The Anonymous Widower

ZeroAvia Hydrogen Powered Jets For American Airlines?

The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on Aviation Source.

The article states that American Airlines will be investing an undisclosed amount into ZeroAvia and that it might use their regional hydrogen-powered aircraft in the United States.

August 7, 2022 Posted by | Hydrogen, Transport/Travel | , , , | 3 Comments

Equinor Is Counting On Tax Breaks With Plans For North Sea Oilfield

The title of this post, is the same as that, of this article in The Times.

These paragraphs outline the project.

Norway’s state-owned oil company is pushing ahead with plans to develop Britain’s biggest untapped oilfield after confirming that it stands to benefit from “helpful” tax breaks introduced alongside the windfall levy.

Equinor could lower its windfall tax bill by as much as £800 million in the years to come thanks to investment relief if it develops the Rosebank field, according to Uplift, a campaign group.

Rosebank, to the west of Shetland, could cost £4.1 billion to develop and may account for about 8 per cent of British oil output in the second half of this decade, producing 300 million barrels of oil by 2050.

Equinor said yesterday that it hoped to take a final investment decision on the field by next year and to start production by 2026. It has applied for environmental approval from the government.

Needless to say Greenpeace are not amused.

We Have Both Long Term And Short Term Energy Problems

In the UK, energy is generally used as electricity or gas and to power industry and transport.

Electricity

In the long term, we need to decarbonise our electricity production, so that all our electricity is produced from zero-carbon sources like nuclear, solar, tidal, wave and wind.

  • As I write this, our electricity production is around 26.8 GW of which 62 % is coming from renewable sources.
  • Surprisingly around 45 % of the renewables is coming from solar. Who’d have ever thought that in an predominantly-grey UK?
  • As we have committed to around 50 GW of wind power by 2030 and the 3.26 GW Hinckley Point C will be on stream by the end of the decade, the long term future of electricity production looks to be fairly secure.
  • It would be even more secure, if we added around 600 GWh of storage, as proposed in Highview Power’s Plan To Add Energy Storage To The UK Power Network, which would be used as backup when the sun doesn’t shine and the wind doesn’t blow.

It looks to me, that our long term electricity problem is capable of being solved.

For the next few years, we will need to rely on our existing gas-fired power stations until the renewables come on stream.

Gas

Gas could be more of a problem.

  • I wouldn’t be surprised to see a lot of resistance to the replacement of natural gas for heating, cooking and industrial processes.
  • Natural gas is becoming increasingly difficult to source.
  • As I said in the previous section, we will still need some gas for electricity generation, until the massive wind farms are completed.

On the other hand, there is HyDeploy.

I like the HyDeploy concept, where up to 20 % of hydrogen is blended with natural gas.

  • Using a blend of hydrogen and natural gas doesn’t require any changes to boilers, appliances or industrial processes.
  • The hydrogen blend would make the most of our existing world class gas network.
  • Customers do not require disruptive and expensive changes in their homes.
  • Enormous environmental benefits can be realised through blending low carbon hydrogen with fossil gas.
  • The hydrogen blending could happen, where the natural gas enters the network at terminals which receive gas from the UK continental shelf or where liquified natural gas is imported.
  • Alternatively, it may be possible to surround a gas production platform with an offshore wind farm. This could enable hydrogen production and blending to be performed offshore.

The amount of gas we need would drop by twenty percent.

In The Mathematics Of Blending Twenty Percent Of Hydrogen Into The UK Gas Grid, I calculated that 148.2 tonnes per hour of hydrogen would be needed, to blend twenty per cent of hydrogen into UK natural gas supplies.

I also said this about the electricity needed.

To create 148.2 tonnes per hour of hydrogen would need 8,180.64 MW of electricity or just under 8.2 GW.

I also calculated the effect of the hydrogen on carbon dioxide emissions.

As twenty percent will be replaced by hydrogen, carbon dioxide emission savings will be 24,120,569.99 tonnes.

I believe that generating the 8.2 GW of electricity and delivering the 148.2 tonnes per hour of hydrogen is feasible.

I also believe that HyDeploy could be a valuable way to reduce our demand for natural gas by twenty per cent.

Transport

Not every vehicle, ship, aircraft and train can be powered by electricity, although batteries will help.

Hydrogen will help, but we must also develop our capability for sustainable fuels made from rubbish diverted from landfill and biologically-derived ingredients like used cooking oil.

Summing Up Our Long Term And Short Term Energy Problems

We obviously have got the problem of creating enough renewable energy for the future, but there is also the problem of how we keep everything going in the interim.

We will need gas, diesel, petrol and other fossil fuel derived products for the next few years.

Is Rosebank Our Short Term Solution?

This page on the Equinor web site is entitled Rosebank Oil And Gas Field.

This introductory paragraph described the field.

Rosebank is an oil and gas field 130 kilometres off the coast of the Shetland Islands. Equinor acquired the operatorship in 2019 and has since then been working to optimise and mature a development solution for the field together with our partners.

Could the field with its resources of oil and gas, be just the sort of field to tide us over in the next few difficult years.

But given the position, it will surely not be an easy field to develop.

These two paragraphs set out Equinor’s strategy in developing the field.

Equinor believes the field can be developed as part of the UK Government North Sea Transition deal, bringing much needed energy security and investment in the UK while supporting the UKs net zero target. According to a socioeconomic study (see link below) based on data and analysis by Wood Mackenzie and Voar Energy, if sanctioned Rosebank is estimated to create GBP 8.1 billion of direct investment, of which GBP 6.3 billion is likely to be invested in UK-based businesses. Over the lifetime of the project, Rosebank will generate a total of GBP 24.1 billion of gross value add (GVA), comprised of direct, indirect and induced economic impacts.
Equinor together with our partners are working with the supply chain to ensure that a substantial part of investment comes to Scotland and the UK. A supplier day was held in Aberdeen in partnership with EIC in order to increase the number of local suppliers to tender.

Note.

  1. The sums that could accrue to the UK economy are worthwhile.
  2. The Government North Sea Transition Deal is worth a read.
  3. A lot of the deal is about converting oil and gas skills to those of a renewable energy economy.

Planned properly, we should get all the oil and gas we need to get through difficult years.

I particularly like these two paragraphs, which are towards the end of the Government North Sea Transition Deal.

Through the Deal, the UK’s oil and gas sector and the government will work together to deliver
the skills, innovation and new infrastructure required to decarbonise North Sea oil and gas
production as well as other carbon intensive industries. Not only will it transform the sector in
preparation for a net zero future, but it will also catalyse growth throughout the UK economy.
Delivering large-scale decarbonisation solutions will strengthen the position of the existing UK
energy sector supply chain in a net zero world, securing new high-value jobs in the UK,
supporting the development of regional economies and competing in clean energy export
markets.
By creating the North Sea Transition Deal, the government and the UK’s oil and gas sector are
ambitiously seeking to tackle the challenges of reaching net zero, while repositioning the UK’s
capabilities to serve the global energy industry. The Deal will take the UKCS through to
maturity and help the sector pivot towards new opportunities to keep the UK at the forefront of
the changing 21st century energy landscape.

I believe that developing Rosebank could enable the following.

  • The oil and gas we need in the next few years would be obtained.
  • The economic situation of the UK would be improved.
  • The skills and techniques we need to decarbonise the UK would be delivered.
  • Net-zero would be reached in the required time.
  • Jobs will be created.
  • The export of surplus oil and gas.

I strongly believe that developing the Rosebank field would be worthwhile to the UK.

I have some other thoughts.

Electrification Of Platforms

This page on the Equinor web site is entitled Electrification Of Platforms.

This paragraph explains what that means.

Electrification means replacing a fossil-based power supply with renewable energy, enabling a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions. Equinor is fully committed to reducing emissions from our offshore oil & gas production.

Note.

  1. Typically, platforms use gas turbine engines running on natural gas to provide the electricity needed on the platform.
  2. Platforms in the future will get their electricity from renewable sources like wind and will have an electricity cable to the shore.
  3. Rosebank will be powered in this way.

This document on the Equinor web site is entitled Rosebank: Investing In Energy Security And Powering A Just Transition, which has a section called How Is Rosebank Different?, where this is said.

The key difference of Rosebank compared to other oil fields is that it
aims to draw on new technology applications to help reduce carbon
emissions from its production, through FPSO electrification.

Building offshore installations that can be powered by electricity reduces
reliance on gas powered generators which are the biggest source
of production emissions. The electrification of UKCS assets is vital to
meeting the North Sea Transition Deal’s target of reducing production
emissions by 50% by 2030, with a view to being net zero by 2050.

Electrification of Rosebank is a long-term investment that will drastically
cut the carbon emissions caused by using the FPSO’s gas turbines for
power. Using electricity as a power source on Rosebank results in a
reduction in emissions equivalent to taking over 650,000 cars off the
road for a year compared with importing 300 million barrels of oil from
international sources.

Note.

  1. An FPSO is a Floating Production Storage And Offloading Unit, which is the method of production, that  Equinor have chosen for the Rosebank field.
  2. If we are going to extract fossil fuels then we must extract them in a manner, that doesn’t add to the problem by emitting extra carbon dioxide.
  3. We will probably extract fossil fuels for some years yet, as they are the easiest route to some important chemicals.
  4. I also believe that we will increasingly find uses for any carbon dioxide captured in combustion and chemical processes.

I already know of a farmer, who heats greenhouses using a gas-powered combined heat and power unit, who pipes the carbon dioxide to the tomatoes in the greenhouses.

Despite what Greenpeace and others say, carbon dioxide is not all bad.

Energy Security

The last page of this document on the Equinor web site is entitled Rosebank: Investing In Energy Security And Powering A Just Transition, is entitled Energy Security.

Look at the numbers.

  • £8.1 billion – Total field investment with 78% of this being spent in the UK
  • 1600 – Estimated peak number of direct FTE jobs
  • £24.1 billion – Estimated gross value add
  • 8 % – Of UK oil production from Rosebank to 2030
  • 39 million cubic feet per day – Average daily gas production over the first 10 years of field life, equivalent to almost twice Aberdeen’s daily gas consumption
  • 250kt CO2 – Carbon avoided by reusing existing FPSO

And if you have time read it fully.

Could The Rosebank FPSO Be Powered By Floating Offshore Wind?

Floating wind turbines are now being installed around the world.

  • They can use the largest turbines.
  • Some designs perform in the roughest of seas.
  • They have a high capacity factor.
  • They are generally brought into a suitable port for servicing and updating.
  • Floating wind farms can be connected to floating substations

There is at least 20 GW of floating wind turbines planned for UK waters.

So could an appropriately-sized floating wind farm be placed near the Rosebank FPSO to provide it with electricity?

I don’t see why not, if there were some energy storage in the system, for when the wind wasn’t blowing.

Floating Offshore Wind Close To The Rosebank FPSO Would Be Challenging

Rosebank is an oil and gas field 130 kilometres off the West coast of the Shetland Islands.

That would be a challenging location for floating wind turbines.

But solving the installation problems would set precedents for floating wind farms all over the world.

Could The Rosebank FPSO Handle Hydrogen From Floating Offshore Wind?

It would surely be possible to put an electrolyser in the system somewhere, so that hydrogen was also stored in the tanks of the FPSO.

I also don’t think it unfeasible, that twenty percent of hydrogen could be blended into the natural gas to create the low-carbon natural gas, that has been proposed by the HyDeploy project.

August 7, 2022 Posted by | Energy, Energy Storage, Hydrogen | , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Lime Kiln Fuelled By Hydrogen Shown To Be Viable

The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on the Construction Index.

Lime is one of those materials that plays a large part in our lives without our even knowing it. The Wikipedia entry lists a multitude of uses.

The article starts with these paragraphs.

The trial, led by Tarmac at its Tunstead site near Buxton, was the culmination of a project to demonstrate the potential to use hydrogen as a viable fuel alternative to natural gas for commercial-scale production of lime.

A number of trials were conducted with differing energy replacements, which culminated in a 100% replacement of the natural gas.

While it has been shown to be feasible, we have not yet been told how soon it might be practical or affordable.

The article finishes with this optimistic statement.

Tarmac, a CRH company, has cut CO2 by 24% per tonne of product since 1990; it is aiming for 45% by 2030.

This article illustrates how some important industries create a lot of carbon emissions and how decarbonisation would be fairly easy with a plentiful supply of hydrogen.

This is also the sort of industry, that would benefit from blending up to twenty percent of hydrogen into the UK’s natural gas supply, as is currently being investigated by the HyDeploy project.

August 3, 2022 Posted by | Energy, Hydrogen | , , , , | 2 Comments

New Proton Ceramic Reactor Stack For Highly Efficient Hydrogen Production And Carbon Capture In A Single Step

The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on Green Car Congress.

This is the opening paragraph.

A team of researchers from CoorsTek Membrane Sciences and SINTEF in Norway, and Universitat Politècnica de València in Spain, has demonstrated a 36-cell well-balanced proton ceramic reactor stack enabled by a new interconnect that achieves complete conversion of methane with more than 99% recovery to pressurized hydrogen, leaving a concentrated stream of carbon dioxide. The team has also demonstrated that the process can be scaled up for commercial application.

A paper has been published in the journal; Science.

I find this concept interesting for a number of reasons.

  • I’ve believed for some time, that applications, that need a good supply of pure carbon dioxide will be developed. One obvious use is feeding it to plants in large greenhouses, so we can have our CO2 and eat it!
  • 99 % is a very high efficiency.
  • Ammonia, natural gas or biogas can be used as a feedstock.

Coors were an Artemis user for project management and I had an enjoyable few days Golden, Colorado and at the Coors brewery, sometime in the 1980s.

  • It was then that I first heard of CoorsTek, who used to make ceramics for the US defence industry.
  • In those days, the beer was made to German brewing rules and was unpasteurised.
  • The beer had to be delivered to customers within a certain time, so long distance deliveries used trains.
  • Coors Brewing Company has since merged with Molson, but CoorsTek appears to be still owned by the Coors family.
  • I had taken a few small bottles of Adnams Broadside with me and one of their managers analysed one before drinking the rest of the bottle. He informed me that it was a felony to be in possession of such a strong beer in Colorado.

Coors were and probably still are in some ways not your average brewing company.

Coors News Item On Proton Ceramic Membranes For Hydrogen Production

This page on the CoorsTek web site, which is entitled Proton Ceramic Membranes For Hydrogen Production Published In ‘Science’, gives more details.

Conclusion

This technology could be massive.

July 31, 2022 Posted by | Computing, Food, Hydrogen | , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Will We See More Multi-Country Renewable Energy Deals?

In this blog, I have talked about various deals, where two or more countries and/or companies are getting together to generate electricity in one country and transfer it to another, either as electricity or as hydrogen

Examples include.

There are also all the hydrogen deals done by Fortescue Future Industries.

Where Are There Possibilities Of More Multi-Country Renewable Energy Deals?

These are a few serious possibilities.

Argentina

This is an extract from this page on Wind Energy International, which is entitled Argentina.

Argentina has an estimated technical wind energy potential of 300 GW. In southern Patagonia (Chubut and Santa Cruz provinces), average wind speeds range between 9.0 and 11.2 m/s, whereas in the north (Neuquén and Río Negro provinces), wind speeds range from 7.2 to 8.4 m/s. The general average capacity factor for Argentina is 35% and in the Patagonia region it ranges between as much as 47% and 59%. Especially in Northwest Patagonia, locally known as the Comahue region, hydro and wind may seasonally complement each other and.benefit both technologies. One other promising region for wind power development is the Atlantic sea coast.

As I wrote in Australia’s FFI Plans $8.4 Billion Green Hydrogen Project In Argentina, it appears that Andrew Forrest and FFI are already on the ground.

Australia

There are already three major schemes based on Australia and I am certain they will be more. Especially, as Japan, Korea, Malaysia and Singapore will need the zero-carbon energy.

It would appear that except for the Australia-Asia PowerLink, the energy will be transferred as liquid hydrogen or liquid ammonia.

Bangladesh

Bangladesh wouldn’t be on the lists of many, where ideal countries for renewable energy are being discussed.

But, this report on Energy Tracker Asia is entitled The Renewable Energy Potential of Bangladesh, where this is said.

A report investigating the renewable energy technical capacity of Bangladesh found that the country could deploy up to 156 GW of utility-scale solar on 6,250 km2 of land and 150 GW of wind. Offshore wind power would account for 134 GW of this total capacity.

I wouldn’t be surprised to see Bangladesh, supplying renewable energy to the East, with international companies and organisations developing the renewable infrastructure.

I think it should be noted that international companies flock to countries, where the investment opportunities are good. That has happened in the UK, with offshore wind, where many wind farms have been developed by companies such as Equinor, Iberola, RWE and Wattenfall.

Chile

Chile has started to develop the 100,000 square kilometres of the Atacama Desert for solar power and I wrote about this in The Power Of Solar With A Large Battery.

This sentence in the Wikipedia entry for Energy In Chile, illustrates the potential of solar power in the Atacama Desert.

In 2013, Total S.A. announced the world’s largest unsubsidised solar farm would be installed with assistance from SunPower Corp into Chile’s Atacama desert.

I also wrote Chile Wants To Export Solar Energy To Asia Via 15,000km Submarine Cable, about Chile’s ambitions to supply Asia with energy.

Ethiopia

Andrew Forrest of Fortescue Future Industries is on the case, as I wrote in Fortescue Future Industries Enters Ethiopia to Produce Green Energy.

North Africa

Consider.

  • The major North African countries of Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya and Egypt, all have and depend on to a certain extent on fossil fuels.
  • There are gas pipelines to Spain and Italy.
  • Morocco will be the Southern end of the Morocco-UK Power Project, if it gets developed.
  • All five countries have some nuclear power stations.
  • All five countries have lots of sun for solar power.
  • Some Saharan countries to the South of Morocco, Algeria and Libya could also provide energy from the sun.
  • Egypt has substantial hydro-electric power on the River Nile.
  • Egypt will be connected to Greece through the EuroAfrica Interconnector.

I believe that a well-designed and co-ordinated project could generate a lot of electricity and hydrogen for Europe and bring much-needed income and employment to North Africa.

I feel that if the Morocco-UK Power Project can be successfully built, then this could create a flurry of activity all over North Africa.

Saudi Arabia

Saudi Arabia has a problem. As the rest of the world moves away from fossil fuels in the next few decades, they will see the revenues from oil and natural gas come under pressure.

But as a rich country, with 2.15 million km² of land and lots of sun, they must have some potential to generate solar electricity.

In the Wikipedia entry for Solar Power In Saudi Arabia, this is said.

The Saudi agency in charge of developing the nations renewable energy sector, Ka-care, announced in May 2012 that the nation would install 41 gigawatts (GW) of solar capacity by 2032.[2] It was projected to be composed of 25 GW of solar thermal, and 16 GW of photovoltaics. At the time of this announcement, Saudi Arabia had only 0.003 gigawatts of installed solar energy capacity. A total of 24 GW of renewable energy was expected by 2020, and 54 GW by 2032.

Wikipedia also says that Saudi Arabia also has nuclear ambitions.

I can see that Saudi Arabia will replace some of their oil and gas exports with green hydrogen.

July 25, 2022 Posted by | Energy, Hydrogen | , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Green Hydrogen Namibia

The title of this post, is the same as that of this web site.

This is the mission statement on the home page.

With its abundant, world-class renewable energy resources and increasing demand for green hydrogen worldwide, Namibia is quickly emerging as an early entrant in this new market and has ambitions of becoming the leading exporter of Green Hydrogen in Africa.

Namibia is serious about green hydrogen.

July 25, 2022 Posted by | Energy, Hydrogen | , , | 1 Comment

easyJet And Rolls-Royce Pioneer Hydrogen Energy Combustion Technology In H2ZERO Partnership

The title of this post, is the same as that of this press release from Rolls-Royce.

These three opening paragraphs outline the project.

easyJet and Rolls-Royce today announced a ground-breaking new partnership, H2ZERO, that will pioneer the development of hydrogen combustion engine technology capable of powering a range of aircraft, including those in the narrow-body market segment.

Both companies have committed to working together on a series of engine tests on the ground, starting later this year and have a shared ambition to take the technology into the air. The objective of the partnership is to demonstrate that hydrogen has the potential to power a range of aircraft from the mid-2030s onwards.

While Rolls-Royce will bring its expertise in engine development and combustion systems, easyJet will contribute its operational knowledge and experience to H2ZERO and will also directly invest in the test programme.

This to my mind is good news.

This paragraph gives details of some of the planned work.

Through H2ZERO, the companies will support an early concept ground test of a Rolls-Royce AE 2100 engine in the UK later this year. This will be followed by a full-scale ground test of a Rolls-Royce Pearl 15 jet engine – a range of location options are being assessed for this including the Rolls-Royce test facility in Mississippi, USA. The programme will build on initial hydrogen combustion and fuel system rig tests that Rolls-Royce is undertaking with both Cranfield and Loughborough universities.

Note.

  1. The Rolls-Royce AE 2100 engine, powers the Lockheed Super Hercules amongst others.
  2. Rolls-Royce Pearl 15 powers various business jets.

easyJet and Rolls-Royce certainly have ambitions, and as there is little about the route they are taking to decarbonise, I would assume, that the main purpose of the study, is to find the optimal route.

I have just found this paper on the German Aerospace Centre web site, which is entitled Assessment Of Hydrogen Fuel Tank Integration At
Aircraft Level.

It uses as a baseline aircraft, the Airbus A320neo, of which easyJet have a few!

I suspect that using some of the techniques outlined in this paper, Rolls-Royce could decarbonise an Airbus A320neo.

July 21, 2022 Posted by | Hydrogen, Transport/Travel | , , , , , | Leave a comment

A Trip To Skegness

Last Thursday, I took a trip to Skegness to get out of the heat.

I took these pictures on the way.

These are my observations and thoughts.

Changing At Grantham

A few minutes after getting off the LNER Azuma, the East Midlands Railway Class 156 train arrived at the opposite face of the wide platform.

Unlike some changes you get on trains in the UK, it was all rather painless and unhurried.

The change coming home was a bit slower, but there is a bar on the London platform, that serves a good selection of good beers.

Grantham To Skegness

The journey to Skegness took around an hour and a half and I arrived at 13:51.

Skegness Station

Skegness station is not the grandest, but it does have six platforms, which is probably a lot for just an hourly service from Nottingham and Grantham.

Skegness

I didn’t stay long, as it was surprisingly too cold and I hadn’t brought a coat.

Skegness To Grantham

The return trip was better, as the train was a more modern Class 170 train.

Surely, when East Midland Railways get their full quota of Class 170 trains, then the Poacher Line between Nottingham and Skegness will be one of the routes, where they will be used.

I also suspect that with 100 mph trains always running the service, as opposed to the Class 156 trains, which are only 75 mph units, there could be speed improvements on the line.

  • Grantham and Skegness is 58 miles.
  • There are a large number of level crossings.

An hour service between Grantham and Skegness could be possible and might generate more passengers.

Rolls-Royce MTU Hybrid PowerPacks

I wonder if this route could be improved by fitting the Class 170 trains with Rolls-Royce MTU Hybrid PowerPacks?

  • The hybrid technology would have a lower fuel consumption and allow electric operation in stations.
  • The prototype hybrid is already working on Chiltern Railways in a Class 168 train.
  • The Class 168 train is an earlier version of the Class 170 train and they are members of the Turbostar family.
  • Rolls-Royce are developing versions of these hybrid transmissions, that will work with sustainable fuels.
  • As we have a total of 207 Turbostar trainsets, these could be a convenient way of cutting carbon emissions on long rural lines.
  • As Rolls-Royce MTU are also developing the technology, so their diesel engines can run on hydrogen, it is not outrageous to believe that they could be on a route to complete decarbonisation of this type of train.

I believe that we could see hydrogen-hybrid Class 170 trains, with a Rolls-Royce badge on the side.

The Massive Greenhouse

I found that this was owned by Fountain Plants.

Is Lincolnshire going to grow the UK’s greens? Or at least give them a good start in life?

More greenhouses like this will enable the UK to create our carbon dioxide and eat it!

 

 

July 17, 2022 Posted by | Food, Hydrogen, Transport/Travel | , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Will Our Gas Supplies Hold Up This Winter?

I am prompted to ask this question because of this article in The Times, which is entitled ‘Really High Gas Prices’ Loom For UK As Europe Faces Winter Rationing.

These are a few thoughts.

UK Gas-Fired Power Station Capacity

This entry in Wikipedia is entitled List Of Natural Gas Power Stations In The United Kingdom.

This statement summarises the capacity.

There are currently 32 active gas fired combined cycle power plants operating in the United Kingdom, which have a total generating capacity of 28.0 GW.

This section is entitled Decline Of Gas For Power In The United Kingdom, where this is said.

In 2016 gas fired power stations generated a total of 127 TWh of electricity. Generation has dropped to 119 TWh in 2017, 115 TWh in 2018, 114 TWh in 2019 and 95 TWh in 2020. The decline is largely due to the increase in renewable sources outweighing the decline of coal, and an overall reduction in demand.

Putting these pictures as a table and applying a simple numerical analysis technique gives the following.

  • 2016 – 127 TWh
  • 2017 – 119 TWh – Drop of 8TWh
  • 2018 – 115 TWh – Drop of 4 TWh
  • 2019 – 114 TWh – Drop of 1 TWh
  • 2020 – 95 TWh – Drop of 19 TWh

In four years the amount of electricity generated each year by gas-fired power stations has dropped by an amazing 8 TWh on average per year.

Factors like the increase in renewables and an overall reduction in demand will still apply.

I wouldn’t be surprised to see a continuous reduction of electricity generated by gas of 8 TWh per year.

Figures like these could be possible.

  • 2021 – 87 TWh
  • 2022 – 79 TWh
  • 2023 – 71 TWh
  • 2024 – 63 TWh
  • 2025 – 55 TWh
  • 2026 – 47 TWh
  • 2027 – 39 TWh

I have stopped these figures at 2027, as one major event should happen in that year, as Hinckley Point C is planned to switch on in June 2027, which will contribute 3.26 GW. or 28.5 TWh per year.

In Will We Run Out Of Power This Winter?, I also summarised the energy that will be produced by the various projects, that were signed off recently in the Contracts for Difference Allocation Round 4′, where I said this.

Summarising the figures for new capacity gives.

  • 2022 – 3200 MW
  • 2023 – 1500 MW
  • 3024 – 2400 MW
  • 2025 – 6576 MW
  • 2026 – 1705 MW
  • 2027 – 7061 GW

This totals to 22442 MW.

Note that a 1 GW power source would generate 8.76 TWh of electricity per year.

 

One problem we may have is too much electricity and as we are not blessed with much storage in the UK, where will be able to put it?

In a strange way, Vlad the Mad may solve the problem, by cutting off Europe’s gas.

Jackdaw Gas Field

This document on the Shell web site is the standard information sheet for the Jackdaw field development.

This is the short description of the development.

The Jackdaw field is an uHPHT reservoir that will be developed with a not permanently
attended WHP. Four wells will be drilled at the Jackdaw WHP. Produced fluids will be
exported via a subsea pipeline to the Shearwater platform where these will be processed
before onward export via the Fulmar Gas Line and the Forties Pipeline System.

The proposed development may be summarised as follows:

  • Installation of a new WHP
  • Drilling of four production wells
  • Installation of a new approximately 31 km pipeline from the Jackdaw WHP to the Shearwater platform
  • Processing and export of the Jackdaw hydrocarbons via the Shearwater host platform

First production expected between Q3 – Q4 2025.

Note.

  1. Production could start in just over three years.
  2. This gas will come ashore at the Bacton gas terminal in Norfolk.
  3. Bacton has two gas interconnectors to Europe; one to Belgium and one to The Netherlands, so is ideally connected to export gas to Europe.

Given the high gas prices, I am sure any company would pull out all the stops to shorten the project development time.

HyDeploy

I described HyDeploy, which is a project to blend up to 20 % of hydrogen into the distributed natural gas in HyDeploy.

In The Mathematics Of Blending Twenty Percent Of Hydrogen Into The UK Gas Grid, I worked how much electricity would be needed for HyDeploy’s target blending of hydrogen.

It was 8.2 GW, but!

  • It would save a lot of carbon emissions.
  • Boilers and other appliances wouldn’t have to be changed, although they would probably need a service.
  • It would significantly cut the amount of natural gas we need.
  • It might even be a product to export in its own right.

I certainly feel that HyDeploy is a significant project.

Gas Imports And Existing Fields

This entry in Wikipedia is entitled Energy in the United Kingdom.

In this section, which is entitled Natural Gas, this is said.

United Kingdom produced 60% of its consumed natural gas in 2010. In five years the United Kingdom moved from almost gas self-sufficient (see North Sea gas) to 40% gas import in 2010. Gas was almost 40% of total primary energy supply (TPES) and electricity more than 45% in 2010. Underground storage was about 5% of annual demand and more than 10% of net imports.

Gasfields include Amethyst gasfield, Armada gasfield, Easington Catchment Area, East Knapton, Everest gasfield and Rhum gasfield.

Consider.

  • We know that the amount of gas used for generating electricity is reducing , due to the increase in renewables and an overall reduction in demand.
  • The cost of both gas imports and exports are rising.
  • In two years time the Jackdaw gas field should be producing gas.

Would it be sensible to squeeze as much gas out of the existing fields, as by the time they run out, renewables, an overall reduction in demand, the Jackdaw gasfield and other factors will mean that we will have enough gas and electricity for our needs.

July 14, 2022 Posted by | Energy, Hydrogen | , , , , , , | 8 Comments

Hydrogen Fuel Cells Could Get A Lot Cheaper With Newly Developed Iron Catalyst

The title of this post, is the same ass that of this article on Hydrogen Fuel News.

These are the first two paragraphs.

Scientists have been looking for an alternative to precious metals such as platinum for decades, in the hopes of bringing down the cost of hydrogen fuel cells.

An alternative to a platinum catalyst that costs considerably less will help to bring down the cost of hydrogen fuel cells and of using H2 as a carbon emission-free fuel. This would make it cheaper to both produce and use H2.

Researchers at the University of Buffalo, appear to be on the road to using iron as an affordable catalyst.

This paragraph describes he structure of the catalyst.

The researchers looked to iron because of its low cost and abundance. On its own, iron does not perform as well as platinum as a catalyst, particularly because it isn’t as durable in the face of highly corrosive and oxidative environments such as those within hydrogen fuel cells. The researchers bonded four nitrogen atoms to the iron in order to overcome that barrier, followed by embedding the material within a few graphene layers “with accurate atomic control of local geometric and chemical structures,” said Wu.

Gang Wu is leading the research.

In the early 1970s, I worked with one of ICI’s catalyst experts and he said, that improvements in this area will be large in the future.

Increasingly, I see his prediction being proved right, in the varied fields, where catalysts are used.

July 13, 2022 Posted by | Energy, Hydrogen | , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

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