Weekly Climate Recap: Grid Carbon Intensity and Storage Mediums
Hello. This week we start on a sad note with the realization that methane emissions are drastically underreported by oil and gas companies. Further emissions analysis from Quinbrook shows a study on battery emissions when factoring in grid charging. Finally, and also emissions related, we see how green hydrogen that is called green actually is! Very distinctly intertwined with emissions and carbon intensity this week.
⛽ Methane Emissions in 2023
I feel like I have really had a disproportionate about of coverage on methane, seems like 30% of my story coverage seems to be about methane… Coincidentally, a report from IEA has the first sentence of their report on methane tracking in 2024 indicating that methane is responsible for ~30% of the rise in global temperatures since the industrial revolution.
The report is the first comprehensive report on methane since COP28 in December of last year finding that methane emissions in 2023 rose slightly in 2022. Not all is in vain! The report finds that if all methane pledges made by companies and countries are implemented fully and on time (good luck…) then methane emissions from fossil fuel would fall 50% by 2030.
The IEA has a wake up call for us though, in their analysis they find that methane emissions implied by existing O&G company reporting are 95% lower than the IEA estimate for 2023 as shown in the chart below.
Fret not! This underreporting will not last. With the rise of methane monitoring options out there as covered by me previously here, it is inevitable that these companies get called out in the near future.
Analyzing the countries where these emissions are coming from is interesting as we find that 66% of fossil fuel methane emissions came from the top 10 emitters. Seeing the US rise to king of production of fossil fuels, it is no surprise the US takes first spot from O&G operations followed by Russia. China methane emissions largely stem from the coal sector.
Takeaway: Methane, methane, methane, oh how I despise you. My hope is that the eyes of the world through satellites, planes, and anything else starts to track data more accurately and crack down on companies and countries that are massive polluters of this climate destroying molecule. The IEA report is us inching forward towards a state of better knowledge on the implications of methane emissions.
🔋 Understanding Battery Emissions
The pursuit of 24/7 clean energy is critical for corporations in their committal to a net zero future. Given the inherent variability of renewables, energy storage plays a critical role in providing power when renewable generation experiences gaps. However, companies procuring power discharged from a battery struggle to understand the source of the electron, after all, an electron from wind is the same as an electron from coal once it is in the grid.
A new study from Quinbrook Infrastructure Partners seeks to understand and apply a methodology to better understand hourly matching for utility scale batteries. The net result was that new granular energy attribute certificates enabled 24/7 hourly matching. Outcomes:
- Created hourly matching of discharge records to charge records
- Implemented two discharge methods: FIFO and Target Percentage
- Demonstrated hourly tracking of the origin and carbon footprint of the energy stored in the battery reservoir
The news is extremely positive as batteries are currently considered to actually increase emissions when the storage is used for arbitrage as:
- Storage enhances the value of energy sources it draws from by enabling greater generation while diminishing the value of competing energy sources upon discharge, potentially increasing the carbon intensity of the power mix if the drawn sources are more carbon-intensive than the competitors.
- Energy storage incurs losses, as every unit of energy stored also signifies some energy dissipated. The round-trip efficiency, which measures the energy released compared to that inputted, varies across technologies, typically falling between 40 to 90 percent.
Takeaway: The case study with the Byrd Ranch BESS asset by Quinbrook is super important as it focused on the ability to use BESS to actually reduce emissions. Given the inherent variability of BESS and the many services it can perform for the grid, understanding what makes it incentivize further renewable generation is critical.
🟩 Is Green Hydrogen Green?
An article from Wood Mackenzie came out in February 2024 but I just got around to reading it recently and thus made the executive decision to include it in this weeks wrap up if for no other reason that simply I can. The article is about deciphering the carbon intensity of hydrogen to better understand the emissions associated with hydrogen production. An extremely important topic to understand given hydrogen proponents view on how hydrogen will support our global clean economy.
What I want to focus on is how green hydrogen, that is hydrogen made with renewable energy, is potentially not emissions free depending on the grid. A very similar story to the one above on batteries but important regardless. The term green hydrogen implies that the electricity sourced for hydrogen production comes from renewable sources. However, if grid connected, to maximize electrolyzer use, hydrogen production facilities will aim to connect to the grid and produce as much as possible, meaning it is not necessarily all sourced from renewables if grid connected.
Due to this fact, the article estimates that hydrogen produced from grid power could have emissions as high as 50 kgCO2e/kgH2 which would make it worse than brown hydrogen.
The production of hydrogen and the associated emissions are generally a tale of 2 electrolyzers. Alkaline electrolyzers, popular in Chinese hydrogen production, tend to require continuous electrical load to operate safely, meaning a lack of flexibility when connected to the grid to scale up or down production depending on grid greeness. On the other hand, western PEM technology is more flexible and allows developers to match hydrogen production with renewable generation but this technology comes at a higher cost.
Takeaway: Carbon intensity of the grid matters to all those who aim to decarbonize and use the grid, which is, fairly all encompassing other than islanded systems. While hydrogen is being otuted as a clean fuel, it is critical to square that claim with the realities of the grid and the type of electrolyzer as that is truly what impacts the greeness of hydrogen.
What Else is in the News
- Next-generation geothermal energy could provide up to 90 GW of clean power by 2050 in the U.S., aiding in the nation’s decarbonization efforts as shown in a new DOE report. Conventional geothermal power is currently limited by the need for naturally occurring hot rock reservoirs, but advanced geothermal developers can create their own reservoirs. The U.S. Department of Energy estimates an investment of $20-$25 billion by 2030 and $225-$250 billion by 2050 could unleash the full potential of next-gen geothermal technology. New techniques and technologies could expand geothermal capacity significantly, making it cost-competitive with other energy sources and opening opportunities in at least 18 states by 2050.
- A great piece from Canary Media dives into how US energy consumption has remained stable, but the rise of bitcoin, data centres, and electric vehicles is causing a surge that could hinder climate goals. Electric utilities predict a need for substantial new power generation to accommodate data centres, electrification, and emerging industries like cryptocurrency and cannabis farming. This heightened demand has caught many providers off guard, leading to plans for new fossil fuel power plants instead of transitioning to renewable energy sources like solar and wind. The global impact is significant, with projections showing a doubling of electricity demand for data centres by 2026, highlighting the urgent need for a shift toward sustainable energy solutions.
- A new piece from Utility Dive resurfaces a study completed in July of 2023 by NREL on Alaska pumped hydro. Alaska offers around 1,800 potential sites suitable for pumped storage hydropower plants, with a collective energy storage capacity of about 4 TWh, as detailed in a study by Argonne National Laboratory and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory. These facilities involve two reservoirs at different elevations to store energy by pumping water uphill and releasing it downhill to generate electricity when needed. The research highlights the potential for Alaska to develop more energy storage facilities to support a clean and resilient power system, particularly in areas like the Railbelt system, where integrating renewable resources like wind and solar power requires both short-term battery storage and long-term pumped storage solutions to ensure grid reliability.
