Netherlands Plans Its Biggest Offshore Wind Tender Next Year with Four IJmuiden Ver Sites Likely to Be Auctioned Off In One Go
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article from offshoreWIND.biz.
Green Groups Furious As New Coalmine In Cumbria Is Approved
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on The Times.
These two paragraphs outline the story.
Michael Gove has approved the first deep coalmine in 30 years, despite calls from environmental activists and Labour to turn down the project.
The levelling-up secretary’s planning approval for the mine in Cumbria comes after two years of opposition. Critics said that it would increase emissions and 85 per cent of the coking coal would be exported to produce steel.cumbria
In March 2019, I wrote Whitehaven Deep Coal Mine Plan Moves Step Closer, when local councillors unanimously backed the plan.
In that post, I speculated about the possibility of using the coal from Cumbria with the HIsarna ironmaking process and wrote this.
In Wikipedia, there is an entry for the HIsarna ironmaking process.
This process is being developed by the Ultra-Low Carbon Dioxide Steelmaking (ULCOS) consortium, which includes Tata Steel and the Rio Tinto Group. Reduction in carbon-dioxide produced by the process compared to traditional steel-making are claimed to be as high as fifty percent.
This figure does not include carbon-capture to reduce the carbon-dioxide still further.
However, looking at descriptions of the process, I feel that applying carbon-capture to the HIsarna steelmaking process might be a lot easier, than with traditional steelmaking.
If you are producing high quality steel by a process like HIsarna, you want to make sure that you don’t add any impurities from the coal, so you have a premium product.
So is Cumbrian metallurgical coal important to the HIsarna process?
I originally heard that the coal from Whitehaven was very pure carbon and I felt as the HIsarna process uses powdered coal, there might be a connection between the two projects. Reading today in The Times article, it seems that the Cumbrian coal has some sulphur. So either the HIsarna project is dead or the Dutch have found a way to deal with the sulphur.
The HIsarna process is a continuous rather than a batch process and because of that, it should be easier to capture the carbon dioxide for use elsewhere or storage in a depleted gas field.
There’s more to come out on the reason for the approval of the project.
I shall be digging hard to see what I can find. But I do believe a steel-making process, that uses a much smaller amount of coal, not coke, could lead to a more economic way of making zero-carbon steel than using hydrogen created by electrolysis.
Carbon capture would need to be used to deal with carbon dioxide produced, but progress is being made with this technology.
Three Steps To Unlocking The Potential Of High-Power Wind Turbines
The title of this post is the same as that of this article on offshireWIND.biz.
This is the first paragraph.
The critical role of wind in the world’s future energy needs is clear: the Ocean Renewable Energy Coalition states that 1,400 gigawatt (GW) of offshore wind power will sustain one tenth of global electricity demand by 2050. Key to achieving this is the upward power rating of wind turbines, which we anticipate will reach an individual turbine capacity of 20 GW within the next five years.
The article is a must-read.
After reading the article, I am convinced that there will be 20 MW turbines in five years.
When turbines of this size are readily available, it is likely that the rate of installation of wind turbines will increase.
BP, Equinor And Ithaca To Explore Electrification Options Of West Of Shetland Oil And Gas Fields
The title of this post is the same as that of this article on offshoreWIND.biz.
Increased CCS Can Decarbonise GB Electricity Faster On Route To Net Zero
The title of this post, is the same as that of this news item on the SSE web site.
This is the first paragraph.
Building more power carbon capture and storage plants (Power CCS) could significantly accelerate the UK’s plans to decarbonise the GB electricity system on route to net zero, according to new analysis commissioned by SSE.
I am not surprised, as in my time, I have built several production, storage and distribution mathematical models for products and sometimes bringing things forward has beneficial effects.
These three paragraphs summarise the findings.
The UK Government’s proposed emissions reductions from electricity for 2035 could be accelerated to 2030 by combining its 50GW offshore wind ambition with a significant step up in deployment of Power CCS. This would require 7-9GW (equivalent to 10-12 plants) of Power CCS compared to the current commitment of at least one Power CCS plant mid-decade, according to experts at LCP Delta.
Replacing unabated gas with abated Power CCS generation will deliver significant reductions in greenhouse gas emissions. The analysis suggests that adding 7-9GW Power CCS to the UK’s 2030 offshore wind ambition will save an additional 18 million tonnes of CO2 by 2040, by preventing carbon emissions during periods when the sun isn’t shining, and the wind isn’t blowing.
Gas consumption for electricity generation would not significantly increase, given the 7-9GW Power CCS would displace older and less efficient unabated gas power stations already operating and reduce importing unabated gas generation from abroad via the interconnectors. Importantly, Power CCS can provide a safety net to capture emissions from any gas required to keep the lights on in the event of delays to the roll out of renewables or nuclear.
The report is by LCP Delta, who are consultants based in Edinburgh.
The report says this about the transition to hydrogen.
Power CCS also presents significant opportunities to kickstart, then transition to, a hydrogen economy, benefitting from the synergies between CCS and hydrogen, including proximity to large-scale renewable generation and gas storage facilities which can support the production of both electrolytic and CCS-enabled hydrogen.
And this about the reduction in carbon emissions.
The existing renewables ambition and the accelerated Power CCS ambition are expected to save a total of 72 million tonnes of CO2 by 2040 compared to commitments in the UK’s Net Zero Strategy from October 2021.
I don’t think there’s much wrong with this analysis.
But of course the greens will trash it, as it was paid for by SSE.
I have a few thoughts.
Carbon Capture And Use
I believe we will see a great increase in carbon capture and use.
- Carbon dioxide is already an ingredient to make Quorn.
- Carbon dioxide is needed for fizzy drinks.
- Carbon dioxide can be fed to tomatoes, salad plants, herbs and flowers in giant greenhouses.
- Carbon dioxide can be used to make animal and pet food.
- Carbon dioxide can be used to make building products like plasterboard and blocks.
- Carbon dioxide can be added to concrete.
- Carbon dioxide can be used as a refrigerant and in air-conditioning. There are one or two old Victorian systems still working.
Other uses will be developed.
Carbon Capture Will Get More Efficient
Carbon capture from power stations and boilers, that use natural gas is a relatively new process and its capture will surely get better and more efficient in the next few years.
Gas From INTOG
I explain INTOG in What Is INTOG?.
One of INTOG’s aims, is to supply electricity to the oil and gas rigs and platforms in the sea around the UK.
Currently, these rigs and platforms, use some of the gas they produce, in gas turbines to create the electricity they need.
- I have seen reports that ten percent of the gas that comes out of the ground is used in this way.
- Using the gas as fuel creates more carbon dioxide.
Decarbonisation of our oil and gas rigs and platforms, will obviously be a good thing because of a reduction of the carbon dioxide emitted. but it will also mean that the gas that would have been used to power the platform can be brought ashore to power industry and domestic heating, or be exported to countries who need it.
Gas may not be carbon-neutral, but some gas is more carbon-neutral than others.
SSE’s Plans For New Thermal Power Stations
I have taken this from SSE’s news item.
SSE has deliberately chosen to remain invested in the transition of flexible thermal electricity generation due to the key role it plays in a renewables-led, net zero, electricity system and is committed to decarbonising the generation.
Together with Equinor, SSE Thermal is developing two power stations equipped with carbon capture technology. Keadby 3 Carbon Capture Power Station is based in the Humber, the UK’s most carbon-intensive industrial region, while Peterhead Carbon Capture Power Station is located in the North East of Scotland. Combined, the two stations could capture around three million tonnes of CO2 a year.
Studies have shown that Keadby and Peterhead Carbon Capture Power Stations could make a lifetime contribution of £1.2bn each to the UK economy, creating significant economic opportunity in their respective regions. Both will be vital in supporting the huge amount of renewables which will be coming on the system.
SSE Thermal and Equinor are also collaborating on Keadby Hydrogen Power Station, which could be one of the world’s first 100% hydrogen-fuelled power stations, and Aldbrough Hydrogen Storage, which could be one of the world’s largest hydrogen storage facilities.
Note.
- SSE appear to think that gas-fired power stations with carbon capture are an ideal backup to renewables.
- If gas is available and it can be used to generate electricity without emitting any carbon dioxide, then why not?
- Hydrogen is coming.
Things will get better.
Is A Virtuous Circle Developing?
Consider.
- Spare wind electricity is turned into hydrogen using an electrolyser or perhaps some world-changing electro-chemical process.
- The hydrogen is stored in Aldbrough Hydrogen Storage.
- When the wind isn’t blowing, hydrogen is used to backup the wind in Keadby Hydrogen power station.
- The other Keadby power stations can also kick in using natural gas. The carbon dioxide that they produce, would be captured for storage or use.
- Other users, who need to decarbonise, can be supplied with hydrogen from Aldbrough.
Note.
- Gas turbines are throttleable, so if National Grid wants 600 MW to balance the grid, they can supply it.
- As time progresses, some of the gas-fired power stations at Keadby could be converted to hydrogen.
- Rough gas storage is not far away and could either store natural gas or hydrogen.
- Hydrogen might be imported by tanker from places like Africa and Australia, depending on price.
Humberside will be levelling up and leading the decarbonisation of the UK.
If you have an energy-hungry business, you should seriously look at moving to Humberside.
Powerhouses Clash Offshore California In Bid To Build Wind Farms
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on offshoreWIND.biz.
Baltic States Agree To Develop Plan To Railway Network’s Conversion According To EU Standards
The title of this post is the same as that of this article on Baltic News Network.
These are the first two paragraphs.
During a meeting of European transport ministers in Brussels, participants agreed that all member states the railway network of which differs from the EU standard, have until 2025-2026 to develop a plan to transition to 1 435 mm. This applies to Latvia as well, as reported by Ministry of Transport.
Latvia and other Baltic States still have railway networks built in accordance with Russian standard of 1 520 mm, whereas the majority of other European countries have railway standard of 1 435 mm. This is also the standard that will be used for the Rail Baltica line.
I have some thoughts.
- Putin won’t like it, as his trains won’t fit the gauge, so it will cramp his invasion plans.
- Will gauge change apply to Spain and Ireland?
- If the Irish Republic converts, will Ulster say no? Undoubtedly they will!
- Will it also apply to trams, as there are quite a few metre gauge tramways.
I doubt that it will ever happen everywhere.
I Can Now See Why A Big Pharma Company Liked My Software Daisy
Yesterday, I went to a seminar about medical research.
There was a presentation, where data in several dimensions was shown and the data was crying out for a Daisy Chart.
A Daisy Chart
This chart is a very simple presentation of telephone data, but I can imagine arcs showing factors like Dose, Blood Pressure, Sex, Patient Satisfaction etc.
Note.
- This chart is what I call a Day of the Week/Hour of the Day chart, which is a powerful way of looking at any time-based data, like faults or A & E arrivals.
- You can click on the nodes and links of the chart to access the data underneath. So if you wanted all female patients with high blood pressure in a separate Excel spreadsheet, this is possible with a couple of clicks.
- The charts can also be clipped from the screen and inserted into reports.
Daisy was used by one Big Pharma company twenty years ago and after yesterday’s presentation, I can understand, why they used it.
The seminar changed my mind about my attitude to Daisy and I got rather fired up about its possibilities.
Gasunie Investigates Hydrogen Network In North Sea
The title of this post, is the same as that of this news article on the Gasunie web site.
A Long Journey Home
A friend had booked between London and Edinburgh today on the 13:00 LNER train from King’s Cross. She was also travelling with her miniature Schnauzer.
.We had arranged to meet at Marylebone, so I could help them across London to King’s Cross and have a much-needed hot chocolate in King’s Cross before they caught the train North and I went to a meeting organised by my cardiologist.
I had checked out King’s Cross earlier and there was trouble with srveral delayed and cancelled trains.
It wasn’t strikes or bad management from LNER and the problem is explained in this article from the Yorkshire Evening Post, which is entitled Trains From Leeds To London Cancelled Or Delayed After Thieves Steal Signalling Cables From Railway Tracks.
In the end we made the train in time and also had time to have a hot chocolate in LEON, whilst we sat out the back with the dog.
We were texting each other most of the afternoon and with assistance from Real Time Trains, the journey went as follows.
- The train left King’s Cross at 13:08, which was eight minutes late.
- By Peterborough, the train was running seventeen minutes late.
- The driver kept this delay until Retford, where he lost another eighty minutes.
- The train was now running 97 minutes late and this grew by four more minutes by Newcastle.
- My friend reported that they stopped at Newcastle, as they had no driver.
- In the end, LNER found a driver or a way for the current driver to continue to Edinburgh and the train left Newcastle after a thirty minute stop.
- The train was now two hours and ten minutes late.
- Eventually, it pulled into Edinburgh, two hours and five minutes late, after the driver had picked up a few minutes on the approach to Edinburgh.
Note.
- The incoming train that formed this service arrived in King’s Cross from Edinburgh seventy two minutes late, mainly because of the cable theft. It should have arrived and returned to Edinburgh an hour earlier. But it arrived conveniently to form the 13:00 to Scotland.
- As the train presentation team turned the train in nineteen minutes instead of twenty-one, they saved a couple of minutes.
- I suspect the delay at Retford was getting through the area without any signalling.
- Had the driver run out of hours by Newcastle, as he had been in the cab for four-and-a-half hours?
- Normally, four-and-a-half hours would have enabled the driver to have driven to Edinburgh.
These are my thoughts.
Cable Theft
In the days of British Rail, I did some work for British Rail using my software called Daisy, which led to a report entitled Failure Reporting And Analysis On British Rail, which was written by J. S. Firth CEng, MIEE, MIRSE, who worked for SigTech, which was a Business Unit of the British Railways Board.
If anybody who has a legitimate reason to read the report, I still have the complimentary copy sent to me by Mr. Firth and would be happy to provide a copy.
I did flag up a project called Unauthorised Cable Removal And Fault Triage, as one of the winners in the First Of A Kind 2022 competition organised by the Dept of BEIS.
If there is anything I can do to help, let me know.
Problems In France
A friend in France told me that there is a problem with stealing overhead electrification cables in France.
This article on RFI is entitled Copper Wire Thieves Force France’s High-Speed TGV To Go Slow.
There are several similar stories on French and other European web sites.
Signalling Using Radio
The East Coast Main Line is being signalled using modern ERTMS digital signalling, where drivers read the signals on an in-cab display, which is connected by radio to the signalling system.
This extract from Wikipedia describes the first project.
In June 2020 it was reported that the UK government would provide £350 million to fund the UK’s first digital signalling system on a long-distance rail route. The signalling is to be fitted on a 100-mile (161 km) section of the East Coast Main Line between Kings Cross, London, and Lincolnshire, which will allow trains to run closer together and increase service frequency, speed and reliability. No date for when the new technology, already in use on the Thameslink lines at London Bridge and some London Underground lines, has been given.
If the cables are removed will this reduce crime?
LNER Delay Repay
My friend will be entitled for a full refund of her single ticket.
This page on the LNER web site gives full details.
Note.
- You have 28 days to claim.
- If you have a return ticket, you may be entitled to something for that leg of the journey.
I would add, that you should always keep all your tickets, in case the return journey goes belly-up.
The Anonymous Widower 