Fortescue Unveils Green Investment Framework
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on Mining Weekly.
This is the first paragraph.
Iron-ore major Fortescue Metals this week launched its Sustainability Financing Framework, enabling the future issuance of green and social debt instruments that will support investments in eligible green and social projects.
I have to admit, that I thought something like this might happen, after seeing all the Fortescue Future Industries publicity on a bus, which I wrote about in Green Hydrogen Can Save Us. But Waiting For It Won’t.
I did say this in that post.
Andrew Forrest is intending to get his message across to the City.
But I didn’t take any action.
I can see other companies and investment trusts following Andrew Forrest’s lead.
Public Inquiry Into Northumberland Line Due To Open This Week
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on the News Post Leader.
It is also a good summary of where the various councils are with the reopening of the Northumberland Line.
The article says that work should start next summer and trains will run in 2024.
London Gets A New Bus Route
During the Bank Station Upgrade in the New Year, London will gain a new bus route.
It is described like this on New Civil Engineer.
A temporary new bus route, the 733 from Oval into the City (Finsbury Square), will also be introduced on weekdays. It will run every 7-8 minutes to help affected customers reach their destinations.
I use the to-be-closed section of the Northern Line regularly and not just on weekdays.
Yet again, the good citizens of East London have been ignored or short-changed by transport planners in City Hall.
We have endured no Waterloo and City Line for months. Although, that does seem to be opening, as I wrote in Waterloo & City line To Operate All Day By The End Of November.
Shocks Away! RAF To Fly Electric Planes
The title of this post is the same as that of this article on The Times.
The RAF is evaluating the Slovenian-built Pipistrel Velis Electro for use as a training aircraft. I learned to fly in a Cessna 150 and the Pipistrel Velis Electro seems to be a modern reincanation of that and similar classic designs.
- It seats two normal people side-by-side.
- It has a high wing.
- It has a fixed tricycle undercarriage.
- It is built from composites, whereas the Cessna was aluminium.
- It seems to have been carefully designed.
- It has full certification.
I would love to have a flight in one.
As the Danish Air Force are already using the aircraft for pilot training, I suspect that it might suit the RAF.
But then there are quite a lot of battery-electric under development and there may be a better one.
But there is no denying that the Pipistrel Velis Electro is a good aircraft to start the procurement process.
Is Thermify The Ultimate Zero-Carbon Boiler?
In The Sunday Times today, there is an article, which is entitled Tech Is Putting Net Zero Within Reach, which lists several ideas to help us achieve net zero.
The first is the best idea, that I’ve seen this year.
When you talk using a phone, tablet or computer to your family, preferred social network, bank or company, you are probably talking to or through a server somewhere on the Internet.
These servers are often a bank of computers and they use a lot of electricity and give out a lot of heat. So they are often located in unusual places like Iceland. Someone has even suggested putting them deep under the sea.
Under a section entitled Computer Power, the article in The Times introduces Thermify.
The Welsh company has combined a computer server with a heat exchanger to replace your gas-fired boiler.
I suspect all of these servers fit together just like data centres do all over the world.
It would be ideal for my house, as I only use gas for heating and hot water and I have solar panels on the roof and under-floor heating using hot water.
I shall be contacting the company next week.
Fortescue Future Industries As A First Mover In Global Green Hydrogen And Next Generation Mining Equipment
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on International Mining.
This is the most significant sentence in the article.
Fortescue has set an industry leading target to be carbon neutral by 2030.
The article details how Andrew Forrest’s company intends to do it.
I found the article a fascinating read.
Port Of Açu And Fortescue To Explore 300MW Hydrogen Plant In Brazil
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on H2Bulletin.
This is the first paragraph.
Brazilian ports have been attracting foreign investors to benefit from its abundant renewable resources. Porto do Açu Operações SA has recently started exploring opportunities to become a hydrogen production hub in Brazil, which H2Bulletin exclusively covered in its recent article.
The location of the Superport of Açu is shown on this Google Map.
Açu is marked by the red arrow and is about 300 km. from Rio de Janeiro.
Over the last year or so, I’ve noticed several ports declare the intention of becoming hydrogen hubs.
- Hydrogen can be used to power dock vehicles, tugs, work-boats and ships.
- Hydrogen can be used to support local businesses with high energy needs.
- In the future hydrogen may power freight trains to and from the port.
Do ports feel hydrogen is a good way to decarbonise?
Do Ports Make Good Hydrogen Hubs?
Consider.
- Ports and their staff are used to handling cargoes of all types including gases, chemicals, liquids and liquified gases.
- They generally have space for the tanks to store hydrogen.
- They have a good electrical connection for an electrolyser to create green hydrogen.
- They have lots of uses for hydrogen.
Any excess hydrogen can be exported to someone who needs it.
It seems to me, that a port is a good place for a hydrogen hub.
Fortescue Expands Green Energy Into PNG
The title of this post is the same as that of this article on Perth Now.
This is the first paragraph.
Mining magnate Andrew “Twiggy” Forrest’s Fortescue Future Industries plans to develop more than a dozen hydropower and geothermal energy projects in Papua New Guinea.
Other points from the article include.
- Green hydrogen and ammonia will be created.
- This will create a domestic and export industry for a country that relies heavily on imported oil.
- Papua New Guinea will become a leader in the world’s renewable energy transition.
- The target is 2.3 million tonnes of green hydrogen a year.
There is also a commitment to the various communities of Papua New Guinea of training, employment and business development opportunities.
I estimate that to produce 2.3 million tonnes of green hydrogen a year, would need around 600 MW of electricity twenty-four hours a day on every day of the year.
Eden Project: Geothermal Heat Project ‘Promising’
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on the BBC.
This is the first paragraph.
A three mile-deep (4.8km) borehole has shown “promising” prospects for a geothermal heat plant in Cornwall.
Eden estimates the borehole can produce enough heat for 35,000 homes.
Geothermal energy is only at the beginning in the UK, but just because we don’t have any active volcanoes, we shouldn’t discount it.
On the other hand, we do have a lot of water-filled abandoned coal mines, which in former mining areas of the UK can and will provide a substantial amount of district heating, as I wrote in Exciting Renewable Energy Project for Spennymoor.
And then there’s one-off project’s like Bunhill 2 in Islington, which I wrote about in ‘World-First’ As Bunhill 2 Launches Using Tube Heat To Warm 1,350 Homes.
Conclusion
The UK may not be an Iceland, Indonesia, Italy, New Zealand, Philippines or the USA, but according to Wikipedia we have a good potential.
- Deep geothermal resources could provide 9.5GW of baseload renewable electricity.
- Deep geothermal resources could provide over 100GW of heat.
I think my most significant post on geothermal energy is Schlumberger New Energy And Thermal Energy Partners Form Geothermal Development Company STEP Energy.
Schlumberger and the other oilfield services companies have a very serious problem.
With countries abandoning oil and gas, they have lots of engineers, geologists and other staff, who will not be needed by the oil and gas industry.
But their expertise and skills can be transferred to the geothermal heat and power industry. This will benefit the staff, the companies and the world!
The other place there expertise can be used is in the storage of captured carbon dioxide.
A Special Weekend Timetable Has Been Put In Place For Lincoln Christmas Market
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on Rail Advent.
This is the first paragraph.
The timetable has been put in place for Lincoln Christmas Market with direct services from Leeds, Newcastle, Edinburgh, Aberdeen and Inverness.
It looks to be a clever piece of planning, whilst work is carried out on the East Coast Main Line between Doncaster and Peterborough.
- Services will be diverted onto the Great Northern and Great Eastern Joint Line though Spalding, Sleaford and Lincoln.
- Will the trains be using the new tracks at the Werrington dive-under.
- Nine-car Class 800 bi-mode trains will be used.
- On the Saturday, there will be two trains per hour (tph) in both directions.
- Of these trains, five trains per day (tpd) in both directions will stop at Lincoln Central station.
It does appear that LNER are making the best of a difficult situation.
Passengers going to Lincoln for the Christmas Market will not be disappointed.
Grand Central Trains
Grand Central Trains are also using the diversion route.
Hull Trains
Hull Trains are also using the diversion route.
On the Saturday, there will be five tpd in both directions.
These can be doubled up to ten-car trains if the demand is there.
Lumo Trains
Lumo trains don’t appear to be running.
Conclusion
Network Rail seem to have done a cunning piece of timetabling.
There’ll be trainspotters galore in the centre of Lincoln.
The Anonymous Widower 