Fortescue Future Industries Enters Ethiopia to Produce Green Energy
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on 2Merkato, which describes itself as Ethiopia’s biggest business portal.
This is the first paragraph.
Ethiopia grants license to Fortescue Future Industries (FFI) for the production of green hydrogen and ammonia. Ahmed Shide, Minister of Finance, noted that the company would increase Ethiopia’s access to green energy.
FFI seems to buying hydrogen from everywhere.
Aussie Billionaire Aims To Mine $8bn US Fund For Coal-To-Hydrogen Industrial Conversion
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on Recharge.
These are the first two paragraphs.
Twiggy Forrest-owned Fortescue’s project to tap renewable energy on Washington state grid – where surplus hydroelectric power usually exported to Canada and western seaboard – for clean hydrogen production at Centralia site.
Fortescue Future Industries (FFI), owned by Australian billionaire Andrew ‘Twiggy’ Forrest, is planning to convert a former coal mine in US state of Washington into a green hydrogen production facility, using funds it hopes to win from the federal government’s $8bn H2 hub fund, the company said on Friday.
These are some other points about FFI’s plans.
- A former coal mine will be converted into a green hydrogen production facility.
- The facility will be located at Industrial Park at TransAlta.
- It will use 300 MW of renewable electricity.
- Production of green hydrogen will be 110 tonnes per day or 40,000 tonnes per year.
Hopefully, they will have Federal Funds to support the development.
The article also details other hydrogen developments in the United States, with hydrogen hubs earmarked for New England, Midwest, West Virginia and Arkansas, Louisiana and Oklahoma.
It certainly looks that the United States is getting serious about hydrogen.
Could Fortescue Future Industries’ Green Hydrogen Help Europe Ditch Russian Energy?
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on Motley Fool Australia.
This is the first paragraph.
Green hydrogen may help interrupt the Kremlin’s ability to conduct “war games”, says Fortescue chief Andrew Forrest.
I very much think that Andrew ‘Twiggy’ Forrest is right.
My last three hydrogen articles were.
- Poland May Become A Green Hydrogen Tycoon.
- Will The Orkney Become A Major Green Hydrogen Production Centre?
- Wind And Solar Boom Will Bring Energy Surplus.
If the projects in these articles don’t blow the bottom out of the market for Russia’s bloodstained gas, with a little bit of help from Twiggy’s hydrogen kanganaut, then I’ll be very surprised. Especially, as countries like Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Denmark, Iceland, Ireland, Jordan, Japan, Kenya, Namibia, Morocco, Norway, Papua New Guinea, Portugal, South Korea, Spain, Sweden and the United States are all planning to produce green hydrogen in large quantities.
Will Twiggy Save The World?
This article on the Sydney Morning Herald is entitled ‘No One’s Married To Coal’: How Forrest Is Taking On The World To Save The Climate.
The article is the story of Andrew ‘Twiggy’ Forrest’s Damascene conversion to hydrogen.
These three paragraphs sums up Andrew Forrest‘s vision and ambitions.
Forrest’s companies, including its mining arm, Fortescue, and its green energy arm, Fortescue Future Industries, would be net zero by 2030. This would necessitate inventing and then developing hydrogen-powered trucks, trains and ships. This way the mining operation would avoid burning up to a billion litres in diesel a year.
The project would include the construction of vast solar and wind power stations in the Pilbara that would create green hydrogen to first fuel the trains, trucks and ships of the iron ore empire and then for export to a clean-energy starved world. The electrolysers needed to make the hydrogen for the early phases of the plan would be built by a vast new factory in Queensland, that itself would double the global supply of the machines.
Hydrogen would soon become the world’s largest shipborne trade. The Fortescue revolution would occur at a blistering pace set by the demands of addressing global warming, and it would be done for profit, to remove the excuses of governments and businesses that objected to ambitious climate action.
Note.
- How many other companies are intending to be net-zero by 2030?
- Certainly not many Chinese, German or Russian companies.
- And how many companies have planned to achieve net-zero at a profit?
If Forrest achieves his ambitions, the world will be a much better place.
Andrew Forrest Snaps Up Pilbara And Gascoyne Cattle Stations For Green Energy Production
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.
This is the first paragraph.
Australian mining billionaire Andrew Forrest has continued his land acquisition in Western Australia, purchasing another three cattle stations in the state’s north-west to generate renewable energy.
These are some points for the article.
- Andrew Forrest’s Fortescue Future Industries has purchased three cattle stations in northern WA
- The stations will continue to run stock, and contribute to the production of green energy
- FFI says it is looking at other parts of WA to acquire land for similar projects
- The energy created will be used to decarbonise Andrew Forrest’s mining operations by 2030.
- A renewable hub of 340 wind turbines alongside solar panels will be created, which will generate 5 GW of energy.
- The possibility of offshore energy is mentioned.
- There is no mention of energy storage.
I have a few thoughts.
For A Reliable 5 GW Of Energy, Storage Is Surely Needed
I would think that this is probably understood by Fortescue Future Industries and given their ambitions for hydrogen, this must surely be part of an energy storage strategy.
Will Hydrogen Be Exported By Fortescue Future Industries From Australia?
I would expect this depends on three things.
- How much green energy is generated.
- The energy needs of Andrew Forrest’s mining companies.
- How much hydrogen can be sold in Australia.
Fortescue Future Industries will certainly have the market, if they have a surplus.
How Much Energy Will Fortescue Future Industries Generate Per Hectare?
This paragraph from the article gives useful information.
The hub would consist of 340 wind turbines alongside solar panels across Emu Creek and Uaroo Stations, in a development envelope of more than 65,000 hectares of land and a disturbance footprint of more than 10,000 hectares.
- If you look at the 65,000 hectares, as the area of the renewable energy hub, 0.77 MW is generated per hectare.
- If you look at the 10,000 hectares, as the area of the renewable energy hub, 0.5 MW is generated per hectare.
- If you look at Shell’s Scotwind E2 lease, that is 2 GW in 86,000 hectares, where 0.023 MW is generated per hectare.
So on a brief look Australia is a more efficient place for renewable energy, than the seas around the UK.
Conclusion
Andrew Forrest is developing a more detailed plan.
Fortescue And E.ON To Supply Europe With Green Hydrogen
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on Hydrogen Fuel News.
This is the introductory paragraph.
Fortescue Future Industries Pty Ltd. of Australia and E.ON SE, energy giant from Germany, have teamed up to supply green hydrogen to Europe. This strategy is meant to help the EU to reduce its reliance on Russian energy.
These are other points from the article.
- FFI intends to supply five million tonnes of hydrogen per year by 2030.
- The hydrogen will be produced by renewable hydrogen in Australia.
- E.ON will handle the distribution.
- Five million tonnes is about a third of Germany’s energy imports.
I have some further thoughts.
How Much Energy Is Needed to Produce Five Million Tonnes Per Year Of Hydrogen?
In Can The UK Have A Capacity To Create Five GW Of Green Hydrogen?, I said the following.
Ryze Hydrogen are building the Herne Bay electrolyser.
- It will consume 23 MW of solar and wind power.
- It will produce ten tonnes of hydrogen per day.
The electrolyser will consume 552 MWh to produce ten tonnes of hydrogen, so creating one tonne of hydrogen needs 55.2 MWh of electricity.
55.2 MWh/tonne is 55.2 kWh/kg.
To produce five million tonnes of hydrogen will need 55.2 * 5.000,000 / 10 MWh.
- This is 27,600,000 MWh or 27,600 GWh.
- It works out at an average of 75.6 GWh per day or 3.15 GWh per hour.
This article on vox is entitled The Economic Limitations Of Wind And Solar Power, where this is said.
“Capacity factor” refers to how often a power plant runs and thus how much power it produces relative to its total potential (capacity). Nuclear power plants in the US run around 90 percent of the time, so they have a 90 percent capacity factor. On average, the capacity factor of solar ranges anywhere from 10 to just over 30 percent. For wind, it ranges from 20 to just over 50 percent, averaging around 34 percent in the US.
If FFI is using solar to generate electricity in Australia, I suspect that the capacity factor will be around twenty percent at best.
So will FFI need around 16 GW of solar power to satisfy the supply to Germany?
The Wikipedia entry for Solar Power In Australia gives a good insight into its capability of providing the 16 GW of energy needed. This statement is key.
Using solar to supply all the energy needed would use less than 0.1% of land.
It does look that Australia could provide Germany with some of the hydrogen it needs.
Would It Be Cheaper To Produce The Hydrogen In The North Sea?
This is probably heresy to Andrew Forrest, who is the Australian billionaire behind Fortescue Future Industries.
Consider.
- North Sea Hydrogen could be piped to Germany.
- Australia and Germany would probably need transfer by liquid hydrogen tanker.
- Electrolysers would need to be used to create hydrogen from renewable energy in both Australia and the North Sea.
- Floating wind farms in the North Sea could be more efficient than solar in Australia, as the capacity factor is higher.
We obviously won’t know until both wind and solar technologies are fully developed.
Will There Be Price Competition Between Australian And North Sea Hydrogen?
It does appear that Andrew Forrest believes in research and I wouldn’t be surprised to see his company developing ideas that drop the price of solar-produced hydrogen.
Research and good engineering on both sides will also drop prices, so I suspect price competition will occur.
Will Fortescue Future Industries Develop North Sea Hydrogen?
Given the ambition being shown by Andrew Forrest to be the Hydrogen King, I wouldn’t be surprised if he joined the streams of international investors in the North Sea, who are developing wind farms.
Conclusion
Go! Aussie! Go!
Express On A Perpetual Motion Machine. Scientists Create An Electric Train That Will Charge By Gravity
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on The Saxon.
These are the first two paragraphs.
The world’s first “infinity train” will recharge its electric batteries during deceleration using the force of gravity.
Scientists and engineers from the Australian company Fortescue Future Industries have begun developing the world’s first train that will be powered by gravity. The company plans to spend $50 million on this development over the next two years, according to the Daily Mail.
How Does The Train Work?
According to the article, the sequence of operation appears to be as follows.
- The train starts at the high end of the line.
- The train rolls down the hill to the low end of the line.
- As it descends, it will pick up kinetic energy due to gravity.
- Regenerative braking on the train will be used to charge the battery.
- The train will have a full battery, when it reaches the low end of the line.
- The full battery will then power the empty train back up the hill.
I have a feeling that this will work, where there is a full train coming down the hill and an empty one going up.
In an example, I will assume the following.
- The high end of the line is 100 metres above the low end.
- The train weighs 100 tonnes.
- The full load weighs 100 tonnes.
- Regenerative braking is 100 % efficient.
I can calculate these energy values for a train running down and then up the line.
- A full train just about to descend, which weighs 200 tonnes and is 100 metres up will have a potential energy of 54.4 kWh.
- Whilst descending, this energy will be converted to kinetic energy and the regenerative braking will transfer this energy to the battery, which will then contain 54.4 kWh of electrical energy.
- After descending, the full train, which weighs 200 tonnes and is zero metres up will have a potential energy of 0 kWh.
- After emptying, the empty train, which weighs 100 tonnes and is zero metres up will have a potential energy of 0 kWh.
- After ascending, the the empty train, which weighs 100 tonnes and is 100 metres up will have a potential energy of 27.2 kWh.
- When the train reaches the high end, there will still be 27.2 kWh left in the battery.
Note.
- After a trip, there will be some energy left in the battery to start the train rolling down the hill on the next trip.
- Effectively, the train is powered by the weight of its cargo, which in Fortescue’s case is very dense iron ore on its trains from Pilbara to the coast.
- In some ways the Infinity train carrying iron ore is a bit like an overshot water wheel, where weight is added to the wheel and this makes the wheel turn.
- The train is driven by the weight of the cargo.
It may look like perpetual motion, but the train needs to be loaded for each trip to increase its potential energy.
I will now look at a passenger train on the same route.
- The high end of the line is 100 metres above the low end.
- The train weighs 100 tonnes.
- I will assume there are 50 passengers in both directions.
- I will assume each weighs 80 Kg with baggage, bikes and buggies, which gives a weight of 4 tonnes.
- Regenerative braking is 100 % efficient.
I can calculate these energy values for a passenger train running down and then up the line.
- A passenger train just about to descend, which weighs 104 tonnes and is 100 metres up will have a potential energy of 28.3 kWh.
- Whilst descending, this energy will be converted to kinetic energy and the regenerative braking will transfer this energy to the battery, which will then contain 28.3 kWh of electrical energy.
- After descending, the full train, which weighs 104 tonnes and is zero metres up will have a potential energy of 0 kWh.
- After emptying and reloading, the empty train, which weighs 104 tonnes and is zero metres up will have a potential energy of 0 kWh.
- After ascending, the the empty train, which weighs 104 tonnes and is 100 metres up will have a potential energy of 28.3 kWh.
Note.
- After a trip, there will be almost no energy left in the battery to start the train rolling down the hill on the next trip.
- If the regenerative braking has an efficiency of less than 100 %, it would be unlikely to work.
But it would work, if an appropriate amount of energy were to be added to the battery at either or both ends of the route.
Could A Passenger Train Like This Work On A Real Route?
In the UK, there are several lines, where a rail line climbs a few hundred metres.
- Cardiff Central and Aberdare
- Cardiff Central and Ebbw Vale Town
- Cardiff Central and Merthyr Tydfil
- Cardiff Central and Rhymney
- Cardiff Central and Treherbert
- Glasgow Central and East Kilbride
- Llandudno Junction and Blaenau Ffestiniog
- Manchester Piccadilly and Buxton
- Manchester Piccadilly and Glossop
For the trains to work, I suspect the following is needed.
- Regenerative braking efficiency must be as close to 100 % as possible.
- The total number of passengers going down during the day needs to be at least the same as the total number of passengers going up.
- For passenger trains to work, an appropriate amount of energy needs to be added to the battery at either or both ends of the route.
Freight trains which are transferring weight down the hill will generally always work.
Conclusion
The Infinity Train will work well with heavy freight, but will probably need supplemental charging to work with passenger trains.
Both heavy freight and passenger trains will use less energy, than one working to traditional principles.
Fortescue Future Industries And Airbus Join Forces To Help Decarbonise Aviation
The title of this post, is the same as that of this press release from Fortescue Future Industries.
These are the first two paragraphs.
Global green hydrogen company Fortescue Future Industries (FFI) and Airbus, a world leader in aeronautics, have joined forces to create a working alliance to help enable the aviation industry to decarbonise through zero-emissions green hydrogen.
Today’s announcement reflects FFI’s and Airbus’ shared ambition to leverage their respective expertise to support the entry-into-service of a green hydrogen-based aircraft by 2035. Green hydrogen, unlike other forms of hydrogen, is made from water using 100 per cent renewable electricity.
I think this is a smart move by Airbus.
It could be argued that hydrogen trucks, buses, cars, vans and other road vehicles have not taken off at a great rate due to the lack of hydrogen filling stations.
Hydrogen airliners travelling on typical routes will probably need refuelling at both ends of the route and possibly several times per day, so hydrogen refuelling would be an important part of any deal Airbus signs with an airline.
Fortescue Future Industries seem to be in prime position to be the first global hydrogen company, so they must be the ideal hydrogen fuelling partner.
I don’t think anybody predicted, when Airbus published the possible designs of their concepts for hydrogen-powered aircraft in September 2020, that I wrote about in ZEROe – Towards The World’s First Zero-Emission Commercial Aircraft, that an Australian company would be likely to provide the hydrogen fuel for these aircraft.
Fortescue Unveils World-First Electric Train Using Gravity To Recharge
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on InnovateAus.
These two paragraphs summarise the project.
Fortescue has announced the development of an electric train that recharges itself using gravity, as the Australian resources giant finalises its acquisition of UK-based Williams Advanced Engineering.
Fortescue is dedicating $50 million, in partnership with Williams Advanced Engineering (WAE), for research and development on the Infinity Train, which fully recharges its battery using gravitational energy when it descends.
Note.
- Most of Australia’s iron ore is mined in the Pilbara region of Western Australia.
- There are at least four railways in Pilbara leading to the coast.
- As the mines are higher than the coast, the heavily loaded trains will be going downhill, whereas the empties will be going uphill.
- There would certainly appear to be scope for charging going to the coast and coming back on a full battery with the empties.
- 94 % of Australia’s iron ore exports are transported by train from Pilbara to the coast.
There are hundreds of locomotives used for transportation of Iron ore from Pilbara to the coast.
Will Williams Convert Existing Locomotives?
I suspect they will as this is route that Wabtec is taking with their FLXdrive locomotives.
Will Williams Convert Locomotives For Other Pilbara Companies?
I suspect what Andrew Twiggy Forest wants he gets.
Could Williams Convert Other Diesel Electric Locomotives
I suspect they could and I wouldn’t rule out seeing a battery-electric Class 66 locomotive.
I laid out my thoughts in Could Class 66 Locomotives Be Converted Into Battery-Electric Locomotives?.
Fortescue Starts Building Hydrogen Electrolyser Plant That Will Double Global Production
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on RenewEconomy.
These are the first two paragraphs.
Fortescue Future Industries has begun construction of what it says will be the world’s largest electrolyser manufacturing facility in Gladstone, Queensland, the first stage of a massive plant that could also make wind turbines, solar panels, batteries and cables.
Fortescue Future Industries, the newly created green energy part of Andrew Forrest’s iron ore empire Fortescue Metals, and a key component of his massive and highly ambitious green hydrogen plans, says the firsts electrolysers will roll off the factory floor in 2023.
Production is to be at a level of 2 GW per year.
The Anonymous Widower 