Also by EU-China Energy Cooperation
Platform Project
2020
EU China Energy Magazine Spring Double Issue
EU-China Energy Magazine Summer Issue
中欧能源杂志夏季刊
EU-China Energy Magazine Autumn Issue
中欧能源杂志秋季刊
EU-China Energy Magazine 2020 Christmas Double Issue
中欧能源杂志2020圣诞节双期刊
2021
EU-China Energy Magazine 2021 Spring Double Issue
中欧能源杂志2021春季双期刊
EU-China Energy Magazine 2021 Summer Issue
中欧能源杂志2021夏季刊
EU China Energy Magazine 2021 Autumn Issue
中欧能源杂志2021秋季刊
EU China Energy Magazine 2021 Christmas Double Issue
中欧能源杂志2021圣诞节双刊
2022
EU China Energy Magazine 2022 February Issue
中欧能源杂志2022年2月刊
EU China Energy Magazine 2022 March Issue
中欧能源杂志2022年3月刊
Joint Statement Report Series
Electricity Markets and Systems in the EU and China: Towards Better
Integration of Clean Energy Sources
中欧能源系统整合间歇性可再生能源 - 政策考量
Supporting the Construction of Renewable Generation in EU and China:
Policy Considerations
中欧电力市场和电力系统 - 更好地整合清洁能源资源
支持中欧可再生能源发电建设: 政策考量
ENTSO-E Grid Planning Modelling Showcase for China
ENTSO-E 电网规划模型中国演示
Integration of Variable Renewables in the Energy System of the EU and
China: Policy Considerations
Table of Contents
Letter from the Team Leader
1. CERRE Report: Solving the Twin Challenge:- Green and Digital
Transformation
2. Repowering Provides New Purpose for Existing Plants
3. Cost–Benefit Analysis of Pumped Hydroelectricity Storage
Investment in China
4. Four Ways Education Can Fight Climate Change
5. Changing the Shape of Floors Could Cut Concrete Usage by 75
Percent
6. 2021: An Exciting Year for Global Carbon Markets
7. News in Brief
8. Reports Recommendation
Letter from the Team Leader
Dear All,
Welcome to the March 2022 issue of EU China Energy Magazine.
Decision makers around the world are re-thinking the role of renewables
and energy efficiency in the current energy crisis. The conflict in Ukraine is
leading to major disruption to world energy supplies and has sparked to a
sharp rise in prices - which were already soaring in the wake of the Covid-
19 pandemic. Yet with each crisis, there are opportunities. With a squeeze
on global supplies of lithium, there are increased opportunities for new
energy storage solutions. Meanwhile, exorbitant fossil fuel prices highlight
the cost-benefits of energy efficiency investments.
We have several exciting articles in this issue. We look at how the output
from existing power plants, both thermal and renewable, could be increased
and their life extended. We also assess the cost-benefits of pumped
hydroelectricity storage investment in China; how a new style of vaulted
concrete floor could significantly reduce the environmental impact of the
construction industry; and what the increasing importance of data centres
means for energy consumption and security of electricity supply.
We hope you will enjoy reading it.
Flora Kan
Team Leader
ECECP
1. CERRE Report: Solving the Twin
Challenge:- Green and Digital
Transformation
What does the increasing importance of data centres mean for energy
consumption and security of electricity supply? How can data centres
support the government's decarbonisation strategy? And how can policy
makers promote synergies from the integration of data centres with the
energy system? The Center on Regulation in Europe (CERRE) recently
published a report entitled ‘Data centres & the grid – Greening ICT in
Europe’, exploring the role of data centres in the EU energy system.[1] In
this article, ECECP Junior Postgraduate Fellow Helena Uhde summarises
the report, discusses the role of data centres and provides an overview of
the report’s key recommendations for policy makers.
In the course of the pandemic, the importance of information and
communications technology (ICT) became particularly evident: video
conferences and distance learning, tracing of contacts, and digital
vaccination certificates all helped to ensure that the world did not come to a
complete standstill. This was reflected in global Internet traffic, which
increased by 40% in 2020 alone.[2] Most global Internet traffic passes
through data centres, ‘(...) buildings or part of a building that host computer
servers that run continuously to undertake Internet related computing tasks’.
[3] In 2020, the global electricity consumption of data centres, not including
energy consumption for mining cryptocurrencies, was 200-250 TWh - about
1% of the global electricity demand.[4]
Attractive locations for data centres in the EU
Almost 20% of the world's hyperscale data centres are located in Western
Europe. Dublin (Ireland), Prague (Czech Republic), Copenhagen
(Denmark) and Lisbon (Portugal) are particularly attractive locations for
data centres. Copenhagen and Dublin, for example, are supported by the
countries’ moderate temperatures, which facilitate the management of heat
output from data centres. The Dublin location is also boosted by high
renewable energy potential, a skilled workforce, supportive regulations and
an existing telecommunications infrastructure linking with the EU and the
US. Furthermore, since Brexit, Ireland is the only EU member state with
English as its official language, which favours international investment.
Copenhagen, on the other hand, has a high quality infrastructure: 80% of its
power lines are laid underground, which protects them from the effects of
the weather. It is worth remembering, however, that these cities are
vulnerable to climate change: the advantages enjoyed by cooler countries in
Europe could be threatened by climate change and increased weather
volatility.
What does the establishment of data centres mean
for the EU climate neutrality goals?
In the coming years, the importance and number of data centres will
increase – and so will the associated energy consumption. The IEA states
that global Internet traffic more than doubled between 2017 and 2020 and
could double again by 2023.[5] However, forecasts for power consumption
in data centres are subject to great uncertainty. Different studies have
reached opposite conclusions: that there will be a sharp decline in data
centre power consumption, brought about by technological advances; and
that there will be an exponential increase in power consumption due to a
rapidly increasing number of hyperscale centres.
With the adoption of the EU Green Deal and the European Climate Change
Act, the EU aims to become the world's first carbon neutral continent by
2050. Net zero implies an electricity system dominated by volatile
renewable energy, which will be more complex to control, leading to
sharper price signals, as well as rationing and ordering of loads.
What role will data centres play on the way to Net
Zero?
Data centres can support the decarbonisation of the power, heat and
transport sectors. Some leading data centre operators, including Amazon,
Microsoft and Facebook, have committed to using 100% renewable energy.
This is made possible by investing in renewable energy, e.g., through
corporate power purchase agreements (PPAs) which represent long-term
commitments to buy renewable energy from a project. According to IEA, in
2019-2020, Google purchased 12 TWh, Apple 1.7 TWh and Facebook 7
TWh of renewable energy to match their operational electricity
consumption.[6] The CERRE report maintains that PPAs can support
decarbonisation by making additional renewable capacity more cost-
effective so that consumers turn to electricity from renewable sources. In
the short term, the decarbonisation of heat is likely to lead to heating costs
rising significantly and thus improve the economic viability of local heating
systems that use waste heat from data centres. The widescale electrification
of cars, vans and public transport has major implications for the flexibility
of the electricity system. The ability to harness this flexibility requires
significant amounts of real-time data processing. Here, the supporting role
of data centres in information processing is key.
Greening data centres in China
Although the report refers to data centres in Europe, China also faces the
‘double challenge’ of green and digital transformation. This challenge was
recently discussed in an expert discussion on the Environment China
podcast on 14 January 2022.[7] GDS Holdings, the largest independent data
centre operator in China, consumed around 2.8 TWh of electricity in 2021.
Similar to their western counterparts, China‘s leading data centres,
including GDS Holdings, Chindata Group and Shanghai Athub, have
committed to 100% renewable energy. To achieve their goals, GDS
Holdings, Chindata and Alibaba are purchasing electricity through China's
new green power trading pilots.
In the podcast, Prof Zhang Sufang highlights four strategies that data
centres can use to offer flexibility for grid stability: 1) time-shifting
workloads, 2) geographical shifting workloads, 3) changing the
temperature of the cooling systems, and 4) using the UPS energy storage
system to optimise the charging and discharging time of the energy storage
system.
However, implementation of these options is not particularly successful as
there is little incentive for data centres to offer flexibility and there are
concerns that operational reliability and quality of service may be
compromised. Policy measures to provide incentives include further
development of China's spot markets to signal real prices, and renewable
energy targets for specific sectors.
The role of data centres in the grid
While increased energy efficiency can largely offset the energy impact of
increasing data demand, large clusters of data centres can have a
destabilising impact on the power grid, i.e., in the case of a suddenly heavy
trade in crypto cryptocurrencies, high electricity demand has negative
effects on network congestion management. So how can data centres
optimise their energy consumption whilst supporting the grid? Data centres
can either play a more passive role in the grid, as large energy and grid
users, or operate as active participants supporting grid stability (see Figure
1).
Figure 1: Roles of data centres.
Data centres can produce waste heat or surplus electricity from their
renewable installations. In remote areas, data centres could even have to
operate their own microgrid. Finally - and arguably this is the most helpful
role for the subordinate grid - data centres can offer flexibility and thus
facilitate balancing in the power grid. Four types of data centre grid support
can be distinguished, which are shown in Figure 2.
Figure 2: Grid support potential of data centres.
Firstly, if data centres are integrated into energy and power systems, e.g.,
into a smart city, they could act as independent energy actors and trade with
energy flexibility services. A second option is to use waste heat from the
data centres to provide heat to offices, residential buildings or even district
heating systems. Thirdly, workloads and thus power demand can be shifted
in time or geographically optimised between networked data centres with
the help of algorithms, thus not only increasing the potential for renewable
energy, but also reducing grid constraints. Fourth, battery back-up power
from data centres can be offered to the grid on demand.
Facilitating the active role of data centres in the
power grid
A power system based mainly on renewable resources leads to greater local,
seasonal and daily fluctuations in the underlying costs of supplying certain
sites. Although the EU promotes uniform wholesale electricity prices, there
is a trend towards greater use of locational prices that reflect actual local
supply and demand. For data centres, this means more thought needs to be
given to their location on the power grid and their impact on overall energy
system costs.
Another trend being promoted by the European Commission is the
development of more active distribution system operators who can engage
in competitive procurement of congestion management and voltage support
services. For example, local market platforms with local pricing can
achieve greater flexibility on the consumer side. The EC also favours
energy communities i.e., groups of end users who actively manage their
energy. These are encouraged to balance supply and demand internally.
When such a community operates in island mode, it can benefit from
reduced grid charges and is less exposed to the risk of wholesale electricity
price fluctuations.
Data centre energy consumption is expected to increase in the coming
years. However, the authors of the CERRE report stress that the ICT
revolution will form an important part of Europe's future economy. Data
centre owners can improve grid resilience by increasing transparency on
energy consumption drivers, refining end-to-end energy efficiency
measurements, ensuring local sourcing of PPAs, and actively participating
in local flexibility markets. While the owners of data centres seem to take
their climate commitments seriously, it is the responsibility of politicians to
create a framework that minimises the potential destabilising effects of data
centres on the local network.
By Helena Uhde
ECECP Junior Postgraduate Fellow
2. Repowering Provides New Purpose for
Existing Plants
The benefits of repowering—cost savings from upgraded performance, and
utilizing existing infrastructure—make it an important part of the energy
landscape.
Repowering is occurring in both thermal and renewable power plants, as
new technologies make older facilities new again. The practice involves
replacing aging generating units at thermal plants with new, higher-capacity
turbines, or retrofitting a renewable energy site with more efficient
components—in both cases, significantly increasing a power plant’s output
while extending the facility’s life.
At a thermal plant, it could be completing a fuel switch from coal to natural
gas, or even—as some experts told POWER—replacing coal generation
with output from small modular nuclear reactors. A wind farm operator
could erect taller, more efficient wind turbines to increase productivity. The
owner of a solar farm may install new, more advanced solar panels to
increase the performance of the array.
‘Reuse, repower, repurpose—all that makes a lot of sense, as those
approaches are sustainable, faster to implement, and cheaper in comparison
to greenfield solutions since you can reuse permits, materials [such as] for
foundations or housing or infrastructure,’ said Annika Gerloff, a Siemens
Energy executive in Germany with experience in brownfield projects.
Gerloff told POWER, ‘In the long run, many power plants will become
hybrid plants, laying the foundation for a new energy system. They’ll
connect and integrate various functional elements, such as different means
of generating power. For example, renewable power sources like solar and
wind, and gas turbines capable of burning 100% green hydrogen that’s
produced by electrolyzers using clean energy.’
Figure 1: Switching a coal-fired power plant to burn natural gas has been a frequent practice for
power plant operators in recent years, enabling utility-scale plants to continue operating rather than
being retired. Courtesy: Siemens Energy
Repowered projects often offer further cost-saving advantages, relative to
new-build or greenfield developments, because they can use existing grid
connections and transmission infrastructure, as Gerloff noted. That includes
replacing coal-fired boilers with gas-fired turbines (Figure 1).
‘Hybrid power plants will also include energy storage systems like
hydrogen, batteries, and thermal storage, and applications for supplying
grid stability services,’ Gerloff said. ‘One main advantage of building a
hybrid power plant on an existing infrastructure is that they offer significant
cost savings and reduced lifecycle CO2 emissions, and they also enable
synergies between new and existing assets.’
Wind and solar farms
Repowering of wind farms, among the most common forms of the practice,
is extending the operational life of projects worldwide. GE Renewable
Energy’s Cypress onshore wind turbine was recently selected for a
repowering project at Windplan Groen, the largest onshore wind farm in the
Netherlands. GE will provide 26 Cypress 6.0-164 wind turbines (Figure 2),
the company’s most powerful onshore turbine, to repower part of the
project, located in the Flevoland province. The turbines will be installed at
three wind parks that are expected to be completed in 2023, and the
agreement includes a 25-year full-service contract.
Figure 2: GE will provide 26 Cypress 6.0-164 wind turbines for a wind farm repowering project in
the Netherlands.
Courtesy: GE Renewable Energy
Gilan Sabatier, GE’s COO of Onshore Wind International, said: ‘We are
delighted to have been selected for the Windplan Groen project with our
latest and most powerful onshore wind turbine. This will significantly
increase the wind farm’s energy output and deliver even more affordable
and sustainable renewable energy to the Netherlands. The repowering of
older wind farms with more powerful turbines will play a significant role in
achieving Europe’s goal of becoming carbon neutral by 2050.’
Industry analysts have said about 40 GW of Europe’s wind turbines will be
at least 20 years old by 2025, and the sector is looking a repowering to meet
both renewable energy targets and decarbonization goals. ‘Europe is now
starting to dismantle its first generation of onshore wind turbines,’ said
Giles Dickson, CEO of WindEurope, at a recent conference on end-of-life
strategies for aging wind farms. ‘It is crucial that we keep the sites going
and replace the old turbines with new ones. They’re the sites with the best
wind conditions, and the wind farms have become a well-established part of
the local economy.’
A recently completed project in West Virginia, at Clearway Energy Group’s
Pinnacle Wind Farm, provides a look at the tangible benefits of repowering.
Clearway said putting 23 new, upgraded turbines at the Pinnacle site
enables the farm to produce 16% more energy than the previous turbines.
The project created about 50 full-time construction jobs, and will increase
Clearway’s tax payments to Mineral County by as much as USD 200,000 in
the first year of operation. The company said the wind farm also will
contribute USD 3.7 million in West Virginia business and occupancy taxes
over its newly extended operating life.
A WindEurope analysis of about 140 projects repowered in Europe also
shows the benefits of updating turbine technology. On average, the number
of turbines in those wind projects decreased by 27%. Meanwhile, installed
generation capacity was doubled, and electricity output tripled.
Repowering solar farms also is being done with an eye toward improved
generation capacity and power production, particularly due to the rapid pace
of technological advancements in the solar sector for photovoltaic modules,
inverters, and trackers. Repowering often focuses on inverters because they
offer the greatest potential for performance upgrades, as they convert direct
current electricity that solar panels generate to alternating current electricity
for use by the grid. Inverters, in addition to converting power, also are
responsible for grid services, control, and monitoring.
Germany-based BayWa r.e. is known for its solar repowering efforts, in
Europe and elsewhere. The company last year, in announcing projects in the
UK, noted how modernizing and optimizing solar power plants can
‘considerably improve [solar power] availability and production, and thus
offer significant improved return on investment,’ according to Natasha
Kumar, managing director for BayWa r.e. Operation Services. The company
said repowering can extend the design lifespan of a solar array by 20 years
or more.
Repurposing coal plants with nuclear power
A UK-headquartered international design company, Bryden Wood, is
working with TerraPraxis, a non-profit organization focused on action for
climate and energy, on a ‘Repowering Coal’ initiative to help countries
meet net-zero emissions targets by replacing coal-fired boilers at existing
power plants with Generation IV advanced modular reactors (AMRs).
Bryden Wood has created a new design and construction solution that the
group says would make such a program possible at scale and speed, in part
by deploying a new digital platform.
‘We’ve developed a new, standardized and optimized approach that’s
completely different to previous infrastructure thinking,’ Martin Wood, co-
founder of Bryden Wood, told POWER. ‘We’re building the market for
AMRs at the same time as the product itself is being developed. The digital
tools we’re creating will enable us to have a huge number of projects,
across multiple sites, ready to go as soon as the reactors are approved.
Speed and agility have never been so important.’
Bryden Wood, in addition to joining with TerraPraxis, is working with the
University of Buffalo, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Microsoft,
and KPMG to standardize and optimize processes, along with building and
engineering systems. The groups said the project to replace coal units with
small reactors would first be deployed in the U.S.
Kirsty Gogan, founder and managing partner of TerraPraxis, told POWER,
‘By sustaining permanent high-quality jobs for communities, repowered
coal plants reduce the negative impacts on communities to public and
political support for a just transition. The challenge is not only to build
enough clean electricity generation to power the world, but to do so quickly
while building the infrastructure required to decarbonize end-use sectors
such as heat, industry, and transport.’
Many coal plants have been retrofitted to burn natural gas over the past
decade-plus; a repowering with nuclear technology presents new design and
regulatory challenges.
‘Coal plants vary widely and developing a new design for each plant would
be complex, costly, and slow,’ said Wood. ‘Rather than thousands of
individual projects, we must have a unified approach where the design is
simplified and standardized to make this plan a reality as quickly as
possible. The plan is to replace the existing boiler with a standardized
advanced heat source (AHS) that fits into a standardized facility. A new
heat transfer and storage system will run between the existing coal plant
and the AHS, which is itself in two parts: the reactor within a modular,
component-based enclosure, and another enclosure with support systems. A
modular heat transfer system and associated energy storage will allow the
plant to efficiently match reactor output with generation demand.’
Gogan acknowledged the regulatory challenges, and said, ‘Our building
system is designed to reduce regulatory scope by firstly separating the
power island from the heat island via thermal energy storage. This means
that no accident propagation is possible from the power island to the heat
island, and that the power island has no nuclear safety requirements.
Secondly, safety by design characteristics of the advanced heat sources
means that safety is achieved with no active safety systems. This reduces
complexity and means that all safety-related systems can be combined in
one reactor building. The relatively small reactor building, assembled from
pre-fabricated components, therefore becomes the only safety-related
building. As part of their initial license review, the regulator will have
already reviewed this exact configuration and its associated building
designs.’
Gogan said repowering is a way ‘to accelerate and de-risk global
decarbonization,’ while also supporting an ‘affordable clean energy
provision on existing sites utilizing existing transmission.’ She said it
provides ‘the opportunity to reduce the overall scale of investment required
to enable the clean energy transition.’
It also could help the energy workforce, as plants are repowered with new
technology and able to remain in operation. ‘Repurposing the majority of
existing coal plant sites and infrastructure, including transmission, and
maintaining the workforce employed today, dramatically reduces the
investments and effort otherwise required to site, plan, build, and connect
new infrastructure,’ she said.
By Darrell Proctor
Republished with permission from Power Magazine
3. Cost–Benefit Analysis of Pumped
Hydroelectricity Storage Investment in
China
Models show that investment in Pumped Hydroelectricity Storage in China
could result in billions of dollars of savings, far exceeding construction
costs, reports the China Europe Water Platform.
What is Pumped Hydroelectric Storage?
EASE-EERA recommendations for a European Energy Storage Development Technology Roadmap
towards 2030.
Pumped hydroelectric storage (PHS) plants are electric energy storage
systems based on hydropower operation that connect to two or more
reservoirs (upper and lower) with a hydraulic head.
In periods of low demand and high availability of electricity, excess energy
is stored as potential energy by pumping the water from the lower to the
upper basin. Stored energy can then be converted into electricity during
periods of high demand. For this reason, PHS can enhance the flexibility of
the power grid, which is critical for the integration of variable renewable
energy production. PHS is by far the best grid-scale (long duration) energy
storage option, offering more than 90% of storage capacity globally, helping
countries achieve their ambitious targets of reducing greenhouse gas
emissions and creating additional clean renewable energy capacity.
PHS numbers in Europe and China
There is over 158 GW of pumped storage capacity in operation worldwide,
of which nearly 48 GW is installed in Continental Europe[8], accounting for
around 6.2% of total installed electricity production capacity - 830 GW.
In China, the total installed power capacity by the end of 2019 was 2 010
GW, according to China Electricity Council[9]. Of these installations, 52%
were represented by coal-fired power. Total pumped storage capacity was
slightly above 30 GW (30.29 GW), equivalent to 1.5% of the total. This
percentage lags a long way behind its equivalent in Europe.
The CBA methodology
The objective of the CEWP’s study is to obtain a cost-benefit analysis
(CBA) on the potential construction of PHS plants that might mitigate the
problem of variable renewable energy sources (VRES) and help stabilise
energy production in China by reducing the use of coal in existing plants.
The study also considers whether PHS plants might also have a positive
environmental impact and offer competitive long-term costs.
To this end, the researchers developed various scenarios for the
implementation of new PHS plants in terms of percentage capacity of the
total. The scenarios are based on the study ‘Survey on pumped storage
power stations in Japan’[10] in which the optimal percentages of PHS
implementation were found to be between 8% and 14% of total energy
production. The study focused on three optimal scenarios: 8% - 11% - 14%
and included a further scenario of 6%, to reflect the situation in Europe, and
another of 4.5%, which is more easily achievable in China, given the low
1.7% starting point.
The study began with an analysis of China’s economic and demographic
growth using the Historical Data of the World Bank[11] which is based on
the historical percentage growth of China's GDP. Researchers then forecast
the expected growth rate of GDP using the expected trend of the OECD[12]
from 2018 to 2050.
GDP is almost always closely related to the production and consumption of
electricity, both for residential consumption, which is linked to the
population, and for the use of energy in industry and services, which is
related to economic growth.
GDP and electricity production from 1971 to 2050 (historical data and forecast) in China.
The IEA forecasts that by 2040, total electricity production capacity in
China will be 3 314 GW[13].In 2018, energy capacity in China was about 1
818 GW. Of this, about 65% was supplied by thermal plants[14] and,
according to the model used, the amount of coal needed was about 1 842
million tons. This value tends to grow slightly and then decrease over the
period to 2040: electricity supplied by coal-fired plants should fall to 47%
of the total in 2040, according to IEA, thanks to the development of energy
from alternative and renewable sources.
Based on these values, the 2050 target capacity of PHS was calculated for
each scenario, as well as the additional capacity required to achieve the
target.
PHS implementation required according to the targets forecasted per scenario.
The costs
Based on the scenarios described above, the PHS percentages were applied
to the energy capacity forecasts to obtain an average value of the PHS
plants - in terms of GW needed - that would need to be built annually to
reach the 2050 target. Assuming a cost of USD 796 million/GW of plant, it
was possible to forecast costs with a constant plant implementation every
year and a plant construction period of five years. This results in an average
annual implementation cost over 30 years (from 2020 to 2050), which
varies, depending on the reference scenario applied, from about USD 2
billion in the 4.5% scenario, to about USD 7.2 billion in the 14% scenario.
PHS Implementation costs per scenario.
The benefits
The main benefit of the PHS installations is the indirect decommissioning
of coal-fired power plants (with a consequent reduction in CO2-equivalent
emissions), thanks to the increased use of VRES. Researchers on the PHS
modelling project calculated the cost of the coal that would no longer be
required in order to arrive at a measurable financial benefit. From the point
of view of GHG emissions, researchers took the market value of the EU
ETS (and a forecast according to European estimates) and applied it to the
emissions avoided by not resorting to coal use. Calculations for the EU ETS
price trends were calculated on the basis of the study ‘EU energy, transport
and GHG emissions: Trends to 2050 - reference scenario 2013’[15], making
the numbers reflect actual figures in the period to 2020.
The study includes a forecast for the average annual cost saving for coal
(which reaches USD 6.8 billion in the 14% scenario).
On the basis of the EU ETC price forecast, the annual savings from
emissions avoidance is USD 12 billion for the 4.5% scenario, and up to
USD 42.9 billion for the 14% scenario.
Considerations and conclusions
For obvious financial reasons, EU ETS prices, as well as coal prices, are
very variable. In addition, the costs of implementing PHS installations are
subject to variables ranging from geography and climate to regional
legislation, as well as actualisation factors. Given the large amount of
energy involved and the high level of GW required for PHS projects, a lack
of suitable sites imposes limits on the widescale implementation of this
technology.
However, the results obtained from this study are encouraging:
implementation costs would be almost entirely covered by the reduction in
coal use, while the benefits from emissions based on EU ETS are much
more incisive and make the implementation of PHS interesting
economically, functionally, and environmentally.
The complete study is available as an Open Access Paper in Energies 2021,
Volume 14, Issue 24[16].
By Paolo Sospiro, Leonardo Nibbi, Marco Ciro Liscio, Maurizio De Lucia
4. Four Ways Education Can Fight
Climate Change
Education is a fundamental tool for advancing action on climate change,
yet it has not been adequately tapped for its potential.
Research shows that if only 16% of high school students in high-and
middle-income countries were to receive climate change education, we
could see a substantial – nearly 19 gigaton—reduction of carbon dioxide by
2050.
Increased education about climate could also generate other benefits.
Countries taking strong climate actions between 2018 and 2030 could, by
2030, generate over 65 million new low-carbon jobs, and deliver at least
USD 26 trillion in net global economic benefits, according to the Global
Commission on the Economy and Climate.
Nearly USD 23 trillion in climate-smart investment opportunity exists in
emerging markets from 2016 to 2030, arising from national climate change
commitments, the International Finance Corporation estimates.
Education is key to train the professionals needed to obtain these benefits.
Here are four ways that education can be used to address climate change:
First, ensure mutually reinforcing policies for education and climate
change. In a global survey by UNESCO in 2020, nearly two thirds of
respondents named climate change and biodiversity loss as the number one
challenge, and education as key to addressing them. It also reported that
over half of education policies and curricula studied made no mention of
climate change in primary and secondary education.
Education for climate change needs to be embedded in all levels of
education and in formal institutions, communities and workplaces.
Education systems have to become more resilient to climate-related
disasters to avoid disruption during extreme weather events.
Schools can play a critical role in increasing awareness of local
communities on climate and disaster risk issues and promote local actions
to build resilience. It is crucial to identify education as a key climate
solution in national climate change policies such as nationally determined
contributions and national adaptation plans.
Such integration provides a strong basis for countries to mobilize climate
finance to advance climate actions in the context of education sector.
Second, build green skills in the workforce. Training and skills
development are crucial for a just and green transition and building a
resilient economy, especially now with post COVID-19 economic packages
promoting green recovery.
There is a need for new courses to strengthen capacities and skills. Tertiary
education and research play a key role in building higher order human
capital for resilience and climate action. The European Green Deal and the
Republic of Korea’s Green Deal are examples that require extensive talent
pools.
It is crucial to invest in skills to meet emission regulations, adopt renewable
and clean energy, manage waste, and produce green and resilient products
and services.
Third, expand investments at the intersection of sustainability and
digitalization. The digital transformation currently underway is far
reaching. The market size of the global digitized construction industry or
construction 4.0, using artificial intelligence and other technologies, is
projected to increase from USD 10 billion in 2017 to USD 29 billion by
2027. Whether it is smart grids, smart transportation, smart cities, digital
agricultural advisory services or gig economy work, wide ranging digital
skills are called for.
Fourth, strengthen inter-disciplinary climate studies. There is need for
interdisciplinary education. The prestigious Columbia University and
Stanford University each established a climate school in 2020 and 2021.
For Columbia, it was the first new school in 25 years and for Stanford its
first new school in 70 years, underscoring the importance of education in
tackling the climate crisis.
Programs offered aim to educate future climate leaders, and generate
knowledge solutions. Climate studies in developing countries need to
jointly house different schools such as engineering, architecture,
agriculture, arts, social sciences, management, law, public policy, and
communications to build up the diverse talent pool needed for climate
solutions. Problem based and contextual approaches are required.
These four paths will enable shifting behavior patterns towards
sustainability and establishing more direct links between climate study
programs and their positive impacts on climate adaptation and mitigation.
Education needs to mesh with many other actors to realize climate goals,
but it must be made a priority.
By Shanti Jagannathan and Arghya Sinha Roy
Republished with permission from Asian Development Bank (ADB)