Friday, March 15, 2024
Chat on software-led sustainability with AVEVA's CEO
Thursday, March 14, 2024
Onsite with Coolbrook and its 'electric factory' pilot
Yes indeed, you read that one correctly dear readers - an 'electric factory' concept that could in the fullness of time lead us to re-imagine the industrial complex and substantially lower the carbon footprint of heavy industries and petrochemical plants.
To make sense of it all, the company's CEO Joonas Rauramo kindly agreed to explain the process and take this blogger around. The idea is to substitute heat sources / furnaces in use at heavy industries currently running on fossil fuels with an electrical power source.
For that Rauramo and Coolbrook have come up with the company's patented RotoDynamic technology - which uses a rotating device powered by electricity to generate heat without burning anything. "So basically air or for that matter a large range of gaseous substances / inert gasses go in where a high-speed 0.8 MW electric motor accelerates them with mounted rotating blades. Subsequent deceleration leads to the generation of a shock wave that converts kinetic energy to thermal energy," Rauramo explained.
The heat generation is in milliseconds and is not transferred from outside through a surface, rather volumertically inside the gas. And we are talking temperatures of up to 1700 C. Now the Oilholic knows the questions on many of your lips - does it really work and did this blogger get to look under the hood of the machine? The firm answer to both questions is yes.
While photography was not permitted in certain areas of the project, The Oilholic was given full access to view and examine both the project set-up as well as its key components, and interview a range of personnel working onsite. It's doubtful a company would open its doors to your truly and provide this level of access if it had to something hide, or was still faking it till it made it.
Furthermore, the test pilot has already achieved temperatures of around 1000 C. Project research and development is constantly independently verified (and monitored both onsite and remotely), several universities including Cambridge, Oxford and Ghent are involved, while Swiss industrial giant ABB is the technical partner on the project. Finally, the commercial launch appears to be on the horizon early in 2025.
Now just re-imagine old versus the new industrial energy chain as illustrated by Coolbrook below (click to enlarge):
Makes you think about the immense possibilities it offers for lowering the global industrial complex's carbon footprint if the electricity that's powering the machine comes from renewable sources as well.
Coolbrook's RotoDynamic has two modes - one a heating only machine and the other a reactor aimed at the petrochemical industry wherein the technology can be deployed not just for heating but cracking hydrocarbons as well. The kit can be fitted on both greenfield as well as brownfield sites.
Coolbrook has identified over 40 uses cases but the most obvious ones would be cement, iron, steel, glass, chemicals and petrochemicals. The company's modeling points to a reduction of 2 billion tonnes in CO2 emissions annually if traditional heat sources are substituted by its technology.
Of course, the transition will not be easy and there are other low to zero carbon techniques being explored. Rauramo was quick to assert that what Coolbrook is attempting is "50% more efficient" than hydrogen predicated alternatives and is "cheaper too."
As for those in the industry looking at RotoDynamic from an outside-in perspective, The Oilholic observed quite a few tangible benefits.
Process efficiency is an obvious one and comes in many forms ranging from lower energy bills and a carbon footprint to potentially higher plant throughput. The compact size of Coolbrook's offering is also an attractive one. So, by this blogger's reckoning, for say a petrochemical plant, we're talking roughly one-tenth the space needed for the company's reactor kit versus a traditional reactor.
Capex and opex considerations matter hugely and the product is yet to hit the commercial world. But should the RotoDynamic technology meet its full potential, capex and opex will likely be competitive near-term, and could be way lower over the medium-term.
Tuesday, March 05, 2024
Quickfire visit to the Economist Sustainability Week
In a day packed with interesting sessions, three of which this blogger found time to attend, the expected conjecture was that there aren't any viable commercial models to leave things as they are in a world facing climate change. So, should you buy that supposition, the next inevitable question is how to finance the energy transition? To this end, an afternoon session - Financing net zero: assessing and accelerating green finance - really stood out.
Some of the profound discussion slants included - how are companies building on the progress of previous years and what strategies are they implementing to boost the deployment of green finance further? What kinds of green investment funds are helping to "finance an inclusive climate transition"?
The panel included Heather Buchanan, Chief Executive and Co-founder, Bankers for Net Zero, Nicki Harrison, Director, Sustainable Finance, Europe, Environmental Defense Fund Europe, Evelina Olago, Managing Director of Client and Strategy, Just Climate, and, of course, The Economist's very own global energy and climate innovation editor Vijay Vaitheeswaran.
There was plenty of interesting chatter among the panellists about asset managers making informed decisions based on data, predictive analytics, IIoT, and all the rest, as well as genuinely linking transition finance to greener pathways, including green bonds and equity investments.
But all is not plain sailing, and quite frankly no one expects it to be so. For starters corporate balance sheets are stretched. We are in a high interest rate climate, and will likely remain so near-term. Both will trigger caution when it comes investing petrodollars towards green causes. Private equity players - typically keen backers of viable cleantech forays - are also holding back given the uncertain climate.
However, products and services aimed at decarbonisation continue to strengthen, said the panellists. But they also made one key observation that chimes with market intel obtained by the Oilholic - the anti-ESG backlash (or movement if you wish) has indeed had a chilling effect of late on financing greener initiatives.
That is particularly true in the US in an election year that is going to be a rematch between incumbent Joe Biden and the man he ousted from the White House - Donald Trump. Therefore, a lot may depend on the post-November discourse, and a possible Trump presidency could materially alter the green finance landscape both in the US and abroad.
And on that thought, it's time to say goodbye. There are two energy site visits coming up plus the little matter of CERAWeek in Houston. So more musings to follow soon. Keep reading, keep it here, keep it 'crude'!
Tuesday, November 23, 2021
Glimpses of GMIS 2021
As we embark on a post-COVID journey, it is heartening to note that energy, industry and manufacturing events are gradually returning to the physical format with all of us having had enough of endless Zoom conferences in lockdown. One such signature fixture that's back with a bang is the Global Manufacturing and Industrialisation Summit (GMIS), established in 2015, to further dialogues on the Fourth Industrial Revolution’s transformative potential.
A joint initiative between United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) and the Ministry of Industry and Advanced Technology of the United Arab Emirates, GMIS 2021 has returned to the physical format from November 22 to 27, 2021 in Dubai alongside the Dubai Expo 2020. Here are some glimpses of the ongoing event:
Dubai Exhibition Centre where GMIS & Expo 2020 are being held |
'Make it in the Emirates' & GMIS2021 going hand in hand |
US Climate Envoy John Kerry (right) & ADNOC CEO Sultan Al Jaber get the lowdown on RoboRace car at GMIS2021 |
CEO of Mubadala Khaldoon Al Mubarak tells US journalist John Defterios that the UAE is going big on AI investment |
Vision of making Dubai a solar powered City |
Monday, December 16, 2013
Of inequalities, debt, oil & international finance
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To email: gaurav.sharma@oilholicssynonymous.com
© Gaurav Sharma 2013. Photo: Front Cover – Baroque Tomorrow © Xlibris / Jack Michalowski
Tuesday, November 19, 2013
Greening up the USA’s oil capital
More importantly, despite the new codes being non-mandatory for commerical establishments, most – including some of the largest oil companies in the world with offices here – have adopted them up and down Main Street and beyond with much gusto.
The fact that it is the USA's fourth largest city and its fifth largest metropolitan area (atop being Texas' largest) with some 6 million-plus inhabitants, makes the progress made even more noteworthy. In 1999, Houston was the city with the dirtiest air quality in the country; today it is outside the worst ten, according to the American Lung Association.
One mute point though, which makes a lot of this blog's Texan friends chuckle – it seems eight of the worst ten cities in terms air quality are from 'green' California. One apiece from Indiana and Pennsylvania make-up the rest! What the Oilholic has catalogued above has been achieved in a short space of a decade. So here's to the next ten say locals. That's all for the moment from Houston folks! More soon, keep reading, keep it 'crude'!
To email: gaurav.sharma@oilholicssynonymous.com
© Gaurav Sharma 2013. Photo1: Skyline of Downtown. Photo 2: Houston B Cycle docking station at Bayou Place. Photo 3: GreenLink buses collage, Houston, Texas, USA © Gaurav Sharma, November 2013.