Carbon Commentary newsletter

1, Hydrogen steel in China. Steel manufacturer Ansteel opened a 10,000 tonne per year demonstration plant making iron using hydrogen via a fluidised bed. It claimed this as a world first although Hybrit in Sweden ran a long series of successful experiments using hydrogen until last year. Ansteel was keen to say that it used a network of 64 local suppliers using entirely Chinese-made equipment and that this demonstration site will be followed by a 500,000 tonne plant. Another example of climate tech. leadership passing to China

2, Synfuel in Chile. HIF Global is the early leader in the production of synthetic gasoline from a wind-powered plant at the southern tip of Chile. It noted two important steps in the last weeks. A Chilean naval vessel ran on its gasoline mixed with conventional fuel. Second, all the Porsche cars competing in an eight race European competition used the fuel. HIF said that its gasoline requires no modifications to engines or to the supply infrastructure. (But we can hypothesise that the fuel is far more expensive to make than fossil gasoline). This story, and that in note 1, provide some support to the Hydrogen Council’s assertion this week that the future of clean hydrogen remains robust. I was particularly struck by their estimate that only about 50 hydrogen projects have been cancelled out of the 1,700 announced globally since 2020. Of course it’s the cancellations that attract the media attention.

3, ‘Agrivoltaics’. Some of the resistance to widespread use of solar PV in open fields arises from the perceived loss of agricultural production. So research that shows that solar panels can often help increase yields has particular importance. Studies in Washington State on apples showed that panels raised above the height of apple trees can reduce ‘sunburn’ and thus significantly improve the quality of the fruits. Work on lettuces showed a yield loss of only 10% when placed under panels, implying a far higher combined output than either the vegetable or electricity on its own. In France, where PV development on farmland is heavily restricted and often very unpopular, some research shows increases in farm output after PV is installed. Under current rules this boost may help secure permission to develop commercial PV. In our small village in the south-west a recent application from a brave solar developer estimates a 150% increase in agricultural output from siting vegetable production in raised beds between rows of panels rather than growing cereals. Crucially, this increase in productivity comes partly from irrigating the vegetables using water collected in gutters attached to the bottom edge of the panels.

4, Recycling textiles. You might think that your clothes are made from pure cotton or other fabrics. You’d probably be wrong; almost everything is a mixture of multiple materials. And this makes recycling far more difficult, and often impossible. Samsara Eco in Australia took another important step in completing its first commercial factory which can break down the nylon and the polyester in a single garment using enzymes. Its first clients include the sports fashion brand Lulelemon. The company says it expects to develop similar enzymes that can break a wider range of plastics down into their constituent monomers from the same piece of clothing. Samsara Eco uses what is known as ‘chemical’ recycling to achieve this important success. Another recycling innovator, Re&Up in the Netherlands, employs ‘thermal’ and ‘mechanical’ techniques to recycle polyester. One of the women’s brands under the Swedish BESTSELLER marque has started selling T-shirts made using the Re&Up technologies. All these approaches have a long way to go; only about 1% of all clothing textiles are currently recycled globally.

5, Floating wind. Another project in the Mediterranean completed turbine installations. This 30 MW field off the coast of southern France uses the triangular structures of the US company Principle Power, which seems to be the leading company in what may be a rapidly growing industry. The new French project is equipped with the largest turbines yet installed on floating foundations and, equally importantly, is financed by banks on non-recourse terms, suggesting a high degree of confidence in the technical maturity of floating wind. It’s a strange irony that the principal technology provider in this fast growing industry is headquartered in a country that is trying its best to hold back the development of all forms of wind power.

6, BESS. The UK’s largest proposed battery storage system reached financial close and is expected to start operation in mid-2027. At 1400 MW/3100 MWh, the Thorpe Marsh project is three times as large as any other UK site and, at least according to one source I looked at, would have the greatest power output of any BESS in the world if it was working today. 80% of its capacity has already been contracted to big electricity suppliers. The UK currently has about 7 GW of installed batteries, meaning that Thorpe Marsh would add about 20% to today’s total. For comparison, Germany will have about 3 GW of BESS at the end of 2025, after roughly doubling this year.

7, Enhanced rock weathering (ERW). Finely ground silicate rock powder spread over agricultural land can absorb carbon dioxide, turning into a permanent carbonate mineral. This is a natural process which is no more than an acceleration of the slow absorption of CO2 by the weathering of larger rocks over the course of planetary history. In addition to carbon capture, the silicate powder can provide potassium and phosphorus to the soil, improving fertility. The arguments for using ERW to extract carbon dioxide are strong but the energy cost of grinding rocks into dust is high, reducing the climate benefit. ‘Glacial rock flour’ avoids this problem. The slow movement of glaciers grinds the underlying rocks into tiny particles which wash out in meltwater. A Danish company raised seed financing to exploit Greenland’s abundant ‘rock flour’. One estimate is that this country’s glaciers produce as much as a billion tonnes of the material a year. Shipped to warmer countries, where chemical reaction times are much quicker, the particles may absorb as much of 25% of their weight in CO2 in the first year, as well as improving agricultural yields on many soils. Got some agricultural land which needs natural fertilisers? The Rock Flour Company wants to persuade regenerative farmers around the world to try its product.

8, Organic fertiliser. Nitricity makes a fertiliser from agricultural wastes such as almond shells. The product delivers nitrogen and other nutrients to the soil in irrigation water. The business claims its product is cost competitive with fossil fuel based fertilisers and can deliver up to 30%+ increases in yield. It announced it had raised $50m to expand internationally from its Californian base. In Europe, for example, its raw material might be olive oil wastes rather than almond shells. Decarbonising fertiliser production (perhaps 2-3% of global emissions) is an important objective but, as always, I worry that existing levels of organic wastes are far from sufficient to fully replace ammonia-based fertilisers given the large number of other calls on this source of carbon and hydrogen. Nevertheless, for regenerative farmers this product looks exceptionally useful and may be one of the best uses of waste biomass.

9, Long distance hydrogen transport. Countries with large hydrogen manufacturing potential are examining different ways of transporting it to customers. A Malaysian company will ship its first H2 to Singapore in the form of a metal hydride, a solid that is stable at normal temperatures. In this case, a complex structure of magnesium atoms binds with the hydrogen to make the hydride. After transport to the customer the hydrogen is driven off by heat at its destination. The magnesium can then be indefinitely recycled. This process historically has used large amounts of energy but recent advances by the Chinese company Hydrexia operating in Malaysia have reduced the burden significantly. The advantages of using metal hydride include enhanced safety and the ability to develop a distribution network with limited initial capital expenditure. Whether it is suitable for shipping very large quantities cheaply is another question.

10, Making grids more intelligent using batteries. E.ON in the UK will use a technology developed in Australia to run a 1000 home trial using the battery systems of domestic homes, particularly those also equipped with solar PV, to help stabilise the grid. AI will forecast the half hourly wholesale electricity prices, when solar power will be produced and what electricity demand the house will need. It will then use these forecasts to determine when to charge and when to discharge the batteries in each home. In a very different experiment that also seeks to adapt electricity demand to market conditions, Californian batteries in 100,000 domestic homes were called on to deliver power at a time of high demand. Over half a gigawatt was delivered for two hours, roughly replacing a gas-fired power station. This yearly experiment is growing in size with expectations of being able to deliver over a gigawatt by 2028. That’s still a small fraction of total peak Californian electricity demand but it will help control sharp increases in wholesale prices.