Liverpool-based DefProc Engineering has secured a place in this year’s Hydrogen Innovation Challenge, organized by climate tech hub Sustainable Ventures.

Developed for Northern Gas Networks, the sensor monitors low-pressure gas supply at NGN’s Low Thornley site near Gateshead; successful testing and trials will see it rolled out to consumers across Yorkshire, the North East and Cumbria, says DefProc.

The firm will now receive one-to-one support for the rest of the year and the opportunity to present the Smart Gas Pressure Sensor at an innovation showcase in front of potential partners and regional end users.

The aim is that the Hydrogen Innovation Challenge will connect them to a wider network of gas distributors looking to decarbonise their networks by innovative means.

Jen Fenner, managing director and co-founder of DefProc Engineering, said: “The Hydrogen Innovation Challenge is an incredible opportunity to showcase our capabilities as end-to-end design engineers and a market-leading innovation partner.

“We’ve worked on some revolutionary projects in recent years and the support from the Hydrogen Innovation Challenge will allow us to present these to a wider network of potential clients and make a tangible difference to the future of sustainability.”

In addition to the Smart Gas Pressure Sensor, which works with natural gas, blended hydrogen supply or 100% hydrogen, DefProc Engineering has designed and delivered what it describes as the UK’s first low-cost domestic hydrogen sensor, H2Go for the EIC, Northern Gas Networks and Wales and West Utilities.

Similar to the look and operation of a traditional smoke alarm, H2Go will be the basis for manufactured domestic hydrogen sensors in the future.

Lee-Ann Perkins, Sustainable Ventures hydrogen program manager, added: “Through the Hydrogen Innovation Challenge, we’re empowering startups to lead the charge in the UK’s energy transition, providing the tools and partnerships to bring innovations to market.”

Earlier this year, DefProc Engineering was also one of five pioneering UK businesses chosen for a new Hydrogen Sensor Accelerator Programme with Digital Catapult, a first-of-its-kind eight-week programme to deliver the UK strategy for hydrogen technology.”

Biocarbon might be emerging as an important ingredient in efforts to decarbonize metallurgical production. Envirotec spoke to Sam Beardshaw of UK firm Invica Industries about how it fits into the menu of technologies being primed for a role.

The pressure is on to decarbonize the metals industry, which alone contributes 7% of global CO2 emissions (5% in the EU). Global Energy Monitor reported in July that the iron and steel industry had made important strides towards net zero in the past year, with figures suggesting around 93% of new steelmaking capacity will use low-emissions electric-arc furnaces (EAF).

But there is a long way to go. The IEA wants to see 37% of the industry have an EAF by 2030. In the meantime, the traditional setup of a basic oxygen furnace (BOF) tends to predominate, particularly in China and India. And these have tended to run on non-renewable fossil fuels.

Technology pathways
Likely contenders in the contest to find a technology to decarbonize steel production include principally: hydrogen (either via direct injection, or a method called “direct reduced iron”), carbon capture and storage, and – as this article discusses – biocarbon.

The direct injection of hydrogen into blast furnaces is considered promising, and is currently at proof-of-concept stage, with a number of approaches receiving funding via the UK government’s Industrial Hydrogen Accelerator Programme. But current estimates suggest it will need extraordinary quantities of hydrogen, which in turn requires phenomenal amounts of green electricity to drive the electrolysis process (enough to power every home in Scandinavia for a year, says Teratel).

The process called Direct-Reduced Iron (DRI) is likely a longer-term bet given the need to construct new plants, and install EAFs. While DRI has run on natural gas, its replacement with green hydrogen offers a pathway to decarbonization.

This kind of DRI process involves exposing iron ore to hydrogen in a reactor vessel. Hydrogen reacts with the oxygen in the ore to produce direct-reduced iron, or sponge iron, which is then melted in an EAF to produce steel. An additional drawback is that it requires a higher-than-usual grade of iron ore, and a consistent size and quality of feedstock.

Carbon capture is being deployed widely in the steel industry, and can capture emissions from blast furnaces, or where there is limited opportunity to deploy lower-emissions production methods. But there are still huge challenges with figuring out a way to do it at scale, and within reasonable cost and energy constraints.

Near-term solution?
What looks like a more immediate prospect for decarbonizing all metallurgical applications – and other forms of hard-to-abate production – is to run existing blast furnaces not on hydrogen but on something comparable to existing feedstocks. “Biocarbon” has a more specific meaning than broader terms such as “biochar” or “bio-coal”, and really refers to a feedstock made from wood waste or otherwise biogenically-sourced material, which has been processed to produce something with a performance specification more closely matching fossil materials. The resulting product – available from Invica Industries as “ecoke” – is able to serve as something like a drop-in replacement for non-renewable fuels like coal, anthracite and metallurgical coke, without any significant requirement for modification of blast furnaces and other processes.

Recently, biocarbon has become a more commonplace fixture in discussions of steel industry decarbonization, suggests Invica’s Sam Beardshaw, “as people are starting to realize it’s the only immediate way to decarbonize the industry, or to ensure it can hit some of its near-term targets”.

A biocarbon product like ecoke is something quite different to the charcoal you might pull from a home barbeque, he explains.

Key to the proposition is its tight specification in relation to emissions, and the fact that it can enable steel production that complies with zero-emissions regulations such as the EU’s Renewable Energy Directive.

Beardshaw explained that the differences were fairly stark between a product (coal) which, without human interference, would allow carbon to remain locked underground (where it has lain for millions of years), and which you are now proposing to liberate from the ground via a mining process, and, on the other hand, another product (biocarbon) derived from a material like waste wood, which has been sustainably sourced, and which would otherwise decompose (and produce emissions) if you didn’t take it and transform it into something useful.

Sourcing is obviously a key part of the proposition, and ecoke uses material certified as coming from a sustainable, biogenic source. For this sourcing, Invica Industries has partnered with leading biocarbon producers in the world, said Beardshaw, all pulling from waste wood sources like sustainable forestry projects.

Producing the briquettes
The other element of the USP is the production process itself, and this waste material passes through a few process steps before you end up with the finished hybrid solution – an ecoke briquette, which provides a minimum 30% reduction in emissions in comparison to traditional fossil fuels.

Invica Industries literature quotes the ecoke30 product as providing emission reductions of 1 t CO2 / 1 t ecoke30 (i.e., for every tonne of ecoke used in place of conventional carbon-based fuel (like metallurgical coke), the resulting CO2 emissions are reduced by 1 tonne).

The material used to make ecoke is aggregated at the company’s production facility in Immingham. It undergoes pyrolysis, as with the production of biochar, to concentrate the carbon content. In its raw form, biocarbon is lower in fixed carbon than metcoke and anthracite. At this stage the material is also blended with some proportion of the latter kind of high-grade fossil fuel material, “in whatever proportion the end user requires”, says Beardshaw. In this way, biocarbon can be brought up to the performance specifications required by a steel producer.

Biocarbon in its raw form is also higher in volatiles (things like water vapour, tar, and organic materials) than metcoke or anthracite, for example, which would (if not minimised or removed) impact the behaviour and performance of the material during steelmaking. So these materials are also partially removed in the ecoke production process.

To provide the final pillow-shaped briquette, the blended material also passes through a proprietary agglomeration process, where a biomass binder material is added. This means the finished product can be transported in bulk, doesn’t break into small fragments, and won’t tend to absorb moisture from its surroundings.

The whole process entails overcoming a number of challenges. For example, some degree of yield loss is entailed in achieving the high-carbon fix, and so the selection of economic raw materials is essential.

Invica Industries’ facility is able to produce about 0.5M tonnes per year, which equates to a lot of fossil material being taken off the market, and Beardshaw said it is probably the only biocarbon solution in the EU that is ready to go at-scale, to create a product that can be used by almost any end user in the metals sector. “We think we’re in a good position to help people immediately decarbonize,” he said.

Experience gained
The huge selling point is obviously a putative zero-capex requirement for the end user, and the quoted 30% drop in emissions compared to using traditional fossil fuels.

No process changes are required. And existing handling and storage methods can be used.
Granted, it has a greater reactivity than traditional fossil fuels, so is unsuitable for some applications. It also provides a lower bulk density than conventional solid fuels.

But the company has been supplying ecoke since 2019, and Beardshaw said it is already the focus of “several interesting case studies with household names in the steel industry”.

One of the first customers has been Liberty Steel, which has had an ongoing R&D programme to increase the share of biocarbon in its production. The firm now provides a 100% biocarbon product that has been successfully used to create specialty steels used in the aerospace industry.

Balance sheet
Data is obviously paramount for firms looking to secure permits and satisfy the requirements of emissions trading schemes, a point that Inivica’s literature doesn’t overlook. “Each batch of ecoke is supplied with a comprehensive data pack that means end users can be confident in their application for ETS exemptions for the biocarbon share of the ecoke product”.

While approaches to decarbonizing steel production like hydrogen and CCS look very promising for the future, the ETS landscape seems to be changing quickly, with free allowances scheduled to decrease rapidly from 2026 onwards, and to disappear by 2034. There may well be an expanded role for technologies that can help pull down emissions a bit more quickly, and with less of an overhaul of existing processes.

When it comes to advancing along the decarbonization path, the accountancy certainly looks compelling, and favours a rapid shift.

The Scottish Government has granted consent for the construction and operation of the Smeaton Battery Energy Storage System (BESS), a 228MW:456MWh project near Dalkeith, East Lothian. This development is set to significantly contribute to the decarbonisation of the UK grid, achieving estimated carbon savings of roughly 15,368 tonnes of CO2 equivalent per year, according to Kona Energy, the firm providing the energy-storage technology.

The Smeaton BESS will store energy from renewable sources and release it during peak demand, reducing grid constraints and lowering energy costs for consumers. The project’s strategic geographical location will play a critical role in enhancing grid resilience and supporting the UK’s transition to a zero-carbon future.

Using the same methodology as previous Kona assessments, the Smeaton BESS is expected to save 15,368 tonnes of CO2 equivalent in its first year. This is the equivalent of offsetting the emissions from 17,328 average UK homes – not including heating.

The Smeaton BESS is strategically positioned to particularly reduce energy constraints and related costs on the UK grid. National Grid ESO estimates show that constraint costs could reach as high as £3bn in 2029, with the bulk of this coming from curtailing wind in Scotland.

Projects such as the Smeaton BESS are vital in bringing these costs down, reducing bills for consumers and preventing the waste of clean energy generation.

With the nearby Torness nuclear power station due to shut down in 2028, the project will also play a key role in improving local network stability.

The project aligns with Kona Energy’s ongoing work with the Electricity System Operator (ESO) and National Grid to mitigate energy constraints and improve network stability. Kona jointly wrote a proposal paper illustrating how ESO can use batteries to rapidly reduce the public cost of constraints. This was done in partnership with Zenobē, Eku and Field in response to the ESO’s Constraints Collaboration Project.

Kona Energy, advised by Opus Corporate Finance LLP, will shortly be seeking investment to bring the Smeaton BESS project to market. To support the project’s delivery, Dr Lu Zhang, previously with Hithium, a leading Chinese cell manufacturer, has joined Kona Energy as Technical Director. Dr Zhang’s expertise will be vital in maximising the project’s potential and ensuring its successful and speedy implementation.

Andy Willis, Kona Energy Founder, commented:

“This is fantastic news, adding to Kona’s growing portfolio of work. This project represents a significant step forward in decarbonising the UK’s electricity grid while providing tangible and real benefits in terms of cost reduction and energy security. We are eager to collaborate with investors and partners in order to deliver this project on a rapid timescale.”

“Tackling constraint costs is vital in not only bringing down consumer bills and preventing the costly waste of clean generation, but also for retaining public trust in reaching Net Zero. The huge financial burden of prohibiting wind turbines from operating is becoming a more relevant topic in the wider debate – rightly so. Our industry must do more to tackle this, and projects such as the Smeaton BESS will help to significantly reduce the waste involved.”

“Its strategic location will give it a unique role to play in drastically slashing constraint costs and consumer bills – that was one of the key reasons why our development team was so enthusiastic about the project’s potential.”

“I’d like to thank the Scottish Government for their positive engagement on the project, and look forward to working with them again in the future in order to deliver our shared Net Zero goal.”

An equipment-supply deal will enable the conversion of an offshore platform supply vessel (PSV) to operate with ammonia fuel, in what is described as a first for this kind of vessel.

The contract was signed between Finnish firm Wärtsilä – which manufactures equipment for the marine and energy sectors – and Norwegian shipowner Eidesvik.

The vessel, ‘Viking Energy’, which is on contract to energy major Equinor, is scheduled for conversion in early 2026 and is expected to start operating on ammonia in the first half of 2026, becoming the world’s first ammonia-fuelled in-service ship. In addition to chartering the vessel Equinor contributes with financing for the conversion. Wärtsilä will then supply the engine and complete fuel gas supply system and exhaust after-treatment needed for the conversion, making it also the first vessel to use Wärtsilä’s recently released ammonia solution.

Ammonia is viewed as a promising alternative fuel as the shipping industry looks to decarbonize. With new global regulations having set a clear destination for shipping – net zero emissions by mid-century – ammonia looks like it’s being primed to play a significant role.

A recent report by Wärtsilä relates to the role that sustainable fuels look likely to play in achieving this target which is set by the International Maritime Organization (IMO). According to the report, existing decarbonisation solutions, such as fuel efficiency measures, can cut shipping emissions by up to 27 percent; however, sustainable fuels, such as ammonia, will be a critical step in eliminating the remaining 73 percent.

In this context, Håkan Agnevall, President and CEO of Wärtsilä highlights the importance of cross-industry collaboration: “In just 25 years – the lifetime of a single vessel – shipping needs to get to net zero emissions. Achieving this will require coordinated action by all maritime industry stakeholders to bring about the system change needed to accept a new generation of sustainable fuels.

Wärtsilä, Eidesvik and Equinor have professed a shared a commitment to support the industry’s efforts to decarbonise. The conversion of the Viking Energy is the latest project in a history of collaboration between the three companies. Viking Energy is said to have an impressive record of demonstrating new environmental technologies.

Eidesvik was the world’s first shipowner to have an LNG-powered offshore platform supply vessel, which was powered using Wärtsilä dual-fuel engine technology. It also received the world’s first Battery Power notation, given to Viking Energy, for a battery system (installed also by Wärtsilä, as the firm’s announcement explains).

This latest partnership is a result of the ‘Apollo’ project which is co-funded by the Horizon Europe framework programme. The programme aims to accelerate the transition towards a climate-neutral Europe by 2050 through funding projects, such as Apollo, which contribute research and innovative solutions in various sectors related to climate, energy and mobility.

“Close collaboration throughout the value chain is key to succeed in the green transition. Eidesvik has a unique history of pioneering the implementation of innovative emission-reducing technologies, and we are proud to spearhead yet another groundbreaking project together with Wärtsilä and Equinor,” said Gitte Gard Talmo, CEO & President of Eidesvik Offshore.

In addition to the Wärtsilä 25 Ammonia engine, Wärtsilä will supply the complete ammonia solution, including its AmmoniaPac Fuel Gas Supply System, the Wärtsilä Ammonia Release Mitigation System (WARMS), and a selective catalytic reduction (SCR) system designed for ammonia. A service agreement, covering maintenance, is a highly essential part of the deal. The conversion project is planned for early 2026, with final commissioning expected in Q2 2026.

The pace at which renewable energy is being developed in China is leading to a slowdown in the approval of new coal-powered projects, according to a new report from the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air and Global Energy Monitor.

However, even though the number of new coal power permits has decreased, the existing pipeline of projects still poses a challenge for China to meet its climate targets and energy transition ambitions, says GEM.

According to the report, in the first half of 2024, China reduced coal-power permits by 83% compared to the first half of 2023, permitting only 9 gigawatts (GW) in H1 2024. “Following the surge in coal power permits exceeding 100 GW annually in 2022 and 2023, the current decline in coal power activity is further reflected in the reduction of new and revived coal power proposals, totalling 37 GW in early 2024, down from 60 GW in early 2023,” says a news release.

Despite these signs of a shift, it may not be enough to reshape the country’s emissions decisively.

In the first half of 2024, says GEM, construction began on over 41 GW of coal projects, nearly equaling the total that started construction during all of 2022 and constituting more than 90% of global new coal construction activities. Moreover, the government’s goal of bringing 80 GW of coal-fired capacity online in 2024 indicates a potential increase in project completions in the latter half of the year, from 8 GW commissioned in H1 2024.

GEM attributes the slowdown in coal power permitting to the rapid development of renewable energy in China, where the pace of installation now appears able to meet China’s electricity demand growth. This shift has prompted the central government to revise its policy focus. While continuing to support clean energy development, the government is also prioritising carbon emission reductions to meet its climate and energy goals. By limiting new coal power projects and emphasising grid reforms, energy storage, and other clean solutions, China can set the stage for significant emission reductions.

However, this transition will require phasing down the existing massive coal power fleet and addressing the interests of coal power stakeholders. To meet long-term emission targets, China must also accelerate the retirement of existing coal plants and cancel previously permitted projects.

Given China’s strategic shift towards reducing carbon emissions and the rapid development of clean energy, it is unlikely we will see another surge in coal power approvals in China similar to that of 2022-2023. Nevertheless, China’s technical plans to reduce rather than eliminate carbon emissions from coal power and its continued insistence on coal as a baseload power source indicate that coal power will continue to play a significant role in the near-term energy landscape.

To mitigate the global climate crisis, China’s upcoming Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) and 15th Five-Year Plan must include ambitious targets for both coal consumption reduction and renewable energy expansion.

Qi Qin, lead author of the report and China Analyst at CREA, said: “The development of clean energy enables the Chinese government to set more ambitious goals for reducing coal power generation and carbon emissions. China needs to stop allowing room for fossil fuel emissions to grow in its policies. Energy security should be achieved through clean energy and a more flexible, market-oriented power grid, rather than by burning coal.”

Christine Shearer, Research Analyst at Global Energy Monitor: “The steep drop in new coal plant permits is a hopeful sign that China’s massive solar and wind builds are dampening its coal ambitions. With clean power now capable of meeting the country’s electricity demand growth, China should cancel its remaining coal proposals and accelerate the retirement of its existing coal plants.”

Water- and energy-hungry mining operations have made lithium an uncomfortable topic for those championing a transition to renewable energy. Can it be mined in a more environmentally friendly way? One or two new approaches appear to make the case that it can, including an initiative that hopes to begin mining operations in the North of England in the next couple of years.

Demand has obviously soared for lithium in recent years, with prices following an 11-fold increase between 2020 and 2022.¹ But the material is hard to extract from the ground. Much of the world’s supply seems to reside in Latin America, where mining operations have now made Chile and Argenina major suppliers, but most of it comes from Australia.

A 2022 UNDP document asks whether the race to exploit lithium is not a new El Dorado, referencing the mythical quest associated with so much tragic failure. The same report explains why lithium is so hard to exploit, principally because it requires significant investment while most of the profit comes from a long value chain that creates lithium batteries. There are limited gains for countries who simply extract and export it.

There are also the environmental costs associated with the way lithium mining has been undertaken to date. But new methods of extraction and new kinds of geological resource are being presented as a way to leave behind many of these problems.

Presenting at BlueTech Forum in Edinburgh in June,² Durham-based Northern Lithium’s Nick Pople spoke about lithium’s “crazy supply chain”, and the fact that it’s not only “mined in an unsatisfactory way” but it’s also transported long distances. “The lithium in your car battery will have done maybe 35k miles already”, he said.

The aim is to get that down to a few dozen kilometres, then into a car, and into a car showroom, as he explained. And his own firm seems to be closest to achieving that goal, although many other groups are looking for lithium in the UK (around 340, he said), and two other companies seem quite far along the path towards commercial extraction.

It’s estimated that the UK will need up to 80,000 tonnes per year by 2030 – and as much as 135,000 tonnes per year by 2040.³

Propitious geology is certainly one part of the equation, and deposits considered most promising for lithium exploration tend to be either mineral (rock) or brine deposits.⁴ Mineral deposits predominate in Australia, the world’s largest producer of lithium by far (around 54% globally). Rocks are crushed, ground and heated to extract the ores, in an energy-intensive process.

Brine-based lithium sources, on the other hand, tend to fall into two types: continental deposits, and geothermal or oilfield brines. “Continental” brine deposits have been the main source of lithium from brines.⁵ These are formed by the evaporation of water in arid or semi-arid inland areas, and the lithium is extracted from the brines that are pumped up from deep groundwater wells.

These account for the hundreds of salt lakes whose brines support Latin America’s lithium industry, with Chile being the second largest global producer (with around 24% of global supply). The process of extraction uses vast amounts of water, mainly salt water, but also a significant amount of freshwater for purification. Lithium mining firms in Chile and Argentina have been accused of depleting water resources, by up to 65 percent in the Salar de Atacama region.

Mining operations are also associated with an elevated risk of contaminating water basins, according to the UNDP.

Geothermal or oilfield brine are at an earlier stage of development, and account for much of the interest currently being generated in parts of Europe, where a few countries slip into the USGS’s 2022 list of prominent lithium resources worldwide, specifically Germany (3%), Czech Republic (1.5%) and Serbia (1.4%).⁶

But new resources are being uncovered all the time, and much interest is also apparent in Italy and the UK, for example.

Geothermal brines tend to be found deep underground, in areas also associated with geothermal or hydrocarbon reservoirs.

In May, UK firm Watercycle Technologies Ltd, announced it had successfully extracted lithium to produce battery-grade lithium carbonate from geothermal brines. The firm’s proprietary technology, called Direct Lithium Extraction and Crystallisation (DLEC), was put to work on brines obtained from two geothermal wells from the Lazio, a province of central Italy.⁷

Watercycle Technologies has also been working with Weardale Lithium Lrd, one of two firms (along with Northern Lithium) to have secured exclusive access to boreholes in Weardale in the North Pennines. Weardale’s website explains that the boreholes were previously developed in 2004 and 2007, for geothermal purposes, and so have already been drilled, with more recent investigation identifying “high levels of lithium”.⁸

Three areas of the UK are currently the focus of exploration: Cumbria, the North Pennines and the Southwest. Cornish Lithium located reserves of lithium in the southwest in 2020, and has ongoing projects to develop lithium in geothermal waters and from hard rock.

Northern Lithium has also secured mineral rights in Weardale and, again with saline brines extracted from geothermal boreholes. NLi is working with technology firm Evove. The two completed trials in August 2023, in which they produced around 2kg of battery-grade lithium carbonate, at a purity level above 99.5%.

In late June, NLi and Evove signed a contract to install and trial a lithium extraction plant at a production site in County Durham.⁹

The initial module will be installed this autumn, as a precursor to a series of modular extensions that are intended to see it reach fullscale commercial production of battery grade lithium in 2027.

The advantage claimed for Evove’s DLE technology “lies in the ability to extract lithium at a high purity”, as NLi explains. Core to the approach is the use of membrane filtration technology, which “processes brines containing lithium very cleanly, reducing the energy, water and chemical footprint and improving the economics.”

As The Chemical Engineer reported last year, the firm’s approach employs a coating on the membrane, able to remove the divalent ions (i.e., magnesium, calcium and so on) making it easier to subsequently isolate the lithium. The last few divalent ions are removed by a subsequent ion-exchange stage, prior to the refining of the material to achieve a high purity.¹⁰

The group said it is targeting commercial production of up to 10,000 tonnes of battery-grade lithium per year in the North East within the next decade.

Both Weardale Lithium and Northern Lithium say they intend for their products to be used in local factories building electric vehicles.

The geopolitical complications of the present era obviously add impetus to efforts to produce a homegrown supply of many minerals. The EU this year announced plans to ensure at least 10% of its supply of critical minerals are extracted in Europe by 2030, with its European Critical Raw Materials Act.

In Serbia, Rio Tinto’s planned $2.4 billion mine in the Jadar Valley has mobilized unprecedented levels of public protest against lithium mining in the country, with the country’s president Aleksandar Vučić having warned in mid-August that this protest was the locus of a plot to carry out a Balkan “colour revolution”.¹¹

Some of the protest seems located with antipathy towards the EU, and the Serbian mine is being developed from a memorandum of understanding that these resources will be brought into Europe’s supply chain. But protestors have also been vocal about the potential for environmental problems.

Much of the promise of emerging techniques to exploit lithium from brines is that it can be done “in an environmentally responsible and cost-effective way”, as Wearcycle Technologies’ literature puts it. While the case for new approaches to lithium mining is currently being made, it seems clear there is still some distance to travel to convince the public.

Notes
[1] US Geological Survey Mineral Commodity Summaries 2022 Data Release. See https://www.sciencebase.gov/catalog/item/6197ccbed34eb622f692ee1c
[2] BlueTech Forum 2024. Assembly Rooms, Edinburgh. 3-4 June 2024.
[3] Press release, “North of England partnership to deliver 1st UK-sourced Direct Lithium Extraction plant for domestic supply of lithium”, December 19, 2023. See https://www.northernlithium.co.uk/north-of-england-partnership-to-deliver-1supst-sup-uk-sourced-direct-lithium-extraction-plant-for-domestic-supply-of-lithium/.
[4] “The potential for lithium in the UK”, UK Critical Minerals Intelligence Centre. See https://ukcmic.org/downloads/reports/the-potential-for-lithium-in-the-uk-2022.pdf.
[5] ibid.
[6] US Geological Survey Mineral Commodity Summaries 2022 Data Release. See https://www.sciencebase.gov/catalog/item/6197ccbed34eb622f692ee1c
[7] Press release, “Battery grade lithium carbonate produced from central Italy brine”, May 2024, Watercycle Technologies Ltd.
[8] See https://weardalelithium.co/.
[9] “Northern Lithium places commercial order for a Direct Lithium Extraction demonstration plant from Evove”, June 26, 2024. See https://www.northernlithium.co.uk/strongnorthern-lithium-places-commercial-order-for-a-direct-lithium-extraction-demonstration-plant-from-evove-strong/.
[10] “UK lithium boost as engineers use membranes to extract lithium from brine”, The Chemical Engineer, 19 September 2023. See https://www.thechemicalengineer.com/news/uk-lithium-boost-as-engineers-use-membranes-to-extract-lithium-from-brine/.
[11] “Activist opposed to Rio Tinto lithium mine receives anonymous death threats”, The Guardian, 22 August 2024. See https://www.theguardian.com/business/article/2024/aug/22/activist-serbia-rio-tinto-lithium-mining-environment-death-threats

Zinc-air batteries, smaller than a grain of sand, could help miniscule robots sense and respond to their environment, according to a group from Massachusett’s Institute of Technology (MIT).

A tiny battery could enable the deployment of cell-sized, autonomous robots for drug delivery within the human body, as well as other applications such as locating leaks in gas pipelines.

The new battery, which is 0.1 millimeters long and 0.002 millimeters thick — roughly the thickness of a human hair — can capture oxygen from air and use it to oxidize zinc, creating a current of up to 1 volt. That is enough to power a small circuit, sensor, or actuator, the researchers showed.

“We think this is going to be very enabling for robotics,” said Michael Strano, the Carbon P. Dubbs Professor of Chemical Engineering at MIT and the senior author of the study. “We’re building robotic functions onto the battery and starting to put these components together into devices.”

Ge Zhang PhD ’22 and Sungyun Yang, an MIT graduate student, are the lead author of the paper, which appears in Science Robotics.

Powered by batteries
For several years, Strano’s lab has been working on tiny robots that can sense and respond to stimuli in their environment. One of the major challenges in developing such tiny robots is making sure that they have enough power.

Other researchers have shown that they can power microscale devices using solar power, but the limitation to that approach is that the robots must have a laser or another light source pointed at them at all times. Such devices are known as “marionettes” because they are controlled by an external power source. Putting a power source such as a battery inside these tiny devices could free them to roam much farther.

“The marionette systems don’t really need a battery because they’re getting all the energy they need from outside,” Strano says. “But if you want a small robot to be able to get into spaces that you couldn’t access otherwise, it needs to have a greater level of autonomy. A battery is essential for something that’s not going to be tethered to the outside world.”

To create robots that could become more autonomous, Strano’s lab decided to use a type of battery known as a zinc-air battery. These batteries, which have a longer lifespan than many other types of batteries due to their high energy density, are often used in hearing aids.

The battery that they designed consists of a zinc electrode connected to a platinum electrode, embedded into a strip of a polymer called SU-8, which is commonly used for microelectronics. When these electrodes interact with oxygen molecules from the air, the zinc becomes oxidized and releases electrons that flow to the platinum electrode, creating a current.

In this study, the researchers showed that this battery could provide enough energy to power an actuator — in this case, a robotic arm that can be raised and lowered. The battery could also power a memristor, an electrical component that can store memories of events by changing its electrical resistance, and a clock circuit, which allows robotic devices to keep track of time.

The battery also provides enough power to run two different types of sensors that change their electrical resistance when they encounter chemicals in the environment. One of the sensors is made from atomically thin molybdenum disulfide and the other from carbon nanotubes.

“We’re making the basic building blocks in order to build up functions at the cellular level,” Strano says.

Robotic swarms
In this study, the researchers used a wire to connect their battery to an external device, but in future work they plan to build robots in which the battery is incorporated into a device.

“This is going to form the core of a lot of our robotic efforts,” Strano says. “You can build a robot around an energy source, sort of like you can build an electric car around the battery.”

One of those efforts revolves around designing tiny robots that could be injected into the human body, where they could seek out a target site and then release a drug such as insulin. For use in the human body, the researchers envision that the devices would be made of biocompatible materials that would break apart once they were no longer needed.

The researchers are also working on increasing the voltage of the battery, which may enable additional applications.

The research was funded by the US Army Research Office, the US Department of Energy, the National Science Foundation, and a MathWorks Engineering Fellowship.

The UK startup behind a system to make green energy at sea using hi-tech sailing vessels has secured £4.65 million in seed capital.

The technology has generated headlines for its novel blend of ideas in relation to the generation, storage and distribution of renew- able energy.

Underwater turbines on the vessels will feed an on-board electrolyser which will produce green hydrogen. This then will then be offloaded at ports where it will be stored and used.

Underpinning the proposition is a vessel routing algorithm that the firm says enables the yacht to find and stay in optimum weather con- ditions, returning to port when its hydrogen tank is full.

The seed funding round for DRIFT Energy was led by venture capital firm Octopus Ventures, with support from Blue Action Accelerator.

DRIFT said it is developing renewable energy partnerships that will benefit coastal and island communities around the world. Ben Medland, Founder and CEO, recently attended the United Nations’ 4th International Conference on Small Island Developing States, where he said he saw huge opportunity for the company to support the energy transition for the 65+ million people that live across more than 1000 islands on the planet.

He said the funding “enables us to drive with momentum into the next phase of our mission. We will work closely with Octopus and our advisory teams to bring our vision of ‘Oceans of Energy’ to life with that all-important first net-positive ship.”

Compared to the 13 years said to be required to locate, plan, design and commission an offshore wind farm, as DRIFT explained to Offshore Engineer, a flotilla of vessels equipped to generate an equivalent amount of power can be built in a tenth of the time. Without the need for planning, surveys and undersea infrastructure, the whole process is greatly expedited.

Mat Munro, Investor at Octopus Ventures, said: “We’re incredibly excited about DRIFT and the team’s potential to lead the way in developing a truly innovative source of renewable energy. At Octopus Ventures, we’re backing the companies building a sustainable planet, and DRIFT’s ambitions are exactly what we’re looking for. We can’t wait for the day its first vessel sets out on its maiden voyage.”

George Northcott, Co-Founder of Blue Action Accelerator added: “Blue Action Accelerator’s mission is to help scale groundbreaking technologies that preserve marine environments and support coastal-dependent communities. DRIFT is the ultimate example of that – creating a new class of mobile renewable energy from the world’s seas and delivering it to where it is needed – from island nation communities to power hungry ports. We are thrilled to be supporting them as they build their first vessels and bring a vision to life.”

DRIFT Energy has also recently been awarded funding from Innovate UK, the UK’s innovation agency, through its Investor Partnership Programme. The grant will assist the research and development programme and accelerate the design process of the first vessel.

A £3.4 billion funding package has been awarded to build a proposed new subsea and underground 500km cable between Scotland and Yorkshire which could power up to 2 million homes, and expedite the delivery of energy generated via offshore wind in the North Sea.

Eastern Green Link 2 (EGL2) is the first of 26 projects to complete a fast-track process to secure funding through Ofgem’s new ASTI framework, which the energy regulator said accelerates the funding process by up to two years, allowing electricity generated by offshore wind to be delivered to consumers sooner.

EGL2 will deliver a 2GW high voltage electricity ‘superhighway’ cable link between Peterhead in Aberdeenshire and Drax in North Yorkshire, which will help harness the potential of British offshore wind power. Most of the cable (around 436km) will be under the North Sea with the remaining 70km buried underground onshore. Two converter stations, one at each end of the cable, are planned to help feed the electricity transported by the cable into the grid and from there onto consumers.

As part of its declared mission to upgrade the energy system at least possible cost to customers, Ofgem said it scrutinised the developers’ proposal and identified over £79m of savings which have been cut from the project costs without impacting delivery or quality.

By boosting grid capacity, ASTI projects will open up access to homegrown wind energy, and deliver an estimated £1.5billion of savings, said Ofgem, by reducing the need to compensate generators who are currently asked to turn off production, during times of high wind, due to lack of grid capacity.

Jonathan Brearley, Ofgem CEO, said: “Ofgem is fully committed to supporting the government to meet its aims of getting clean power by 2030. Today’s announcement is a further step in putting the regulatory systems and processes in place to speed up network regulation to achieve its aim.

“Accelerated Strategic Transmission Investment (ASTI) accelerates approval times for projects such as Eastern Green Link 2 (EGL2) by up to two years. However, streamlining the process does not mean blank cheques for developers as we are able to step in and make financial adjustments to maximise efficiency and consumer benefit.”

Work on the project is expected to begin later this year and to be complete by 2029.

Responding to the announcement, Lawrence Slade, Chief Executive of Energy Networks Association (ENA) which represents the UK’s electricity network operators said: “This is really welcome news from Ofgem. To move us forward towards clean power will require the biggest upgrade to the grid in decades. In turn these projects will unlock jobs, secure work for contractors and suppliers, and ultimately mean more secure energy supplies in the future. This is a crucial part of that jigsaw.”

Other projects in the ASTI cohort include the Yorkshire Green Energy Enablement (GREEN) project, for which Ofgem has announced a proposed funding allowance of £294.8m. GREEN involves a proposed upgrade to the local electricity network to help transport energy generated by Scottish and North Sea windfarms to consumers.

In what’s described as a disruptive initiative for the event industry, Morillo Energy Rent, with over 60 years of experience delivering energy solutions, has successfully implemented an innovative energy solution at the Primavera Sound 2024 (Barcelona) music festival, “setting new standards for large-scale events,” according to an announcement from industrial firm Atlas Copco

Faced with the challenge of overhauling the energy consumption model for one of the world’s most anticipated music festivals, Morillo leveraged its expertise in energy management to introduce a combination of battery-based energy storage systems (ESS) and low-consumption Stage V power generators, depending on the specific needs and available resources. This strategic approach enabled the effective provision of energy across various areas of the event, including performance stages, catering, and production.

A key innovation in the project was the use of the recently released ZBP 120-120 and ZBC 250-575 energy storage systems from Atlas Copco in a hybrid solution with power generators, which were instrumental in achieving the project’s ambitious goals. These battery-based units offered advanced features such as remote management capabilities, allowing for centralized control and swift incident prediction and response. They feature a remote two-way connection to the machines and the grid available onsite, ensuring monitoring of the application to reach the highest efficiencies.

All Atlas Copco ESS solutions come with their proprietary energy management system, the ECO ControllerTM, which monitors and oversees the installation to ensure the best performance possible. The innovative controller integrates performance data to optimize energy generation, distribution, and consumption, seamlessly communicating with all components in the installation, including inverters, batteries, solar charge controllers, energy meters, as well as third-party equipment such as generators or loads. The result was a significant reduction in overall fuel consumption, enhanced efficiency, and a notable improvement in the event’s sustainability profile.

“The successful implementation of pioneering energy solutions at Primavera Sound 2024 is a testament to Morillo’s dedication to innovation and our commitment to making a positive impact on the environment,” said Miguel Ángel Artiel Morillo, Technical Director at Morillo Energy Rent. “By working closely with our partners and leveraging the latest technology, we were able to meet the challenge head-on and deliver a solution that sets a new benchmark for the industry.”

The partnership with Atlas Copco played a crucial role in the project’s success, providing Morillo with access to cutting-edge products and collaborative support in designing solutions to new challenges. This collaboration underscored the importance of strategic partnerships in achieving operational goals and meeting environmental regulations.

Diego Moreno, Business Development Manager at Atlas Copco Power and Flow explains, “We stand at the forefront of innovation, pioneering the integration of battery technology within the event sector across Europe and particularly in the South European region. This strategic move signifies a leap towards more efficient and cost-effective operations. Our collaboration with Morillo has been instrumental in this endeavor, setting a new benchmark for excellence and partnership in the industry.”

Primavera Sound is an international music festival that started in Barcelona in 2001. This year’s edition has gathered over 268,000 attendees from 134 different nations, with a record impact of 200 million euros on the town’s economy. Additionally, it takes place in five more cities across the world (Porto, Buenos Aires, São Paulo, Asunción, and Montevideo), witnessing not only a revolution in power supply approaches but also setting a precedent for future events worldwide.

By prioritizing sustainability and efficiency, Morillo Energy Rent and Primavera Sound have displayed the tangible benefits of adopting disruptive technologies in the entertainment sector, inspiring others to follow suit. For example, during the summer of 2024, Morillo Energy Rent will introduce Atlas Copco’s energy solutions in some of the most prominent events in Spain, such as Festival Cruilla, Formula 1 Spanish Grand Prix, Icónica Sevilla Fest, Mallorca Live Fest, Afterlife OFF Week Barcelona, and Monegros Desert Festival, among others.