Nikola Corporation, a global leader in battery-electric and hydrogen fuel-cell electric vehicles (FCEV), and energy solutions, secured an additional $16.3 million grant to help fund its hydrogen fueling stations. This new grant gives Nikola a total of $58.2 million to support its hydrogen infrastructure.

Last month, the California Transportation Commission (CTC) awarded Nikola, through its HYLA brand, a $41.9 million grant under the Trade Corridor Enhancement Program (TCEP) to build 6 heavy-duty hydrogen refueling stations across Southern California. 

Each hydrogen refueling station is designed to support and scale up the growth of heavy-duty commercial hydrogen refueling needs. 

Nikola also announced a milestone of 202 sales orders for its Class 8 hydrogen fuel cell electric trucks, reflecting a growing industry trend towards sustainable solutions.

In Canada, First Hydrogen announced that the road test results of its FCEV are even better than what’s expected. Feedback from the trial is promising, asserting the viability and sustainability of hydrogen energy. 

Is Hydrogen The Next Gold Rush? 

As the world is in dire need of reducing carbon emissions, innovations for alternative energy sources are ramping up. Hydrogen is one of those alternatives, particularly in providing a cleaner option for the transportation industry. 

Unlike fossil fuels that release planet-warming gasses, hydrogen fuel can be 100% clean, depending on the process used to burn it. In a hydrogen fuel cell EV, hydrogen is burned with pure oxygen in specially made cells. The only by-product is water.

Projections also indicate that hydrogen fuel will play a key role in the coming decades. Experts predict that the global hydrogen market will reach about $231 billion by 2030.

Regular EVs and FCEVs share many of the same advantages and disadvantages. Moreover, hydrogen-powered vehicles often have the same range as their traditional gas-powered counterparts.

A longer-range battery EV also requires a longer charging time. In contrast, refueling a hydrogen vehicle is the same as how a driver fills up his car at a gas station.

Some vehicle manufacturers are even betting on hydrogen by developing hydrogen fuel cell vehicles like Toyota recently revealed. But of course, hydrogen refueling infrastructure remains limited and lags behind EV battery charging infrastructure. 

Still, a few countries have made hydrogen energy a core of their clean energy transition.

And Nikola is taking the lead in making hydrogen refueling easier and more widely available through its HYLA stations.  

Nikola: The First-Mover of Hydrogen Stations

As a global manufacturer of zero-emission battery-electric and hydrogen-electric vehicles, energy solutions, and hydrogen stations, Nikola is revolutionizing the industry. 

The additional grant it recently received from CTC builds on Nikola’s partnership with Voltera to develop up to 50 HYLA hydrogen stations in North America over the next 5 years. 

The previous grant of almost $42 million was sponsored by the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans). Caltrans’ support of Nikola promotes its zero emission vehicle (ZEV) adoption of freight technology across the state. 

In appreciation of the massive support it’s getting from the state agencies, Nikola Energy president Carey Mendes said that:

“The California grant awards and government funding demonstrate the strong support for the Nikola hydrogen infrastructure brand HYLA’s mission of establishing a comprehensive zero-emission transportation solution to help fleets achieve climate goals…”

Mendes further said that they’re prioritizing developing a hydrogen ecosystem that advances their hydrogen fuel cell electric truck deployment.

These grants are a key enabler for Nikola’s first-mover zero-emission hydrogen fleet and its HYLA fueling stations. The company is also planning to develop an open network of commercial refueling infrastructure in California and eventually across North America.  

With the recent grant announcement, Nikola stock is up 459% from its recent lows as shown in the chart from TradingView.  

First Hydrogen: A Testament that FCEV Works

Back-to-back with Nikola’s announcement is First Hydrogen Corporation’s revelation that its hydrogen-fuel-cell-powered vehicle (FCEV) has achieved a range of 630 km on a single refueling during its fleet trial with UK-based SSE Plc.

First Hydrogen is a Vancouver and London-based company focusing on zero-emission vehicles, green hydrogen production, and supercritical CO2 extractor systems.

SSE, one of the UK’s largest energy infrastructure firms, is the first to road test First Hydrogen’s hydrogen-powered vehicles. 

Data from SSE trial shows that overall vehicle performance beat expectations by exceeding the results set in pre-trial commissioning tests. Results further suggest that heavier payloads and driving at higher speeds don’t significantly reduce the range or impact fuel cell performance. 

Highlighting these remarkable achievements of First Hydrogen’s FCEV vans in real-world conditions, SSE Head of Fleet Services, Simon Gray, says:

“SSE is focussed on enabling, harnessing and deploying new technologies and innovations which can accelerate the journey to net zero. The feedback from this trial will be invaluable when considering if hydrogen fuel cell electric vehicles could fit into our fleets of the future.”

These recent developments in the hydrogen market, particularly on FCEV and hydrogen refueling infrastructure seem to confirm that 2023 is indeed the year for green hydrogen. They’re also greenlighting the hydrogen revolution, which is considered a critical piece of the net zero puzzle. 

The post Nikola Wins $58M Total Grant for Hydrogen Stations; First Hydrogen Reveals Success of FCEV 630km Range appeared first on Carbon Credits.

The world’s second-largest miner – Rio Tinto – revealed that it won’t be able to reach its 2025 decarbonization target of 15% carbon emissions reduction. That’s unless it buys carbon credits to offset its emissions.

The mining giant had also made an $800 million “write down” on its Gladstone alumina refineries due to the higher costs of annual emissions cap under the Albanese government’s tougher “Safeguard Mechanism”. 

Writing down or taking an impairment charge of its assets happens when a company’s projected cash flows are less than what the asset is currently accounted for in the books. 

Rio Tinto didn’t expect and account for the impact of the imposed carbon tax on its long-term cash flow projections. Thus, the miner must change the projections that resulted in the $800 million reduction in its Australian alumina refineries asset. 

This claim to miss its net zero targets is one of the first admitted by a mining giant, highlighting the struggles faced by heavy industries in abating their carbon emissions.

According to Rio Tinto’s CEO, Jakob Stausholm, achieving the 2025 climate target is hard because developing new solutions takes time. He specifically said that:

“There is a lot of technology that doesn’t exist and has to go through an R&D funnel, and that just takes a long time.”

Rio Tinto’s Carbon Emissions and Pathway

The miner aimed for net zero emissions by 2050, in alignment with the Paris Agreement. To reach this climate goal, the company sets a 15% reduction in direct and indirect emissions by 2025, and 50% by 2030, based on the 2018 baseline. 

But Stausholm previously said that he regretted those targets while noting that reaching them calls for making tough choices. 

Mining is responsible for only 20% of Rio Tinto’s carbon emissions. About 50% is from its Australian refineries, where the impairment charge comes from, as they’re energy-intensive and run by coal.

In 2022, the mining giant was able to cut Scope 1 and 2 emissions by 7% relative to 2018 levels. The reduction – from 33.7 – 30.3 Mt CO2 – was mainly due to employing large-scale renewable energy that powers its operations. 

Scope 3 emissions prove harder to abate, almost at 584 Mt CO2. Rio said that estimating Scope 3 emissions remains challenging but claimed that they’ve made improvements in accuracy in 2022.

Over 94% of this pollution comes from the downstream processing of iron ore, bauxite, and other products, while over 76% of these processing emissions occur in China. 

Rio Tinto also expects that its emissions will rise (1.5 Mt CO2) as production grows between 2023 and 2025. To help address this, and still reach its 2025 climate target, the miner developed a plan for abatement projects. These projects have a total of 4.2Mt CO2 abatement. 

To reach its 2030 target, the mining giant has to employ these decarbonization levers: 

Switching to renewables
Abating emissions from alumina refineries and minerals processing 

In line with those strategies, Rio Tinto established the following specific abatement programs and their emissions reduction potential.

Carbon Credits Are Key in Rio’s Net Zero Goal

The other required abatement particularly includes investment in nature-based climate solutions (NbS). That means investing in high-integrity carbon offset credits, which according to the company play a greater role in their net zero pathway.

You can see the latest world carbon prices on our dashboard here.

In fact, Stausholm said their 2025 goal will still be achievable through carbon credits as their “last resort”. Securing high-quality carbon credits is crucial for the miner to decarbonize their operations. 

In particular, Rio Tinto’s ambition is to “build a sustainable and long-term carbon credit portfolio generating 1.7 million tonnes annually by 2030”. 

The company will focus on investing in carbon credits in regions where they’ve significant emissions, including North America and Australia. They then plan to move upstream into co-development or co-financing of carbon offset projects for the long-term security of earning quality credits. 

Delivering its net zero emissions strategy requires Rio Tinto to invest $7.5 billion in capital between 2022 and 2030. Out of that, about $1.5 billion will be needed over the period 2022 to 2025. 

Last year, the miner’s decarbonization-related capital expenditure was just $94 million, far below their original estimate of $500 million. But decarbonization investment across the rest of the Rio Tinto Group will ramp up beyond 2025.

The company will continue to explore carbon capture and mineralization options leveraging its exploration and geological expertise. Carbon capture technologies, though emerging, have been the go-to solution for many heavy emitters.

Rio Tinto peers such as BHP and Fortescue Metals Group are so far on track to reaching their climate goals. BHP seeks to reduce Scope 1 and 2 emissions by 30% by 2030, while Fortescue aims to hit net zero emissions by the same year. 

As governments’ carbon tax and other schemes become law, companies will be forced to account for these costs in their cash flow projections. And Rio Tinto is not the only company that will face this problem. Other heavy emitters in Australia, Canada, and Europe may expect to see this coming their way, too. 

The post Miner Rio Tinto’s Carbon Problem and Offset Solution appeared first on Carbon Credits.

Walmart Inc. teamed up with a California startup Rubi Laboratories to test technology that can turn carbon dioxide into clothes. The CO2 is captured from the retail giant’s supply chain. 

The partnership between Walmart and Rubi will explore the innovative carbon capture technology that transforms CO2 from manufacturing waste streams into textiles. This initiative perfectly aligns with Walmart’s sustainability goals while presenting opportunities for eco-friendly and affordable apparel made from captured CO2. 

Rubi is a symbiotic manufacturing company aiming to reinvent fashion supply chains through a proprietary biomanufacturing technology that works in harmony with the planet.

A Greener Way to Make Clothes 

Climate experts believe that carbon capture technology can help prevent billions of tons of carbon emissions from entering the atmosphere. There are various technologies emerging today that capture CO2 from industrial plants and store the gas deep underground. 

The carbon capture sector is in its early stages but projections show promising growth. For instance, BloombergNEF estimates that direct air capture, directly capturing ambient air from the atmosphere, alone can be a $1-trillion market in the next decade. Scalability remains the key challenge. 

Other companies prefer to reuse the captured carbon instead of burying it to make other products that people use daily. This is known as the carbon capture, usage, and storage (CCUS) technology. 

Rubi’s patent-pending carbon capture and transformation technology uses biochemical processes to convert CO2 to cellulose. This technology, which follows the idea of how trees use carbon dioxide to grow, is powered by enzymes that “eat” CO2 and produce lyocell yarn, a main component in making textiles. 

Here’s how Rubi’s carbon transformation process works in three steps:

The carbon captured is from the waste streams of manufacturing facilities under Walmart’s supply chain. According to Rubi’s CEO Neeka Mashouf, their system can capture up to 90% of a factory’s CO2 emissions. And this is what the world’s largest retailer will test on this pilot project that will run until 2024.

The goal is to look for a greener way to make clothes, says Walmart’s EVP of Sourcing, Andrea Albright. She further asserted the importance of the project in addressing their climate and sustainability goals, saying that: 

“Walmart’s collaboration with Rubi could reimagine the apparel supply chain by leveraging technology to create textiles from carbon emissions. This technology could play an important role in our journey towards zero waste and zero emissions.”

The retail company company aims to reach zero emissions by 2040, ten years ahead of the Paris Agreement target. Part of this goal is to cut absolute Scopes 1 and 2 GHG emissions 35% by 2025 and 65% by 2030 from 2015 base year.

The retailer reported to achieve the following progress in its net zero targets. Between 2015 baseline and 2021, Walmart cut Scopes 1 and 2 emissions by 23% and also decreased carbon intensity by almost 41%, as measured by metric ton CO2e per $M revenue.

Walmart’s Progress on Operational Emissions (Scopes 1 & 2)

Walmart’s Giant Moves for Climate Goals 

Walmart is the first company to work with Rubi Labs both for manufacturing and brand pilot projects. Their deal involves two major parts:

1st pilot: focuses on integrating the Rubi system into manufacturing facilities within Walmart’s supply chain to capture and convert carbon.
2nd pilot: performance testing of CO2-converted cellulose in a prototype apparel, focusing on accessibility and affordability for the mass market. After testing, the partners plan to have a sample apparel collection.

Walmart is among many Fortune 500 companies committed to reduce carbon emissions to achieve climate goals. The giant retailer has been serious in reaching sustainability goals by working with climate action leaders, suppliers, and customers to cut its emissions since 2005. 

Walmart aims that its own operations – Scope 1 and 2 emissions – will be run 50% by renewable energy by 2025 and 100% by 2035. The company is also addressing its Scope 3 emissions (supply chain emissions) by launching the Project Gigaton in 2017. 

The project’s goal is to avoid or reduce 1 billion metric tons of carbon emissions by 2030. As of 2022, over 5,200 suppliers are participating in the project and reported to achieve a total of 750 million Mt of CO2.

Scaling up these goals and achievements are critical as the world continues to experience record-breaking heat levels. 

According to the United Nations estimates, the current emissions-cutting policies by governments worldwide are still not enough to limit global warming and would still likely increase global average temperature by about 2.8ºC by 2100. Recent reports of deadly heat-related events show how grave the effects of rising heat could be. 

What that means for companies is to take on massive and rapid efforts to reduce their planet-warming emissions. 

Joining Walmart in the fight against this climate crisis are major fashion brands Lululemon and Nike. 

Last month, the Canadian athletic brand Lululemon also partnered with a startup that uses enzymes to recycle plastics to recover nylon and polyester and use it to make new apparel. Undergoing the same carbon-cutting and sustainability initiatives, Nike has been using recycled materials in making its apparel and shoe collection.

Walmart’s move to address its supply chain emissions with Rubi’s help is a giant step towards its climate goals. Capturing emissions from its suppliers’ manufacturing facilities and using it to make new clothes can be both profitable and climate-friendly.

If successful, the innovative carbon capture system could revolutionize Walmart’s supply chain, making affordable clothing while mitigating carbon emissions.

The post Walmart Looks at Innovative Carbon Capture to Turn CO2 Into Clothes appeared first on Carbon Credits.

To bring its groundbreaking biomass treatment technology to the global market, AquaGreen, a Danish engineering company, received $4.4 million from Nordic Alpha Partners and Swedish FMG Circular Invest.

FMG Circular Invest is a joint investment initiative between Feralco Group and its owner Mellby Gård. The Danish Workers Pension Fund (ATP) also supports AquaGreen.

The company’s revolutionary technology helps in the fight to reduce emissions while paving the way for a circular economy. 

AquaGreen: Pioneering the Circular Economy with Innovative Technology

AquaGreen is at the forefront of the circular economy through its patented technology that transforms biowastes into resources. This innovative technology enables industries to turn biomass and waste like sewage sludge into renewable energy, biochar, and activated carbon. 

The company’s engineers are working closely with scientists and professors from renowned universities, and dedicated partners. Its state-of-the-art technology is patented with the Technical University of Denmark (DTU) and earned the company various innovation awards. 

Noting AquaGreen’s unique solution, co-CEO of Feralco Group Ludovic Huitorel, remarked that:

“The trends related to the circular economy within wastewater treatment are strong… AquaGreen is well-positioned to meet the market’s demand for the elimination of microplastics and medical residues, in wet biomasses.”

An average person discharges around 2 tons of biowaste (or poop) a year. Wastewater treatment facilities either spread the waste on farmlands, store it, or burn it. These options are expensive and are bad for the environment and the climate. 

Carbon Footprint of WWTPs

Source: Wu, Ziping et al. (2022). A comprehensive carbon footprint analysis of different wastewater treatment plant configurations. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envres.2022.113818.

During their operations, wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) generate greenhouse gasses like carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxide, including CO2 emissions from the energy production required to run these plants. These gasses are known to exacerbate climate change.

AquaGreen offers a solution to this escalating issue. Its innovative technology eliminates harmful substances in biomass and lowers greenhouse gas emissions.

How Does AquaGreen Biomass Technology Work?

AquaGreen’s biomass treatment technology is a game-changer in waste management. Their continuous, fully automated process (integrated steam-drying and pyrolysis) uses the calorific content of waste to fuel its own system. 

This software-controlled system reduces waste management costs by up to 90% as it requires little manpower for operation. Plus, monitoring the system is possible remotely.

The process not only turns wastes into valuable resources but also eliminates harmful pollutants, cuts GHG emissions, and stores CO₂ in biochar. This significantly contributes to environmental sustainability and climate change mitigation efforts, while generating revenue from waste. 

Here’s how AquaGreen’s technology works, explained in the video.

Impact on Climate and the Environment

AquaGreen’s innovative HECLA® technology runs with an integrated steam dryer and pyrolysis system. Sewage sludge is steam-dried and the remaining biomass is then pyrolyzed in the absence of oxygen at 650°C. 

The technology converts biomass into biochar, which reduces or eliminates the environmentally harmful substances. During this process, essential nutrients and minerals for plants and animals like phosphorus are preserved. 

The process also significantly reduces CO₂ emissions. First, it prevents the sludge from dissolving and releasing planet-warming greenhouse gasses. Second, it binds CO₂ into the biochar.

The system is self-sufficient and circular because the gasses produced during pyrolysis fuels both the steam drying and pyrolysis processes. The excess steam, condensed into hot water, is applicable for district heating grids and other applications. 

With just one AquaGreen HECLA® Setores 1,000 Plant, it can handle the waste from up to 75,000 individuals. More remarkably, the plant is capable of achieving these climate-friendly results:

Reduce GHG emissions by 1,800 tons of CO₂ equivalent
Produce 2,000 MWh of energy
Store 500 tons of carbon in biochar

The resulting biochar is odorless and contains up to 6% plant-accessible phosphorus and other valuable nutrients. 

From Sludge to Biochar to Carbon Credits

Through AquaGreen’s HECLA® technology, sewage sludge can be converted into biochar, which is a stable and effective carbon sequestration method. Biochar produced at temperatures above 600°C has a high stable carbon content of above 90%. 

Studies also show that biochar can sequester up to 2-3 tons of carbon per ton of biochar applied. 

This method offers a long-term mitigation as it can sequester carbon up to thousands of years when added to soil. Plus, it can also improve soil quality by enhancing water retention, nutrient availability, and microbial activity.

Companies or projects that sequester carbon and reduce GHG emissions through biochar are eligible to earn carbon credits. These credits are tradable in the carbon markets and represent certain amounts of carbon removed from the atmosphere. Each credit corresponds to a tonne of atmospheric carbon removed or reduced. 

AquaGreen’s HECLA® technology has shown its capability in providing sustainable wastewater management as well as reducing GHG emissions. 

The EU alone would need around 5,000 HECLA® plants to address its wastewater treatment requirements. This fact, plus the climate benefits of its technology, is the reason for AquaGreen’s new investment.

With AquaGreen’s innovative biomass treatment technology, waste management takes a leap towards sustainability and climate action. By converting biowastes into valuable resources while sequestering carbon through biochar, the company contributes to climate change mitigation.

The post Danish Company Turns Poop Into Profit via Biochar and Carbon Credits appeared first on Carbon Credits.