Greenify #91: COP 28 Recap and Cool Innovations
December 15, 2023
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📌 Fact of the week
COP 29, which will take place one year from now, will be hosted by Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan. Agreement reached after months of negotiations.
Hottest news of the week…
Regulation 🗃 – Recap of COP 28
What happened: After some days of panic towards the end of the conference, countries managed to agree on a deal that is somehow historic: for the first time since the inception of the conference, the final paper mentions a commitment to “transition away from fossil fuels”. Other important agreements include commitments to triplicate renewables output, cut 75% of methane emissions from operations, and double the annual rate of efficiency improvements by 2030. 👍
Zoom out: The historic mention of a “transition away” from fossil fuel is particularly remarkable if you think that the conference was hosted by the UAE, a country heavily reliant on oil. Although stronger commitments could have been sealed, for example a “phase out” of fossil fuels, this result already exceeded the expectations of most stakeholders. OPEC tried to convince nations’ delegates to avoid including anything on fossil fuels by sending a persuasive letter around… the result is that they embarrassed themselves and did not achieve their goal.😢
Business 💰 – Microsoft using AI to unlock nuclear to power AI 🔃
What happened: In Greenify #80 we anticipated how Microsoft had some plans to enter the Small Modular Reactors sector… now we finally know what they are cooking. Microsoft is using AI to try to streamline the bureaucratic approval process for small nuclear reactors, which they then hope to use to power the massive data centers needed for AI. If it works it would be a great example of tech circular economy! 🍀
Zoom out: Although globally, nuclear power capacity is falling, as various reactors are being switched off, the technology is gaining further interest in various contexts. At COP 28 nuclear was a big topic of debate, and the US, together with other 21 countries from 4 continents, pledged to triple nuclear energy capacity by 2050 with respect to 2020. How they will do that is yet to be understood…many people agree with Microsoft and think SMRs could be the only solution, while many others believe not even SMRs could make it happen! 🧐
Innovation 💡 - Silicon powder could improve EVs performances!
What happened: Sila, a California-based company founded in 2011 by the seventh employee of Tesla, is set to provide Panasonic with silicon powder, a material that could change the market for electric vehicle batteries. This material could soon give EVs 500-mile ranges and charge refills in just 10 minutes. The commercialization of silicon powder from Sila and its partnership with Panasonic is particularly important as the Japanese company supplies ~10% of EV batteries globally and its biggest client is Tesla. 🔋
Zoom out: Silicon powder can substitute graphite in anodes, the section that releases electrons during discharge. In contrast to graphite, silicon has the capacity to store up to 10 times more energy. Therefore, substituting silicon for graphite in anodes can notably enhance a battery's energy density. Nevertheless, the material undergoes swelling during repetitive charging, leading to cracks that substantially diminish battery lifespan. Sila has patented a technology that acts as a “scaffolding”, which accommodates the expansion of silicon and prevents cracking. 👏
Deep dives of the week…
Chart of the week - Sources of emissions by transport mode 🚗✈️🚆
This week the Biden’s administration announced an $8.2B investment in rail infrastructure, therefore we thought it was useful to recap the sources of emissions by mode of transports.
Rail transportation is among the most sustainable mode of transportation, accounting for only 4% of emission despite its wide adoption around the world as a mode of transport for both passengers and goods. Planes, on the other hand, are responsible for 11% of emissions despite being used sporadically by just a small percentage of the worldwide population and just 1% of exported goods.
(More on this in the “deal of the week”)
Source: International Energy Association. IEA and IPCC (2014) Summary for Policymakers.
Deal of the week - Decarbonizing aviation through green hydrogen
As shown in the chart of the week, aviation accounts for 11% of transport emissions despite being used by just a small percentage of the world’s population every year. Hence, decarbonizing the industry is crucial. Batteries and hydrogen are not applicable to the sector at the moment, and the only solutions seems to be Sustainable Aviation Fuels (SAFs), i.e. fuels generating low emissions that can be used in current aircrafts.
Metafuels has understood this and wants to enter the market by producing eSAF, i.e. sustainable fuels originated by renewables. The starting point of e-fuels is always green hydrogen, which in this case is modified by adding biogencially captured CO2 to become green methanol. Then, Metafuels has developed a two-step process that turns methanol in kerosene, which Metafuels ultimately calls “aerobrew”.
The most important thing to check is if aereobrew will pass the technical difficulties and additional costs usually arising once productions scales up… good luck Metafuels🤞
👋 See you next Friday, for the best sum up of this coming week!
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