In focus: It’s all about the chemistry

In the quest for a future-proof world it is all about chemistry. Matter like carbon dioxide, methane, ammonia, methanol and, last but not least, hydrogen are dominating the headlines when it comes to global warming and sustainable solutions. The industry is puzzling how curb one and developing the other.

First methane. This week the European Union stepped up with the parliament’s landslide plenary vote in attempt to curb the methane footprint with the first EU-wide legislation aimed at cutting these emissions from the energy sector.  What is important is that the newly adopted position on a new law throws fossil energy imports – oil, gas, and coal – in the regulation, thus, importers will be held accountable to the same rules.

Following the vote, Flavia Sollazzo, Senior Director, EU Energy Transition, Environmental Defense Fund Europe, commented: “While today’s vote is a step in the right direction, we are looking forward to the European Parliament’s negotiators working towards an ambitious and robust final regulation after trilogues, especially when it comes to delivering strong rules on monitoring, reporting and verification of methane and leak detection and repair, as well as putting in place an ambitious performance standard for methane emissions intensity.”

To really make an impact it is key that future fuels, like ammonia, are really clean. To secure this Norwegian shipowner Höegh Autoliners has signed a partnership agreement with compatriot green energy provider North Ammonia for the supply, distribution, delivery, and consumption of green ammonia.

Höegh Autoliners is investing heavily in future technology, low-emission fuels and newbuilds to further strengthen its service offering and meet the ambitious environmental targets.

From another maritime angle, it was also announced this week that deal was made for construction of world’s largest ammonia carriers. Jiangnan Shipbuilding has signed a contract with Singaporean shipping company Eastern Pacific Shipping (EPS) for the construction of four Very Large Ammonia Carriers (VLAC) with a capacity of 93,000 cubic meters.

And then the teacher’s pet hydrogen. A lot of things are happening in this realm. This week ABB has announced that it will collaborate with Lhyfe and Skyborn to jointly realise and optimise SoutH2Port renewable hydrogen project located in Sweden. Together they will drive large-scale integration of the production of offshore wind renewable energy hydrogen into the energy system in the SoutH2Port project.

As part of the memorandum of understanding (MoU) signed between the companies, ABB will apply critical expertise to optimise the integration of hydrogen and electricity production across the entire ecosystem including automation, electrical, and digital technologies, and drive the development of scalable, commercial energy transition projects in and around the region.

The partners said that the goal is to explore opportunities to tie in Power-to-X conversion technologies turning renewably sourced electricity into carbon-neutral energy carriers, such as hydrogen, and sorting the energy for later use.

Other hydrogen news was announced in Korea this week. Classification society American Bureau of Shipping (ABS) and Korean industry leaders have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to conduct a feasibility study for a near-shore floating platform of green hydrogen production and liquefaction.

Sungjoon Kim, HD Hyundai Group Chief Technology Officer, noted: “HD Hyundai Group is pleased to contribute, utilizing our many years of experience with offshore platform technologies and liquefied gas carriers. HD Hyundai Group will play a key role in contributing to the carbon-neutral era such as the development of green hydrogen production platforms.”

When it comes to Power-to-X conversion it is not only wind energy that is on the table. Marine energy is starting to chip in too. It was announced that Scottish company Nova Innovation is heading up a consortium to look at the potential of producing green hydrogen and oxygen from its tidal energy projects in Shetland.

The contract will see Nova Innovation and partners the University of Strathclyde, Shetland Islands Council, and Ricardo Energy, investigate potential markets for both the hydrogen and oxygen produced from electrolysis using Scottish developer’s tidal energy projects in Shetland.

Oxygen, an oft discarded by-product of green hydrogen production, is already used in aquaculture on Shetland and has the potential to be used by the SaxaVord Space Centre, creating a 100% renewable rocket fuel.

We end this article with carbon dioxide. The UK Government is planning to create a ‘treasure map’ which will show how much carbon capture and storage (CCS) could be possible under the North Sea seabed.

The plan envisages that companies that already have a license to store carbon will have to report what they find to the North Sea Transition Authority (NSTA), which will give the information needed about the geological features of hidden underground spaces underneath the North Sea that have already been mapped.

This information will then be used to quantify for investors how much CCS could be possible. According to the government, this could attract more companies to the UK, supporting 50,000 green jobs by 2030, helping to grow the economy and delivering on priorities.

“The UK is in prime position to become a world leader in carbon capture and storage – a whole new industry that could boost our energy security, help cut our own emissions and those of our European neighbours and create thousands of jobs for the future,” said Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero Grant Shapps.