Wood Density Determination with the Perspective to Decarbonisation of Tropical Forest Species from the Luki Biosphere Reserve in the Democratic Republic of the Congo

Specimens of the forest species such as Pentaclethra macrophylla, Petersianthus macrocarpus, Pycnanthus angolensis and Terminalia superba have been sampled from LUKI Biosphere reserve in the Democratic Republic of the Congo in order to determine their wood density with the perspective to decarbonisation. These parameters have been found out experimentally utilizing a drying technique in an oven including techniques of immersion in an Erlenmeyer full of water. The corresponding results indicated that the four species wood density is respectively 0.85, 0.80, 0.77 and 0.51. These preliminary results will be useful in our ongoing project on carbon dioxide absorption capacity of Congo rainforest tree species.

Decarbonising energy: The developing international activity in hydrogen technologies and fuel cells

Hydrogen technologies and fuel cells offer an alternative and improved solution for a decarbonised energy future.Fuel cells are electrochemical converters;transforming hydrogen (or energy sources containing hydrogen) and oxygen directly into electricity.The hydrogen fuel cell,invented in 1839,permits the generation of electrical energy with high efficiency through a non-combustion,electrochemical process and,importantly,without the emission ofits point of use.Hitherto,despite numerous efforts to exploit the obvious attractions of hydrogen technologies and hydrogen fuel cells,various challenges have been encountered,some of which are reviewed here.Now,however,given the exigent need to urgently seek low-carbon paths for humankind’s energy future,numerous countries are advancing the deployment of hydrogen technologies and hydrogen fuel cells not only for transport,but also as a means of the storage of excess renewable energy from,for example,wind and solar farms.Furthermore,hydrogen is also being blended into the natural gas supplies used in domestic heating and targeted in the decarbonisation of critical,large-scale industrial processes such as steel making.We briefly review specific examples in countries such as Japan,South Korea and the People’s Republic of China,as well as selected examples from Europe and North America in the utilization of hydrogen technologies and hydrogen fuel cells.

Renewable energy in Australia:a wider policy discourse

This paper assesses the evolution of generation technology-mix in Australia,with specific emphasis on understanding how such evolution has been shaped by wider political and socioeconomic influences.This assessment is predicated on the argument that the contemporary,quintessentially techno-economic,policy discourse on renewable energy is deficient,as it ignores climacteric political and socio-economic influences on generation technology-mix.The methodological framework employed in this paper is informed by the core tenets of technological change theory.The assessment suggests that generation technology-mix in Australia has historically been overwhelmingly influenced by the underlying technological paradigm of the electricity industry;and that this technological paradigm essentially draws its imprimatur from the wider political and socio-economic contexts.By implication,it suggests that a rapid uptake of renewables will have widespread ramifications,extending into political,socio-economic and cultural realms of a society.Clearly,existing policy discourse-that tends to focus on technical potentials,cost competitiveness,externalities and risks of various renewable technologies-is deficient.A much broader discourse is needed.This paper also made an attempt to develop a basis for such a discourse by reviewing broader aspects of the Australian society that would be affected by a rapid uptake of renewables.

Linking renewables and fossil fuels with carbon capture via energy storage for a sustainable energy future

Renewable energy sources and low-carbon power generation systems with carbon capture and storage(CCS)are expected to be key contributors towards the decarbonisation of the energy sector and to ensure sustainable energy supply in the future.However,the variable nature of wind and solar power generation systems may affect the operation of the electricity system grid.Deployment of energy storage is expected to increase grid stability and renewable energy utilisation.The power sector of the future,therefore,needs to seek a synergy between renewable energy sources and low-carbon fossil fuel power generation.This can be achieved via wide deployment of CCS linked with energy storage.Interestingly,recent progress in both the CCS and energy storage fields reveals that technologies such as calcium looping are technically viable and promising options in both cases.Novel integrated systems can be achieved by integrating these applications into CCS with inherent energy storage capacity,as well as linking other CCS technologies with renewable energy sources via energy storage technologies,which will maximise the profit from electricity production,mitigate efficiency and economic penalties related to CCS,and improve renewable energy utilisation.

Blind spots in climate finance for innovation Peter WARREN

International climate finance is a sub-set of green finance and refers to investments specifically in climate change mitigation and adaptation activities,which primarily involve public finance and the leveraging of private finance in developing countries.In addition to continued international support for scaling low carbon solutions and facilitating replicability in developing countries,there remains an important need to increase the amount of climate finance provided to innovation,particularly demonstration(for technology innovation)and pilot implementation(for policy innovation),and to channel a greater proportion of Official Development Assistance(ODA)to‘hard-to-abate'areas,such as industrial decarbonisation,international transport and cross-sectoral issues like cooling and behavioural insights,to accelerate the commercialisation and implementation of technological,linancial and policy solutions to contribute to meeting the Paris Agreement's goal of limiting global warming to‘well-below'2℃ in these countries.Linking research,development and demonstration(RD&D)support with technical assistance is important in providing the route to obtain wider donor finance(concessional finance)and private finance to enable deployment through scalability and replicability.

Optimal investment analysis for heat pumps and nuclear heat in decarbonised Helsinki metropolitan district heating system

Decarbonisation of district heating and cooling(DHC)system in Helsinki metropolitan area requires investments in new energy technologies and approaches to replace fossil fuel fired district heating(DH)production.Invest-ment paths involving(a)DH heat pumps(HPs)from low quality heat sources and(b)small modular nuclear reactors(SMR)are compared by utilising investment analysis based on optimisation model depicting the as-sumed 2030 situation.Several scenarios,with varying assumptions concerning existing DHC system,investment costs and electricity prices,are analysed in terms of new capacity and total annualised costs.The results indicate that the SMR option is more cost-efficient than the HP option with 4-8€/MWh difference in operation costs including annualised investments.Biomass fired boiler investments,enabled in both options,are preferred to HP investments in most scenarios.The cost-efficiency of HP investments is sensitive to investment cost,whereas SMR investments are relatively stable to investment cost variations.Varying electricity market prices affect cost-efficiency of large-scale HPs,and investments in SMR cogeneration units take place only with high electricity prices.

The effects of industrial policymaking on the economics of low-emission technologies: the TRANSid model

Basic materials such as steel,cement,aluminium,and(petro)chemicals are the building blocks of industrialised societies.However,their production is extremely energy and emission intensive,and these industries need to decarbonise their emissions over the next decades to keep global warming at least below 2°C.Low-emission industrial-scale production processes are not commercially available for any of these basic materials and require policy support to ensure their large-scale diffusion over the upcoming decades.The novel transition to industry decarbonisation(TRANSid)model analyses the framework conditions that enable large-scale investment decisions in climate-friendly basic material options.We present a simplified case study of the cement sector to demonstrate the process by which the model optimises investment and operational costs in carbon capture technology by 2050.Furthermore,we demonstrate that extending the model to other sectors allows for the analysis of industry-and sector-specific policy options.