Renewable gases This February, transport headlines were made by a CNG Fuels and Waitrose announcement. Forty per cent cheaper than diesel and 100 per cent renewable, new Scania-built lorries using a new design of compressed natural gas (CNG) fuel tanks allow heavy goods vehicles to store CNG at 250 bar, and thereby travel up to 500 miles (up from
a previous ceiling of 300). Renewable gas derived from food and other organic wastes, called biomethane, will power these 10 new vehicles purchased by Waitrose. In 2015 the UK was the fastest growing biomethane market in the world. There are currently 84 biomethane projects in operation in the UK, producing around three TWh per year of renewable gas, according to CNG Fuels. This is equivalent to around
four 60,000-tonne LNG tankers worth of gas that is being consumed or injected into the grid that the country won’t need to import from the Middle East. The majority of plant, pipelines and associated works in relation to biomethane is sourced in the UK.
Renewable Fuels
and gaseous transport sectors, and the electric vehicle and stationary energy storage sectors.
Electrification KPMG’s 2017 Global Automotive Executive Survey highlights conflicting views in leading auto company boardrooms. Sixty-two per cent of executives surveyed thought that battery electric vehicles will fail due to a lack of infrastructure. Seventy-eight per cent, however, saw fuel cells to be the real low-carbon breakthrough. While this may be believed, it is yet to be seen and it is battery electric vehicles that have been making the headlines and that have been more widely deployed. Oil and auto companies, including Shell, Enel and BMW are reported to be rolling out hundreds of EV charge points by 2020 across the EU. Alternatively‑fuelled vehicles achieved a 4.2 per cent market share in January 2017 in the UK, a record high, according to the SMMT. The CCC central scenario to 2030, however, requires 60 per cent of new car sales to be ULEVs by 2030. How does this benefit Britain? Nissan, the UK’s largest vehicle manufacturer, is making electric vehicles at its Sunderland plant. With it associated equipment, research facilities, and specialist knowledge acquired in the advancement of battery technology for the EV industry is being applied to the energy sector more widely. In particular, lithium-ion battery technology is rapidly advancing for home or grid-scale use. The inaugural Energy Storage and Connected Systems (ESCS) conference in London in February emphasised the interconnections between these two growing sectors. Speakers from Open Energi and the LowCVP spoke about the role of advanced energy storage technologies in improving energy security, reducing costs, and supporting the roll out of greater amounts of renewable power capacity. The hardware and software that connects stationary storage, electric vehicles, and demand‑side response technologies is cutting edge, and is becoming more valuable. For the auto industry, KPMG’s survey found that 85 per cent of executives believed digital systems will generate greater revenues than car hardware in the future. To action What’s keenly needed now is coordinated government action. Recent funding announcements for advanced freight technologies and energy storage research and deployment are strong starts, as is mention of the storage and EV industries in the Industrial Strategy green paper. A range of regulatory upgrades are needed to allow for further deployment, and greater leadership. Some of this will take individual departmental action, while for other aspects we now look to the forthcoming Emissions Reduction Plan. Let’s act swiftly and decisively, as our window for collaboration and action is now. L FURTHER INFORMATION www.r-e-a.net
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