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Tag: Greenhouse emissions

A very Finnish thing’: Big sand battery to store wind and solar energy using crushed soapstone

Posted on by dishanth
A very Finnish thing’: Big sand battery to store wind and solar energy using crushed soapstone

The battery will be able to store a week’s heat demand in winter – how does it work?

A huge sand battery is set to slash the carbon emissions of a Finnish town.

The industrial-scale storage unit in Pornainen, southern Finland, will be the world’s biggest sand battery when it comes online within a year.

Capable of storing 100 MWh of thermal energy from solar and wind sources, it will enable residents to eliminate oil from their district heating network, helping to cut emissions by nearly 70 percent.

“It’s exciting to build a large-scale thermal energy storage, which will also act as a primary production plant in Pornainen’s district heating network,” says Liisa Naskali, COO at Polar Night Energy, the company behind the innovation.

“This is a significant step in scaling up the sand battery technology.”

 

Sand batteries are getting bigger in Finland

The new 1 MW sand battery has a precursor. In May 2022, Polar Night Energy rigged a smaller design to a power station in Kankaanpää town.

Launched just as Russia cut off gas supplies in retaliation for Finland joining NATO, the project was a timely example of how renewable energy could be harnessed in a new way.

Euronews Green previously spoke to the young Finnish founders, Tommi Eronen and Markku Ylönen, who engineered the technology.

“We were talking about how – if we had the liberty to design a community for ourselves – how could we solve the energy problem in such a confined environment?” Markku said of the inspiration behind Polar Night Energy in 2018.

“Then quite quickly, especially here in the north, you run into the problem of energy storage if you’re trying to produce the energy as cleanly as possible.”

The friends started playing around with ideas, landing on sand as an affordable way to store the plentiful electricity generated when the sun is shining, or the wind blowing at a high rate.

Finding a way to store these variable renewables is the crux of unleashing their full potential. Lithium batteries work well for specific applications, explains Markku, but aside from their environmental issues and expense, they cannot take in a huge amount of energy.

Grains of sand, it turns out, are surprisingly roomy when it comes to energy storage.

The sand battery in Pornainen will be around 10 times larger than the one still in operation at Vatajankoski power plant in Kankaanpää. The start-up also previously connected a pilot plant to the district heating network of Tampere city.

 

So how do sand batteries work exactly?

It’s quite a simple structure to begin with, Polar Night Energy said of its prototype. A tall tower is filled with low-grade sand and charged up with the heat from excess solar and wind electricity.

This works by a process called resistive heating, whereby heat is generated through the friction created when an electrical current passes through any material that is not a superconductor. The hot air is then circulated in the container through a heat exchanger.

The sand can store heat at around 500C for several days to even months, providing a valuable store of cheaper energy during the winter. When needed, the battery discharges the hot air – warming water in the district heating network. Homes, offices and even the local swimming pool all benefit in Kankaanpää, for example.

“There’s really nothing fancy there,” Markku says of the storage. “The complex part happens on the computer; we need to know how the energy, or heat, moves inside the storage, so that we know all the time how much is available and at what rate we can discharge and charge.”

 

How will the sand battery serve residents in Pornainen?

Having refined its charging algorithms, Polar Night Energy is now ready to scale up the storage tech in Pornainen.

Once completed, the new battery will be integrated with the network of Loviisan Lämpö, the Finnish heating company that supplies district heating in the area.

“Loviisan Lämpö is moving towards more environmentally friendly energy production. With the Sand Battery, we can significantly reduce energy produced by combustion and completely eliminate the use of oil,” says CEO Mikko Paajanen.

The project also aligns with Pornainen’s plans for carbon neutrality. Many of its buildings, including the comprehensive school, town hall, and library, rely on district heating.

Mayor of Pornainen Antti Kuusela says the municipality “welcomes all innovative development projects that reduce emissions in district heating operations and contribute to network expansion.”

In total, the sand battery is expected to knock off 160 tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent emissions per year. As well as weaning the town off oil, woodchip burning is expected to drop by 60 per cent as a result.

The battery’s thermal energy storage capacity equates to almost one month’s heat demand in summer and a one-week demand in winter in Pornainen, Polar Night Energy says.

Construction and testing of the 13 metres high by 15 metres wide battery is estimated to take around 13 months, meaning it should be keeping residents warm well before winter 2025.

 

Is sand a sustainable material?

“We wanted to find something that can be sourced nearly everywhere in the world,” Markku said. But is sand as ubiquitous as we might think?

Demand for the construction material is set to soar by 45 per cent in the next 40 years, according to a recent Dutch study. Building sand is typically extracted from rivers and lakes, and ‘sand pirates’ are speeding up its loss from these ecosystems.

But as far as the Finnish engineers are concerned, it doesn’t really matter where the sand comes from. Though builders’ sand was used initially (to limit transport emissions), sand batteries work with any sand-like material that has a high enough density, within certain thermodynamic parameters.

In Pornainen, Polar Night Energy has found a sustainable material in crushed soapstone; a by-product of a Finnish company’s manufacture of heat-retaining fireplaces.

“Tulikivi is a well-known and traditional company,” says Naskali. “The soapstone they use is a very Finnish thing.”

“We always choose the thermal energy storage medium based on the customer’s needs. Examining and testing different materials is crucial for us to use materials that are suitable in terms of properties, cost-effectiveness, and promotion of circular economy,” she adds.

Polar Night Energy has big ambitions to take its technology worldwide.

As Markku told us back in 2022, “we want to build a hundred times larger storages around the world as fast as possible.”

 

 

 

 

Source  euronews.green

Sustainable Cooling: Electrocaloric Cooling Breakthrough

Posted on by dishanth
Sustainable Cooling: Electrocaloric Cooling Breakthrough

As heatwaves intensify across the globe, the demand for air conditioning and refrigeration skyrockets. The ballooning demand for cooling strains energy infrastructure and escalates emissions from vapor compression systems. These conventional refrigerators and AC units rely on greenhouse gases and inefficient mechanical compressors that have reached their efficiency limits. With little room for improvement, vapor compression technology cannot sustainably shoulder doubling cooling demands. Scientists urgently search for climate-friendly innovations before the warming world overheats.

In a breakthrough discovery, researchers at the Luxembourg Institute of Science and Technology (LIST) pioneer a radically different cooling approach harnessing the electrocaloric cooling effect. This phenomenon describes particular ceramic materials that heat up or cool down when electric fields flip on and off. By cleverly leveraging this conductivity toggle, the LIST team designed an assembly that can pump heat without noisy, energy-draining compressors.

Electrocaloric cooling is a fascinating phenomenon where certain materials experience a reversible temperature change when an electric field is applied. In simpler terms, you can directly use electricity to manipulate their temperature, creating a cooling effect. This opens up exciting possibilities for energy-efficient and environmentally friendly cooling technologies.

The regenerative system developed by LIST alternates layers of electrocaloric capacitors with liquid coolant. Switching an electric field pulls heat from the fluid into the capacitors, cooling the system. Cutting voltage then dissipates the heat, so the cycle repeats. The smooth back-and-forth between hot and cold replaces high-maintenance mechanical parts with solid-state reliability. Scientists calculate that electrocaloric cooling efficiency leapfrogs vapor compression refrigeration by directly shuffling heat instead of wasting effort compressing refrigerants.

Since fluids naturally stratify by temperature, no added energy input is required to cycle hot and cold. The passive electrocaloric cooling generator minimizes electricity demands by exploiting thermodynamics rather than fighting against them. With game-changing energy savings over traditional refrigerator designs, this electrocaloric cooling technology paves the way for truly sustainable cooling.

Seeking real-world integration, LIST researchers collaborate with manufacturing partners to develop prototypes. The original discovery featured a single electrocaloric part, which limited heat transfer speed. The current regenerator assembly overcame this by interleaving many capacitors with parallel coolant channels. This boosts heat pumping capacity for powerful, real-world performance. Ongoing enhancements also aim to lower costs and extend operating lifetimes to enable widespread commercialization.

While the immediate goal focuses on eco-friendly refrigeration, the applications likely won’t stop there. Any process generating unwanted heat could benefit from electrocaloric cooling technology. Air conditioners, electronics cooling, industrial processes and even solar energy storage represent prospective opportunities. Because electrocaloric cooling systems thrive when miniaturized, microchip-level cooling also offers possibilities for computing breakthroughs.

For example, electrocaloric cooling films could provide on-chip cooling for high-performance computer processors, enabling faster computing speeds. Electrocaloric cooling systems can also be used to condense water vapor in air conditioning and dehumidification applications. This could allow environmentally-friendly refrigerants like water instead of HFCs to be used in vapor compression HVAC.

Additionally, the flexibility of electric-powered cooling lends well to renewable energy integration and smart grid load balancing. Electrocaloric heat pumps powered by wind or solar electricity during times of excess generation could store thermal energy for later dispatch while synchronizing supply and demand on the grid. With materials and system configuration innovations, electrocaloric cooling technologies show promise for revolutionizing thermal management across many sectors.

Despite enormous promise, unanswered questions remain regarding large-scale manufacturing and durability. However, early indications suggest the regenerator’s simple solid-state design will prove reliable over long stretches. By dodging complex mechanical components, the approach naturally steers towards sustainability. Cooling demand will only climb higher as climate change continues, but creative solutions like the LIST electrocaloric cooling regenerator offer hope we can innovate our way to a cooler future.

 

 

 

 

Source  Happy Eco News 

Walmart and General Mills build a sustainable food supply

Posted on by dishanth
Walmart and General Mills build a sustainable food supply
Working as partners in regenerative agriculture projects, Walmart and General Mills are working with authorities to create a more sustainable food system

Disruption of the food supply chain is perhaps the single most impactful event that can have detrimental effects globally. Also, the emissions that are produced as a result of the global food supply are just as impactful to our future and the shortage of food itself.

According to 2018 data from the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) meat, eggs and nuts are the primary sources of food across the states while vegetables are the third largest and fruit is at the bottom. However, from what we’ve seen over recent years, many would suggest the meat supply chain accounts for a large proportion of the industry’s emissions and is therefore unsustainable in its current mass-production form.

Now, this is not to blame the humble cow or any other animal for climate change, but more the processes in which meat is reared and distributed across the US. With certain regenerative principles in place—and the support from the public to reduce consumption—farms are known to provide higher quality goods that are nutritionally beneficial.

How does regenerative agriculture support a sustainable food system?

This is neither a slight of common habits, nor a simple task to conduct. In order to make the food system sustainable economically, consistent, and less impactful to the climate, examples of regenerative agriculture show the impacts of more mindful farming.

On the 17th October 2023, General Mills and Walmart announced a joint effort that will likely spark further consideration as the organisations advance regenerative agriculture across 600,000 acres of US soil by 2030. This project is about reducing the emissions and resource-drain from farming, improving soil health and, in turn, product quality.

The primary projects will be supported through grant funding from the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation (NFWF) and will reshape the process for growing crops like wheat across the Northern and Southern Great Plains.

Based on the research from the USDA, grains are the second most-consumed foods in the country after the meat, eggs, and nuts group.

These two corporations will also collaborate with Sam’s Club, a division of Walmart that offers superior quality and pricing for millions of items supplied to the US and Puerto Rico.

“Through this partnership, we will work hand-in-hand with Walmart and Sam’s Club to help regenerate the acres of land in the key regions where we source ingredients for our shared business,” says Jon Nudi, Group President, North America Retail at General Mills.

“We are excited by the opportunity to bring our products, including Pillsbury refrigerated dough and Blue Buffalo pet food and treats, to Walmart shelves more sustainably, with the help of our merchants and farmer partners.”

The three organisations believe that regenerative agriculture holds the key to emissions reduction in the supply chain and tackles many of the challenges within the modern food system. They also recognise their collective footprint and overall impact on the industry, and therefore will set the benchmark for regenerative agriculture implementation in the wider industry.

Walmart’s and General Mills’ sustainability alignment

Both organisations are impacted by the fate of the planet. As influential businesses in the food supply chain—Walmart operating across many facets of consumer goods—sustainability is now at the core of their future projects. Walmart’s net-zero emissions target is set for 2040 and will be driven by a number of investments into clean energy, providing 100% renewables to its facilities by 2035. The path to net-zero in Scope 3 requires further action to support its partners, suppliers, and customers to deliver on their own emissions targets.

When it comes to securing the food supply chain, Walmart dedicates much of its support to preserving land for regenerative projects and in investing deforestation-free product sourcing, which was recognised as one of the key downfalls of the meat supply chain—limited space resulting in deforestation.

“We’re committing to making the everyday choice the more sustainable choice for consumers,” says John Laney, Executive Vice President, Food at Walmart US.

“This collaboration is an example of how we are working across our value chain on intentional interventions to help advance regenerative agriculture and ensure surety of supply for these essential food products for the long term.”

As a key supplier of food globally, General Mills owns some of the much-loved brands and will continue to ensure that these products are delivered at lower impact to the planet. Also focusing on regenerative agriculture, energy sourcing and packaging innovation will also allow the company to drive healthier approaches in the food supply chain.

 

 

 

 

Source   Sustainability

Mush-Rooms: How Mycelium Concrete Could Revolutionize Building Construction

Posted on by dishanth
Mush-Rooms: How Mycelium Concrete Could Revolutionize Building Construction

Mush-Rooms: Mycelium concrete (Myocrete) could revolutionize low-carbon building construction and provide another tool for building green.

A new paper published by the University of Newcastle has outlined a new method of creating a mycelium concrete construction material, with potentially far-reaching changes as a result.

The Need for Low-Carbon Building Materials

Concrete, by far, is the world’s most used building material. It is cheap, incredibly strong, and easy to manufacture. However, it carries costs elsewhere in our world.

The environmental impact of concrete manufacture, use, and transportation is incredibly high. Concrete production is responsible for 8% of all greenhouse gases worldwide, making it the second largest source of greenhouse gas emissions. Natural materials like mycelium concrete (myocrete) might be part of the answer.

Burning fossil fuels creates most of these greenhouse gases to heat the enormous kilns used to create concrete. As well as that, there are the negative effects of mining the sand and gravel required to create concrete, which disturbs the environment and destroys natural ecosystems.

There is also the fact that concrete production requires massive amounts of water, which puts a strain on communities and areas already in need.

There have been some developments to make concrete less environmentally damaging, such as improving the efficiency of kilns so they don’t require as much heat; however, by and large, concrete production and use have been disastrous for our world.

Nevertheless, new developments have been underway to replace this widely used building material, such as mass timber. However, a unique and potentially revolutionary new material could be just around the corner, and it’s something that you’re probably more used to seeing on your plate than in your buildings.

Mushrooms in Our Walls

Mycelium-based construction material research, including mycelium concrete, has been underway for several years, as the effects of concrete production have been well-documented for decades. However, so far, the ability to scale and use mycelium in construction has been limited by the available technology and methods.

Currently, the method used in creating mycelium-derived construction materials is by filling a rigid mold with a mixture of mycelium and a food source such as grain for the mycelium. This method can produce rigid shapes, such as bricks, which can be used in construction.

However, there are limitations to the usability of these materials. For one, the strength required to compete with concrete isn’t there, and the rigid mold limits the variety of shapes and structures.

A new method created at the University of Newcastle, dubbed mycocrete (mycelium concrete), could completely change this and how construction has been done. The way mycocrete works is similar to past methods, with some distinctions.

One of them is in the mold that the paste is put into; where previous methods used rigid molds, mycocrete uses a permeable knitted mold that facilitates the growth of the mycelium by the amount of oxygen available. This flexible mold also allows the mycelium to grow in shapes that otherwise would be impossible with a rigid mold.

The process works by filling the knitted mold with a mixture of mycelium, paper powder, paper fiber clumps, water, glycerin, and xanthan gum. This is then hung up in a dark, warm, humid environment to facilitate the mycelium’s growth.

The result is a mycelium-based material significantly stronger than conventional mycelium bricks, notably much stronger than the material created with rigid molds. This is due to the amount of oxygen the mycelium has access to, given the mold’s permeability.

Myocrete is Still in the Early Stages, Though

However, despite the team’s promising results at Newcastle, myocrete mycelium concrete based buildings are still quite far off.

While continuing to develop the mycelium compound is still of major importance, the main obstacle is the fact that the factories and industries that work with the construction industry will need to be re-tooled for mycelium concrete along with new installation equipment being implemented.

Nonetheless, they have created some interesting prototypes, including the “BioKnit” project. This project was created to demonstrate the use of alternative materials in solving conventional construction design problems.

The team created BioKnit as one piece to limit weak spots inherent in joinery. Dr. Jane Scott, the author of the corresponding paper, said, “Our ambition is to transform the look, feel, and well-being of architectural spaces using mycelium concrete in combination with biobased materials such as wool, sawdust, and cellulose.”

With the priority being placed on reducing the environmental impact of construction, this new method could completely change the way we live and the spaces we live inside.

 

 

 

 

Source Happy Eco News

SAY Carbon is creating the coolest sustainable boat brand

Posted on by dishanth
SAY Carbon is creating the coolest sustainable boat brand

BizClik Media and Sustainability Magazine CEO Glen White had first-hand experience aboard a luxurious, environmentally-friendly yacht made by SAY Carbon Yachts.

The business, founded in Germany, produces cutting-edge, technologically advanced yachts, which are built using carbon fibre. Featuring three luxurious yachts – the SAY 29 (E), SAY 42 and SAY 52 – the business prioritises comfort, luxury and sustainability. While enjoying a trip to Ibiza, Spain, White got up close and personal with the SAY 42.

SAY 42: Ultra-low-emission engines combined with maximum comfort

Boasting low emissions and high performance, the SAY 42 demonstrates that stylish, luxurious and sustainable boating is possible – even for those who want to enjoy the seas with their family and friends

The SAY 42 is equipped with two certified ultra-low-emission V8 engines (860 hp) that consume up to 50% less fuel compared to conventional motor yachts, all while maintaining the same renowned performance.

The SAY 42 is ideal for those who appreciate extravagance. Each yacht is characterised by a modern design, featuring striking and unique lines and is equipped with state-of-the-art technology, including a digital cockpit, Seakeeper 2 stabilisers, pop-up showers, a retractable table and an owner’s cabin with a fully-equipped bathroom.

To ensure the yachts meet the highest possible sustainability standards while continuing to ooze luxury, CEO Karl Wagner, maintains control over every aspect of the manufacturing process. Every SAY Carbon Yacht is meticulously crafted to bring the customer’s vision to life, designed to be user-friendly while promoting maximum comfort.

 

SAY Yachts leading carbon fibre adoption

While working with his previous business, Carbo Tech, Wagner became a leading producer of carbon-fibre-reinforced components for the automotive industry. Its customer base included prominent names from Formula 1, including Aston Martin, McLaren and Porsche.

The numerous advantages of carbon fibre have led to its widespread popularity in various industries, including aviation, construction and motorsports. As pioneers in the pursuit of lightweight design, Wagner and his team demonstrate their expertise in manufacturing innovative motor yachts by utilising the properties of carbon fibre.

“Our expertise in lightweight constructions enables us to achieve a unique combination of acceleration, design and agility while lowering fuel consumption and extending range,” Wagner comments.

Consequently, SAY Yachts has emerged as an international, established manufacturer of luxury motor boats, offering only the highest quality available.

 

 

 

 

Source  Sustainability

Climate change: Biden summit to push for ‘immediate’ action

Posted on by dishanth
Climate change: Biden summit to push for ‘immediate’ action

The US will attempt to re-assert its global leadership on climate change as President Joe Biden hosts 40 leaders at a virtual summit in the White House.

It’s expected that the US will unveil an updated carbon pledge that will see their emissions nearly halved by 2030.

Ahead of the meeting, officials urged greater ambition on countries perceived as laggards on climate.

Referring to Australia, an official said “there would have to be a shift” in their approach.

President Biden has made climate change a key focus in the early days of his administration.

As well as re-joining the Paris climate agreement on his first day in office, he announced early on that he would gather around 40 world leaders for a global summit on Earth Day – 22 April.

 

President Biden rejoined the Paris agreement on his first day in office and pledged to hold a leaders summit shortly after Image Jim Watson

 

Among those attending will be China’s President Xi Jinping.

Despite serious tensions between the two countries on a host of issues, both sides seem keen to keep climate change separate from these disputes. Last weekend, the two countries issued a joint statement saying they would tackle climate “with the seriousness and urgency it demands”.

Speaking ahead of the meeting, a senior Biden administration official spoke warmly about the potential for co-operation.

“It’s quite clear that there is a distinctly shared level of ambition. Both countries see this as a crisis. Both countries see the need for action in the 2020s. Both countries see the need to work towards holding the increase in global temperatures to 1.5C,” he said.

“We certainly hope that President Xi will come to the meeting, and further elaborate on some of the additional efforts that China would choose to make. But I think we’ve got a very strong basis in the joint statement that the two countries made about the directions they seem to be moving.”

 

Protestors outside the White House hold cardboard cut outs of the leaders due to meet Source Reuters

 

But for other countries who have been slow to embrace action on climate change, the Biden team were less effusive.

Both Brazil and Australia’s sceptical approach to the issue had found favour in the Trump White House. That’s no longer the case.

“At the moment, I think that our colleagues in Australia recognise that there’s going to have to be a shift,” one official said.

“It’s insufficient to follow the existing trajectory, and hope that they will be on a course to deep decarbonisation, and getting to net zero emissions by mid-century.”

Speaking about Brazil, the same official said: “The expectation for all countries is that the ambition has to be increased immediately.”

But while the US is talking strongly about ambition, the proof of change for many observers will be in their new carbon-cutting pledge for 2030 they are expected to announce at the summit.

 

Despite some earlier uncertainty, China President Xi Jinping will address the US summit

 

This will require some clever footwork from the US. They will have to go for a figure that is scientifically credible but also politically achievable.

While the Democrats have a majority in the House of Representatives, the Senate is essentially deadlocked, making the passage of new climate legislation rather tricky.

“It seems to me that President Biden is in a bit of a bind, and he has to deal with the Congress that he has,” said Samantha Gross from the Brookings Institution.

“But I believe that Congress, particularly the Republicans, haven’t really kept up with increasing concern among the American public about climate.”

For some in the international community, even the mooted 50% cut in emissions won’t be going far enough.

 

A coal train snakes through the landscape in the US – predictions are that coal use will increase this year as the economy recovers from the pandemic Source Getty Images

 

“The US should cut at least 55% from 2005 levels by 2030 to inspire others to raise their ambitions,” said Quamrul Chowdhury, from Bangladesh and a climate negotiator for the Least Developed countries group.

“Mitigation is the best adaptation and major economies must cutback emissions quickly and steeply.”

The US pledge will undoubtedly be the headline, whatever its size – but there are also expected to be new steps announced by a number of countries.

“The three that I think are most likely beside the US to step up at this summit are Canada, Japan and South Korea,” said Helen Mountford from the World Resources Institute (WRI).

 

Australia’s prime minister Scott Morrison has been criticised for slow action on climate Source Tracy Nearmy

 

“China… would be fantastic, but I think [we[ quite likely might wait longer, I wouldn’t expect it at this time.”

She added: “India is a real question mark, but whether they’re going to announce either a net zero target or enhanced plan, I would say there’s less of a chance of that.”

For those who were involved in the negotiations that led to the Paris agreement in 2015, the key thing this week is not to derail the discussions at the first hurdle.

This is the first big climate meeting of a critical year that will culminate in a gathering of around 200 world leaders in Glasgow in November at COP26.

“I think that for the US leaders summit to be a success, we need to have the 40 leaders present and expressing their willingness to reach strong agreement by Glasgow,” said Remy Rioux, who was a negotiator for France during the Paris talks.

“And also for the US to demonstrate that they are back, and that they are back as convincingly and strongly as possible.”

 

 

By Matt McGrath
Environment correspondent

Source BBC