Energy World November 2020 - open access articles

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November 2020 – open access articles The following articles are taken from Energy World magazine’s November 2020 edition for promotional purposes.

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Heat and cooling

COORDINATION

Decarbonising heat – planning nationally to deliver locally P rogress on decarbonisation of electricity generation has been tremendous and has generated great pride for the UK government where the remarkable scale up of the roll out of wind power, matched by the very significant cost reductions, stands as a benchmark of what is possible.

Electricity generation from wind has grown from negligible levels at the time of signing the 2008 Climate Change Act, to days where wind now accounts for over 30% of generation.

This success story has been made possible by a series of interventions, including the introduction of Contracts for Difference and the Offshore Wind Sector Deal. The former provides long-term security associated with guaranteed levels of return on the capital investment required to develop wind farms and the associated grid infrastructure, de-risking the venture from the business perspective. The latter helped to drive innovation in the UK supply chain to increase competitiveness and development of UK intellectual property.

This innovation and coordination has driven down the costs of wind power and driven up the number of jobs in the UK wind sector to over 80,000.

It is tempting to forget that electricity is only a relatively minor component of overall energy use in the UK. There is a significant contribution from transportation fuels and an even bigger demand associated with heat. Indeed, heat accounts for approximately 40% of the UK’s energy use. Why then has decarbonisation started with electricity and not heat?

There are many factors which come into play here. The main reason is that decarbonisation of electricity is a great deal easier.

Electricity is typically generated by power stations at a scale from hundreds of megawatts to many gigawatts, heat is generated home-by-home. The diversity of housing types, standards of thermal 16 Energy World | November 2020

What’s missing in the drive to decarbonise UK heating are two organisations to coordinate local planning. So writes Professor Martin Freer from the University of Birmingham, which is making a bid to be involved. insulation and grid connectivity means that there is not a one-sizefits-all solution.

Artist’s impression of the NCDH building proposed for Tyseley Energy Park in Birmingham Image: University of Birmingham

Technology options Potential heating solutions include deployment of heat pumps, hydrogen boilers, district heating and others. Heat pumps might source their heat from ground or air and even be of a hybrid generation which continue to exploit the combustion of natural gas. Wide scale deployment of heat pumps would place significant demand on national electricity generation and local electricity networks, with both requiring extension and reinforcement.

Moreover, installation and operation of heat pumps will require significant enhancements in the training of heating system installers and changes in customers’ expectations. The generation of heat by a heat pump, unlike the immediacy of a gas boiler, is slow and steady. Installation of heat pumps needs careful design of the

whole heating system and thermal insulation. Customers will need to change the way that they expect to heat their homes.

Hydrogen has the potential to be simpler in that injection of hydrogen into the gas grid uses existing infrastructure, though not all of it might be suitable. Also, a hydrogen boiler is not so different from a conventional gas boiler. One significant challenge is to generate sufficient low-carbon, low-cost hydrogen.

District heating on the other hand has been utilised for decades, if not millennia, and there are many national district heating schemes which typically have been commercially viable in high population density regions.

Increasingly, the challenge for district heating is to deliver low-carbon heat, as typically generation is by combined heat and power (CHP) plants combusting natural gas.

Whatever the heating solution, it is vital that it is delivered in tandem with improvements to thermal insulation and energy efficiency of the UK’s homes.

Local delivery mechanisms The mechanism by which the new heating solutions will be delivered may also be complex. It is expected that this will be market-driven, with a strong element of customer choice. However, for a customer to have a choice, the infrastructure to support that choice needs to be in place – that’s to say capacity in the local electricity grid, a hydrogen gas grid being developed or a district heating network installed.

It is highly unlikely that this will be the case and hence choice may be restricted to a particular type of heat pump or manufacturer’s hydrogen boiler. There may be a level of local mandating over which heat technology should be adopted and certainly, to make this all work, a level of local planning.

The development of local and regional plans is essential to ensure that advantage is taken over existing infrastructure with the least expensive and lowest impact solutions delivered. These plans give industry the confidence to invest and can be integrated into a national delivery plan which then establishes the scale for additional electricity and hydrogen generation.

A key element of getting all of this working will be developing large-scale pilot projects to build consumer confidence, establishing programmes that can deliver and

Heat and cooling

provide a scale of opportunity that allows business to invest in manufacturing the heat pumps and low carbon boilers. At present only a handful of heat pumps are installed per year and there is a need for a massive scale-up to millions. In addition, there is a dearth of qualified low-carbon heat engineers and thus a need for a massive skills programme.

National organisation for heat In light of this extraordinary complexity, the recent CBIUniversity of Birmingham heat policy commission, chaired by Lord Bilimoria, recommended that there needs to be a National Delivery Body for heat. This National Delivery Body (NDB) would be an independent, impartial body working with government on creating, coordinating and delivering an overarching national decarbonisation of heat programme.

However, and crucially, the programme will be expected to be locally formulated and delivered by local authorities who will synergise their own local and energy plan with the national programme. Membership of this body would be drawn from industry, independent experts, organisations such as Ofgem and

For a customer to have a choice, the infrastructure to support that choice needs to be in place – capacity in the local electricity grid, a hydrogen gas grid developed or district heating network installed

consumer groups, and be led by a chair with the responsibility for reporting to government.

This would be underpinned by an accord creating cross-party agreement and commitment and forming the basis for industry to agree to work collectively to deliver the heat transition. It would be the responsibility of the NDB to ensure that the scale of manufacturing, delivery of training and skills and the coordination of regional plans into a national delivery plan.

Given the scale and complexity of delivering the decarbonisation of heat, and the rather incredibly short timescales for that delivery, it is unlikely that a transition to low-carbon heating can be delivered otherwise.

In Birmingham?

Of course a National Delivery Body can only have limited impact without some type of delivery arm.

It has been proposed that there needs to be a National Centre for Decarbonisation of Heat (NCDH).

This would co-ordinate delivery of skills and training, working with industry to support the scale-up of manufacturing and the development of UK supply chains. It would work to establish standards and standardisation, coordinating a number of national

pilots and helping to secure finance to deliver such projects.

It has been proposed that a home for the NCDH would be at Tyseley Energy Park in Birmingham. The Midlands is the home for many of the boiler manufacturers, has organisations such as the Energy Research Accelerator, the Energy Systems Catapult and the High Value Manufacturing Catapult, MTC. Tyseley Energy Park has sources of low carbon electricity, waste heat from energy-from-waste plants and plans to scale-up hydrogen production. It also sits in a community with some of the poorest national housing and significant levels of energy poverty.

It is such communities that need to be at the front of the levelling up queue.

It is clear that the level of coordination afforded by a National Delivery Body and a National Centre for Decarbonisation of Heat is going to be required if the UK is going to get even close to delivering its commitment to net zero by 2050. l Professor Martin Freer is the Director of the Birmingham Energy Institute at the University of Birmingham

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Heat and cooling

AIR CONDITIONING

Cooling off in a warming world This summer, the International Energy Agency (IEA) published a high-profile report outlining a range of strategies to mitigate rising emissions from cooling systems. Andrew Williams asked some industry insiders to see how these recommendations might be put into practice.

A

round 35% of people alive today live somewhere where it is hot every single day of the year, and only 10% of them have an air conditioner.

As urban populations and living standards rise across the planet’s warmest regions, so will demand for air conditioning. This will not only have implications for the building sector, but for grids and utility firms, as well.

It should go without saying that any dramatic spike in energy use will have serious consequences for global climate targets. In its annual cooling report – published this June – the International Energy Agency (IEA) set out a number of priorities that could help to limit limit the growing demand for space cooling, including:

‘Cooling remains an ignored area in sustainability debates – it is telling that hardly any of the COVID recovery green packages or country climate pledges include cooling’

•

Promoting reduction of energy needs for space cooling via improved building design – including suitable insulation, shading, passive design, ventilation and reflectivity, as well as better urban planning.

•

Progressively increasing the energy performance of air conditioners (AC) towards the current best available market products, ensuring existing performance standards and testing procedures reflect actual operating conditions.

•

Supporting R&D to foster innovation in AC equipment, including towards climatefriendly cooling solutions, as well as more compact and efficient units. If the technologies are reversible, efficiency, climate and economic benefits can be expanded to the heating market, providing additional economy-of-scale benefits to

Dr Radhika Khosla, Oxford University

20 Energy World | November 2020

reduce the upfront cost of energy efficiency products.

•

Supporting industries to integrate renewable cooling solutions and storage, and supporting manufacturers and utilities to deploy more responsive AC options and enforce regular inspections of AC units.

Cultural changes Chiara Delmastro – an Analyst at the IEA and the report’s lead author – explains that although many initiatives and programmes exist in each of these areas, trends indicate that the market needs a further push. In mustering such a push, Delmastro admits a number of challenges still need to be faced, including the fact that almost two-thirds of countries lacked mandatory building energy codes in 2019. In addition, minimum energy performance standards are still absent or weak in hot and humid regions where a rapid demand growth is expected.

Delmastro also points out that the typical efficiency rating of units sold in major cooling markets is just 10%-60% better than the available product minimum, while best available technologies are twice as efficient or more.

Compounding matters is the fact that there are significant gaps between the rated and operational efficiency of both equipment and whole cooling systems.

In Delmastro’s view, these challenges could be overcome with a combination of policies and financial measures, supported by international collaboration, to enable market transformation in the cooling sector. Such a framework should, she believes, involve stakeholders within the building and cooling industry, as

well as energy utilities. Crucially, there must be buy-in from architects, engineers and cooling system installers – who prioritise efficiency in cooling at the building and urban-planning level.

In turn, policymakers could work with manufacturers and utilities to enable demand-side responses that address the impact of peak electricity demand, as well as to improve data collection and statistics relating to cooling.

Ultimately, energy consumers have an important role to play in enabling an efficient future for cooling. ‘[We need to] work with industry to improve the awareness of AC maintenance, management and operations among consumers and building operators,’ Delmastro emphasises. ‘We also need to develop innovative business models, subsidies and incentives to reduce the upfront cost of best available space cooling technologies.’

According to Dr Radhika Khosla – the Principal Investigator of the Oxford Martin School’s interdisciplinary programme on the Future of Cooling – each of the recommendations and priorities set out by the IEA’s report are strategic and important. However, improved building design is particularly relevant as, she says, it is often ignored in practice in spite of being low-hanging fruit. Khosla believes it is equally important to focus on behavioural strategies for energy conservation, carbon reduction and adaptation to life in a warmer world.

Cooling with natural and passive carbon-neutral approaches, such as increased ventilation, green roofs and walls and adequate clothing can all help to reduce heat-induced discomfort, adds Khosla.

‘The IEA recommendations are achievable but will require swift action beyond the declaration of targets, with engagement from the public sector, industry and individuals at all levels,’ she says.

‘Cooling remains an ignored area in sustainability debates. It is telling that hardly any of the COVID green recovery packages or country climate pledges include cooling. The challenge is of awareness and will require leaders across sectors.’

Engaging investors Low-carbon cooling initiatives still suffer from a lack of investment.

But the IEA report highlights

Heat and cooling

Energy demand for space cooling has more than tripled since 1990 Photo: Unsplash

Innovation in vapour compression In its most recent Energy Technology Perspective (ETP) 2020 report, the IEA observes that more than 80% of what is needed to decarbonise the cooling sector to 2070 will come from technologies that already exist today. These include technologies that have a high potential to lower energy and emissions from space cooling, such as high efficiency vapour compression technologies using low- or zero-global warming potential refrigerant and refrigerantfree solutions.

Even so, Delmastro observes that further innovation will be needed to unlock an additional 20% of emissions savings compared to baseline trends. This will involve, for example, hybrid vapour compression technologies and new components to deal with humidity.

‘Space cooling technologies at the prototype level that show promise are based on next generation components for vapour compression technologies, including more compact heat exchangers, refrigerant flow controls and electrochemical compressors, as well as membrane-based evaporative cooling and desiccants, and solid-state cooling technologies, for which coefficient of performance shows improvements with respect to current best available vapour compression technologies,’ she says.

that many of the key enabling technologies already exist today – it’s merely a matter of rolling then out. Marc Chasserot, Group CEO at Shecco, a ‘market accelerator’ for the heating and cooling sector, points out that improved building design (incorporating insulation, shading, white roofs and other passive cooling elements) can make a world of difference.

Chasserot welcomes the IEA’s focus on leveraging heat recovery from AC and refrigeration for space and domestic hot water heating.

He further encourages the use of natural refrigerants and renewables wherever possible.

Smart AC controls also make a difference.

‘All clean cooling strategies, practices and technologies are available and implementable,’ he says. ‘Stakeholders need to see the value of this approach through education, training, standards, auditing and policy regulations and incentives. Financial institutions need to base their investments on clean cooling concepts and standards. Beyond reducing cooling demand, and cooling efficiency, attention needs to be paid to underserved communities around the world in order to achieve cooling for all.’

Thomas Motmans, Sustainable Energy Finance Specialist at the Basel Agency for Sustainable Energy (BASE) – a Swiss Foundation and specialised partner of United Nations Environment Programme – also agrees with the priorities presented in the IEA report. In particular, he believes that improved consumer incentives will drive the uptake of low-carbon cooling solutions.

'The implementation and scaling up of innovative market mechanisms and business models, like cooling-as-a-service, overcome key market barriers and enable these measures by aligning the business objectives of the provider with the interest of the end-users and the planet,' he explains.

Motmans believes that the recommendations and objectives of the IEA report can be achieved if enough attention is given to the impact of cooling on climate change and the fast pace of the sector’s growth. He also highlights a number of key challenges faced by the cooling industry moving forward, including the fact that sustainable cooling solutions – including smart technologies with improved energy performance – tend to be more expensive upfront, which impacts investment decisions.

‘In addition, many cooling users

do not trust the performance of the latest technology and perceive high risks in switching to new systems,’ he adds. ‘Setting up risk mitigation mechanisms and business models to align incentives can help to overcome these challenges. For policies to be implemented rapidly, governments must treat cooling as a high priority.’

Natural refrigerants Looking ahead, Chasserot notes that there is a growing implementation of natural refrigerants in AC and refrigeration systems throughout the world.

These substances offer alternatives to toxic hydrofluorocarbon (HFC)based refrigerants. ‘Godrej already markets propane AC units in India, and Chinese manufacturers are heading in that direction,’ he says.

‘Further, there is a trend towards integrated CO2 refrigeration and AC systems for which all cooling loads are handled by one CO2 trans-critical system with assorted heat exchangers.’

Motmans agrees that advances in the use of natural refrigerants, such as propane, for airconditioning will be a key R&D concern over the next few years, particularly since alternatives to HFCs are still underdeveloped in the market compared to the refrigeration industry. Here, CO2 and ammonia are already set to become the new norm.

Khosla singles out photonicbased radiative cooling as one of the most promising passive cooling technologies: ‘For active cooling, natural refrigerants and solid-state cooling show a promising trend, although material-related environmental impacts might become a challenge for solid-state technologies.’

There are ultimately policy measures that can encourage the development and uptake of low-carbon cooling solutions.

Companies and consumers must be given the incentive to change – or face the grim realities of an ever-warmer world. l

Energy World | November 2020 21

Energy in transport

AVIATION

W

e can already fly an aircraft that produces zero emissions – provided that it has been designed in an all-electric configuration with batteries. Other configurations powered by hydrogen fuel cells also have the potential to be zero (net) emissions if flight trajectories are optimised to avoid the formation of contrails. However, to build a truly zero-emission aircraft we have to consider the totality of lifecycle emissions.

Conventional aircraft produce emissions via operations on the ground and in-flight, and some of those emissions contribute the greenhouse effect that is warming our planet. Most impact on net global warming from aircraft comes from contrail cirrus, carbon dioxide (CO2) and nitrogen oxides (NOx).

But aircraft also produce emissions indirectly from the energy required for their production, in-service support (maintenance, repairs, etc), and end-of-life activities. Taking a lifecycle perspective, the total emissions for an aircraft is a combination of those produced through its production, in-service operations and end-of-life disposal.

Accelerating progress Much of the global aerospace industry is currently focused on creating next-generation aircraft that produce zero carbon emissions while in flight. Many countries, including the UK, and individual organisations in the aviation sector, have set themselves the target of achieving net zero carbon in the next few decades. If no action is taken, air transport could be the largest contributor to total emissions by 2050. The scale of the global climate challenge and the need to respond faster will require step changes in resolve and innovation.

It is recognised that gradual technological progress will not be enough to achieve carbon neutrality. Broader solutions incorporating sustainable aviation fuels, operational and air traffic management enhancements and market-based measures, including carbon offsetting, will be required to achieve these goals and net zero carbon.

These solutions are reflected in a sustainability framework, developed by the Aerospace Technology Institute (ATI), which will guide investment through the ATI Programme into projects that

24 Energy World | November 2020

Net zero ambitions begin to take flight Incremental improvements to aircraft design and fuel efficiency have helped to make the aviation sector more efficient, but increasing passenger numbers mean emissions have kept climbing. Here, Dr Cristina Garcia-Duffy from the Aerospace Technology Institute looks at progress towards zero emissions aircraft. address sustainability in air transport. The ATI Programme, which directs £3.9bn of joint government and industry funding into civil aerospace research, already addresses decarbonisation through 174 of its funded projects, with an estimated £780mn invested so far towards technologies that specifically address carbon reduction.

The framework will support the strategic development of a wide range of technologies and approaches to cover the spectrum of commercial aviation. The ATI has also developed environmental modelling tools and whole aircraft modelling capabilities to ensure that investment made through the programme results in sustainability benefits.

The UK Climate Assembly’s recent report, The Path to Net Zero, argued that the public’s desire to keep flying should be partially enabled by technological progress.

Indeed, the incremental improvements required by society are being delivered by the ATI programme.

Large-scale engine programmes such as Rolls-Royce’s UltraFan are pushing the limits of what current propulsion technologies can deliver, eking out every drop of energy efficiency. Meanwhile, projects led by SMEs, such as the ZeroAvia-led HyFlyer project, are

using alternative sources of energy to take to the skies in a greener way.

Although the global focus on finding solutions to the climate challenge is approaching a new peak, the industry has been working to reduce emissions for many years. The aviation industry has consistently delivered aircraft fuel efficiency improvements of at least 1.5% per year for the past decade, in line with climate targets set by the Air Transport Action Group. In Europe, average fuel consumption per commercial flight decreased by 24% between 2005 and 2017.

In the same timeframe, the total CO2 and NOx contributions from all European flights increased by 16% and 25% respectively. The steady growth in passenger demand has outpaced the improvements from better technologies. COVID-19 excepted, this trend is likely to continue unless faster progress can be made with technology and policy measures. Between 2005 and 2017 the average noise per flight reduced by 14%. But the number of people living in close proximity to major European airports (who are therefore exposed to noise and other pollutants) increased in the same proportion.

Reductions in CO2, NOx and noise have been achieved through technological and operational improvements. Other measures, such as the EU Emissions Trading Scheme (EU ETS), and the ICAO’s impending global Carbon Offsetting and Reduction Scheme for International Aviation (CORSIA) have helped to drive progress and will continue to incentivise sustainability.

Fuels of the future Alternative and sustainable fuels will have a major role to play in helping the UK to reach net zero carbon for the aviation sector. The CO2 roadmap developed by the Sustainable Aviation Coalition indicates that sustainable fuels could contribute significantly to the decarbonisation of the sector – if policies were changed to incentivise uptake, and the necessary infrastructure was put in place. It’s important to note that current engine technology does not have to be modified in order to use drop-in lower-carbon sustainable aviation fuels: existing engines, fuel systems and refuelling facilities are compatible.

The interest in hydrogen as an

Energy in transport

Plane insight According to Rolls-Royce, the battery pack used in its ACCEL project is the most power-dense ever assembled for electric propulsion.

When at full power during the flight-testing phase, the company says it will propel the aircraft to more than 480 km/hour setting a new world speed record for electric flight. Over 6,000 cells are packaged in the battery.

Rolls-Royce is also striving to build the aircraft in a carbonneutral way and will use offsetting measures to compensate for hard-to-decarbonise processes. It calculated that the total carbon cost of the ACCEL initiative will be offset through rainforest preservation in Indonesia and tree planting in Scotland.

Meanwhile, in addition to its work on the HyFlyer aircraft – a Piper M-class propeller plane – ZeroAvia has developed a ‘Hydrogen Airport Refuelling Ecosystem’ (HARE) at Cranfield Airport. This is a micro-scale model of what the hydrogen airport

Rolls-Royce is hoping to break the all-electric flight world record.

Photo: Rolls-Royce

ZeroAvia’s HyFlyer completed the world’s first hydrogen fuel cell powered flight of a commercial-grade aircraft.

Photo: ZeroAvia

alternative to kerosene is also increasing – and not only in small-scale markets. Airbus recently released its ZEROe concept aircraft – three radically different architectures, all designed for zero carbon emission flight in 2035, and all powered by hydrogen.

Alongside the Oil & Gas Technology Centre, some of the UK Catapult Centres and the Advanced Propulsion Centre, the ATI submitted a response to the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Hydrogen that highlighted the opportunities hydrogen could bring across many sectors.

Great strides are being made across many different technologies.

In July 2020, the ATI launched its FlyZero project – drawing upon the collective expertise of the UK aerospace sector (and beyond) to develop a concept for a zero-carbon emission commercial aircraft for the 2030s. In parallel with this, the UK government’s Jet Zero Council will investigate the possibility of developing a long-haul ‘green’ airliner.

In September 2020, two projects funded through the ATI Programme announced significant milestones. The Rolls-Royce ACCEL (Accelerating the Electrification of

In Europe, average fuel consumption per commercial flight decreased by 24% between 2005 and 2017, while the total CO2 and NOx contributions increased by 16% and 25% respectively – the steady growth in passenger demand has outpaced the improvements from better technologies

ecosystem will look like in terms of green hydrogen production, storage, refuelling and fuel cell powered flight.

ZeroAvia’s hydrogen-electric powertrain is designed to replace conventional piston engines and is projected to have lower operating costs than its jet-fuelled competition due to lower fuel and maintenance costs. The company plans to control hydrogen fuel production and supply for its powertrains, and other commercial customers, substantially reducing the fuel availability and pricing risks for the entire market.

Flight) project completed ground testing of the pioneering technology that will power the world’s fastest all-electric plane.

The technology has been tested on a full-scale replica of the plane’s core, including a 500 hp electric powertrain powerful enough to set world speed records, as well as a battery with enough energy to supply 250 homes. The first flight is planned for later this year and Rolls-Royce is aiming to beat the current all-electric flight world record early next year.

In the same week, ZeroAvia announced that its HyFlyer project had completed the world’s first hydrogen fuel cell powered flight of a commercial-grade aircraft.

ZeroAvia will now turn its attention to the next and final stage of its six-seat development programme – a 400-km zero carbon emission flight out of an airfield in Orkney before the end of the year. The demonstration of this range is roughly equivalent to busy major routes such as Los Angeles to San Francisco or London to Edinburgh.

But many tasks lie ahead. Not least is scaling up these solutions to cater for the huge demand in air travel, which has outstripped the

pace of technological development.

To build a truly zero emissions aircraft, a whole aircraft lifecycle approach is required, encompassing development, manufacturing and assembly, decades of use and end-of-life disposal. Similarly, a well-to-wake approach to fuels is needed to minimise the impact of production, distribution and end use of hydrocarbon-based aviation fuels (whether these are fossil fuel kerosene or more sustainable alternatives).

The same kind of scrutiny must also be applied to alternative energy sources used for aircraft, such as batteries or hydrogen. A technology that produces zero in-flight emissions is not necessarily zero emissions over the course of its lifetime. In the face of technological and environmental challenges, the case for continued investment from government and industry into these important research programmes has never been stronger. l Dr Cristina Garcia-Duffy is Head of Technology – Strategy & Integration at the Aerospace Technology Institute, ati.org.uk

Energy World | November 2020 25