Coal loses ground in Brazil's energy mix
Brazil's recently launched national energy transition policy barely mentions coal, highlighting the steady decrease of its usage in the country, slipping to just 4.4pc of Brazil's energy mix in 2023, according to energy research firm EPE.
Since 2014, Brazilian coal usage has declined steadily, losing 5.7 percentage points of its share of the energy mix. From 2022 to 2023 coal usage fell by 5pc, according to the latest national energy balance report.
Brazil's total energy consumption in 2023 grew by 3.5pc from the previous year, reaching 282.5mn metric tonnes of oil equivalent (mtoe).
The industrial sector was responsible for 31.8pc of all energy consumption in 2023. Sugarcane bagasse is the sector's main energy source, with a more than a 20pc share. But 11.6pc of Brazil's steel sector still uses coking coal as a feedstock, although that fell by 5pc from the previous year.
Natural gas has averaged a 10.4pc share of industrial energy demand over the past 20 years, oscillating between 8.8-11.4pc, according to EPE data, and reached 9.5 in 2023.
Overall, renewable energy sources account for 49pc of the Brazilian energy mix, against a worldwide average of 15pc, according to the International Energy Agency data.
Brazil's new energy transition policy will involve a flurry of renewable sources, such as wind, solar, hydro, biomass, biodiesel, ethanol, green diesel, carbon capture and storage, sustainable aviation fuel and green hydrogen, mines and energy minister Alexandre Silveira said.
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Australia's CER undecided on SMC issuance details
Australia's CER undecided on SMC issuance details
Sydney, 12 September (Argus) — Australia's Clean Energy Regulator (CER) has not yet decided on the level of details that will be published alongside the upcoming safeguard mechanism credits (SMCs), while estimated issuance numbers remain within a "wide" range, delegates heard at a forum in Sydney. The regulator will start to issue SMCs early next year to safeguard facilities that report scope 1 greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions below their annual baselines. Each SMC will represent 1t of CO2 equivalent (CO2e) below a facility's baseline, which will have the option to either hold it for future use or sell it in the market. The CER has an estimated range of SMC issuance numbers for the July 2023-June 2024 compliance year, the first under Australia's reformed safeguard mechanism . But this range is "very wide" as several factors are at play, executive general manager Carl Binning told delegates at a safeguard mechanism forum organised by the regulator in Sydney on 11 September. SMC issuances will be "relatively modest initially" according to Binning, but volumes are expected to build up over time as companies intensify efforts to reduce emissions while baselines converge to industry averages. He declined to provide any internal estimates on SMC issuances. Australian companies need to submit their emissions and energy data under the National Greenhouse and Energy Reporting (NGER) scheme by 31 October, including covered emissions data for individual safeguard facilities. The CER is finalising the so-called energy intensity determinations for each facility, which will be used to set their baselines. Baselines will be based on a production-adjusted framework initially weighted towards site-specific emissions intensity values, transitioning to industry average emissions intensity levels by 2030. Under the reformed mechanism, facilities that emit more than 100,000t of CO2 equivalent (CO2e) in a fiscal year face declining baselines — at a rate of 4.9 pc/yr until 2030 — and need to surrender Australian Carbon Credit Units (ACCUs) or SMCs if their onsite abatement activities were not enough to keep their emissions below thresholds. Australia's Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water (DCCEEW) late last year estimated SMC issuances would start at around 1.4mn units in the 2024 financial year ending 30 June 2024, rising to 7.4mn in 2030 and 10.3mn in 2035. Facilities that fall below the coverage threshold of 100,000t CO2e can choose to continue receiving SMCs for up to 10 years — with their baselines continuing to decline if they opt in — and the DCCEEW expects such issuances will be the main source of SMCs by 2035 (see table). Uncertain data level All safeguard facilities will need to give a breakdown of the surrendered ACCUs by the method under which they were generated for the first time from the 2024 financial year, as well as a breakdown of their emissions by CO2, methane and nitrous oxide. The CER will publish 2023-24 safeguard data by 15 April 2025. But while the regulator will also need to publish the number of SMCs issued to a facility, there is still no definition on whether it will disclose where SMCs surrendered by facilities came from, Binning told delegates. "One of the issues we're really wrestling with in the design of our new registry is how much information we tag," Binning said. "I think the marketplace is interested in more granularity… so I'd actually invite feedback on this topic," he added. The CER expects that the new registry replacing the Australian National Registry of Emissions Units (ANREU) will be operational by the end of calendar year 2024. It plans to issue SMCs into the new registry and transfer all ACCUs from the ANREU "gradually" over the following months before the start of the next safeguard compliance period. By Juan Weik Projected SMC issuances (mn) Financial year From safeguard facilities From below-threshold facilities Total 2024 1.36 0.05 1.41 2025 1.62 0.13 1.75 2026 2.27 0.06 2.33 2027 3.20 0.26 3.46 2028 3.52 0.22 3.74 2029 4.34 0.54 4.88 2030 5.67 1.77 7.44 2031 5.31 1.92 7.23 2032 5.29 3.75 9.04 2033 6.77 3.47 10.24 2034 5.82 4.72 10.54 2035 4.80 5.51 10.31 Source: DCCEEW Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2024. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.
WMO puts likelihood of La Nina at 60pc from October
WMO puts likelihood of La Nina at 60pc from October
London, 11 September (Argus) — There is a 60pc chance of La Nina weather conditions emerging from October to February next year, the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) said today. The chance of the El Nino pattern redeveloping during that time are "negligible", it said. La Nina generally leads to a cooling effect on a global level, while El Nino typically has the opposite effect. The weather patterns are naturally occurring, but "are taking place in the broader context of human-induced climate change" that is increasing temperatures globally, the WMO said. The past nine years have been the warmest on record, even with the cooling influence of a La Nina period from 2020 to early 2023, the organisation noted. "Even if a short-term cooling La Nina event does emerge, it will not change the long-term trajectory of rising global temperatures due to heat-trapping greenhouse gases in the atmosphere", WMO secretary-general Celeste Saulo said. Last month was the joint-hottest August on record , and was on average 1.51°C above pre-industrial levels. The Paris climate agreement seeks to limit global warming to "well below" 2°C above pre-industrial temperatures, and preferably to 1.5°C. Global temperatures have been at or close to record highs to date this year and it is "increasingly likely that 2024 is going to be the warmest year on record", EU earth-monitoring service Copernicus said last week. By Georgia Gratton Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2024. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.
Port of NOLA to close prior to TS Francine
Port of NOLA to close prior to TS Francine
Houston, 10 September (Argus) — The port of New Orleans (Nola) in Louisiana and terminal operators there are limiting operations today in preparation for a full closure Wednesday as tropical storm Francine passes. Terminal operators are expected to reopen on 12 September after damages are assessed. United Bulk Terminals (UBT) issued a force majeure this morning from the Davant terminal on concerns for employee safety. The company did not disclose a timeline for reopening. UBT specializes in coal and petcoke along with other commodities. Associated Terminals will suspend operations 11-12 September and will assess damages on 13 September. The National Weather Service forecasts Francine to make landfall tomorrow on the Louisiana coast as a hurricane. Commodities including petcoke, coal, agriculture and fertilizer are likely to be affected by the port closure. By Meghan Yoyotte Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2024. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.
Carbon markets need frameworks, Article 6 progress
Carbon markets need frameworks, Article 6 progress
Berlin, 10 September (Argus) — International carbon markets need better frameworks both at domestic and international level, and consistent guidance on the role of carbon credits and their legal nature, a report by the World Bank has found. The report, presented at the World Bank's Innovate4Climate conference in Berlin today, calls for better harmonisation at several levels, including governance structures but also extending to frameworks such as integrity initiatives, independent standards, verification bodies, registers, transaction registries or exchanges. The World Bank also urges progress on the framework for a new UN-supervised carbon market under Article 6 of the Paris climate agreement at the UN Cop 29 climate conference in November in Baku, Azerbaijan. Article 6.4 additionally provides for so-called mitigation contribution units, which could be used in the voluntary carbon market for "appropriate claims", the World Bank said. Greg Murray, founder of the KoKo networks which sell carbon units from projects providing efficient cookstoves to African households, called at the conference today for Europe to show "more leadership" on carbon markets at Cop 29. Article 6 negotiations failed last year to a large degree because of the EU's fears of insufficient environmental safeguards for the more regulated Article 6.4 mechanism. There was "big enthusiasm" at Cop 28 in Dubai last year about the work carried out by the Integrity Council for the Voluntary Carbon Market (ICVCM) and the Science Based Target Initiative (SBTI) to raise standards, Hania Dawood, contributor to the report and World Bank practice manager for climate finance and economics, said at the conference today. But this enthusiasm has had no impact on the market, Dawood said. Agreement is still lacking in ongoing Article 6 discussions on key operational issues related to transparency, environmental integrity and the avoidance of double counting of mitigation outcomes. But the long debates over Article 6 are precisely to ensure the mechanism does not suffer the same fate as the voluntary carbon market, said Swiss climate negotiator Simon Fellermeyer, who has also been a member of the Article 6.4 supervisory body. By Chloe Jardine Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2024. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.
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