Energy Transition Period Research Articles

Low-emission hydrogen production from gasification of Australian coals – Process simulation and technoeconomic assessment

Although renewable energy-based technologies such as water electrolysis and biomass gasification for hydrogen production are cleaner than fossil energy-based routes, there are still prevailing challenges associated with the high cost and operational challenges in the scale-up of those technologies in the short term. Considering the abundance of coal as a current primary source of energy in Australia, the use of coal to produce hydrogen is not only in line with Australia's resource endowment but is also expected to become a supplement to the other hydrogen production pathways during the global energy transition period. This paper presents a comprehensive techno-economic assessment of low-emission hydrogen production from Australian coal gasification integrated with carbon capture and storage (CCS). The study explores four cases of hydrogen production, comparing Australian brown coal (Victorian brown coal) and black coal (Queensland black coal) gasification. Variations in gasifiers, gasification agents, and associated operating conditions contribute to differences in energy efficiency, costs, and CO2 emissions among the cases. The findings reveal a levelized cost of hydrogen from coal gasification ranging between A$4.12–4.90 per kg of hydrogen. Notably, entrained flow gasification of Victorian brown coal in a mixture of oxygen and steam environment demonstrates advantages under the current market conditions. However, less mature technologies like dual fluidized bed gasifiers could emerge as viable alternatives if deployed on a commercial scale. The study also addresses direct carbon emissions from the process, indicating a CO2 emission intensity range of 16.3–20.9 kg CO2/kg H2 without CCS and 0.1–1.1 kg CO2/kg H2 with CCS for the four cases. These insights contribute valuable information for decision-making in the pursuit of sustainable and economically feasible hydrogen production methods during the ongoing energy transition.

Carbon capture storage and carbon capture utilization storage as energy transition strategy for the Indonesian oil and gas sector towards net zero emissions

The transportation and industrial sectors are the backbone of the Indonesian economy. These two sectors can grow and develop because of the support of energy from oil and gas or electricity from fossil sources. Meanwhile, energy from fossil sources, especially oil and gas, is one source of CO2 emissions that must be reduced. The Indonesian government continues to increase oil and gas production to meet domestic needs. On the other hand, the government is also trying to reduce emissions towards Net Zero Emissions by 2060 in line with the ratification of the Paris Agreement, with a target of reducing emissions by 314 million tons of CO2e in 2030 and 1,526 million tons of CO2e 30 years later. This condition is certainly a challenge for the government and the national oil and gas sector to achieve this target, the government has presented several strategies to boost upstream oil and gas investment while meeting the NZE target. Carbon Capture Storage and Carbon Capture Utilisation and Storage are one of the technologies of choice in the oil and gas sector in the energy transition period towards NZE. This strategy was chosen because it has great potential in carbon capture and can be used to increase oil production. The application picks up after 2025, with the amount of CO2 captured potentially 6 million tons annually in 2030 and reaching around 160 million tons annually in 2060.

Securing Supply Outlets during the Energy Transition Period in Norway

Securing Supply Outlets during the Energy Transition Period in Norway

An environmental-benign method to enhance hydrate production in clayey silty reservoir via splitting grouting

During the pivotal period of energy transition between carbon neutrality and carbon peaking, it is crucial to develop the natural gas hydrate (NGH) due to the advantages of high energy density and non-pollution. However, the NGH production also faces several significant environmental challenges that need to be addressed such as seawater intrusion, methane leakage, and submarine landslides. Therefore, an environmental-benign method to enhance hydrate production in clayey silty reservoir via splitting grouting was introduced. As a novel method for achieving the two goals of both reservoir skeleton reinforcement and permeability enhancement, is proposed to stimulate NGH reservoir. Herein, the formulation based on foamed ultrafine cement-based grout was established. The results showed that the grout has good fluidity with initial viscosity ∼500 mPa·s and consolidation time in the range of 28–50 min. Meanwhile, the consolidation performance evaluation was studied, and it showed that the consolidation is with porosity in the range of 9.41%–46.59%, permeability in the range of 51.23 mD-789.07 mD, and compressive strength in the range of 3.31 MPa–3.88 MPa. The internal pore channels are uniformly distributed with a large number of stomatal strings, which can be used as a multistage seepage channel for gas and water production from hydrate decomposition. To further examine the stimulating behavior, the effect of hydrate saturation, grouting well diameter, grouting flow rate, and in-situ stress on splitting pressure and grouting volume were analyzed, and it was found that the grout has good ability to split fracturing and grout diffusion under the conditions of axial pressure of 5 MPa, confining pressure of 4 MPa, and hydrate saturation not more than 0.30. In addition, an environmental-benign high-efficient reservoir stimulation method on a laboratory scale was proposed. The findings could provide fundamental insights and recommendations for the implementation of splitting grouting in NGH reservoirs.

Combinational CO2 and Polymer Injections for EOR and CO2 Storage in Depleted Reservoirs: A Mini Review on Laboratory, Simulation and Field Studies

Water-alternating-gas is commonly used in most of the existing enhanced oil recovery (EOR) projects in the world to regulate gas mobility and reduce fingering problems. Unfortunately, the expected recovery factor from most of the fields could not be attained with such EOR method. Development strategies of mature oil fields during the energy transition period may therefore involve the combination of polymer and CO2 injections to achieve incremental oil recovery and at the same time provide longterm geological storage solution for carbon. This paper therefore presents overview of the processes of polymer and CO2 floodings, and then highlights the overall benefits to be derived from the combination of CO2 and polymer flooding techniques in depleted hydrocarbon reservoirs, especially oil reservoirs. Reviews on studies related to the combinational CO2 and polymer injections are then carried out. Highlights of areas of the combinational CO2 and polymer injections needing more attention are also mentioned.

DESIGN AND NUMERICAL INVESTIGATIONS OF AN AFTERBURNER SYSTEM USING METHANE-HYDROGEN BLENDS

The gas turbine industry strongly committed to develop gas turbines operating with 100% hydrogen till 2030, such fully supporting the transformation of the European natural gas grid into a renewable-based energy system by overcoming technical challenges and ensuring that this transformation takes place swiftly. By extending the fuel capabilities of gas turbines to hydrogen, their role can become predominant in the energy transition period but also in long-term energy strategies. In combined cycle configuration (CCGT), gas turbines are already the cleanest form of thermal power generation. For the same amount of electricity generated, gas turbines running on natural gas emit 50% less CO2 emissions than coal-fired power plants. Mixing renewable gas (e.g., green hydrogen, biogas) with natural gas enables further reduction in net CO2 emissions. In this paper pure hydrogen and blends of hydrogen methane will be studied as fuel in order to predict the behavior of afterburner system with a new designed geometry.

Hydrogen production and conversion to chemicals: a zero-carbon puzzle?

Abstract Hydrogen is currently used as an intermediate product in the chemical (mostly ammonia and methanol) and refining industries. It is produced mostly from natural gas in large scale plants using steam methane reforming, a very mature technology. Hydrogen produced from natural gas has a high carbon footprint, considering that about 6–9 tons of CO2 are co-produced (and emitted to the atmosphere) per ton of produced hydrogen, depending on natural gas composition. For this reason, hydrogen produced from fossil fuels is nowadays named as “grey” hydrogen. The current production of hydrogen is responsible of about 2.5 % of CO2 emissions worldwide. For hydrogen remaining in business, and then becoming a factor in the energy transition period and later, decarbonizing its production is a must. Partially decarbonized hydrogen produced from fossil fuels, through CO2 capture, is named “blue” hydrogen. A completely different path is followed for the production of fully decarbonized, or “green” hydrogen. This path is already commercially available, though on a smaller scale than required for wide industrial application. It is the electrolysis of water, i.e. the use of electric power from renewable sources to break the water molecule into its constituent hydrogen and oxygen. Pros & cons of these two options will be critically examined.

Predicting the solubility of hydrogen in hydrocarbon fractions: Advanced data-driven machine learning approach and equation of state

BackgroundHydrogen is a free carbon source for energy that attracts massive interest to be utilized during energy transition period in the near future. Molecular hydrogen soon will be a key component in fuels productions. It can be produced through catalytic steam and natural gas. For such processes the accurate estimation of solubility of hydrogen in many alkanes’ solution can have a major impact on the design and optimization of such petrochemical processes. MethodsIn this study, advanced data-driven scheme consisting in a committee machine intelligent system (CMIS) model was proposed for predicting the solubility of hydrogen in many hydrocarbon liquids raging from light n-alkanes C1 to heavy n-alkanes of C46. The CMIS was gained by combining multilayer perceptron (MLP) and cascaded forward neural network (CFNN) beneath a sole model using gene expression programming (GEP). A wide range database of hydrogen solubility in a binary system of hydrogen and various n-alkanes types was considered for developing the intelligent model. Besides, the reliability of the physics-based models, namely the Peng–Robinson equations of state (PR EOS) was checked for predicting the solubility of H2 in n-alkanes. Significant findingsThe main results demonstrated that the developed CMIS scheme can estimate the solubility of hydrogen in n-alkanes with a quite low computational cost and excellent performance, where the yielded overall RMSE and R2 values were 0.0033 and 0.9972, respectively. Besides, the established machine learning based model is capable of providing a good match against a wide range of experiment data. Furthermore, it is found that the implemented CMIS paradigm is superior to the existing intelligent and physics-based models in terms of accuracy. Lastly, the result of this work is vital for increasing the accuracy of hydrogen solubility in various hydrocarbon solvents required for process optimization of the hydrogen production units.

Techno-Economic Optimization of SOC Design and Operating Conditions in a Solid Oxide Fuel Cell-Gas Turbine Hybrid System

In a circular economy, highly efficient energy conversion systems are paramount to maximize resource utilization and minimize waste production, including carbon dioxide emissions. Solid oxide fuel cell-gas turbine hybrid systems, which can reach efficiencies of greater than 75%-LHV, have demonstrated to be a promising technology on the way to cleaner power generation. During the energy transition period, solid oxide fuel cell-gas turbine hybrid systems are likely to be operated on natural gas, however, their scalability allows these systems to reach very high efficiencies even at small scales, enabling the use of distributed resources such as biogas. In this presentation the authors will discuss key performance and economic metrics of small-scale (10 MW) advanced solid oxide fuel cell-gas turbine hybrid systems and their relation to cell design and system design elements. Current challenges in solid oxide fuel cell development include thermal cell management and production cost. This presentation presents findings of how cell design parameters influence thermal gradients and specific solid oxide cell costs on a $/kW-basis under hybrid system operating conditions. Moreover, specific cell components are identified, and effects will be discussed that can synergistically reduce thermal stress and specific cell cost at the same time. Informed by this analysis, the optimized cell design is integrated into a solid oxide fuel cell-gas turbine hybrid system in order to provide a comprehensive analysis of system operating conditions under consideration of thermal cell gradients, and new insights into economics and levelized cost of electricity are provided. The presentation will discuss the impact of fuel utilization, operating voltage, and operating pressure upon the heat integration, system’s operating window, and power output. A discussion of economic parameters will highlight cost driving factors to inform research on the next generation of solid oxide cells.

Scenario Planning Development in Facing Future Challenge for Power Rental Industry (Case Study: SM Company)

The diesel power rental industry is currently in an energy transition period. Policy changes in reducing the use of non-renewable fuels are factors that can reduce customer demand. Several policies, such as the Paris agreement, followed by a general plan for electricity supply, then a general plan for national energy that focuses on increasing the use of renewable energy encourages the shift from fossil fuels to renewable sources. These factors will affect the electricity rental industry which still uses fossil fuels. Scenario planning is chosen to provide possible scenarios that may occur in the future by carrying out an analysis of implications & options. This scenario can provide an initial danger signal to be used as an indicator of movement in an industry which will help companies to act and choose the best strategy going forward. Scenario planning is used as a tool for strategic thinking that can be integrated into corporate strategic planning. The semi-structural interview qualitative method was used to collect both primary and secondary data. Supporting analysis of both external factors such as Pestle & Porters Generic Strategies as well as internal resource-competencies was carried out to determine what factors affect uncertainty in the industry, in overcoming future uncertainties scenario planning carried out in this study. The strategic recommendations that were presented have the potential to assist in the future alignment of the company’s strategy.

Design of a One-Stop Platform for on-Demand Supply of Biomass Pellet Fuel in China

China is currently rich in biomass resources, and is in a period of energy transition, the development of biomass is the general trend. However, the development of biomass pellet fuel is still immature and faces many obstacles. At this stage, the sales of biomass pellet fuel has problems such as unclear parameters or insufficient coverage. Therefore, it is proposed to build a one-stop platform to promote the development of biomass fuel industry by using modern means to widely collect information on pellet fuel, calculate the reduction potential of pellet fuel, and build an online platform to reduce the information difference. This paper constructs a database by obtaining a large amount of information on biomass fuels through questionnaires, telephone consultations and access to information on websites. Based on the established database, Jupyter was used to analyze the number of fuel types, the provincial contribution, the fuel price distribution and the calorific value distribution. Among them, Guangdong, Shandong, Jiangsu, Hebei and other large grain provinces have the highest contribution of biomass fuels; most of the fuel types are mainly wood fuels, with wood chips, pine and redwood being the main types; the calorific value of fuels is mainly concentrated in the range of 3800-4600kcal/kg; and the price of fuels is mainly concentrated in the range of 600-1000 RMB. In order to reflect the cleanliness of biomass fuels, the article accounts for the carbon emissions of biomass fuel substitutes at different stages of their life cycle, with the aim of providing a reference for users. Eventually a one-stop platform for supply and demand of biomass fuel was established based on a database and carbon accounting methodology. The idea is to import the database into the backend of the WeChat app for retrieval, display it on the front end and sort it according to the user's choice, and give an estimate of emission reductions based on the user's purchase volume and transport distance.

Renewable energy sources impact on economic growth: international practices

Energy is an indispensable source of power for economic development. Mainstream research has concluded that energy can be divided into two types: renewable and non-renewable. Research analyzing the impact of non-renewable energy on economic development is very comprehensive. Researchers dispute the association between expanding the usage of renewable energy sources and stimulating the economy. They investigated the connection between economic growth and energy use in developing countries. The paper assesses the impact of the energy transition to renewable energy sources driving the economic growth of countries. It has been established that positive transformations in economies can be seen both developed and emerging economies. It has been proved that economic growth, once the national energy becomes autonomous (examples of Iceland, Uruguay), ensures the economy protection from external fluctuations in energy prices and guarantees electricity generation at prices lower than those set for the energy produced from fossil sources. The paper shows that freedom from additional financial burden for businesses is a critical precondition for the stable development of the economy during the energy transition period. It is indicated in the paper that if the state cannot carry out such a transition on its own, there are good reasons to engage large businesses and other participants in this process on favourable contractual terms. It has been found that such actions will promote increased investments in the development of renewable power generation in the country. The paper studies the main opportunities for economic growth resulting from the energy transition, including price advantages for power generation (prices for electricity produced using alternative sources are cheaper than those for electricity produced from fossil sources), driving the entrepreneurial activity, as well as the possibility of exporting energy produced from renewable source. The scientific novelty of our research is in the development of the question of the energy impact transition on the economic growth of countries with different financial, economic and energy potential, through the establishment of specific characteristics of this process, which can contribute to the modeling of its implementation at the level of other states, including Ukraine.

Investments of countries in renewable energy sources in Latin America and the Caribbean: State and prospects

The Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean has identified the energy transition period as one of the strategic areas of action to accelerate the recovery of the region. Renewable energy can become a comparative advantage in terms of attracting investments in other sectors of energy-intensive industries, for example, those related to green hydrogen and the development of carbon-neutral technologies. The dynamic international market and the countries of the Latin American region have the opportunity to solve the tasks strategically with the help of investments. The goal is to conduct a quantitative analysis and directions of FDI to Latin America and the Caribbean based on statistical data. Investment cooperation is analysed within the framework of the theory of structural functionalism (Parsons) using macroeconomic indicators of foreign trade cooperation based on UNCTAD statistics on world investment, data from the central banks of Bolivia, Brazil, CEPAL statistical agencies and the Bank of Russia.

Status and Outlook of Oil Field Chemistry-Assisted Analysis during the Energy Transition Period

Status and Outlook of Oil Field Chemistry-Assisted Analysis during the Energy Transition Period

Comparison of Impact on Turbine Shafts Torsional Behavior for Integration of Two Types of Wind Farm into a Series-Compensated Transmission System

Deep decarbonization is the goal of modern power systems, so it is inevitable that large-scale wind farms will be integrated into systems. This also gives rise to many problems, which have been studied in detail in the literature. However, these studies basically have two deficiencies. One is to assume that traditional generator units are fully loaded, and the other is not to compare the differences in the impact of different types of wind farm. This paper discusses these two points in detail. Taking a series-compensated transmission system as the research object, and assuming that the wind farm only replaces part of the power of the traditional generator unit in the transition period of energy conversion, the difference between the torsional vibration behaviors of the traditional unit caused by adopting different types of wind farm is discussed. The results of the study show that the impact of integration of the type 3 wind farm is dominated by the induction generator effect of doubly fed induction generator units. The penetration rate as low as 19% could cause instability. However, the paralleled metal-oxide varistor can effectively improve the stability. For the type 4 wind farm, the dominant factor turns out to be the de-rating operations of the steam turbine generator unit. The allowable penetration rate depends on the turbine damping. When the turbine damping is sufficient, the penetration rate can be as high as 87.5%. In conclusion, in order to integrate wind farms into a series compensated transmission system, one should not only focus on the compensation factor to avoid the sub-synchronous torsional vibrations, but also pay attention to the types of wind farm as well as the penetration rate. The findings can be used as the decision-making basis for the integration of wind farms during the energy transition period.

Unconventional membranes for direct air carbon capture

Carbon capture and storage provide a way of mitigating carbon dioxide emissions whilst enabling the continued use of fossil fuels during the period of energy transition leading to net zero emissions. This article describes research that is being done in Scotland, UK, at Robert Gordon University, that is pioneering the use of unconventional membranes for direct air carbon capture. The project, run in collaboration with two Canadian companies, aims to deliver a simple, easily deployable, mechanically stable, continuous and sustainable technology to capture carbon dioxide directly from air.

Sustainable energy planning for the aspiration to transition from fossil energy to renewable energy in Northern Cyprus

The study aims to reveal the prominent strategic energy alternatives for Northern Cyprus (NC) in its aspiration to transition from fossil fuels to solar energy/clean energy/renewable energy with sustainable energy planning. First, SWOT analysis was used to identify strengths and weaknesses, opportunities and threats; then, Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) method was used to determine the weight ratios of all those factors and finally, these results were used together with the TOWS analysis to derive energy alternatives. There results in brief were as follows; “solar energy potential” (S1) and "geostrategic position in energy transmission” (S2), both being sub-factors representing strengths, took the first two places respectively in the derived order of importance. The most important sub-criteria of the weaknesses was “insufficient energy management” (W5), while “interconnected connection in energy transmission” (O3) and “energy supply security” (T1) were determined as important for opportunities and threats”. Experts identified eight energy strategies; in particular, the “establishing the interconnected connection” (WO2) and “natural gas pipeline laying” (SO1) strategies are expected to affect all regional energy stakeholders. This study has the potential to become a foremost source in providing energy strategies to energy planners and academics during the energy transition period, specifically for NC.

Unconventional Oil Prospects and Challenges in the Covid-19 Era

Fossil fuels will continue to play an important role for the forthcoming decades, including in key hard-to-abate transport and industrial sectors. Unconventional oil (UO) has emerged as a sizeable contributor to meeting the global energy demand in the energy transition period. However, unfavorable circumstances compounded by the Covid-19 pandemic have intensified uncertainties and speculation regarding the future prospects of these resources. This mini-review explores prospects and challenges faced by UO development in the Covid-19 era, focusing on technical, economic, energy security, and environmental sustainability aspects. While UOs have been significantly affected by the pandemic in the short term, limited medium to long-term UO projections exist, with contrasted findings. The review reveals the multiplicity and complexity of interactions between the Covid-19 pandemic and the discussed UO aspects, the diversity of views, and conflicting short- and long-term goals of the energy industry.

Coupled miscible carbon utilization-storage processes in fractured shales

Geological carbon storage and utilization is commonly-accepted as the most feasible approach to mitigate carbon emissions in energy transition period. Shale reservoirs attract special attentions due to their huge amounts of reserves and wide distributions worldwide. In the meantime, improved technologies are required to implement the production and storage projects in the shale reservoirs because dramatic changes of phase and production properties occur and most conventional methods become inapplicable. Here, first, a field-scale numerical reservoir simulation is developed to model the miscible CO2 utilization in the fractured shale reservoirs. Second, an analytical nanoscale-extended theory model is proposed to calculate a series of basic physiochemical properties and production parameters by including the intermolecular interactions and confinement effects. Third, the CO2 post-production storage is specifically investigated in fractured shale reservoirs. All models developed in this study are compared with and verified by the literature data. Continuous CO2 injection is applied for an 800-day EOR process in the fractured shale reservoir. With the production time, the reservoir oil saturations and pressures become lower, while the gas saturations and cumulative oil productions/oil recovery factors become higher. Moreover, the confinement effect is beneficial to enhance oil productions. The miscible CO2 injection is achieved through, at least in majority, the vaporization process based on the compositional analysis results. On the other hand, in comparison with the conventional reservoirs, the shale reservoirs with nanopores are proven to be more promising for the post-production CO2 storage due to larger caprock sealing pressure, maximum storage height, and storage capacity. The amount of CO2 trapped in the reservoir with confinement is three time as large as that without confinement. Overall, this study provides numerical simulation and analytical theory for the investigation and application of the coupled processes of miscible CO2 utilization and post-production geological storage in fractured shales.

Exergy-aided environmental life cycle assessment of propylene oxide production

PurposePropylene oxide (PO) is one of the useful chemicals that is predicted to experience a compound annual growth rate of 3.9% from 2020 through 2027. The environmental burdens of the current PO production process and its corresponding utility system including power generation system need to be determined quantitatively as a response to increasing demands for its environmentally sustainable production process in the energy transition period from fossil fuels towards renewable energy resources.MethodsA new methodology is proposed to study the PO production process called exergy-aided environmental life cycle assessment (EELCA), using the US National Renewable Energy Laboratory’s database known as life cycle inventory (LCI) database. EELCA is dedicated to LCA studies of processes in the energy transition period and is aided by Monte Carlo simulation (MCS) as a tool for discernibility analysis which brings another dimension to the EELCA because MCS was often used to assess uncertainty in LCA studies. EELCA impact categories are classified into two classes: (i) emission-dependent impact categories addressed by ReCiPe and (ii) resource-dependent impact categories covered by cumulative exergy demand (CExD). The alternative energy like bioenergy is evaluated through the stepwise scenarios assisted by MCS, which are employed in openLCA with 10,000 iterations.Results and discussionThe cumulative exergy depletion of the base scenario is 6.1898 MJ (CExD). The human health and ecosystem impacts are 3.65E-06 DALY and 1.58E-08 species.yr, respectively. Human health-total (2.7E-4 DALY) is the most important category, where the power generation system by residual fuel oil (33.19%) is on top of the list. By analysing statistically discernible scenarios using EELCA, it has been proven that natural gas is not a proper choice for energy mix in the energy transition period. This is because natural gas-based scenarios present more burden compared to residual fuel oil-based scenarios especially regarding human toxicity, freshwater ecotoxicity, marine ecotoxicity, terrestrial acidification, and particulate matter formation. This study shows that the reduction in environmental impacts without changes in the production process technology is feasible through implementing bioenergy scenarios.ConclusionsHaving applied successfully EELCA, this study shows that PO production in the present configuration is not sustainable at all. The statistically discernible scenarios regarding energy mix selection help to enhance sustainability of the PO production process. Moreover, by examining the application of CExD along with LCA analysis, it is proved that by using the concept of CExD, we were able to represent the environmental impacts of the entire system with one figure, which tremendously facilitates the calculations in MCS.