5 spunti per approfondire (20/2024)

La rubrica settimanale con i consigli di lettura di RivistaEnergia.it, dall’Europa e dal mondo. Settimana 20/2024

“The tree-lined street in Leipzig may seem an incongruous beachhead for the future of German energy. But the government has billions riding on its success. Today, the bright yellow power plant tucked behind a graffiti-covered fence burns planet-warming gas to produce electricity. But if all goes to plan, it will one day switch to emissions-free hydrogen. It’s the first, tiny part of a dream energy system being sketched out by policymakers across Europe, who are banking on the green fuel to meet some of the world’s most aggressive climate targets. That dream rests on converting newly built polluting infrastructure to burn hydrogen, a fuel that’ll be many times more expensive than natural gas and that no one has figured out how to move safely and cheaply in bulk. Experts agree that hydrogen will have to play some role in getting the world to net-zero in sectors such as steelmaking, aviation and shipping. The handful of early projects focused on using hydrogen to generate power in Europe, however, show that it won’t be as easy a swap as advocates make it out to be.”

Europe’s Giant Bet on Green Hydrogen Is Full of Holes
Articolo – Bloomberg

“Russia and China expect to finalize soon the preliminary work on the natural gas link Power of Siberia 2 and sign an agreement on the pipeline’s construction, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak said in China this week. “We plan to finalize the review of the project and sign soon the deal to build the pipeline with a capacity of 50 billion cubic meters of gas via Mongolia,” Novak told Russian television, as carried by news agency Interfax. Russia and China also plan “other new projects,” Novak, Russia’s top energy negotiator with OPEC, said while on a visit to China accompanying Vladimir Putin.”

Russia and China Expect to Sign a Deal for Power of Siberia 2 Pipeline Soon
Articolo – OilPrice.com

“President Biden on Monday evening signed a bipartisan bill prohibiting Russian imports of enriched uranium, the main fuel used by nuclear power plants, a move intended to cut off one of the last significant flows of money from the United States to Russia amid the war in Ukraine. Congress took swift action to ban Russian oil and gas imports a month after the February 2022 invasion of Ukraine. But sanctions on uranium imports have taken much longer, in part because Russia supplies roughly 20 percent of U.S. nuclear fuel, leading some lawmakers to fear disruptions to the nation’s 93 nuclear reactors. “It’s kind of ridiculous that it took as long as it did to get to this stage,” said Scott Melbye, executive vice president of mining company Uranium Energy and president of the Uranium Producers of America, a trade group. “But we’re just glad that we got here.””

U.S. bans Russian uranium imports, key to nuclear fuel supply
Articolo – The Washington Post

“The EU’s climate agenda is in trouble. The Green Deal, which aims to slash the bloc’s carbon emissions by 55% by 2030, had started off promisingly after several major pieces of legislation were adopted, including its ban on the sale of new combustion-powered vehicles from 2035 and new carbon border tax. Increasingly, however, Europeans are rebelling against green restrictions of which they have difficulty seeing the advantages. Another less reported upon but equally important threat to the bloc’s ecological and energy transition comes from the alarming number of Chinese and US companies moving into the EU power sector.”

We need to talk about Chinese and US influence in Europe’s energy industry
Analisi – The Conversation

“Fast-growing critical minerals markets remain turbulent, with  prices falling sharply in 2023 following two years of dramatic  increases. Battery materials saw particularly large declines with  lithium spot prices plummeting by 75% and cobalt, nickel, and  graphite prices dropping by 30-45%. The IEA Energy Transition  Mineral Price Index, which tracks a basket price of copper, major  battery metals and rare earth elements, tripled in the two years  following January 2020, but relinquished most of the increase by the end of 2023 – although copper prices remained at elevated levels.”

Global Critical Minerals  Outlook 2024
Report – IEA

della stessa rubrica

5 spunti per approfondire (19/2024), 10 maggio
5 spunti per approfondire (18/2024), 3 maggio
5 spunti per approfondire (17/2024), 26 aprile