The new collaborative initiative, called HGVZero, is being overseen by Innovation Gateway. It will follow a similar model to Innovation Gateway’s EVZero scheme which was launched earlier this year in response to the need to scale electric vehicle (EV) charging infrastructure across the UK, but will be pan-European rather than national.
HGVZero’s founding members are supermarket giant Tesco, beverage bottler Coca-Cola European Partners, logistics providers Eddie Stobart and XPO, and parcel delivery service DPD.
Collaboratively, representatives from these businesses will map EV charging infrastructure across geographies where they operate, identifying gaps. They will also map refuelling infrastructure for alternatively-fuelled HGVs.
As a rule of thumb, the heavier the vehicle is, the more challenging it is to electrify. Few businesses have adopted pure electric HGVs to date and, going forward, a mix of technologies will likely be used in the private sector, including hybrid vehicles and those powered using alternative fuels like hydrogen and biomethane. HGVZero members will also be tasked with mapping the innovation landscape for HGVs.
Both mapping activities are set to be completed within six months. The maps will inform a joint action plan, outlining how players across the HGV value chain will tackle shared challenges relating to zero-emission HGV technologies and related infrastructure.
“HGV decarbonisation is a systemic critical challenge that we must address innovatively and as an industry.” Said XPO Logistics’ environmental and sustainability lead for the UK and Ireland, Dr Nicholas Head. “That’s why we are particularly excited to be working with a diverse group of organisations, including our haulage peers and global shippers, to develop joint solutions that will further accelerate the sustainability of HGV transport.”
In the UK, where Innovation Gateway is headquartered, the Government is aiming to end the sale of new petrol and diesel HGVs in phases through to 2040. The Transport Decarbonisation Plan last year proposed a ban on sales for ICE vehicles weighing 3.5-26 tonnes by 2035 and those weighing more than 26 tonnes by 2040.
These commitments intend to support the 2050 net-zero target. Road transport has been the UK’s highest emitting sector since 2016 and HGVs account for 18% of the UK’s transport-related greenhouse gas emissions.
Carlsberg Marston’s Brewing Company
In related news, Carlsberg Marston’s Brewing Company (CMBC) has confirmed that two fully electric HGVs will be added to its delivery fleet by the end of the month. One vehicle will be based out of its Thurrock depot and the other out of Cardiff. Both of these depots have had charging points installed, served using renewable electricity.
The vehicles, E-Tech D Wide models from Renault Trucks, will serve as a proof-of-concept trial for the brewer. They will replace two diesel vehicles in the first instance and, if the trial is successful, CMBC will look to add more of them to its 270-strong HGV fleet.
Image: CMBC
CMBC estimates that the vehicles will, between them, travel up to 19,000 miles per year with zero tailpipe emissions. Aside from contributing to its broader 1.5C-aligned climate efforts, the brewer sees benefits from the vehicles in terms of avoiding London Ultra-Low Emission Zone charges, reducing noise and reducing air pollution.
CBMC’s vice president for customer supply chain Sarah Perry said: “With the trucks capable of travelling up to 150 kilometres on a single charge, the urbanised areas of Cardiff and Essex are the ideal routes to test the potential of electric vehicles in our logistics network. This launch is potentially transformational to us as a brewer and logistics operator, but also in terms of helping pubs to build back greener after the pandemic.”
KEY POINTS
According to Tevva, which says it has raised $140 million in funding, its vehicle will have a range of as much as 310 miles.
The company says its first hydrogen electric truck will weigh 7.5 metric tons, with later versions planned to weigh 12 and 19 metric tons.
While there is excitement in some quarters about the potential of hydrogen-powered vehicles, there are hurdles when it comes to expanding the sector.
U.K.-based startup Tevva on Thursday launched a hydrogen-electric heavy goods vehicle, becoming the latest company to make a play in a sector attracting interest from multinationals like Daimler Truck and Volvo.
According to Tevva, which says it has raised $140 million in funding, its vehicle will have a range of as much as 310 miles, or slightly under 500 kilometers.
Refilling the hydrogen tanks will take 10 minutes while charging the battery “from fully depleted to 100%” will take five to six hours.
The company’s first hydrogen-electric truck will weigh 7.5 metric tons, with later versions planned to weigh 12 and 19 metric tons.
In a statement, Tevva sought to explain the rationale behind combining a fuel cell and battery. “The fuel cell system tops up the battery, extending the vehicle’s range and allowing the truck to carry heavier loads over longer distances.”
Alongside its hydrogen-electric truck, the business has also developed an electric truck that it says has a range of up to 160 miles. Details of both the electric and hydrogen-electric trucks had been previously announced by Tevva.
In an interview with CNBC’s “Street Signs Europe” on Thursday, Tevva CEO Asher Bennett was asked whether his company was looking to diversify into smaller vehicles.
“We’re not interested in developing the smaller vans or the pickup trucks,” Bennett said. “Those are, in many instances, very similar technology to the larger EV sedans, which work very well,” he added.
“We’re very focused on the heavy goods trucks and we’re slowly going heavier and heavier because those are the segments that are much harder to electrify.”
With governments around the world looking to reduce the environmental footprint of transportation, a number of companies in the trucking sector are exploring ways to develop low and zero-emission vehicles, including ones that use hydrogen.
Last month, Volvo Trucks said it began to test vehicles that use “fuel cells powered by hydrogen,” with the Swedish firm claiming their range could extend to as much as 1,000 kilometers, or a little over 621 miles.
Gothenburg-headquartered Volvo Trucks said refueling of the vehicles would take under 15 minutes. Customer pilots are set to begin in the next few years, with commercialization “planned for the latter part of this decade.”
Alongside hydrogen fuel cell vehicles, Volvo Trucks — which is part of the Volvo Group — has also developed battery-electric trucks.
Like Volvo Trucks and Tevva, Daimler Truck is focusing on both battery-electric vehicles and ones that use hydrogen.
In an interview with CNBC last year, Martin Daum, chairman of the board of management at Daimler Truck, was asked about the debate between battery-electric and hydrogen fuel cells.
“We go for both because both … make sense,” he replied, before explaining how different technologies would be appropriate in different scenarios.
While there is excitement in some quarters about the potential of hydrogen-powered vehicles, there are hurdles when it comes to expanding the sector, not least when it comes to the development of adequate refueling infrastructure. The way hydrogen is produced is also an issue.
Both of these points were acknowledged by Volvo Trucks in June when it pointed to challenges including the “large-scale supply of green hydrogen” as well as “the fact that refueling infrastructure for heavy vehicles is yet to be developed.”
Hydrogen can be produced in a number of ways. One method includes using electrolysis, with an electric current splitting water into oxygen and hydrogen.
If the electricity used in this process comes from a renewable source such as wind or solar then some call it “green” or “renewable” hydrogen. Today, the vast majority of hydrogen generation is based on fossil fuels.
For its part, Tevva said it would help its customers “access sustainable and affordable hydrogen supplies safely and conveniently, alongside their purchase or lease of Tevva Hydrogen Trucks.”
Singapore will be renewing the 10 voluntary commitments previously submitted at the first United Nations Oceans Conference (UNOC), and undertaking nine new ones for marine protection.
Three of the island state’s new commitments involve environmental research projects. These are related to sustainable management of marine fish populations, the use of solar energy to facilitate coral growth, and a Marine Climate Change Science programme.
Other new commitments seek to spearhead the shipping industry’s green transition, for example by incentivising ship owners to become more sustainable. The country wants to lead the charge on the maritime industry’s transition to energy efficient technologies and low or zero carbon fuels, said its foreign minister Vivian Balakrishnan, delivering an official statement at the UNOC in Lisbon, Portugal, this week.
“The challenges facing the ocean have increased with each passing year. We need to urgently scale up actions to collectively protect the ocean, and mitigate the impacts of climate change,” Dr Balakrishnan told member states.
What are voluntary commitments?
At the first UN Ocean Conference which took place in New York in 2017, member states agreed to create a list of commitments to further the implementation of Sustainable Development Goal 14, “Life Below Water”.
Minister for Foreign Affairs Dr Vivian Balakrishnan delivering Singapore’s National Statement at the United Nations Ocean Conference in Lisbon on 28 June 2022. Image: Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Singapore.
Ocean governance experts that Eco-Business spoke to, however, have expressed doubts about the efficacy of the voluntary commitments. The non-binding nature of these commitments raises questions about their ability to drive ambitious action for marine protection, in Singapore and beyond.
Dr Michelle Voyer, a researcher on ocean governance at Australia’s University of Wollongong, said that there can be problems evaluating whether the commitments have been implemented as planned, or if countries are succeeding in meeting their objectives.
“There is no mechanism that I am aware of at present which tracks the performance over time,” she said.
While submitters can update their commitments with a progress report on the Registry, this is not mandatory.
Globally, over 1900 voluntary commitments have been registered on the Ocean Conference Registry. These have primarily been made by governments and non-governmental organisations, but also include other stakeholders like United Nations entities, academic institutions, and the scientific community.
Based on the registry data, the Singapore government has submitted a total of 33 commitments since 2017, including the nine new ones. A check by Eco-Business found that progress updates have been submitted for at least 23 commitments, and seven commitments have been completed to date.
Ho Xiang Tian, co-founder of environmental advocacy group Lepak in SG, is confident that implementation would not be an issue for Singapore.
“The real question is whether the voluntary commitments can fulfill the needs of what the oceans require to thrive,” he said. “There is a global target to protect 30 per cent of Earth’s oceans by 2030, but I don’t think we are anywhere close to that.”
The 30 by 30 initiative seeks to designate 30 per cent of the world’s land and ocean as protected areas by 2030. More than 100 countries have publicly committed to this goal to date.
Land reclamation and dredging practices need better management: youth activists Kathy Xu, a marine conservationist from Singapore and founder of social enterprise The Dorsal Effect, said she was happy to see the focus on research on ocean species and sustainability in Singapore’s new commitments.
“The areas of the research sound promising, and I’m all for science based methods,” she said.
“However, the devil is in the details that we do not have,” Ms Xu noted. She added that she hopes the government will tap on the diversity of marine expertise in Singapore, including civil society stakeholders, “not just academic ocean conservationists”.
Alice Soewito, a member of environmental group Singapore Youth for Climate Action, said that while Singapore has made advances in the maritime shipping industry, the government could better manage land reclamation and dredging practices.
“These practices can result in chronic sedimentation that harm and kill corals, thereby impacting the rest of the marine ecosystem,” she said.
Since the 1960s, Singapore has adopted an aggressive approach of land reclamation to accommodate industrial activities and a growing population. The island’s land area has expanded by nearly 25 per cent over the last two centuries. The National University of Singapore’s Reef Ecology Lab has said that many coral reef ecosystems were “smothered” by past reclamation practices.
These environmental impacts extend beyond Singapore’s borders. A 2010 report by international NGO Global Witness claimed that sand mining practices in Cambodia’s Koh Kong province, from which Singapore imported sand up till 2016, severely depleted local fish and crab stocks.
Malaysia and Indonesia banned sand exports to Singapore in 1997 and 2007 respectively due to environmental concerns.
On a global scale, Dr Voyer pointed out that many current commitments have a strong emphasis on research and science, as well as capacity development.
“Of course we always need to be improving the knowledge base,” she said. “But I would like to see greater emphasis on recognising the existing capacity within many coastal communities and amongst ocean stakeholders.”
“This includes engaging with local knowledge, and being bold in trying ideas put forward by the communities,” said Dr Voyer.
Negotations underway for new global ocean treaty
This year’s Ocean Conference, which took place from 27 June to 1 July, sought to scale up ocean action with a specific focus on science and innovation. Member states adopted a political declaration reaffirming their commitment to ocean conservation.
While this declaration is not binding, it lays the political foundation for an upcoming legally binding instrument — the Intergovernmental Conference on Marine Biodiversity of Areas Beyond National Jurisdiction, colloquially known as the BBNJ Treaty. Singapore serves as the current president of the Intergovernmental Conference and will help to facilitate the fifth round of negotiations taking place in August this year.
In his speech, Dr Balakrishnan called on all delegations to “work towards the conclusion of an ambitious and future-proof BBNJ treaty as soon as possible”.
There were 131 billion parcels shipped worldwide in 2020 — a figure that is predicted to double in the next five years. Asia represents a huge market for global trade and logistics with the continent expected to account for 57 per cent of the growth of the global e-commerce logistics markets between 2020 and 2025.
But getting things from A to B creates an enormous carbon footprint.
Transportation was responsible for 8.26 gigatons, or about 26 per cent, of CO2 emissions globally in 2018, according to the International Energy Agency (IEA). Freight, the transport of goods, accounts for more than 7 per cent of global greenhouse gas emissions, according to the International Transport Forum.
Slashing planet-warming gases produced by transport and logistics will be instrumental in helping nations and corporates hit their climate goals.
A raft of corporate net-zero commitments has largely led to rapid efforts to drive down direct Scope 1 and Scope 2 greenhouse gas emissions. More organisations are pledging to reduce Scope 3 emissions generated upstream and downstream of the value chain and those embodied in transport and distribution.
Supply chains have become longer, more complex as logistics networks link more economic centres together and consumer preferences change leading to more regular, smaller freight shipments and rapid delivery by energy-intensive transport such as air freight.
While Europe and North America dominate historic transport emissions, much of the projected growth in emissions is in Asia, according to the World Economic Forum which reckons that highly ambitious policies could cut emissions by 70 per cent – but not to zero.
Operating in 220 countries and territories, Germany-headquartered Deutsche Post DHL Group is one of the largest logistics firms in the world. It also produced 33.3 million tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions in 2020.
The organisation has pegged its pathway to decarbonisation on reducing annual group carbon dioxide emissions to below 29 million tonnes by 2030 as it attempts to hit zero emissions by 2050. An investment of US$7.6 billion until 2030 will be funnelled into alternative aviation fuels, the expansion of electric vehicles and climate-neutral buildings, the group announced on 22 March.
“Logistics is a key contributor to the global carbon footprint. DHL occupies a big share of global logistics,” said Amrita Khadilkar, regional director, Operations Development, Digitalisation and GoGreen, APAC.
“In order to accelerate the move towards net zero carbon logistics, more work needs to be done to develop solutions within transport,” Khadilkar said. Private sector efforts alone are not enough, governments and policymakers must also buoy decarbonisation efforts.
From burning less, to burning clean
The S-curve charts the firm’s path to net zero logistics emissions.
The early climb on the solid S-curve represents carbon reduction strategies through supply chain efficiencies using existing technology that will enable the firm to burn fewer fossil fuels.
Carbon offsets are used to compensate for the hard-to-abate emissions and bridge the leap to the second dotted line S-curve—which represents the impending usage of new and currently less familiar types of technologies and approaches for carbon reduction—the final leg to net zero.
On this ‘burn clean’ pathway, the company sees the removal of carbon through sustainable fuels and alternative technologies, such as electric vehicles.
The S-curve framework – used to illustrate the typical pattern of start, rapid growth and maturity of technology diffusion as well as the corresponding efficiency improvements across an industry or economy – is one way to guide carbon reduction in logistics. This is achieved by reducing, compensating and removing. [Click to enlarge]. Image: DHL
However, there are several roadblocks to getting transport and logistics firms to burn clean fuels and move closer to net zero. Initial efforts show that firms find it challenging to navigate this road alone without meaningful collaboration.
“Most logistics firms have the know-how for reducing their carbon footprint using their existing technologies and familiar ways of working. But that will only take them so far as per the solid S-curve,” said Professor Emeritus Steven Miller, former vice provost (Research), Singapore Management University.
“To make the required progress in carbon reduction, companies need to jump to the next-generation (dotted line) S-curve enabled by new technology and new ways of working which will enable far greater opportunities for carbon footprint reduction,” he added.
Transport is still largely dependent on fossil fuels and is likely to remain so in the coming decades. Long-distance road freight (large trucks), aviation and shipping are areas from which carbon is particularly difficult to eliminate.
The potential for hydrogen as a fuel, or battery electricity to run planes, ships and large trucks is limited by the range and power required; the size and weight of batteries or hydrogen fuel tanks would be much larger and heavier than current combustion engines.
Currently, the logistics sector has low clean-technology maturity and high costs for such, such as new energy vehicles (NEVs), sustainable fuels, according to DHL. Supporting infrastructure like charging ports for EVs and access to renewable energy is currently lacking in some markets, driving up the cost of sustainable alternatives further. Meanwhile, aviation is still grappling with hitting on a viable low-carbon strategy.
“Some of the sustainable technologies and solutions in the early stages may not be commercially viable or operationally scalable,” acknowledged Khadilkar.
The IEA says that there needs to be deep cuts in fossil fuels to reach the mid-century target of limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius.
Climate Action 100+, the world’s largest grouping of investors representing US$65 trillion in assets, warned in March that the aviation industry needed to take “urgent action” to align with the world’s climate goal. Its report highlighted the need for a “substantial” increase in sustainable aviation fuel between now and 2030.
Collaboration is key
In a bid to cut the reliance on fossil fuels in its air freight, DHL has set an ambitious goal of using 30 per cent sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) for all air transport by 2030.
Last month, DHL announced one of the largest SAF deals with bp and Neste which have committed to provide 800 million litres until 2026. DHL expects its strategic collaborations to save about two million tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions over the aviation fuel lifecycle – equivalent to the annual greenhouse gas emissions of about 400,000 passenger cars.
Tackling emissions created on land, DHL teamed up with Swedish firm, Volvo Trucks to introduce heavy duty electric delivery trucks for regional transport in Europe. The initiative is buoyed with funding from the country’s innovation agency, Vinnova and energy agency.
The adoption of new fuel technologies, essential to helping firms complete the journey to zero carbon emissions, requires partnering with governments to fund research and development efforts. Public investment in higher-risk programmes can also lead to the development of potentially disruptive technologies for energy applications.
“Government support can improve the rate of adoption of such technologies or solutions,” said Khadilkar. “Government incentives can also enable more research in green technologies and speed up any efforts to bring them to market.”
This would also reduce the cost. While companies like DHL and its industry peers can pilot new green technologies into freight, the cost will have to be shouldered by the consumer to some extent. Customers and companies say they want to live more sustainably but not all are willing to pay a premium to enable it.
Firms can only edge closer to net zero through trial and error. “Governments need to help through more research and development support, staging and coordinating larger scale domestic and international field trials, and by providing incentives for relevant business investments in new technology and capital, as well as in the related needs for human learning and training to work with these new technologies,” Miller said.
The adoption of sustainable alternatives has accelerated in countries where governments are offering financial support. This includes subsides and incentives through tax relief. Government subsidies have helped China become the world’s largest market for EVs. It is expected to exceed the government 2025 target and hit 20 per cent nationwide penetration this year.
“Investing or promoting green infrastructure can enable local businesses’ operations to be greener—through available and affordable renewable energy or developed local EV charging infrastructure, for example. A regulatory push such as inner city emissions regulation, or incentives like tax breaks, subsidies, are other ways we have seen help accelerate sustainability efforts,” said Kevin Jungnitsch, project manager & APAC sustainability lead, DHL Consulting APAC office.
Governments have also proven that they can help reduce emissions created by last-mile delivery.
In Singapore, a nationwide parcel delivery locker network spearheaded by the Infocomm Media Development Authority of Singapore allows e-commerce platforms and their customers collect and return online purchases using parcel lockers scattered across the city. It is expected to reduce the distance travelled for delivery purposes by 44 per cent daily and the city state’s CO2 emissions by up to 50 tonnes a year.
Waste also needs to be addressed. Out of the 1.56 million tonnes of household waste generated in Singapore in 2018, approximately one-third was packaging, according to a study by the World Wide Fund for Nature and DHL Consulting published in November. About 2000,000 e-commerce parcels are delivered daily in the city state, and this is expected to grow by about 50 per cent in the next three years.
In a bid to stem the tide of waste, a six-month pilot scheme was launched last month in Singapore to encourage shoppers to return packaging from their online purchases and encourage retailers to adopt a circular waste model. The pilot is an attempt to tackle the mountains of waste caused by the high volume of online shopping.
Navigating the decarbonisation road map
Supply chains are coming under greater scrutiny as firms and countries accelerate efforts to decarbonise. If the transport and logistics industry fails to respond effectively, it is likely to face significant and rapid regulatory tightening, and ever greater scrutiny from capital markets.
Strong public-private partnerships are needed to accelerate the necessary transition to the new generation of technology and new supporting business processes and ways of working in order to get supply chains to net zero carbon emissions, Miller added.
The private sector and government institutions could follow a simple framework to prompt deeper discussion and action surrounding the acceleration of adopting decarbonising logistics. This begins with a discovery phase where current infrastructure, resources and technologies are evaluated, sustainability challenges assessed, and key areas of focus are prioritised.
Embedding sustainability into corporate governance could help influence the decision-making that flows into the supply chain. This includes measures such as introducing mandatory sustainability requirements around reporting and transparency.
The challenge for governments will be to encourage companies to form robust decarbonisation plans with supporting incentives so that no single player is penalised for taking the harder path to sustainability.
Lastly, companies on the path to net zero need to examine each aspect of decarbonisation and identify where they can follow, share or lead on aspects of the net zero journey. While some firms will be able to distinguish themselves as sustainable leaders in some areas, they will also need to make alliances with public and private stakeholders.
But time is of the essence as capping the global temperature rise to 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels — a target key to avoiding the worst climate impacts — is slipping further out of reach.
“Climate promises and plans must be turned into reality and action now,” said Antonio Guterres, secretary-general of the United Nations, following a clarion call by hundreds of scientists last month to take action against climate change. “It is time to stop burning our planet, and start investing in the abundant renewable energy all around us.”
When Indian transport minister Nitin Gadkari arrived in parliament in a car fuelled by green hydrogen in March this year, he signalled the country’s big ambition for fuel billed as crucial for the energy transition and the fight against climate change.
“India will soon become a green hydrogen exporting country,” he said.
The government’s vision has captured the imagination of industry players in India, where two of Asia’s richest tycoons, Mukesh Ambani and Gautam Adani, are now racing to produce the world’s cheapest green hydrogen.
If they achieve their goal, the sector could potentially transform the world’s third-largest energy consumer and carbon emitter. But it will likely take at least a decade for India to realise its green hydrogen hopes, analysts say.
On 15 June, Adani announced that it had sold a quarter of the equity in group company Adani New Industries to France’s TotalEnergies and planned to invest $50 billion over the next decade in green hydrogen.
“Our confidence in our ability to produce the world’s least expensive electron is what will drive our ability to produce the world’s least expensive green hydrogen,” Gautam Adani, chairman of Adani Group, said in a statement.
India’s green hydrogen ecosystem could be a 1-2 trillion dollar industry over the next 20-25 years. – Rajat Seksaria, CEO, ACME Group
Reliance Industries’ chief executive, Mukesh Ambani, too, has pledged to produce green hydrogen at $1 per kg — which is about 60 per cent cheaper than today’s price — and plans to invest $75 billion in renewable energy production and equipment.
The plans of the two business groups alone can clean up thousands of tonnes of emissions, because Adani Group owns a chain of coal mines and coal-based power plants, while Reliance boasts of the world’s biggest petrochemical refinery as well as some of the country’s largest oil and natural gas assets.
Analysts expect both Ambani and Adani to not only replace their industrial use and production of fossil fuels at home, but to also target exports of green hydrogen.
Green hydrogen, which is produced by splitting water into hydrogen and oxygen using renewable energy, could replace fossil fuels for a variety of uses including the manufacture of commodities like steel and fertiliser as well as transport fuel.
A lot will depend on government policy support as well as improved technology to cut the high cost of fuel (around $6 per kg) that puts it beyond the reach of the majority of consumers, analysts say.
Pipe dream?
“I think we are quite far away from what the big majors are announcing and where we are at this point of time,” says Vinay Rustagi, managing director of Bridge to India, a renewable energ consultancy firm.
“Everybody is hoping that green hydrogen will be almost like a silver bullet. But it’s a technology in the nascent stages and there is lack of clarity on the manufacturing plans,” Rustagi said.
There are several key challenges that are looming for the sector.
India will need to build manufacturing capacity for electrolysers, the equipment that splits water into hydrogen and oxygen, which is still a niche market worldwide, notes Thirumalai NC, sector head, strategic studies at Center for Study of Science, Technology & Policy (CSTEP), a Bengalaru-based thinktank.
The capacity to make electrolysers as well as better technology will be crucial to slash production costs by a third to below $2 per kg – a price level at which large-scale industrial demand is likely to kick in, say analysts.
India would also need to set up infrastructure for storage as well as pipelines that are mostly absent except for some ageing equipment, analysts added.
New Delhi would also need to source materials such as iridium, scandium, yttrium, and platinum, which are not easily available in the country and would be needed in abundance.
The federal government has started taking steps and in February announced a National Hydrogen Mission, outlining a program to incentivise the production of green hydrogen such as by offering cheaper land and fee waivers for electricity transmission across provinces.
The government is expected to flesh out the initial announcement with a more detailed program in about a month with specific mandates for sectors such as chemicals, fertiliser and steel to use the fuel.
India plans to produce five million tons of green hydrogen by 2030, which is nearly the same amount as it produces now using natural gas to mainly make fertilisers.
Global ambitions
The bold ambitions made by Indian policymakers have convinced several Indian companies besides Reliance and the Adani to make moves to develop green hydrogen.
Renewables energy company ACME Group has already set up an integrated green hydrogen and ammonia plant in Bikaner in the north-western state of Rajasthan, investing about $20 million to produce up to 1,800 tons of green fuel and five tonnes per day of green ammonia that is used to make fertiliser.
The group is also developing one of the world’s largest green ammonia projects in Oman with an annual production capacity of 0.9 million tonnes, which will likely be operational by 2024. The $3.3 billion-facility will cater to European and Asian demand.
A host of state-run oil companies such as Oil India Ltd, the nation’s second-largest oil and gas explorer, Bharat Petroleum Corporation and Indian Oil Corporation, have also announced plans to make green hydrogen as well as develop equipment like electrolysers, which could make the country a large producer over the long term.
The decarbonisation ambitions of other Asian countries such as Japan and South Korea are likely to play into India’s hands, as the country emerges as a low-cost green hydrogen producer, analysts say.
Although Indian companies’ production plans are at an early stage, the country can become a large supplier as it is one of the cheapest producers of renewable electricity, which accounts for up to 80 per cent of green hydrogen’s production cost, says CSTEP’s Thirumalai.
India plans to raise its renewable energy capacity to 500 gigawatts by 2030, up from 110 gigawatts now, could drive down output costs further.
“India will have its own green hydrogen demand as well be a major exporter … This would make the green hydrogen ecosystem in India a 1-2 trillion dollar industry over the next 20-25 years,” according to ACME chief executive, Rajat Seksaria.
Globally, the green hydrogen industry could be worth $12-13 trillion by 2050, according to industry estimates.
Subhalakshmi Naskar, partner at law firm Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas, says that the government’s National Hydrogen Mission is a positive step to incentivise output and encourage investments, but a lot more will be needed.
“The implementation of policy…(including production linked incentives and tax holidays) will need to be put in place without any regulatory or other policy delays,” says Naskar.
A social forestry project has won the 2022 edition of the Liveability Challenge, a yearly search for ways to tackle the most difficult sustainability challenges faced in Southeast Asia.
Fairventures Social Forestry, a team from Germany, emerged ahead of five other finalists to clinch the grand prize of S$1 million (US$728,000) in funding from Temasek Foundation, the sponsor of the Liveability Challenge and philanthropic arm of Temasek, Singapore’s state-investment company.
This marks the first time in the Challenge’s history that a nature-based solution has won top prize.
This year’s Challenge was themed around decarbonisation, agritechnology as well as nature-based solutions to climate change.
The Fairventures project aims to sustainably manage forests and improve livelihoods in Jambi, Indonesia, using a scalable social forestry model that incorporates blended finance.
Steve Melhuish, impact investor at Planet Rise and one of The Liveability Challenge judges, said: “What we really liked about Fairventures was that it is a true nature-based solution with a proven track record that has helped communities and has had a real carbon impact.”
Melhuish also commended Fairventures for its sustainable business model; it has secured offtakers for its products which include crops, timber and carbon credits.
Lim Hock Chuan, head of programmes, Temasek Foundation, also one of the judges, said: “This is one of the few nature-based solutions ventures that was genuinely end-to-end, with blended finance to make the project sustainable and viable. It also addressed a very big problem: what to do with vast expanses of degraded land in Indonesia.”
Tisha Ramadhini (centre) and Paul Schuelle (right) from social forestry venture Fairventures, winner of the 2022 edition of The Liveability Challenge, receiving the prize from judge Lim Hock Chuan, head of programmes, Temasek Foundation. This marks the first time in the Challenge’s history that a nature-based solution has won top prize. Image: Eco-Business
The winner was chosen from a field of finalists that included an initiative to curb the energy consumption of data centre through artificial intelligence and digital twin technology by a team from Singapore called Red Dot Analytics, and a large-scale carbon sequestration project by British team CQUESTR8.
Also among the finalists were GAIT, a team from Singapore and New Zealand that measures carbon, and Wasna, a team from Belgium and Singapore that makes low-cost cultivated meat using a universal serum.
The sixth finalist was ImpacFat, a Japan-Singapore team that produces alternative meat products using cell-based fish fat.
Additional prizes of S$50,000 from Quest Ventures went to Fairventures and ImpacFat, S$100,000 from Purpose Venture Capital was awarded to Red Dot Analytics, and S$100,000 from Amasia went to GAIT.
A further S$100,000 from PlanetRise was awarded to Fairventures. Wasna was also given S$100,000 by Silverstrand Capital.
According to an audience poll, Red Dot Analytics was the most popular candidate, followed by GAIT and Wasna.
Last year’s Liveability Challenge winner was SeaChange, a US-based company which produced construction materials like concrete and cement from CO2 dissolved in seawater.
Other past winners include TurtleTreeLabs, a Singapore-based company developing lab-grown milk, and Sophie’s Kitchen, a US-based firm developing sustainable, microalgae-based proteins.
One of Asia’s first specialist sustainability recruitment firms has opened for business in Singapore as demand for jobs in the environmental, social and governance (ESG) space grows in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Acre, which was founded in London by British zoology graduate Andy Cartland in 2003, will use Singapore as its Asia Pacific base as it looks to service clients around the region.
Cartland said the time was right to launch in Asia, as the region is experiencing rapid growth in demand for sustainability talent and skills.
Acre posts candidates working in sustainability, impact investing, health and safety, and energy and clean technology, and will be compete with other firms that offer ESG recruitment services, such as NextWave, Formative Search, and Odgers Berndtson.
“Asia is arguably behind Europe and the United States when it comes to sustainability. But the region is moving at light speed to catch up. We want to be part of this transition,” Cartland told Eco-Business.
He noted that the business took a 20 percent revenue hit in 2020 as a result of the pandemic, but 2021 saw the business rebound and revenue and headcount grow by 100 percent, which has enabled the company to expand to Asia.
“We are on track for similar growth this year as well,” he said.
Singapore will be Acre’s third overseas launch, with it having established a European operation in Amsterdam and a North American hub in New York in recent years.
Acre’s Singapore launch will enable the company to service existing multinational clients with operations in the region, and also local companies in the global supply chain.
The company’s past work in Asia includes recruiting a leadership team for the Bangladesh Accord, a coalition of global brands, retailers and trade unions set up in 2013 to improve health and safety in Bangladesh’s garment industry.
Among the candidates Acre has placed recently include the global environment, health and safety director at Amazon, and the executive director of the International Cocoa Initiative (ICI), a Swiss non-profit working to tackle child labour in the cocoa sector.
Cartland, who will move from London to Singapore in August to oversee the launch, has appointed an executive director for the Singapore office, who has yet to resign from his current job and will relocate from Hong Kong.
Acre’s Asia launch comes a month after a report by business social network LinkedIn showed 30 percent growth in hiring for green jobs between 2016 and 2021, with a spike in sustainability recruitment between 2020 and 2021.
The report also highlighted a shortage of talent for ESG roles in the region.
Cartland said that while there is a large talent pool of sustainability professionals in London, candidates in Asia, where the sustainability sector is less developed, are harder to find.
“Asia faces a different candidate sourcing challenge, and we will need to help clients navigate the [ESG] skills gap,” he said. “Our role is to find people where they’re tough to find.”
This will may involve thinking creatively about transitioning people out of non-sustainability roles, he said.
Acre is aiming to double its Asia operation by its second year, following the growth trajectories of its European and American businesses, Cartland said.
DAVOS, Switzerland — Davos is living up to its name as a place for movers and shakers. On Wednesday, a group known as the First Movers Coalition announced major climate commitments intended to create markets for everything from green steel and aluminum to carbon dioxide removal.
Microsoft, Alphabet and Salesforce are among the heavy hitters in tech at the forefront of the coalition that includes more than 50 companies with a total market cap of $8.5 trillion. That’s a large chunk of the U.S. stock market, and the pledge means those companies will start procuring climate-friendly products that are more expensive than their standard counterparts as well as services that don’t really exist at scale (yet). The companies’ commitments could give industries that we know we need to grow down the road the confidence that demand will be there.
The coalition launched last year at United Nations climate talks as an initiative spearheaded by Climate Envoy John Kerry and Bill Gates. The focus then was mostly on steel, shipping and aviation, all sectors of the economy that are incredibly hard and costly to decarbonize. Wednesday’s announcement threw CDR — Silicon Valley’s favorite climate solution — into the mix, along with green aluminum.
“Today is a great milestone in a very difficult long-term project,” Bill Gates said.
Indeed, the trio of major tech companies collectively committed $500 million to CDR between now and 2030. Alphabet joined a handful of other tech companies in pledging $925 million to purchase CDR services last month. It didn’t respond to Protocol’s request about if its First Movers Coalition money was the same as its commitment to Frontier, but Bloomberg confirmed the $200 million is the same money. Microsoft has also made its own investments in removing carbon from the atmosphere while Salesforce founder Marc Benioff has invested in companies that do so.
Right now, a handful of startups are removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere using techniques ranging from protecting forests to growing kelp to relying on machines to do the dirty work. Paying those companies to do that is currently pretty pricey, costing hundreds of dollars per ton. That adds up fast when you’re talking about a company that pumps millions of tons of carbon dioxide per year into the atmosphere when factoring in Scope 3 emissions.
Obviously Alphabet, Salesforce and Microsoft are good for it, though, and their early investments could help bring prices down by signaling there’s going to be a market for CDRl. At numerous events at the World Economic Forum this week, Kerry echoed a phrase coined by Gates called the “green premium,” which refers to the idea of paying extra for the more climate-friendly option. For companies, that can refer to paying a bit of extra cash for green steel or CDR. (Though to be clear, there’s no alternative to the latter outside cutting emissions.)
“No government has the money to be able to solve this problem by itself,” Kerry said. “No government can move fast enough to solve this problem by itself. We need you. We need the private sector around the world to step up.”
While that first point is a bit up for debate given that the federal budget for the military alone is north of $700 billion per year, it’s clear that procurement is a huge avenue for both corporations and the government to spur new markets and bring down costs of the technology we need to address the climate crisis. The Biden administration itself has pulled on some of those levers, notably with a plan to purchase only electric vehicles by 2035. With 645,000 vehicles, that would help drive costs down for batteries, charging and other parts of the EV equation.
The government is also investing billions in direct air capture R&D, which could bring down costs. But tech companies’ commitment to buying those services offer another avenue to do that. Right now, most tech can remove maybe a few thousands of tons from the atmosphere a year. To keep global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius, a key guardrail, the world will need to pull multiple billions of tons of carbon dioxide from the sky each year in the coming decades. Exactly how much will depend on how fast we deploy renewables, EVs and other climate solutions we already have at the ready.
Kerry noted that the government partners in the First Movers Coalition are also working to create more regulatory certainty and policies that can speed the adoption of new, cleaner technologies. Tax credits and even more R&D investments are some of the avenues that could open the door to reimagining polluting industries and creating new sectors of the economy to clean up the carbon pollution already in the atmosphere.
The new commitment from the First Movers Coalition will give CDR companies a little more certainty that the market will develop for their services. That, in addition to commitments for green steel and aluminum as well as other products, is, in Kerry’s words, the “highest-leverage climate action that companies can take, because creating the early markets to scale advanced technologies materially reduces the whole world’s emissions.”
The move toward sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) derived from cooking oil, household rubbish and other materials is gaining momentum in the airline industry, which has been the target of criticism because of the high carbon dioxide emissions associated with flying.
In late March, aircraft manufacturer Airbus SE flew an A380 jumbo jet for about three hours powered by SAF for a test flight in Toulouse, southwestern France, indicating the safety of SAF and signalling a wave of change in the aviation industry.
The term “flight shaming” was popularised by environmental activist Greta Thunberg. In 2019, the Swedish teenager crossed the Atlantic Ocean by yacht when she travelled to the UN headquarters in New York for a climate summit, instead of travelling by plane.
Jet fuel derived from crude oil is responsible for most of the carbon dioxide emissions produced by the airline industry, which has come under increased scrutiny amid a global push for decarbonization.
The A380 flight lasted about three hours, operating one Rolls-Royce Trent 900 engine on 100 per cent SAF. AIRBUS/SUPPLIED
The sense of urgency is particularly strong in Europe, where environmental issues attract more attention. European countries have started setting goals for the introduction of SAFs, which currently account for less than 1 per cent of the total global supply of aviation fuels.
In Norway, it has been mandatory for airlines to use SAF mixed with other fuels since 2020, and Britain wants 75 per cent of aviation fuel to be powered by SAFs by 2050.
The International Civil Aviation Organization, a United Nations agency, aims to adopt this year a target of net-zero carbon dioxide emissions among international airliners by 2050. As a result, efforts by the world’s airlines are likely to accelerate.
Securing raw materials is one of many challenges that lie ahead.
In urban areas, there are multiple sources of used cooking oil, such as restaurant chains, so procurement is not expected to be difficult.
However, price inflation has been seen due to demand among overseas manufacturers.
Keeping costs down will be a challenge, too. SAFs are three to four times the price of conventional aviation fuels.
When the Clydebank Declaration — a global pact to establish zero-emission maritime routes between ports — was launched at the COP26 climate summit in November last year, Singapore’s name was missing from the list of nearly 20 signatories.
As the world’s largest container transhipment hub, the republic plays a critical role in the global network of seaports. It is connected to 600 ports in over 120 countries.
Momentum for shipping decarbonisation initiatives, however, has been rising in recent months for Singapore. Hot on the heels of the launch of a maritime decarbonisation blueprint last month, it announced joining the Clydebank Declaration this Monday, becoming the 23rd signatory to do so.
Speaking at the opening of the Singapore Maritime Week, Singapore’s transport minister S. Iswaran said that Singapore has been a staunch supporter of initiatives led by the International Maritime Organisation (IMO).
“Looking ahead, decarbonisation is a major challenge for the maritime industry. As a global maritime hub, Singapore seeks to contribute to this critical effort in a flexible and inclusive way,” he said.
The minister also announced the setting up of an international advisory panel for the maritime sector. Led by business leaders in the industry, it will be focused on fostering collaboration and developing a robust maritime strategy, said Iswaran.
Over 20 countries including the United States, Japan, Australia and Canada have signed the Clydebank Declaration to develop at least six green shipping corridors between two or more ports by 2025. The initiative was mooted by the United Kingdom.
Such corridors are likened to the creation of special economic zones at sea. They allow companies to deploy and phase-in net-zero propulsion technologies, as well as infrastructure required for the transition to green fuels.
Last week, five Northern European port authorities announced a partnership with the Mærsk Mc-Kinney Møller Center for Zero Carbon Shipping to lay the foundations for a green corridor serving Northern Europe and the Baltics. The five ports are Gdynia, Hamburg, Roenne, Rotterdam and Tallinn.
The IMO had earlier said that global shipping emissions might increase by 130 per cent by 2050. In 2020, it set a limit on the sulphur content in the fuel oil used on board ships from 3.5 per cent to 0.5 per cent by mass.
It is now calling for a 50 per cent drop in carbon dioxide emissions in the shipping industry by 2050.
Shipping a ‘star performer’ despite global pandemic
At the Maritime Week’s opening, Singapore’s deputy prime minister and coordinating minister for economic policies Heng Swee Keat said that the fundamentals of the shipping industry in Singapore remain strong, despite facing uncertainties brought about by an ongoing pandemic and the recent Russia-Ukraine crisis.
“The medium term outlook for global maritime trade is good. Some had earlier thought of the IMO’s 2020 target as the ‘Y2K problem’ of shipping, but I am glad that the industry managed to make a seamless transition to using very low sulphur fuel oil,” he said, describing the shipping sector as a “star performer” that has been keeping the economy growing.
The ‘Y2K’ or the so-called “Millennium Bug”, a problem in the coding of computerised systems, was projected to create havoc in computers around the world at the beginning of the year 2000. After more than a year of international alarm and feverish preparations, few major failures occured during the transition.
But Heng warns that Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has disrupted shipping directly. More than 100 ships are now stuck in ports in the Black Sea, with several damaged due to the conflict. “Russia and Ukraine account for 15 per cent of the global seafaring workforce and there could potentially be manpower disruptions to the maritime sector,” he said.
Heng also spoke about how Singapore’s banking sector can support shipping decarbonisation. Singapore is looking to build a green ship financing ecosystem and develop a suite of financing options to enable the green transition, he said.
As a global financial centre, some 20 international banks based in Singapore have ship finance portfolios. Singapore also has a pool of venture capital private equity that it can tap on, said Heng.
The Singapore Maritime Week gathers the international maritime community for a week of flagship conferences, dialogues and forums.
