Cop26 kept the world’s 1.5C limit in reach – now we will steer it over the line

y any measure, the Glasgow climate pact signed at Cop26 is a historic agreement. It was the result of two years of marathon work, and a two-week sprint of negotiations, but we achieved what we wanted. We can credibly say that we kept the goal of limiting global warming to 1.5C above pre-industrial levels in reach.

And besides that, we have won historic commitments from countries to act on coal, cars, cash and trees. These are valuable agreements that begin to fill in the details of how we will navigate this immense, worldwide challenge.

Cop26 was the biggest political gathering of any kind ever held in the UK. Glasgow hosted representatives from 194 countries, and 120 world leaders, with 38,000 accredited delegates attending.

From outside, the negotiations may have appeared incredibly technocratic. But they were so much more than that. They were ultimately about protecting the lives and livelihoods of those on the frontline of the climate crisis. And protecting future generations who, if we fail, will be condemned to live in a dangerous, uncertain and depleted world.

Read the full story here.

Was Bulb as green as it claimed to be?

The collapse of Bulb Energy this week follows a steady decline in its promises to customers.

Britain’s fastest-growing energy supplier set itself apart as a challenger to legacy energy giants by claiming to offer better service and energy that was cheaper and greener. But was Bulb as green as it claimed to be?

It promised to supply 100% renewable electricity to its customers and offset the carbon emissions of its gas. However, less than 5% of the green power it supplied to homes was sourced directly from renewable energy projects last year and it did not own any generating assets, such as wind or solar farms.

The rest was bought from the UK’s wholesale electricity market alongside “renewable energy certificates”, which have come under fire in recent years for allowing companies to “greenwash” their energy tariffs.

Read the full story here.

UK's EV revolution will create 50 million sq ft of Gigafactories

If the UK is to meet its 2040 target of ending new petrol and diesel vehicle sales, the national Gigafactory stock will need to grow to as much as 50 million square feet of factories and warehouses.

That is the headline conclusion of a new report from real estate services giant Savills, entitled ‘The Rise of Gigafactories’.

The report takes into account the UK Government’s ban on new petrol and diesel car sales, which will come into force from 2030, and its vision to also end new petrol and diesel van, heavy goods vehicles, bus and coach sales by 2040. Both of these policy visions were announced this year, in the lead-up to COP26.

Read the full story here.

New German coalition aims for 80% renewable power by 2030

The new German coalition has announced big plans to accelerate the energy transition, aiming to "ideally" exit coal by 2030, quadruple solar PV installations on all rooftops and push renewable energy capacity to 80% of the country's electricity mix by 2030.

Read the full story here.

Fossil fuel burning set to hit record high in 2017, scientists warn

The burning of fossil fuels around the world is set to hit a record high in 2017, climate scientists have warned, following three years of flat growth that raised hopes that a peak in global emissions had been reached.

Global emissions need to reach their peak by 2020 and then start falling quickly in order to have a realistic chance of keeping global warming below the 2C danger limit, according to leading scientists. Whether the anticipated increase in CO2 emissions in 2017 is just a blip that is followed by a falling trend, or is the start of a worrying upward trend, remains to be seen.

Much will depend on the fast implementation of the global climate deal sealed in Paris in 2015 and this is the focus of the UN summit of the world’s countries in Bonn, Germany this week. The nations must make significant progress in turning the aspirations of the Paris deal into reality, as the action pledged to date would see at least 3C of warming and increasing extreme weather impacts around the world.

Read the full story on The Guardian 

Green Bond Mania Spurs Demand to Back Up Promises

The green-bond market has boomed on the allure of investments that help the environment. Now, the industry is trying to show that the reality matches these ambitions.

Advisers and rating companies are starting to track the environmental effect of projects funded by green bonds, such as the impact on air pollution. The services may help investors move away from relying on bond-sale promises — which are hard to check and often legally impossible to enforce — and boost confidence in a market where sales will surge 30 percent this year to a record $123 billion, according to a Bloomberg New Energy Finance forecast.

 

Read the full story: Bloomberg

WBA publishes Global Bioenergy Statistics 2017 report : Bioenergy continues as the largest renewable energy source globally

World Bioenergy Association (WBA) has released it's 2017 WBA Global Bioenergy Statisticsreport. This report is the 4th in a series of statistics reports focussing on development of bioenergy on a global level.

A quick summary of key facts in the report:

In 2014, the supply of biomass globally has increased to 59.2 EJ – a 2.6% increase over the previous year. Overall, this accounted for 10.3% of the global energy supply. Biomass supply accounts for three quarters of the total renewable energy supply.

In the same year, the consumption of renewable energy sources increased to 66.9 EJ – accounting for 18.6% of the global energy mix. This shows a modest increase of 0.2% over the previous year. Bioenergy as the largest renewable energy source has an overall consumption of 50.5 EJ – 14% of the global energy mix.

In electricity sector, bioenergy is the 3rd largest renewable energy source with a generation of 493 TWh. Renewable electricity overall accounted for 23% of the overall electricity sector. Solar and wind are the fastest growing technologies with growth rates of 45.1% and 25.1% respectively.

Renewables share in the derived heat (heat produced in power plants) and direct heat (heat consumed directly) are 7.1% and 27.7% globally. The renewable heat sector is dominated by biomass as the leading energy source.

In transportation, the progress is lacking. Only 2.8% of the global transport sector is driven by liquid biofuels. Biofuels production is growing at a rate faster than the rate of electrification of transport.

Forestry continues to be a key part of biomass supply accounting for 87% of the total biomass supply providing woodfuel, wood industry residues, recovered wood, charcoal etc. Agriculture sector contributes 10% via use of animal byproducts, agricultural byproducts and energy crops. One of the ways to increase supply from these sectors is to use the residues. A low theoretical estimate shows a potential of at least 20.4 EJ.  Finally, waste to energy conversion is increasing at an annual rate of 4% and Europe leads the way with 55% of all waste to energy plants in the region.

Official figures show that liquid biofuels production has reached 126 billion litres globally with 95.1 billion litres produced in Americas – USA and Brazil. The simultaneous production of 75.3 million tonnes of protein is an added benefit of the biofuels industry. Pellets production is increasing rapidly with a current production volume of 28 million tonnes (1.6 million tonnes increase in a year). 59% of the production is in Europe. South Korea and Japan are the largest pellet importers after EU. Biogas production reached 58.7 billion Nm3 with an average growth rate of 11.2%. Almost half of the biogas production occurs in Europe. Charcoal production retained its production volumes of 52 million tonnes.

Finally, bioenergy sector has employed 2.8 million people, not accounting for jobs in the traditional biomass sector.

The report can be downloaded by clicking here

Veolia Rolls Out National “Solution” To Coffee Cup Recycling

Veolia is set to roll out its national coffee cup “solution” to make cup recycling possible in offices across the UK after finding 52% of regular takeaway hot drink consumers, those that buy at least four or more drinks a week, dispose of their cup at work.

With 84% of takeaway hot drink consumers still using disposable cups, Veolia’s coffee cup solution aims to collect takeaway cups as soon as the consumer has finished their drink to reduce cup contamination and increase recycling rates.

Supported by trials with partners such as Costa and Starbucks, Veolia’s coffee cup solution is now available to existing customers nationwide and to potential new customers, as part of a packaged service, and offers multiple service options.

 

Read the full story on: CIWM

Elecnor secures contract to build 2 biomass plants in Portugal

Elecnor has been awarded the contract to build two biomass-fueled plants in Portugal. Each plant will have a power capacity of 15 MW and run on forest-based fuel. The budget for both projects is €78 million.

Representing the first biomass-fuelled plants that the company will build in Portugal in the municipalities of Viseu and Fundao, Elecnor will work on the design, engineering, equipment supply, construction, installation and commissioning of both plants, in addition to the feed-in line at Fundao and the substation associated with the Viseu plant.

Read the full story: Biomass Magazine

Swaziland to procure 28% power through biomass

Surrounded by South Africa, land-locked Swaziland is looking to develop a 35MW biomass power plant, which will commence operation in three years.

According to Renewable Energy World, once operational, the plant will supply an estimated 28% of the country’s total electricity demand.

Read the full story at: ESI Africa 

 

African Development Bank supports biomass plant in Uganda

The African Development Bank (AfDB) has approved a $1 million grant to support Earth Energy Limited for the development of a 20MW biomass power plant in northern Uganda, the Monitor reported.

AfDB representative in Uganda, Jeremiah Mutonga, said this development is not only targeted at increasing power supply but also to mitigate climate change due to deforestation.

Read the full story at: ESI Africa

Thunderbolt Biomass to build South Carolina wood pellet plant

Thunderbolt Biomass Inc., a manufacturer of wood pellets from sawmill residuals, is launching new processing operations in Allendale County, South Carolina. The company is planning to invest $6 million in the project, creating 35 new jobs.

At the new facility, Thunderbolt Biomass will produce industrial renewable fuel from biomass sourced from the area adjacent to the plant. Additionally, the plant will produce a variety of raw materials, such as sawmill residuals, forestry residuals, thinnings and in-woods chip operations. The facility will also produce horse and animal beddings, domestic fuel and more.

Read the full story here: Biomass Magazine 

Construction starts on waste gasification plant in West Mids

Work has started to build an innovative waste gasification plant in the West Midlands, creating around 100 construction jobs and 25 new permanent jobs once operational.

The U.K.-based Energy Technologies Institute is investing £5m ($6.4 million) into the SynTech Energy Centre being built on the site of a former steel fabrication and waste recycling facility in Portway Road, Wednesbury, matching a £5m investment from Denver-based SynTech Bioenergy LLC.

Read the full story here: Biomass Magazine 

Tradition Green executes first Central Order Book (COB) Residential Wood Pellets trade on Euronext Exchange

Tradition Green is pleased to confirm the first COB trade of Wood Pellets on the Euronext exchange.  The trade, for 10 lots Dec 17 delivery, equivalent to 250 tonnes, was arranged by Tradition on Euronext. This is a significant milestone in the creation of a commoditized market for biomass.  

Developed in close co-operation with the biomass community, the Euronext Wood Pellets futures contract has been designed to meet the needs of market professionals looking for portfolio diversification and price hedging tools against fluctuations in the prices of pellets or closely-related products. These fluctuations are mainly caused by changes in economic supply and demand, availability of raw materials and winter weather seasonality patterns.

“Tradition is always keen to be at the forefront of development in new environmental markets. We have a proud history of being ahead of the curve in environmental products, and we’re committed to helping build a robust and dynamic biomass market with innovative energy products such as the Euronext wood pellet contract.” said Lucy Mortimer, Business Development for Tradition Green.

The contract has been developed to give both producers, traders and end users an opportunity to hedge their exposure to price fluctuations, and provide a clear pricing signal for this fast growing commodity. Until now, all transactions have been executed OTC for physical delivery, and producers or end users have been unable to hedge their exposure in the pellets market.

The Euronext Wood Pellet contract may also be used as a proxy hedge for wood chip producers and users. 

"We are very pleased to welcome the first trade executed in the Euronext Central Order Book on our residential wood pellets contract thanks to the support of Tradition, a key player in biomass brokerage and a Euronext Trading Member. This is an important step that confirms the interest in this hedging tool developed with the industry and market participants. We will now concentrate on assisting our members create a momentum and see our contract gain traction. " said Vincent Roiron, Project Manager Commodities Energy & Metals, Euronext.

 

Tradition Green is able to execute trades on Euronext* on behalf of our clients, and to offer clients access to prices posted on the exchange. Tradition can also arrange trades to be “given up” to the client’s Clearing Broker for clearing, providing maximum security behind a transaction.  

To talk to us about trading wood pellets on Euronext, and to get documentation in place, please contact biomass@traditiongreen.com or +44 207 1981 5837

Read ICCT's recent update on the International Civil Aviation Organisation's Carbon Offset and Reduction Scheme for International Aviation (CORSIA)

On October 6, 2016, the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) finalized the details of a market-based measure (MBM) to o set most of the growth in aviation carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions beginning in 2020. The measure, known as the Carbon O setting and Reduction Scheme for International Aviation (CORSIA), was agreed upon at ICAO’s 39th Assembly in Montreal and marks the first time an MBM covers an entire international sector.

CORSIA will first be implemented as a voluntary system from 2021–2026 and will be mandatory from 2027–2035, when it will apply to all ICAO member countries, with the exception of some developing countries and small markets. CORSIA excludes domestic aviation activity and the emissions of other climate pollutants from aviation, notably black carbon, nitrogen oxides (NOX), and the precursors of aviation-induced cloudiness (AIC).

Based on the countries that have opted in thus far, the voluntary phases will o set about 64% of growth revenue tonne kilometers (RTKs) or about 11% of all international RTKs, whereas the mandatory phase will o set about 75% of growth RTKs or 32%
of total international RTKs. Between 2021 and 2035, the MBM is expected to cover approximately 73% of growth RTKs and 25% of all international RTKs. 

Read the full report here: ICCT   

 

Denmark's Biomass Reboot

Denmark is having a big impact on European pellet demand as DONG Energy, the country’s largest energy company, pivots away from coal and toward woody biomass.

Read the full story here: Biomass Magazine 

IKEA Launches Kitchen Made From Recycled PET-Bottles

IKEA has launched a range of sustainable kitchen fronts called KUNGSBACKA, which are made from recycled PET-bottles and wood.

PET-bottles are made from the recyclable material polyethylene therephalate, but aren’t often recycled and end up as waste in landfills. The innovative production of the KUNGSBACKA kitchen fronts means that a large quantity of PET-bottles are recycled and are used to replace virgin oil-based plastic.

Around twenty-five half-litre PET-bottles are used to create a plastic foil that coats the reclaimed wood kitchen fronts, creating a sustainable kitchen unit.

Read the full story here: CIWM

Meet Tradition Green at the Argus Biomass Conference in Singapore - 14th - 15th June 2017

Tradition Green is delighted to be attending the Argus Biomass conference in Singapore. Members of the London team will be flying out for the conference. 

If you would like to meet with the biomass team to discuss trading wood chips, pellets, finance or origination within the biomass markets, please email us on biomass@traditiongreen.com to arrange a time to meet!

For more information about the conference please visit: http://www.argusmedia.com/~/media/files/pdfs/argus-events/asia/2017/argus-biomass-asia-2017-brochure.pdf?la=en

Meet Tradition Green at the Argus Biomass Conference in London - 26th, 27th April 2017

Tradition Green is delighted to be speaking at the prestigious annual event in London this April. Francois Megret from our London office will be joining the panel discussion: Creating a central trading hub for wood pellets and improving price transparency on Day 1 of the conference.

If you would like to meet with Francois or other members of the biomass team to discuss trading wood chips, pellets, finance or origination within the biomass markets, please email us on biomass@traditiongreen.com to arrange a time to meet!

For more information about the conference please visit: http://www.argusmedia.com/events/argus-events/europe/argus-euro-biomass/conference-agenda/