CLEAN SYNTHETIC FUELS

The production of clean synthetic fuels is key if we want to decarbonize the economy to achieve the urgent clean energy transition. This article highlights how hydrogen produced from clean energy sources needs to step up, nuclear energy could be a big player in its production and offers some key advantages over other clean forms of energy sources, such as land use and costs.

On the day this episode was recorded, Germany shut down its last 3 nuclear power plants - active assets producing massive amounts of clean energy. Michael Liebreich and Kirsty Gogan discuss what drove this decision and its consequences. They also share their thoughts on how nuclear energy's role in the clean energy transition, though now recognized and proven, still struggles to make its way.

TerraPraxis featured as Brutal Tech's startup showcase.

"As a climate solution accelerator, TerraPraxis is accelerating solutions that have the potential to scale and have a significant impact on the decarbonization challenge."

In the news round-up for November, the focus was on the role nuclear played at COP27. World Nuclear Association's Jonathan Cobb and Henry Preston report on the conference and from some of the expert sessions staged at the IAEA #Atoms4Climate pavilion, including a session featuring TerraPraxis Co-Founder, Kirsty Gogan.

TerraPraxis has been listed among eight of the most high-impact, cost-effective, evidence-based organizations fighting climate change. Why Johannes Ackva and Luisa Sandkühler of Founders Pledge recommend TerraPraxis: “We believe that TerraPraxis continues to do incredibly important work around shaping a conversation for advanced nuclear to address critical decarbonization challenges, such as the decarbonization of hard-to-decarbonize sectors and the conundrum of how to deal with lots of very new coal plants that are unlikely to be prematurely retired.”

This fall Founders Pledge is celebrating the two year anniversary of their Climate Change Fund. Thanks to this fund, TerraPraxis was able to quick start operations in 2020 and continue its growth and expand its work streams throughout these years. This post will give a high-level overview of how the Fund's money has been hard at work (i) accelerating innovation in neglected technologies, (ii) avoiding carbon lock-in in emerging economies, (iii) promoting policy leadership and paradigm shaping, and (iv) catalytically growing organizations during the past two years.

‍

The NICE Future initiative published a digest which showcases examples of leading nuclear produced hydrogen initiatives which can be used to power hard-to-electrify sectors such as transport and heavy industry. Eric Ingersoll and Kirsty Gogan, Founders of TerraPraxis, were honoured to contribute both a Foreword and a chapter: "While it sounds daunting to achieve the scale of production needed, the scalability and power density of advanced heat sources are a major benefit. By moving to a manufacturing model with modular designs, it is possible to deliver hundreds of units in multiple markets around the world each year to produce abundant clean hydrogen-based synthetic fuels. To achieve global market penetration at the speed and scale required by the climate emergency, these drop-in substitute fuels must be delivered at prices that can outcompete fossil fuels within 10 years, and at a scale that can displace the 100 million barrels of oil that are currently consumed around the world each day." 

We know that climate change is an energy problem. Now we have 28 years to replace fossil fuels and double our overall energy supply. As you reflect on our first  2021 Annual Review, we hope you will be as energized as we are by our success in mobilizing a broad coalition of public and private sector leaders and building momentum for innovative climate solutions (for coal plant conversion, flexible co-generation, clean hydrogen, and synthetic fuels production). Our programs could accelerate the reduction of global carbon emissions by repurposing trillions of dollars of existing infrastructure to supply clean, affordable, and reliable energy to billions of people.

The solution to the world’s energy problem could be simple — even elegant. So much so that we could look back and wonder why it took us so long to finally realize it. According to the world’s foremost experts on advanced nuclear technology and policy, the choice is up to us.

‍

The flurry of new policies and announcements raises the question: Are we at the dawn of a nuclear renaissance? We’ve heard these claims before. But the mounting scale of the climate and energy conundrum is fueling more money and favorable policies into atomic power. Kirsty Gogan, co-founder of TerraPraxis is quoted: “There have been years of indecisiveness, but the climate is changing around nuclear"... “We need Impossible burgers for energy, a drop-in substitute. We’re not bending the curve on emissions because in the power sector we still need reliability, making the idea that we’re going to phase out coal unforgivably unrealistic right now.”

Reuters cites a new study by Aurora Energy Research, Decarbonising Hydrogen in a Net Zero Economy. Hydrogen is increasingly seen as an essential fuel to power a future, carbon-free economy. Nuclear power operators can mitigate high costs by fitting plants to produce hydrogen, and studies have found that the cheapest option for the growing hydrogen economy is to include nuclear in the energy mix. The study was commissioned by Urenco and has been supported by the International Atomic Energy Agency, EDF, and LucidCatalyst.

To facilitate rapid decarbonisation and cut dependency on fossil fuels, both nuclear energy and renewables are needed for power and hydrogen production, a new independent study has concluded. The study, by Aurora Energy Research, investigates the benefits of deploying both nuclear and renewables for hydrogen production, to support the energy transition and meet UK climate targets. The report, Decarbonising Hydrogen in a Net Zero Economy, was commissioned by Urenco and has been supported by the International Atomic Energy Agency, EDF, and LucidCatalyst.

Kirsty Gogan is featured in the cover story of Nuclear Future about how the nuclear industry can help deliver Net Zero. “By incorporating these strategies we could dramatically change our prospects. Once there is better awareness and understanding, the potential will start to mobilise.”

The U.K. has set a target for 5 gigawatts of hydrogen production by 2030, envisioning its use in road transportation, home heating, and ship propulsion. EDF currently runs 27 plants in the U.K. and France, and is building two more; Sizewell C would be its 30th. “The nuclear industry does need to broaden its ambition and recognize the value of these opportunities,” said Kirsty Gogan, member of a government nuclear advisory board [and co-founder of TerraPraxis]. “We have started to see this happening.”

In this compelling and optimistic discussion, two formidable nuclear energy experts Kirsty Gogan and Dr. Rita Baranwal (former Assistant Secretary for the Office of Nuclear Energy in the U.S. Department of Energy, and now VP of nuclear at the Electric Power Research Institute) explain why nuclear is so often left out of the conversation and, more importantly, why we have no choice but to include it in the mix of transition fuels to get us to a net-zero future. They talk about energy access, decarbonisation challenges, and being trailblazers in the industry. Visit site, watch the video, or listen to the podcast.