OCTOBER 11, 2023

Good morning,

In today’s edition: Anca has a newsy story about a proposed “forever chemicals” ban in Europe and its effect on the cleantech sector, our latest Voices article finds lessons for Appalachia in another coal town’s revival and Jillian Mock, our associate editor, charts carbon capture’s challenges in a Data Dive.

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Send your energy photos, story tips and more to news@ciphernews.com.

Proposed ‘forever chemicals’ ban rattles Europe’s cleantech sector

BY: ANCA GURZU

Europe’s clean energy industry is scrambling to respond to a ban under consideration across the European Union restricting so-called “forever chemicals.”

These widely used, potentially harmful chemicals, also known by their collective acronym PFAS, are little discussed in the clean energy industry, yet they are crucial components of technologies like wind turbines, renewable hydrogen, electric batteries and power grids.

The proposal, which is near the beginning of a yearslong review process within the bloc, is stoking anxiety among Europe’s cleantech leaders, who are telling EU policymakers in Brussels that the move could derail the bloc’s ambitions to become a climate tech champion.

“Cleantech manufacturing wasn’t a big European political priority a few years ago,” said Constantine Levoyannis, head of EU affairs at the Norwegian company NEL, a manufacturer of electrolyzers, a technology that makes hydrogen with renewable energy. “The primary focus was on boosting renewables and setting targets but somewhere down the road we disregarded where that cleantech comes from.”

PFAS, short for per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, are a class of thousands of synthetic chemicals that resist extreme heat and corrosion, making them useful in thousands of products, including cars, textiles, medical gear and non-stick pans.

Because of that, the chemicals also don’t break down over time, causing them to build up in soil and circulate globally in the water and atmosphere. Some types of PFAS have been linked to health risks like cancer, hormonal dysfunction and a weakened immune system, as well as environmental damage.

Addressing the chemicals has moved higher on EU policymakers’ agendas in recent years, due to PFAS-related pollution scandals and lawsuits. A recent study found high levels of PFAS in many EU countries, with Belgium topping the list.

Five European countries — Germany, the Netherlands, Denmark, Sweden and non-EU member Norway — submitted the proposed ban in February to the EU’s regulatory arm, the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA).

The countries, known for being cleantech pioneers, highlighted the prevalence of PFAS across the globe, including in penguins in Antarctica, and cited tens of billions of dollars in annual health costs from PFAS exposure.

Environmentalists and consumer organizations welcomed the proposed ban.

The ban proposal includes requests to exempt certain sectors, such as pharmaceuticals and agrichemicals. The cleantech sector was not included in the exemptions for a mix of reasons, according to several industry officials Cipher spoke to on the condition of anonymity to speak candidly.

They said cleantech companies didn’t lobby proactively enough for an exemption at earlier stages of the proposal deliberations, the environment departments within the five countries crafting the proposal largely did not consult with their energy counterparts and cleantech developers are not always sure if their products contain PFAS and figuring out if they do takes time.

Representatives of the European cleantech industry say they recognize the concerns around PFAS but argue not all PFAS are the same and the proposed ban is too broad, especially given existing alternatives are often not effective.

They are now calling for exemptions and say a blanket ban could divert valuable cleantech investments away from the EU at a time when the bloc wants to ramp up green technology manufacturing.

Read the full article on Cipher’s website.

Lunchtime Reads and Hot Takes

Mideast crisis a new risk for volatile oil prices — Axios

Amy’s take: Volatility isn’t good for anyone, including the energy transition. Ideally, oil prices gradually get higher as people transition toward cleaner fuels.

UN climate fund fails to secure funding pledge from US — Financial Times (paywall)

Bill’s take: The chronic failure of wealthy countries to meet commitments to fund renewable energy projects and climate adaptation initiatives in low-income countries could dominate COP28 debate.

‘Forever chemicals’ are eternal no more thanks to a pollution destroying device from Tacoma startup — GeekWire

Amy’s take: How timely/relevant given our main story today. I’m curious about its competitors, which the story alludes to but doesn’t really talk about.

World’s largest offshore windfarm project starts powering UK grid — The Guardian

Jillian’s take: It’s been a rough several months for offshore wind and so it’s encouraging to read a little good news about the industry.

‘I wasn’t the obvious choice’: meet the oil man tasked with saving the planet — The Guardian

Amy’s take: You can tell the journalist did their homework and put in the research and travel time to ensure this profile stands apart from many others.

If You Want Our Countries to Address Climate Change, First Pause Our Debts — The New York Times

Jillian’s take: The president of Kenya and leaders from key African organizations argue the continent’s debt issues have to be resolved before it can tackle climate change. As the World Bank and International Monetary Fund meet in Morocco this week, climate finance is bound to be on the agenda.

China’s green tech giants link supply chains to Southeast Asia — Nikkei Asia

Bill’s take: This is the most comprehensive story I’ve read about moves by Chinese battery and EV makers into the fastest expanding economies in Asia.

Green protectionism comes with big risks — The Economist (paywall)

Amy’s take: The point about needing proponents of climate action means creating more jobs for cleantech is compelling, but the past indicates we can go a lot faster by outsourcing manufacturing.

In Shipping, a Push to Slash Emissions by Harnessing the Wind — The New York Times

Bill’s take: Shipping is among the so-called hard-to-abate industries. As with others, the solution will be a suite of technologies — for specific uses and locations — that whittle away at the problem.

Kenya steps up as global geothermal powerhouse — Reuters

Amy’s take: Kenya could help other nearby countries tap into its geothermal energy, helping the continent not invest more in fossil fuels. Plus, cool charts!

More of what we're reading:

• Russia, Saudi Arabia discuss oil market, prices amid Israel-Hamas war — Reuters 
• Why Trump and the Rest of the G.O.P. Won’t Stop Bashing Electric Vehicles — The New York Times

How a coal town revived itself and lessons for others

BY: SEAN O'LEARY

O’Leary is a senior researcher at the Ohio River Valley Institute, a non-profit public policy think tank. You can reach him at sean@ohiorivervalleyinstitute.org.

West Virginia, a major producer of coal and natural gas, should take a cue from Washington, a state whose energy system is dominated by hydropower but whose past featured coal.

As we decarbonize, we must help communities in Appalachia, and fossil fuel-reliant communities everywhere, transition to cleaner resources in an equitable and affordable way. Centralia, Washington offers a model that Appalachian towns would be smart to replicate.

For decades, Centralia was a “coal town.” In the 1990s, its economy looked like that of an Appalachian coal town. Centralia saw no job growth. Then, in 2006, its largest employer, a coal mine, closed, eliminating 600 jobs. And in 2011, news came that its coal-fired power plant would retire by 2025.

Amid predictions of economic disaster, Centralia did something unique. It used $55 million in economic transition funding provided by TransAlta Corporation, the owner of the mine and power plant, to invest in energy efficiency upgrades, distributed energy generation and education. The results offer a potential roadmap for other coal-dependent communities.

According to a 2021 Ohio River Valley Institute study, between 2016 and 2019, Centralia added 2,800 new jobs. That 12% increase in employment was twice the rate of job growth nationally. Wages also rose 50% faster than they did nationally.

Still, some residents and businesses, particularly those directly affected by the layoffs, have struggled with the transition. That’s why the grants program supports those individuals with enhanced education and retraining benefits. Meanwhile, the economic impacts in the community as a whole are both remarkable and understandable.

Read the full article on Cipher’s website.

Carbon capture needs to ramp up significantly by 2023

Source: International Energy Agency, Net Zero Roadmap. • Planned for 2030 only includes projects with an announced operation date by 2030. Needed by 2030 refers to IEA's Net Zero Emissions scenario. Other includes manufacturing of fuels other than hydrogen, such as oil and gas extraction and refining, natural-gas processing and bio-based fuels.

BY: JILLIAN MOCK

Efforts to capture carbon dioxide emissions need to accelerate rapidly in the next seven years to get on track and help the world achieve net zero by mid-century, according to a new report.

In its Net Zero Roadmap, first released in May 2021 and updated in September, the International Energy Agency incorporates policy, technology and financial developments to determine how to achieve net zero emissions from the energy sector by 2050.

Large growth in solar power and electric cars help ensure the path to such a future is still possible, despite largely stalled progress on other technologies ranging from wind power to carbon capture, utilization and storage (CCUS), the report finds.

Right now, CCUS mitigates just 0.1% of total annual energy sector emissions. As a result, the IEA reduced the role of CCUS in its updated roadmap, although it still predicts the technology will be responsible for roughly 8% of cumulative emission reductions by 2050.

Bringing all announced carbon capture projects — including capturing CO2 directly from sources and from the ambient air — into operation by 2030 would increase capacity over eightfold. The increase, while significant, would still be just a third of what’s needed in that time.

Shortening the period from planning to deployment for these projects, especially for CO2 storage, will be key to getting carbon capture capacity on track by 2030, the report finds. Right now, the lead time for CCUS projects averages about six years. Adopting best practices could compress that to just four years.

The lack of progress comes as controversy around all kinds of carbon capture is growing. Some critics contend the technology is untested at scale and never going to work as promised or will remain prohibitively expensive. Others say carbon capture gives fossil fuel companies a pass to continue business as usual instead of pivoting away from oil, coal and natural gas as quickly as possible.

Despite this tension, scientists generally agree such technology is essential to meeting 2050 climate goals.

AND FINALLY...
DAC in 3D

Bill snapped this photo of an executive from the carbon removal firm 1PointFive giving attendees at a trade show in Abu Dhabi last week a virtual 3D tour of the company’s direct air capture (DAC) facility under construction in Texas in partnership with Occidental Petroleum Corp.

Each week, we feature a photo that is somehow related to energy, the thing we all need but don’t notice until it’s expensive or gone. Email your ideas and photos to news@ciphernews.com.

Editor’s note: In addition to supporting Cipher, Breakthrough Energy also supports and partners with a range of entities working to tackle climate change, including nonprofits, corporations, startups and research firms. For more information on Cipher’s editorial policy, click here.