”

6. Enact short-term tax measures on windfall profits to shelter vulnerable electricity consumers from high prices, which the IEA hopes would reduce energy bills even when gas prices remain high.

7. Speed up the replacement of gas boilers with heat pumps.  

8. Accelerate energy efficiency improvements in buildings and industry.

9. Encourage a temporary thermostat reduction of 1°C by consumers, which Birol said would alone reduces gas use by some 10 billion cubic metres in 12 months.

10. Step up efforts to diversify and decarbonise sources of power system flexibility to loosen the strong links between gas supply and Europe’s electricity security.

‘No miracle remedy’

Joining Birol for the press conference was Barbara Pompili, France’s Ecological Transition Minister, and Kadri Simson, the European Commissioner for Energy.

Pompili said that “there is no miracle remedy” to reduce Europe’s reliance on Russian gas, yet she stressed that the 10-point plan would “strengthen the robustness of the energy system”.

“More than ever, getting rid of Russian fossil fuels and of fossil fuels in general, is essential. What is at stake is both the need to accelerate our fight against climate change, and, as we can see now, the short-term energy security and independence of the European continent.”

“We must enhance the energy transition that we have started. Each additional wind turbine or solar panel is a step forward in the fight for the climate and for our energy independence.”

She added that she hoped that within 15 days the Ukraine grid would be fully connected to the European network.

Simson opened her remarks by stating that “Russia’s attack on Ukraine is a watershed moment”. She said that next week the EC “will propose a pathway for Europe to become independent from Russian gas as soon as possible” and added that the IEA’s plan offered “concrete steps we can take towards that goal”.

Climate change

She also stressed that all 10 proposed measures were in line with the EU’s Green Deal. “The Green Deal agenda is one for our energy security as well as climate change.”

Many of the actions in the plan such as those around energy efficiencyand renewables are also key elements of the IEA’s Roadmap to Net Zero by 2050.

However, the IEA has also highlighted other measures which are in line with neither its own Net Zero report nor the Green Deal, but “are available to the EU if it wishes, or needs to, reduce reliance on Russian gas even more quickly – but with significant trade-offs”.

Chief among these is an increased use of coal power stations or using oil in existing gas-fired power plants.

The IEA says that these options “may also be costly from an economic point of view”, however it concedes that “they could displace large volumes of gas relatively quickly”.

“If the fuel-switching option were to be fully exercised in addition to the complete implementation of the 10-Point Plan described above, it would result in a total annual reduction in EU imports of gas from Russia of more than 80 billion cubic metres, or over half, while still resulting in a modest decline in overall emissions.”

This morning, European Commissioner for Climate Action, Frans Timmermans, told the BBC that the coal option was certainly on the table. Indeed, he suggested that Poland could still make its switch to renewables within its existing timeframe by cutting out gas and switching to coal until renewables were on line.

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The project will focus on large heat pumps in energy-intensive industries and gas expanders in utilities by testing these technologies at real scale.

The aim is to reuse the heat released heat into the atmosphere by industry, a powerful energy source that is currently under utilised.

According to HEALEAP, by reusing and recovering waste heat, energy intensive industries can become much more efficient, competitive and climate friendly.

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The HEATLEAP project is funded under the European Union’s LIFE programme and comprises as partners Turboden, ORI Martin, Rina Consulting, CSMT and COGEN Europe.

Paolo Bertuzzi, CEO of Turboden and co-ordinator of the project, said: “Heat pumps and gas expanders will play a central role in the decarbonisation of energy intensive industries and utilities, thereby achieving the objectives of the EU Green Deal. As Turboden, we are focusing on delivering high temperature heat/low pressure steam to industrial customers and utilities.”

HEATLEAP suggests that gas expanders can deliver environmental benefits and enhance the energy efficiency of a natural gas distribution network, by producing electricity when the pressure of the gas is reduced.

Also, according to Claudio Canevari, Head of Unit – Energy Efficiency, European Commission, Europe’s fertile policy landscape can enhance decarbonisation of heating and cooling networks, especially with the Fit for 55 package and updated Energy Efficiency Directive. Canevari stated that the total waste heat potential in the EU could be in excess of 250 MtOE, providing a vast opportunity.

Luca Rigoni, CEO of A2A calore e servizi, added: “The HEATLEAP project represents another important contribution to the A2A strategy in reusing the available waste heat at local level. It is our main goal to recover waste heat available from industry to boost the decarbonisation path of our cities by making the heating and cooling sector more resilient and sustainable.”

We can’t wait to see you in Milan

Enlit Europe will bring the energy community together during the live event in Milan (30 November – 2 December 2021). Register here

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Distribution utility Baltimore Gas and Electric (BG&E) partnered with the Smart Electric Power Alliance plus other stakeholders to develop and execute a microgrid feasibility pilot scheme that would advance carbon reduction and optimise grid management.

The Maryland Energy Administration (MEA) awarded grant funding to the Smart Electric Power Alliance (SEPA), which took the lead in conducting and developing the study, as well as stakeholder engagement.

Jared Leader, Manager of Industry Strategy at the SEPA, explained that utilities are increasingly exploring microgrid solutions because the rising cost and frequency of weather disasters have emphasized resilience as a key driver for evaluating planning processes.

In order to roll out microgrids successfully, Leader said: “We want to get under the hood of microgrid planning processes, by building out a template that can be used in future project planning.”

Learning in the field

The Newtowne Twenty affordable housing complex in the city of Annapolis in Maryland is a 78-unit development currently undergoing revitalization and is considered vulnerable.

Local stakeholders and the utility were interested in assessing the feasibility of adding a microgrid to the development, which would introduce locally-generated solar energy and increase resilience.

Jennifer Adams, director of development and modernization at Housing Authority of the City of Annapolis (HACA), explained: “At the Newtowne Twenty property, we shape the services and appliances that use the energy and administer a utility allowance process to ensure utility costs remain affordable.

“We wanted to explore ways to provide reliable and affordable energy to our customers and frankly, it was exciting to be an innovator in a space where the public housing authority is often the last to come to the table.”

After the conceptual phase, the housing authority, SEPA and BG&E conducted an engineering analysis to understand the site in detail and determine what was next.

Leader said: “SEPA had the opportunity to pull together all the stakeholders, leverage grant funding, and come up with an idea of what success looks like for a project like this. We engaged stakeholders, agreed on best practices and developed scenarios to aid planning.”

Practical working groups were developed to allow the team to understand community needs and consider innovative approaches to meet them.

Justin Felt, manager of strategic planning at BG&E, highlighted that the important first step was to reach a consensus on how to tackle the project site, by looking at physical constraints in terms of size and location.

Engaging stakeholders

Even though there is no single template for microgrid projects, there can be a boilerplate process, standardised to increase success.

Throughout the Newtowne Twenty development planning process, lessons were learned on how to go about engaging the community to encourage buy-in and ensure the project meets core needs.

Felt said that BG&E’s role in the project was to provide engineering and data analysis. “BG&E, as a local distribution utility, saw this as an opportunity to build internal competency beyond the buckets we typically find ourselves involved in. This was a learning and listening opportunity.

“BGE learned that the stakeholder engagement process is important. You want people to support the process. It’s one thing for an analyst to come up with something in a basement but it’s another thing to see what the people involved actually want.”

A stakeholder engagement questionnaire was vital to get to the root community needs and prioritize them, and the questionnaire also proved to be the ultimate tool to form the microgrid design.

Engaging with stakeholders through the questionnaire allowed the team to learn that customers wanted as much bang for their buck as possible. “So looking at a natural gas generator was more feasible than a renewables-only microgrid,” said Felt.

“Also, backup power for the community centre was not necessarily a priority at first. We had preconceptions, but we wanted to hear from them. It taught us more about learning to listen.”

The residents and stakeholders were given details about the various design scenarios and the potential impact. “We surveyed the stakeholders through a working group to understand their preferences. Based on these preferences, we chose a final scenario,” explained Leader.

And Felt added: “You have to boil it down to the most important information when communicating with stakeholders. We tried to find ways to ensure easy decision-making. We also included outside companies to advise on the engineering nitty-gritty, allowing the key stakeholders to make decisions with ease.”

All scenarios were considered from the perspective of the physical landscape and from a wiring perspective.

The scenario that seemed the best fit for Newtowne was rooftop solar PV, energy storage and natural gas backup standby generation connected to the BG&E grid.

However, in terms of natural gas generation, the generators had to be kept away from pedestrian areas, minimising noise and maximising visual shielding.

As for solar, the team considered carports but eventually decided on rooftop PV for the best insulation, maximising the balance between cost and benefit.

According to Adams, the final microgrid design considered cost, but the most important factor was resilience. Historically, the older buildings experienced frequent power outages which made the ability to island favourable to the community.

“The final design scenario reflects the diversity of the stakeholders involved. When considering cost, having 100% renewable wasn’t the primary consideration. Why wouldn’t you want that kind of resiliency in your house or community centre?”

Blueprint material

However, the project presented some key challenges: the planning process had to adjust to the conditions on the ground, especially as it was a re-build housing project. Adams also feels the planning process would have been less challenging if it had been started earlier.

However, the lessons learned have given rise to a blueprint that can be used in future projects, ensuring every voice is incorporated and every customer is served in the most energy-efficient, resilient way.

According to Leader, this is a perfect example of an energy project that can really advance the equity, environmental and social justice goals within communities, as well as resiliency needs and sustainable energy to populations that have historically been left out.

It’s still nascent, and utilities are still grappling with what microgrids are and what their role should be. This was an interesting pilot to demonstrate BGE and HACA’s role and their strategy in working together on projects like this in the future.

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Solana utilizes Proof-of-History (POH) and Proof-of-Stake (POS) consensus mechanisms, unlike the Proof-of-Work (POW) of Ethereum and Bitcoin.

In addition, Solana offers faster speed and higher transaction throughput. The POH as a timing mechanism allows Solana to achieve scalability, enabling short block times of 400ms and fast throughput of more than 50,000 transactions per second all while maintaining censorship resistance.

In essence, POH requires a proof of historical events and POS selects validators according to their holdings or stake, while POW requires proof of a specific computational effort which becomes more demanding ” and hence more energy intensive ” as mining becomes more competitive and the network grows.

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Ethereum itself is transitioning to POS, addressing the technical issues to reach consensus across the network.

The POS consensus is a key to scalability of the blockchain and Power Ledger’s move to a public POS has been envisioned from early on in its development. The Power Ledger technology stack was originally built on a low power POS consortium chain called EcoChain in 2016 before transitioning to a modified fee-less Proof-of-Authority Ethereum consortium chain in 2017.

Dr Jemma Green, Power Ledger executive chairman, says the speed up in performance and throughput of its platform is necessitated as smart meter reading has moved towards shorter, higher resolution and more granular data and trading intervals.

“Our new blockchain platform based on Solana will be tens of thousands of times faster than Ethereum but also energy efficient. As we started this project to allow renewables to be scaled, part of our mission is to be light on our own carbon footprint.”

Solana is expected to support a scale-up of Power Ledger’s existing suite of services, which includes peer-to-peer trading, flexibility services, energy traceability and applications for renewable energy certificates in projects in the US, Europe and Asia in addition to Australia.

The POWR tokens will continue to be used for existing clients and remain on the Ethereum blockchain. Staking on the new blockchain will be available to all of the POWR token holders with expressions of interest also being sought for additional validators.

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So said Frans Timmermans, the European Commission’s Executive Vice-President for the European Green Deal.

Delivering a speech in Brussels, he said the coronavirus pandemic “is teaching us a harsh lesson about the fragility of us as human beingsࢀ¦ but it’s a lesson we must heed if we are to tackle to climate crisis”.

“There is no vaccine for the climate or biodiversity crisis, but there is a way out ” and our launch pad to a better future for our children and grandchildren is the energy sector.”

“As we build back our economy, we also need to build back our forests and oceans.”

Timmermans said that when the EU launched the Green Deal, “it was relatively lonely on the world stage. But more than one year later, we have been joined by many others in the race for net zero.”

And he stressed that it was “a race we can all win ” but we still run the risk of it all slipping through our fingers. Of easing back into ‘business as usual’, simply because it is the comfortable thing to do. So the urgency of acting on our commitment is high.”

Speaking at the launch of the Eurelectric Power Summit, he said the EU had 1.8 trillion euros “to bounce back from the Covid crisis and restart the European economy”. And he added that “30 per cent of those funds must go to climate action”.

“Energy is responsible for 75% of greenhouse gas emissions ” there is no credible path to climate neutrality without deep decarbonisation of our energy system. This will require unprecedented investment in renewables, hydrogen production, building refurbishments and electric transport.”

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However, he stressed that these investments “will pay back and bring new jobs and a more sustainable market for our goods”.

He said the decarbonisation of Europe will follow two parallel tracks: firstly, a move towards greater energy efficiency ” “we must leave no molecule or electron to waste” ” and secondly, a move away from fossil fuels.

And he added that “above all, we have to integrate sectors: power generation, buildings, transport and industry, into one energy system”.

“This is in many ways a Herculean task ” but it is feasible. But to get there the pace of electrification must quadruple in the next ten years. In the next decade, Europe needs to double its renewables capacity from 420 GW in 2020 to 840 GW by 2030.”

He said there would also be a need for “unprecedented investments” in the grid to connect new wind farms, fleets of electric vehicles, and electrolysers for renewable hydrogen.

“We will need to jump higher than we’ve ever jumped before. The good news is that there are also immense opportunities for investment and economic growth.

“The scale of the change we will need is comparable to the jump we made when James Watt invented the steam engine.”

Timmermans concluded his speech by highlighting how “fossil fuels have been the backbone of Europe growth since the 18^th century. Now the renewables revolution is taking over. They already produce the cheapest power humanity has ever seen. That’s a pretty good starting point if you ask me.”

The Eurelectric Power Summit continues each day this week. Click here for details and to watch:à‚ https://powersummit2021.eurelectric.org/

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The global association brings together regional cogeneration organizations from across the world, including COGEN Europe and its counterparts in Brazil and Mexico.

Founding companies from the CHP sector include AB Energy, Baker Hughes, Clarke Energy, INNIO, Kawasaki and 2G.

President of the COGEN World Coalition (CWC) is David Gardiner, executive director of the US-based CHP Alliance, while Hans Korteweg, managing director of COGEN Europe, will be its executive director.

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Gardiner said the coalition will “help policy-makers and others around the globe understand how cogeneration reduces emissions and improves grid reliability to combat the growing effects of climate change”.

He said the CWC’s would act as “the global reference point for the cogeneration sector” and would support countries and broader regions that have recently entered the cogeneration market.
 
He said the CWC would inform, educate and promote a wider use of cogeneration worldwide and open and foster dialogue with organizations such as the International Energy Agency, World Trade Organisation and the World Bank.

Other key objectives include supporting the development of national and continental cogeneration networks and to act as a platform to exchange information on CHP technology.

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Gardiner added: “Cogeneration can reduce emissions in industry and buildings and ensure delivery of power and heat in the face of increasing climate-induced grid disruptions.”

Hans Korteweg said COGEN Europe was delighted to be a co-founder of the CWC and added that “by joining forces, we can speed up the creation of resilient, decentralised and carbon-neutral energy system”.

“Cogeneration is a main driver to decarbonise our society in a cost-effective way, and with CWC this message will resonate across all borders.”

Read exclusive industry insight by Hans Korteweg

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We are at a critical juncture. It’s now clear to most people in the world that our planet is in decline as a direct result of human activity. If we don’t act now and act quickly, the planet and all life as we know it will be irreversibly damaged by rising temperatures.à‚ 

Despite some progress, we are still far from being on track to avoid this scenario. Destruction of life and livelihoods is occurring with increasing frequency thanks to the growing prevalence of extreme weather events: floods, cold snaps, heat waves, storms. 

Climate change is the biggest threat that humanity has ever seen. Without immediate action, the earth is expected to be 4.1à‚°C ” 4.8à‚°C warmer by the end of the century.

The harsh reality is that we’re out of time.  We needed to act last week, last year, last decade, to turn this around.  So we’re faced with a rapidly diminishing window of opportunity to avoid a catastrophe and limit the damage, but we need to act fast. 

The glimmer of hope is that we are finally seeing a growing willingness to embrace and invest in change.

With limited time to tackle global warming, we need to prioritize the actions and solutions that can have the greatest impact, in the shortest amount of time, whilst still enabling economies to recover and thrive.à‚ 

Those actions are: Eliminating waste across the lifecycle; Accelerating electricity as the right energy source to decarbonize; Investing in digital technology and skills to drive efficiency; Fostering public/private partnerships to deliver post-COVID recovery plans.

Eliminating waste across the lifecycle should be our number one priority
Climate change is first and foremost an energy problem. Energy is responsible for over 80% of the world’s CO2 emissions. As we try to transition to a world powered by clean energy, one of the fastest ways to apply the brakes to carbon emissions is by eliminating waste.à‚ 

Just a third of the total energy produced is converted into useful energy consumed by transport, industry, buildings, devices.à‚  The rest is lost or wasted in the production and transmission process.à‚  Yet when it comes to waste, it is plastic, food and fashion waste that grab our attention.à‚ 

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Energy waste is often overlooked and undervalued in climate change plans and investment. Emissions could be halved, if energy loss and waste could be eradicated.

Technology already exists to solve much of this challenge and continues to advance rapidly.

To eliminate waste, we first need to know where, how and why it is occurring.à‚  We can measure energy consumption more accurately with sensors, metering and monitoring. Software can be deployed to design, manage and automate energy useࢀ¦à‚  ensuring we have light, heat and power where and when it is needed, saving it where it is not.à‚ 

“Energy waste is often overlooked and undervalued
in climate change plans and investment”

Whatever the proportion of clean energy in the mix, electricity remains the best, most efficient vector for decarbonization, while digital can help us keep tabs on how energy is being consumed so that we can eliminate waste.

Taking a holistic approach presents us with numerous opportunities to tackle and remove a great deal of waste across the entire lifecycle of buildings, infrastructure and industries.

Smarter design at the outset through simulation tools, adoption of efficient construction methods and more localized sourcing or re-use of materials, operating premises more efficiently and enforcing the principles of the circular economy are practical methods that are working today and need to be deployed at scale.

Efficiency enabled by decentralised green energy and software
A large proportion of our energy loss and waste emissions come from the production of electricity from fossil fuels and the distance energy travels around the grid before it is consumed.à‚  Renewables don’t just offer a clean source of energy.à‚ 

Electricity generation through renewables is more efficient and can be located closer to the point of use, reducing potential energy loss through proximity.

A decentralized and decarbonized smart energy grid will be at the heart of net zero transformation. Enabled and stabilized by software, it will deliver more localized affordable energy generation and consumption. This is especially important for buildings, which are the single largest source of emissions.

It will become critical as we see the increased implementation of micro grids driven by solar and wind, adoption of EVs in the drive towards net-zero homes and offices.

Data centers ” the backbone of our digital economies ” have already showcased how to achieve decarbonization at pace. We need to invest in the solutions already at our disposal to deliver this as we continue to pursue tech progress.à‚ à‚ 

Why is electricity the best energy source for a clean future?
In a race against time, electricity offers the fastest, safest, most cost-effective way to decarbonize our societies.à‚  From a purely practical perspective, in the developed world the means to distribute electricity already exists.à‚ 

To deploy alternative fuels at scale to our homes, offices and public spaces will take decades.  Years in which we will see no reduction in emissions from the fossil fuels we would still have to rely on to heat and feed our populations.

While electricity may not be the answer to every challenge (heavy industry, long distance travel), it is a proven energy source which can be generated cleanly and cheaply with continued investment in renewables such as solar, wind and hydro.

“We need to invest in the solutions
already at our disposal”

Solar and wind powered renewable energy is already 50% cheaper than electricity from fossil fuels, according to BNEF. And the International Energy Agency calculates that electricity generation from renewables is 100% efficient with just 5-10% lost in transmission vs 60% loss/waste in energy produced from fossil fuels.

At the same time, there is an enormous 70% round trip efficiency in the production of new potential energy sources such as green hydrogen.

Digital and electric sustainability tech ticks the all-important boxes of efficiency, safety, measurable outcomes and the speed at which such solutions can be scaled and deployed.

Most importantly, it allows us to bring consumers, small and large businesses along on the journey giving them more choice and control when it comes to the sustainability of their homes, offices and entire cities.

Today, there is still much talk of the need to find a “silver bullet” to solve the challenge of climate change and reverse the damage we’ve already inflicted. 

Whilst people pin their hopes on a time machine, I believe the silver bullet is actually waste and the elimination of it.  Electricity, powered by clean energy, can satisfy the vast majority of use cases. That is what should be prioritized now.

Public-private partnerships must lead the way
Governments around the world must ensure they do all they can to help businesses and consumers shift to green alternatives. As they act to reboot post-pandemic economies, we have a once in a lifetime opportunity to tackle climate change at the same time, enabling a green recovery.

However, we must act quickly and responsibly, investing in environmental solutions that will improve the way we live, enable access to energy for all and level the playing field when it comes to opportunity.

Net zero coalition pledges to break silos to deliver energy goals

Considerations need to be made for those companies with less capital to invest in renewable sources. For example, building owners could be held accountable for the efficiency potential of their tenants.

This will drive action and efficiency both in new build and retrofits, a kind of carbon competition that building occupiers will increasingly look for to make a home or workplace more appealing.

Enabled through digital, businesses can start addressing one of the most challenging ESG matters: tracking and reducing their Scope 3 indirect emissions, such as transportation and distribution. Organizations such as Walmart are already making renewable energy more accessible to their suppliers, helping to accelerate the decarbonization of their wider ecosystem.

Skills must not be a barrier to a green recovery
There is much talk of green recovery and job creation.à‚ If we are to meet our climate goals, access to the skills required to implement and manage the transformation to net zero economies will be a critical success factor.à‚ 

Recognizing what skills will be needed is key.  If we accept that digital and electric offer the fastest path to net-zero with least disruption then it naturally follows that these are the areas where jobs will be created. 

More electricians, panel-builders, designers, engineers, software developers and high-tech roles will be required to help deploy digital and electric tech at scale, retrofit our buildings, homes and factories ” while revolutionizing the way we live, manufacture, and travel. à‚ 

IEA unites energy leaders for COP26 climate action

The IEA has estimated that 9 million new jobs could be created globally in the coming year if countries follow a green recovery path. These jobs will, by their very nature, be mostly local jobs that cannot be imported from one country to the other.à‚  They will require a local service context, know-how and customer proximity.

While electricity powered by renewables and enabled through digital technology can’t solve 100% of the climate challenge, it can get us a significant way there.  Let us focus on the technologies and energy sources we know work now, are readily available and safe to deploy.  We can’t afford to wait for miracles in the race against climate change. 

Everyone has a role to play ” scientists, engineers, inventors, politicians, business owners, employees, fathers and mothers who want to leave the world a better place for their children.

The sooner we all recognize this and prioritize action and investment in the solutions at hand, the faster we can make serious inroads into our emissions.

Philippe Delorme is executive vice-president of Energy Management at Schneider Electric.

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