C-Capture Launches Innovative Carbon Capture Trial For Cement Industry
The title of this post, is the same as that of this news item from C-Capture.
This is the sub-heading.
C-Capture, developers of next generation technology for carbon dioxide removal, has launched a new carbon capture trial in the cement manufacturing sector in partnership with Heidelberg Materials.
This is the first paragraph.
The trial, which utilises C-Capture’s innovative solution for industrial decarbonisation, is taking place at Heidelberg Material’s cement manufacturing plant in Ketton. It forms part of C-Capture’s national project, ‘XLR8 CCS – Accelerating the Deployment of a Low-Cost Carbon Capture Solution for Hard-to-Abate Industries’. Working with project partners across the UK, C-Capture’s XLR8 CCS project will demonstrate that a low-cost carbon capture solution is a reality for difficult-to-decarbonise industries in the race to net zero.
I wrote about C-Capture’s technology in Could Drax Power Station Solve The Carbon Dioxide Shortage?
The technology appears to have been spun out of Leeds University.
BP and Drax are investors.
This page on the C-Capture web site is called Technology and has a very neat interactive guide to how the technology works.
Conclusion
I have high hopes for this company and its technology.
Electricity Networks Accelerate Potential Connection Dates Of Over 200 Clean Energy Projects
The title of this post, is the same as that of this press release from National Grid.
This is the sub-heading.
7.8GW of clean energy projects, more than double the output of Hinkley Point C nuclear power station, have had their connection offer dates brought forward by up to 10 years through the Technical Limits programme, which is allowing projects to connect to lower voltage distribution networks prior to reinforcement of the high voltage transmission network.
These are the first two paragraphs.
Networks have so far sent offers to 203 projects totalling 7.8GW with an average connection acceleration of 6.5 years. In total 393 projects are eligible for the programme with the further 190 projects able to receive accelerated offers once they have progressed through the connection offer process. Last month a solar farm near Bridgwater in Somerset became the first project to be energised under this scheme. Horsey Levels solar farm, which will provide clean energy for 10,000 homes annually, connected to National Grid’s electricity distribution network significantly ahead of its original planned connection date. This initial acceleration has been delivered in the first phase of the Technical Limits programme, with further phases and analysis planned.
Technical Limits, a collaborative project from National Grid Electricity Transmission, Energy Networks Association, the Electricity System Operator and the Distribution Network Operators (DNOs) forms part of the ongoing collaborative industry efforts, together with Ofgem and government, to speed up and reform connections to the grid. Scottish Transmission and Distribution network owners have been involved in developing the Technical Limits programme and are in the process of rolling out the programme in their license areas also.
Note.
- National Grid seem to measure large amounts of power, with respect to Hinkley Point C nuclear power station, which will have an output of 3.26 GW.
- The Technical Limits programme seems to be a sensible idea.
- Was the idea thought up by National Grid or is it an idea borrowed from another country?
- If it allows another 7.8 GW of clean electricity projects to be connected an average of 6.5 years earlier, then there can’t be much wrong with the idea.
- Horsey Levels solar farm is to the East of the M5, just to the North of Bridgwater.
I shall be following the roll-out of National Grid’s Technical Limits programme, as more clean power projects are connected to the grid.
National Grid And Innovation
This is another post about innovation at National Grid.
Others include.
- £9.2m Electricity Research Project To Save 39,000 Tonnes Of C02 Gets Go-Ahead, which talks about modifying transmission lines to carry more electricity. This means, that theoretically, we’ll need less and smaller transmission lines.
- £400k For National Grid Innovation Projects As Part Of Ofgem Fund To Help Shape Britain’s Net Zero Transition, which talks about Ofgem grants to fund innovation.
- National Grid Fast-Tracks Overhead Line Upgrade Project To Help Accelerate Connection Dates Of 175 Clean Energy Projects, which describes acceleration of projects.
- National Grid To Accelerate Up To 20GW Of Grid Connections Across Its Transmission And Distribution Networks, which also describes acceleration of projects.
- National Grid Goes Carbon-Free With Hydrogen-Powered Substation Trial, which describes work to use hydrogen as back-up power for substations.
- University Of Manchester And National Grid Team Up To Develop SF6-Free Retrofill Solution For Electricity Network, which describes a project to remove SF6 from the grid. SF6 is a greenhouse gas.
- National Grid Installs LineVision Sensors To Expand The Capacity Of Existing Power Lines, which describes an interesting idea from the United States.
- National Grid ESO And Reactive Technologies Launch Flagship Inertia System To Measure Grid Stability, which describes an innovative Spanish way to measure grid stability.
Note.
- I have included projects, that accelerate connection of new projects to the grid.
- Does National Grid benefit from operating grids in the UK and US, as it gets offered the best technology from both sides of the Pond?
National Grid seem to be big innovators.
How Hydrogen Will Power The Green Construction Eevolution
The title of this post, is the same as that of this news item from Ryze Hydrogen.
These two paragraphs introduce the news item.
According to the International Energy Agency buildings operations and construction emissions account for more than one-third of global energy-related emissions, significantly contributing to environmental degradation, with heavy machinery and standby power solutions relying heavily on fossil fuels.
Yet here at Ryze we know the industry stands on the brink of a green revolution, as clean energy solutions lead the charge towards decarbonisation.
The news item, is a must-read for anybody involved in construction.
Recently, a gas leak killed the roadside tree outside my house. I wrote about the incident in It Looks Like The Gas Leak Has Killed The Tree Outside My House.
What I didn’t say, was that when they cleaned up the mess, I had an eight-wheeled diesel truck with a grab, working outside my house for a couple of hours, spewing fumes everywhere.
Hopefully, green construction is friendlier to the neighbours and the workers on site.
High Speed Two is using green construction for this reason in sensitive locations.
BW Ideol And Holcim To Explore Use of Low-Carbon Concrete In Floating Offshore Wind
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on offshoreWIND.biz.
This is the sub-heading.
BW Ideol and Holcim have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for a feasibility study on supplying beneficial low-carbon concrete for the floating offshore wind industry, with particular reference to Scotland.
These are the first three paragraphs.
BW Ideol and Holcim aim to collaborate on optimising the supply of the innovative concrete needed for the intended mass production of BW Ideol’s floaters in the Port of Ardersier.
Low-carbon concrete’s advantages as a building material for offshore wind farms include its durability in marine environments, its local availability and its comparatively lower carbon emissions, the companies said.
The collaboration includes developing specific durable maritime low-carbon concrete mixes with enhanced mechanical performance perfectly suited to slipform application.
This is surely a good development.
Europe’s First Commercial-Scale Floating Offshore Wind Farm Secures All Planning Approvals
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on offshoreWIND.biz.
This is the sub-heading.
Flotation Energy and Vårgrønn, a joint venture between Plenitude (Eni) and HitecVision, have obtained the offshore planning approval for the Green Volt floating wind farm offshore Scotland.
This is the first paragraph.
With onshore consent announced earlier this month, Green Volt has now received all its planning approvals and remains on track to be the first commercial-scale floating offshore wind farm in Europe.
Note.
- This is the Green Volt web site.
- Capacity will be between 300 and 560 MW.
- It should be fully operational by 2029.
- It is an INTOG wind farm designed to decarbonise offshore oil and gas fields.
It will also have the side effect of bringing more gas ashore in the UK, instead of burning it to power the platforms.
£9.2m Electricity Research Project To Save 39,000 Tonnes Of C02 Gets Go-Ahead
The title of this post, is the same as that of this press release on National Grid.
These four paragraphs detail the project.
National Grid Electricity Transmission (NGET) has been successful in securing £8.12m of funding from Ofgem’s Network Innovation Competition (NIC) to research the uprating of overhead lines, with the remainder being funded by National Grid.
The RICA (Retro-Insulated Cross-Arms) research project will commence in early 2021 and aims to develop an innovative method for uprating overhead lines, allowing the voltage on 275kV overhead lines to be increased to 400kV. This potentially paves the way for uprating 400kV lines to 550kV in the future.
By removing the suspended insulators on these overhead lines and instead insulating the cross arms, the wires will be held higher and further apart, thereby enabling an increased voltage to be carried.
Uprating lines in this way could allow 45% more power to be carried on some existing routes and support significant reductions in UK CO2 emissions – 39,000 tonnes. This could deliver up to £286m of efficiencies to consumers and with future development, it could open the door to ultra-high voltage networks in the UK.
This is a National Grid picture of fitters installing the new system.
Note.
- Surely, if you can increase the capacity of an electricity line by 45 %, by using innovation and just changing the insulators, this would be much cheaper, than adding another high voltage line.
- It would also incur less legal costs and disruption, than a second line.
I like this idea and hopefully it will please the Nimbies.
More About RICA
This web page is the RICA web site.
This document gives a lot more information.
Conclusion
It appears to be a simple solution to increasing the capacity of the grid.
I’d like to see some recent results.
Rolls-Royce To Be A Partner In Zero-Carbon Gas-Fired Power Station In Rhodesia
This press release from Rolls-Royce is entitled Rolls-Royce, Landmark And ASCO Collaborate On CO2 Recovery Power Generation Solutions.
These three bullet points serve as sub-headings.
- Cooperation plans to develop solutions for clean power generation with carbon capture from gas reciprocating engines
- Captured CO2 will be available for use in industries such as food, Efuels, sustainable aviation fuels (SAF), cement and plastic production
- First of-its-kind flexible power generation and carbon capture plant currently under construction in Nottinghamshire, UK
This image shows a Rolls-Royce mtu Series 4000 gas genset.
Note.
- Power is up to 2.5 MW.
- The engine is labelled H2-ready on its web page.
These two paragraphs add some detail to the project.
Rolls-Royce, ASCO Carbon Dioxide Ltd (ASCO), and Landmark Power Holdings Limited (LMPH), have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) aimed at developing scalable solutions for clean power generation with carbon capture from mtu gas reciprocating engines. This strategic partnership will help enable power generation customers to achieve their net zero ambitions and marks a significant step towards addressing climate change.
“Power generation is a highly attractive, growing market segment and an area of strategic focus for Rolls-Royce, where partnerships can help further grow market position and broaden its power generation offering, as set out at last November’s Capital Markets Day”, said Tobias Ostermaier, President Stationary Power Solutions at Rolls-Royce Power Systems. Rolls-Royce is committed to becoming a net zero company by 2050 and supporting customers to do the same.
These are my thoughts.
Uses Of Carbon Dioxide
The press release from Rolls-Royce lists a few uses of carbon dioxide.
The plan is to make the captured CO2 available (utilisation) for use in various industries such as food production, Efuels, sustainable aviation fuel (SAF), cement and plastic production (utilisation). The captured CO2 will also be ready for transportation should permanent sequestration be preferred (storage).
Carbon dioxide can also be added to the air in greenhouses, that are producing flowers, herbs, salad vegetables, soft fruit and tomatoes.
ASCO Carbon Dioxide
ASCO Carbon Dioxide is a subsidiary of French company; Schneider Electric.
The home page on their web site, describes ASCO Carbon Dioxide like this.
The Swiss ASCO CARBON DIOXIDE LTD is a globally operating company that offers complete solutions for CO2 and dry ice. The range of services includes carbon capture plants, CO2 recovery systems, ASCOJET dry ice blasting machines, dry ice production machines, CO2 cylinder filling systems, CO2 vaporisers, CO2 storage tanks, CO2 dosing systems for water neutralization and various other CO2 and dry ice equipment.
Thanks to this broad product range and more than 130 years of practical experience in the comprehensive CO2 and dry ice sector, the customer benefits from individual, complete CO2 solutions from a single source. ASCO has been part of the international industrial gases company Messer Group since 2007 and is its centre of competence for CO2.
In other words, the world and especially the climate change activists may hate carbon dioxide with a vengeance, but ASCO Carbon Dioxide see it as a way to make money and something that needs love.
It also seems, that if you want to do something with or to carbon dioxide, then ASCO Carbon Dioxide could be one of the first companies that you call.
Landmark Power Holdings Limited
The About page on their web site, describes the mission of Landmark Power Holdings Limited like this.
LMPH was established in 2019 with the purpose to help to build a circular economy, by applying new methodologies to proven technologies in energy production.
We support the transition to net zero by supplying dispatchable, low carbon energy that enables more renewable energy production while contributing to a circular economy, by eliminating inefficiencies in production, ensuring that every input is used to its maximum potential and treating all production waste as a profitable resource.
This Solutions page on their web site, describes their FlexPower Plus system.
These are the two introductory paragraphs.
FLEXPOWER PLUS® is LMPH’s modular approach to optimising the generation of clean flexible power. It is a combination of High Efficiency Flexible Power Generation modules and Carbon Capture Utilisation (CCU) modules.
Each of the modules can be added to the production processes depending on the site and production needs.
This last paragraph describes the result.
When you combine the the High Efficiency Flexible Power Generation modules with the Carbon Capture Utilisation (CCU) modules, the power generation is classified as low carbon and considered to be as clean as wind power but with the capacity to provide baseload power.
They certainly sound like my kind of company, as I was simulating processes like this for ICI in the 1970s.
ICI taught me that only four things should leave a chemical or other process plant.
- Product, that is sold at an advantageous price.
- Pure water
- Clean air
- Everybody who worked there.
It appears a FlexPower Plus system produces three valuable products; electricity, heat and pure food-grade carbon-dioxide.
The Rhodesia Project
The Rhodesia project has its own page on the Landmark Power Holdings web site, where these four paragraphs describe the project.
The Rhodesia project is a joint venture with Victory Hill, a specialist investment firm targeting direct investments in global energy infrastructure that support the UN Sustainable Development Goals.
The Rhodesia project is located in north Nottinghamshire near Worksop and has an electrical capacity of 10MW.
Additional capacity is to be sold through a private wire power supply for local businesses with the intent to facilitate vehicle charging stations.
Construction started in March 2022 and the start of power production is projected for Q3 2024 with the full CO2 capture from Q4 2024.
There is also this paragraph, that lists the partners in the Rhodesia project.
For the development of the Rhodesia project LMPH and Victory Hill have partnered with global industrial groups such as Mitsubishi Turboden S.p.A., MTU Rolls-Royce Solutions UK, ASCO CARBON DIOXIDE LTD, Climeon.
With three of the world’s largest companies amongst the partners, this partnership must have a high chance of success.
Victory Hill Capital Hill Partners
Victory Hill Capital Partners are partners in the Rhodesia project.
Their joint philosophy with Landmark Power Holdings is summed up on this video.
Working Together
The press release from Rolls-Royce says this about the partnership.
Rolls-Royce is contributing its extensive experience and global network in the field of decentralized power generation to the cooperation through its Power Systems division with the mtu product portfolio. The contribution of LMPH, a developer of high-efficiency Combined Heat and Power (CHP) projects, is its patented FLEXPOWER PLUS® concept, combined with technical expertise and patented technologies. ASCO has over 50 years of experience in developing and building carbon capture (or CO2-Recovery) plants and will be providing valuable insights and solutions from the carbon capture industry.
There is also this diagram of the system.
Note.
- The 4000 gas genset is in the bottom-left corner.
- The HT PRC and LT ORC are two Mitsubishi turbo-generators generating electricity from waste heat.
- The ASCO carbon capture system is in the top-left corner.
- Carbon dioxide can either be stored or used.
This system should be zero-carbon, once the design is fully tested.
A View From The Top
This paragraph from the Rolls-Royce press release gives the view of the President Stationary Power Solutions at Rolls-Royce Power Systems.
Tobias Ostermaier, President Stationary Power Solutions at Rolls-Royce Power Systems, said: “We are convinced that CO2 capture and storage systems in combination with our mtu gas gensets are an important building block on the way to Net Zero. As a complement to renewable energy sources, internal combustion engines can already provide clean, cost-effective and extremely reliable power generation.”
I suspect he’s rather pleased.
Sizewell C And Hydrogen
The Sizewell C web site has a page with a title of Hydrogen and SZC.
The page asks this question.
Why Does Sizewell C Want To Produce Hydrogen?
It gives this answer.
Nuclear is a great way of producing hydrogen as it generates huge amounts of reliable, low-carbon energy. Nuclear and hydrogen are also two clean technologies that can help us make big reductions in carbon emissions. While both technologies are vital on their own, at Sizewell C we have an exciting vision to bring them together.
The page is worth a read about how they will use the hydrogen, which will include.
- Providing Wrightbus hydrogen-powered buses to link the main construction site with Park-and-Ride sites on the A 12 at Darsham and Wickham Market.
- Powering vehicles and machinery on the main construction site.
- Supplying hydrogen to Freeport East.
- Refuelling hydrogen vehicles.
I have a few thoughts.
Supplying Hydrogen To Users
On my last stud farm, we had three fuel deliveries.
- Propane to heat the house.
- Red diesel to power the farm machinery.
- Road diesel to power the horse box and a couple of diesel cars, that went on the roads.
Note.
- Like most farms in East Anglia, we didn’t have mains gas.
- The local low-life of whom you never speak their name, used to regularly steal the diesel.
- We had two boilers, that ran on the propane.
- All farm vehicles and machinery will in the future use hydrogen.
- Propane and diesel would be replaced by clean hydrogen.
I believe companies like Centrica, will develop the technology so that farms and businesses could have their own hydrogen system, that would be topped-up accordingly, by road tankers, which themselves would be fuelled by hydrogen.
One set of tankers would be replaced by another zero-carbon set.
Sizewell sits on the Suffolk Coast and it appears, there will be a new road link to the A 12, which connects to Suffolk’s main road system.
This map shows Sizewell C and East Suffolk.
Note.
- The Sizewell site is outlined in pink on the coast, about halfway up the map.
- The A 12 road and the East Suffolk Line run almost parallel to the coast between Ipswich in the South and Lowestoft and Yarmouth in the North.
Energy use in East Suffolk would be transformed and all because there will be a plentiful supply of zero-carbon hydrogen.
Hydrogen And The Arts
Suffolk has been an artistic county for hundreds of years and some works of art, like casting bronzes, firing pottery or working with glass or wrought iron need a lot of energy. Local hydrogen networks supplied by tanker, as propane is now could help to decarbonise one of the most difficult of professions.
Pink Hydrogen
This page on the National Grid web site explains the various hydrogen colours.
It describes pink hydrogen like this.
Pink hydrogen is generated through electrolysis powered by nuclear energy. Nuclear-produced hydrogen can also be referred to as purple hydrogen or red hydrogen.
In addition, the very high temperatures from nuclear reactors could be used in other hydrogen productions by producing steam for more efficient electrolysis or fossil gas-based steam methane reforming.
I also call it Barbie hydrogen.
Sizewell C would be an ideal place to create pink hydrogen.
Before Sizewell C is up and running, the electrolyser at Sizewell could be powered by Sizewell B or even offshore wind.
Hydrogen And Electric Propulsion Compared
Stadler have given us an interesting way of comparing the range and other properties of hydrogen-powered and battery-electric trains, as their Flirt H2 and Akku trains have both set Guinness World Records for distance travelled.
The Hydrogen-Powered Flirt-H2
In Stadler’s FLIRT H2 Sets World Record For Hydrogen Powered Train, I write about how a Stadler Flirt-H2 had set a record of 2803 kilometres, without refilling.
This page on the Stadler web site gives details of the Flirt-H2.
- Hydrogen Range – 460 km.
- Operating Speed – 127 kph
- Refuelling Time – < 30 minutes
- Seats – 116
This graphic clipped from the Stadler web site shows the Flirt-H2.
Like Greater Anglia’s Class 755 train, it has a PowerPack in the middle, which contains a fuel cell and the hydrogen tank, instead of the Class 755 train’s diesel engines.
The Battery-Electric Akku
In Flirt Akku And Class 755 Train Compared, I compare a Flirt Akku and Greater Anglia’s Class 755 train, after the battery-electric Akku had set a record of 224 kilometres, with recharging.
This page on the Stadler web site gives details of the Flirt Akku.
- Battery Range – 150 km
- Operating Speed – 160 kph
- Chrging Time – 15 minutes
- Seats – 120-180
This graphic clipped from the Stadler web site shows the Flirt Akku.
At a quick glance, the trains seem to be fairly similar, with the exception of the PowerPack.
- Both have regenerative braking.
- Both have the battery and the power converter on the roof.
- I would expect that the Flirt-H2 could be fitted with a pantograph and a transformer.
- Both trains have two passenger carriages.
I also suspect, both trains can be lengthened by adding extra coaches.
These are my thoughts.
Thoughts On The PowerPack In A Flirt-H2
This picture shows the PowerPark car of a Class 755 train.
Note.
- These PowerPacks have slots for up to four 480 Kw diesel engines.
- PowerPacks on a Class 788/4 train with four diesel engines weighs 27.9 tonnes.
- PowerPacks on a Class 788/3 train has two diesel engines.
- In the UK, trains with PowerPacks have up to four passenger cars.
- The PowerPack has a walkway from one end of the car to the other.
As customers, might like to replace their diesel PowerPacks, with something that was zero-carbon, I would expect, that the hydrogen PowerPack would have the following properties.
- Hydrogen and diesel PowerPacks would be interchangeable.
- The hydrogen PowerPack would come in two handy sizes of hydrogen fuel cell; 0ne and two MW.
- The weight of both hydrogen and diesel PowerPacks would be similar, as if power and weight were similar, then this could help certification.
- The Flirt-H2 for California, which would only have two passenger cars, would have the smaller hydrogen fuel cell.
I would expect that a conservative designer would use any spare space for hydrogen storage.
- Perhaps, there would be one tank either side of the walkway.
- The quoted range of 450 kilometres for the Flirt-H2 is just under 300 miles, so it would probably cover most regional round trips in Europe without refuelling.
- On many routes refuelling would only need to be done once-per-day.
- Refuelling can be some distance from operation.
- Large tanks would explain the thirty minutes refuelling time.
Obviously, large tanks have the collateral benefit of setting distance records.
The Kinetic Energy Of A Flirt-H2 Train
In My First Rides In A Class 755 Train, I calculated the kinetic energy of a Class 755/4 train.
I said this.
I will use my standard calculation.
The basic train weight is 114.3 tonnes.
If each of the 229 passengers weighs 90 kg with Baggage, bikes and buggies, this gives a passenger weight of 20.34 tonnes.
This gives a total weight of 134.64 tonnes.
Using Omni’s Kinetic Energy Calculator gives these figures for the Kinetic energy.
- 60 mph – 13.5 kWh
- 100 mph – 37.4 kWh
- 125 mph – 58.4 kWh
If we are talking about the Greater Anglia Class 755 train, which will be limited to 100 mph, this leads me to believe, that by replacing one diesel engine with a plug compatible battery of sufficient size, the following is possible.
- On all routes, regenerative braking will be available under both diesel and electric power.
- Some shorter routes could be run on battery power, with charging using existing electrification.
- Depot and other short movements could be performed under battery power.
The South Wales Metro has already ordered tri-mode Flirts, that look like Class 755 trains.
The calculation for a Flirt-H2 train is as follows.
Train Weight – 82.3 tonnes
Passenger Weight – 10.4 tonnes
Total Weight – 92.7 tonnes
This gives these kinetic energies
- 60 mph – 9.3 kWh
- 79 mph – 16.0 kWh
- 100 mph – 25.7 kWh
It looks like the 79 mph; Flirt-H2 would only need a 16 KWh battery.
It seems when a battery is not for traction and only handles the regenerative braking, it can be surprisingly small.
Mathematical Advantages Of Hydrogen
I do wonder that on balance, there may be mathematical advantages to hydrogen; long range, less frequent refuelling and small batteries.
But as I indicated in Zillertalbahn Hydrogen Plan Dropped In Favour Of Battery Traction, the decision doesn’t always go hydrogen’s way!
Conclusion
I feel Stadler have the right approach of a modular concept that incorporates both hydrogen-powered and battery-electric trains.
I also think, if you have a route, you want to decarbonise, Stadler have the train for you.
Freightliner Partners With Zero To Decarbonise Critical Transport Operations
The title of this post, is the same as that of this news item from Freightliner.
This is the sub-heading.
Today, Freightliner and Zero, a breakthrough energy company that develops and manufactures whole-blend synthetic, non-biological fuels, announced a partnership to achieve a fossil-free locomotive operation by 2040 and overall Net Zero by 2050, representing a major evolution for one of the world’s oldest, safest and most reliable forms of freight transport. To successfully meet these ambitious emissions targets, Freightliner is exploring alternatives to diesel, such as Zero’s carbon-neutral synthetic diesel, which will eliminate fossil-carbon emissions and improve air quality and environmental wellbeing.
These are my thoughts.
Freightliner
Freightliner is a rail-freight company, that you see regularly hauling freight trains all over the UK.
The picture shows two of their Class 90 electric locomotives in their latest livery.
These posts talk about the company and lower or zero carbon operation.
- Clean Air Power Adds Hydrogen To Class 66 Fuel Mix
- Freightliner Continue Trials On New Low Carbon Fuel
- Freightliner Secures Government Funding For Dual-Fuel Project
- The Ultimate Bi-Mode
The current post fits that pattern.
Zero Petroleum
Zero Petroleum is one of those companies that gives Elon Musk nightmares.
But when you have backers like Babcock, Boeing, Intertek, Rolls-Royce and the Royal Air Force, you must be doing something right.
The Wikipedia entry for the company has this first paragraph.
Zero is a manufacturer of non-biological carbon-neutral synthetic fuel (also known as e-fuel) co-founded by former Formula One engineer Paddy Lowe. Its product has been developed as an alternative to fossil-based fuels and a more scalable sustainable alternative to waste and bio-fuels. The Royal Air Force used its fuel in November 2021 to achieve a World Record first flight powered by synthetic fuel. In July 2022, Zero entered a new partnership with the Royal Air Force to move towards mass production of sustainable aviation fuel.
The company is often known as just Zero.
These two and a half paragraphs from the Wikipedia entry describe the technology.
Zero uses Direct FT (a proprietary and specialised version of Fischer-Tropsch) to directly manufacture target fuels (gasoline, kerosene and diesel) at high yield and with no need for refinery upgrading.
When manufactured using renewable energy, synthetic fuel can be used as a carbon neutral or carbon negative direct drop-in replacement for fossil fuels, particularly for operations that require high energy densities – such as air travel, shipping and farming – and to ensure the continued use of legacy vehicles. It can also be used as a raw material to produce various forms of plastic.
It is manufactured using a process known as petrosynthesis, in which carbon dioxide and hydrogen are combined to create hydrocarbons. The process involves direct air capture of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and the electrolysis of water to obtain hydrogen.
The Fischer-Tropsch process, despite its association in the past with dodgy regimes, seems to be at the heart of things, as it is with Velocys.
I describe the Velocys process and its link to Fischer-Tropsch in Grant Shapps Announcement On Friday.
Surely, the carbon-neutral fuel produced by Zero, are the ideal stop-gap fuel until true full zero-carbon fuels are available.
But Zero’s fuels will always be available for heritage and legacy trains, planes and automobiles and for applications, where older technology must be used.
As an example of older technology still being used on UK’s railways, Network Rail operate, the New Measurement Train to check all tracks in Great Britain.
The train may have been manufactured in the 1970s, but it has modern engines and is the ideal train to carry the wide variety of sophisticated equipment to ensure the safety of Britain’s railways.
Synthetic diesel like that produced by Zero could keep the New Measurement Train running for some years yet.
Freightliner Have Made A Pragmatic Decision
I believe that Freightliner have made a pragmatic decision, that allows them to go carbon neutral without without taking risks or spending millions on new equipment, that is not fully-developed.
As new zero-carbon technology is developed, like say hydrogen-electric hybrid locomotives, these may take over certain tasks, which will reduce some of the need for synthetic diesel.
But synthetic diesel from Zero will always be there as a fuel of last resort.
The Anonymous Widower 