Welcome to Greenify, a weekly newsletter aimed at simplifying your digestion of current and crucial matters such as #energytransition #decarbonisation #climatetech. We believe that a clear understanding of these topics is essential to thrive in the world of… TODAY! Please help us improve by leaving a comment or feedback, and if you like what you are learning… share it with your network 😁!
📌 Fact of the week
With 12.6 trillion cubic metres of natural gas proved reserves, the U.S. has more reserves than Central America, South America and Europe… combined😲!
Hottest news of the week….
Regulation 🗃 – We Are in Charge!
What happened: Earlier this week the UN released a report summarising the (dramatic) state of our planet and the “Must Dos” we will face going forward. Particular emphasis was placed on the role of carbon capture, electrification across different sectors and….our role as individuals, urging us to reduce consumption wherever possible😅.
Zoom Out: Our behaviour as average citizens, in developed countries, is increasingly mentioned as crucial by political bodies responsible for taking decisions in fighting climate change. A month ago, the EU also spoke about the importance of, for example, turning down the thermostat in buildings to cut on gas consumption. However, it will be challenging for us to play an effective role as long as climate change deniers remain out there🙄.
Business 💰 – Oil companies profiting from high prices
What happened: On the same week in which the UN climate report is asking to refrain from new fossil fuels infrastructure, US super major oil company ExxonMobil declared its quarterly profits could be as high as $11b, the highest figure since the 2008 boom and a $2b+ increase from the 4th quarter 2021. And guess what comes after record high profits? The announcement of a $10b investment for the creation of an additional oil extraction site in the waters of Guyana…. Everything the UN was asking not to do..😌
Zoom out: Climate is not directly affected by oil majors’ profits, what it is affected by are the actions that these profits trigger 😬… In fact, what we are particularly concerned about is that these profits are signalling governments that oil companies could do more to smooth the current high prices faced by end-consumers. The first to notice was the US congress, which has already asked oil companies to increase their supply to support the US population…
Innovation 💡 - Waste can Swim and Fly
What happened: Last week Bloomberg Green has dived into the topic of carbon capture. We were particularly impressed by their interview with Dimensional Energy’s CEO, Jason Salfi. His company’s aim is to produce usable fuel for cargo ships and passenger planes using captured carbon. The process works by adding water to carbon and heating the mixture using electricity generated from solar panels: thereafter, catalysts are introduced combining the hydrogen (H) and carbon (C) atoms from water into a compound, eventually used as fuel⛽!
Zoom Out: Carbon Capture Usage and Storage (CCUS, analysed in Greenify #1) is one of the many levers we will need to pull to reduce our carbon footprint. Dimensional Energy is yet again another example of a company involved in CCU only, deleting the S from the equation. As we mentioned in previous editions, once carbon is captured (normally from industrial processes), storage can be a main issue, as specific geological conditions are required to successfully store CO2 ⚠️.
Deep dives of the week…
Chart of the Week – Nuclear in Germany, a decade of decline toward a complete switch-off ⚛️
Nuclear energy is always at the top of political agendas and very often causes a great deal of disagreement. Towards the end of 2021, Germany has excluded extending the lifetime of its existing nuclear fleet, virtually ending its love story with the source of energy. This decision, now under increasing scrutiny following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, is just a continuation of a trend which goes on since 2011, when Fukushima’s disasters in Japan led to a gradual close down of nuclear reactors in Germany.
Source: BP 2021 Statistical Review of World Energy
Company of the week – Climeworks, capturing CO2 and $million of funds 🚀
Our company of the week is Climeworks, founded in 2009 in Switzerland and now leader in Direct Air Capturing (DAC) of CO2. The company owns Orca, the world's largest direct air capture and storage plant, with removal capacity of 4,000 CO2 tons per year, roughly equivalent to the yearly emissions of 600 European citizens. This number may not seem great initially, but what is promising is that the company just received $650m in funding, which will be used to build and scale facilities to capture millions of tons of CO2 according to the founders. It is widely recognized that solely reducing emissions will not be enough to achieve net zero emission by 2050, making large investments to scale CO2 capturing technologies essential!
Analysis of the week – A brief (and NOT boring!) guide into EU Taxonomy 📂
What is it 🤔?
The EU Taxonomy is a classification system defining which parts of the economy can be classified as sustainable investments. It includes many different activities, from solar energy to piping systems, and there exist several environmental criteria that each activity must meet to be eligible.
What sort of activities fall in there 🔍 ?
To be eligible for EU Taxonomy, an activity must contribute to one of six environmental aims whilst not harming the other five. These six objectives are: 1) climate change mitigation, 2) climate change adaptation, 3) sustainable use and protection of water and marine resources, 4) transition to a circular economy, 5) pollution prevention and control, and 6) protection and restoration of biodiversity and ecosystems.
Why was it created and what are the next steps 🧐?
Simply put, greenwashing is a major issue in modern finance, with tons of capitals being allocated to what are thought to be eco-friendly businesses but in reality are not. The EU Taxonomy will certainly help investors make more conscious decisions going forward. On next steps, the EU is even considering extending the Taxonomy by taking the opposite approach, labelling investments which are unsustainable… we are sure this will cause maaany conflicts!
Vaiiii
Great one!
Could you do a deep dive into the new IPCC report next one?