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Fossil-free fertilizer

November 9, 2023 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

Ammonia is a major industrial commodity. About 70% of it is used to make fertilizer, with the rest for a wide range of industrial applications. Ammonia is the starting point for all mineral nitrogen fertilizers.

Typically, ammonia is a byproduct of isolating hydrogen from natural gas, which releases large amounts of carbon dioxide. On a global scale, the climate impact of ammonia production is comparable to that of air travel. The world needs more ammonia but really cannot afford the emissions that come with its production.

There are also political implications of ammonia production. Because it relies so heavily on natural gas, ammonia supply is vulnerable to disruptions from events like the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Sanctions imposed after the invasion have hindered fertilizer exports, driving up costs, especially in places like Africa.

A small fertilizer plant near Nairobi, Kenya will be the first farm in the world to produce its own nitrogen fertilizer on site that is free of fossil fuels. The plant is being built by an American startup company Talus Renewables and will use solar power to strip hydrogen from water. The hydrogen will then bond with nitrogen from the air to form liquid ammonia. The plant will produce one ton of ammonia each day.

The typical bag of fertilizer in sub-Saharan Africa travels 6,000 miles to get there, which of course only adds to the environmental burden of using it as well as its cost. By building a small green ammonia plant like the one coming online in Kenya, it is possible to locally produce a critical raw material in a carbon-free manner.

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Farm in Kenya First to Produce Fossil-Free Fertilizer On Site

Photo courtesy of Talus Renewables via LinkedIn.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

Deforestation-Free Pledges | Earth Wise

December 12, 2022 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

Deforestation is the purposeful clearing of forested land. Forests are cut down to make space for animal grazing, agriculture, and to obtain wood for fuel, manufacturing, and construction. Deforestation has greatly altered landscapes around the world and continues to do so today.

Deforestation is the second largest contributor to global greenhouse gas emissions, trailing only fossil fuel use. Deforestation can lead to all sorts of problems, including biodiversity loss, soil erosion, desertification, and flooding. Deforestation also threatens peoples’ livelihoods and increases inequality and conflict.

As a result, many companies around the world have made pledges to remove deforestation from their supply chains. In fact, more than 94 companies had adopted zero-deforestation commitments by 2021. But while these companies are talking the talk, they don’t seem to be walking the walk.

According to a new study recently published in the journal Environmental Research Letters, companies’ deforestation-free supply chain pledges have barely impacted forest clearance in the Amazon.

The research team from the University of Cambridge, Boston University, ETH Zurich, and New York University found corporate pledges to not purchase soybeans grown on land deforested after 2006 have only reduced tree clearance in the Brazilian Amazon by 1.6% between 2006 and 2015. The researchers found that if these pledges had been implemented, the current levels of deforestation in Brazil could be reduced by approximately 40%.

According to the research team, the findings of the study indicate that private sector efforts are not enough to stop deforestation. Political leadership will also be vital to forest conservation efforts.

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Companies’ ‘deforestation-free’ supply chain pledges have barely impacted forest clearance in the Amazon, researchers say

Photo, posted November 18, 2020, courtesy of Ivan Radic via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

Tracking Small-Scale Fishers | Earth Wise

October 4, 2022 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

About half of all global seafood is caught by artisanal fishers. These are individuals who operate on a small scale – often on a subsistence level – and typically fish only a short distance from shore. Over 85% of the estimated 2.5 million motorized fishing vessels in the world are less than 12 meters in length. Compared with large-scale commercial fishing operations, these enterprises are very small. However, they are essential to the food security and livelihoods of their communities. Because of their sheer numbers, artisanal fishers are an important sector to monitor, manage, and advocate for. They may be small-scale, but their importance and impact are huge.

Large ships make use of vessel tracking systems, which were originally conceived to prevent maritime collisions. Over time, VTS technology has become useful for other purposes including monitoring fishing activity in sensitive marine areas and looking out for forced labor on the high seas.

Among small fishing vessels, only an estimated 0.4% are equipped with VTS technology. So, a massive number of vessels accounting for a big part of the global catch cannot be monitored.

Researchers at UC Santa Barbara surveyed hundreds of artisanal fishers in Indonesia and Mexico to see if they were willing to pay to participate in a VTS program, or participate for free, or be paid to participate. Having the equipment would provide multiple benefits to the fishers including increased safety and better fisheries management. Two-thirds of the survey participants said they were willing to pay for the technology. The study is the first effort to explore the potential for encouraging wide adoption of VTS technology among artisanal fishers.

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Tracking Small-Scale Fishers

Photo, posted November 30, 2014, courtesy of Bernard Spragg via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

A Car-Free Zone In Berlin | Earth Wise

February 22, 2022 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

The regional parliament in Berlin is considering the creation of a car-free zone in the German capital as a result of a petition from a local advocacy group. The group – called the People’s Decision for Auto-Free Berlin – collected 50,000 signatures, which was enough to require the Berlin Senate to take up the issue.

The city ban would apply to the space ringed by the S-Bahn train line, which circles the city center. Known as the Ringbahn, the area enclosed was already established as a low-emission zone in 2008. It is 34 square miles in area, larger than Manhattan. The ban would restrict vehicle use to trucks, taxis, emergency vehicles, and limited car-sharing programs.

In Berlin, a combination of regular trains, ample bike lanes, and a robust network of public buses makes getting around without a car more practical than in many other major cities. In fact, automobiles account for only 17% of trips inside of the Ringbahn.

Even so, there is still a lot of car traffic in the city center. Advocates for the plan believe it would lead to a city with cleaner air and more livable spaces for its citizens.

If the Berlin Senate rejects the measure, the advocacy group will seek to collect 175,000 signatures, which would force the Senate to consider the matter for a second time. If it is rejected again, it would automatically go to a referendum in 2023.

In Europe, it appears that the revolution in transportation may not just be one about electric vehicles, but in some places may be toward the removal of vehicles in general.

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Berlin Looks to Create Car-Free Zone Larger Than Manhattan

Photo, posted March 30, 2019, courtesy of Falco Ermert via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

Extreme Heat From Solar Power | Earth Wise

January 23, 2020 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

Renewable sources are playing a growing role in meeting our energy needs, but one place where they have continued to fall short is in industrial processes that require extreme heat. These include the cement, steel, and glass industries, among others. These industries account for a significant amount of CO2 emissions because the most effective way to reach the necessary temperatures continues to be combustion of fossil fuels. The cement industry alone accounts for 7% of global emissions and the need for cement continues to grow.

A previously stealthy startup company backed by Bill Gates and fellow billionaire Soon-Shiong has made a breakthrough in the area of using solar energy to achieve high temperatures. The company, called Heliogen, has created a solar oven that is capable of generating heat above 1800 degrees Fahrenheit, which is enough for high-temperature industrial processes.

The Heliogen technology uses concentrated solar power to generate heat. Concentrated solar power uses arrays of mirrors to reflect sunlight and focus it to a single point. That technology is not new; there are systems that use it to produce electricity and, to some extent, heat for industry. But it could not achieve high enough temperatures for producing cement or steel.

The new system uses computer vision software, automatic edge detection and other sophisticated technologies to focus the sun’s rays far more finely than ever before and thereby generate far higher temperatures at the focal point.

Heliogen is now focused on demonstrating how the technology can be used in a large-scale application, such as cement-making. The selling points to industry are that not only will there be no emissions generated, but that the fuel needed to obtain their extreme heat will be free.

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Secretive energy startup backed by Bill Gates achieves solar breakthrough

Photo courtesy of Heliogen.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

Big Success From A Big Battery

January 1, 2019 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

In the fall of 2017, Tesla took on the challenge of installing a 100-megawatt battery storage system in South Australia in under 100 days, promising that the system would be free if it was not built in time. The project was actually completed in 54 days.

The system is located at the Hornsdale Wind Farm, which consists of 99 wind turbines with a generation capacity of 315 MW. The Hornsdale Power Reserve installation is the world’s largest lithium-ion battery system and, after a year of operation,has proven to be a smashing success. Estimates are that the project has reduced costs associated with stabilizing the energy grid by about $29 million. The cost of the system was about $87 million, so it is paying for itself quite rapidly. The wind farm and battery systems are owned and operated by a French renewable energy company.

The battery storage system provides a variety of different services to the electric grid. The primary motivation for it was to achieve system security and reduce the risk of blackouts and load shedding. Having the battery system in place protects the regional interconnection from tripping,which reduces the risk of separation of South Australia from the National Electricity market. The system also provides so-called ancillary services such as frequency control and other forms of electricity supply regulation.

The most significant contribution of the Hornsdale Power Reserve is that it has raised the profile of energy storage technology and demonstrated its unique capabilities. Based on the success of the system, there are now about 2,500 MWh of new storage projects announced by the public and private sectors in Australia.

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