Oil & Energy
Renewable Energy Boom With Waste Problem
As the global renewable energy capacity increases, so does the amount of waste from end-of-life equipment from solar, wind and other renewable energy activities. If we don’t address this problem soon, it could become a whole new threat to the environment and human health.
While a transition away from fossil fuels to alternative green energy sources is helping the world to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions and combat climate change, it is important to consider the implications that new energy activities may have on the environment.
Solar panels and wind turbines have a limited lifespan and need to be disposed of appropriately once they reach this point. While some components can be recycled and reused, much of the old equipment ends up in landfills due to the lack of infrastructure in place to manage the materials suitably.
Renewable energy equipment, such as solar panels, contains components that can be harmful to humans, such as lead and cadmium, as well as other materials, like glass, aluminum, and silicon, which can be harmful to the environment if disposed of improperly.
One way that out-of-use equipment can be managed is through the creation of standards, such as the Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) directive from the European Union, which provides guidelines for the gathering, handling, recycling, and recovery of solar panels.
The U.S. Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) also addresses the correct disposal of solar panels.
However, many countries have yet to introduce clear standards for renewable energy equipment disposal, which has led to dangerous methods of disposal.
Several countries around the globe are rapidly increasing their solar and wind energy capacity, which relies on the production and installation of millions of solar panels and turbines. Tens of millions of solar panels are being installed each year in the U.S. alone, and globally the figure is over a hundred million.
Despite the accelerated pace of the rollout, there are few recycling facilities prepared to manage old equipment.
Some countries are managing equipment disposal better than others. For example, France claims that 90 percent recycling efficiency is achieved in some of its flagship disposal facilities.
However, others do not have mechanisms in place to even consider recycling old equipment. While it is important to put proper waste disposal mechanisms in place for the safety of people and the environment, it can also be a lucrative business.
According to a study by the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) and the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), the cumulative value of materials that can be recycled from solar photovoltaic (PV) waste is estimated at $4 billion by 2040 and $8.8. billion by 2050.
Supplies of many of the materials used to produce green energy equipment are finite, meaning it is important to recycle materials to reproduce equipment to continue to produce renewable energy. Jinlei Feng, a programme officer at IRENA, explained, “By 2050, there will be more than 210 million tonnes of cumulative solar PV waste globally and more than three-quarters of that waste will be generated after 2040 and 40% in the last five years between 2045-2050”.
Feng added, “Annual solar PV waste generation will touch 10 million tonnes by 2040 and increase to 20 million tonnes by 2050”.
India is currently trying to navigate solar waste problem. Pavagada in the south of India is home to the world’s third-largest solar power plant, which holds 25 million panels across a 50 km2 park, with a capacity of 2,050MW. There are 11 other giant solar parks across the country, with plans to develop a further 39 across 12 states by 2026.
However, with great solar ambitions comes significant waste. India is aiming for a solar output capacity of 280GW by 2030, of which 70.1GW is already installed.
One study predicts that this will produce an accumulation of over 600,000 tonnes of solar waste by the end of the decade, which could increase 32-fold to over 19 million tonnes by 2050.
Although there are protocols in place to manage the disposal of old equipment, which state that solar waste from the plants must be transferred to e-waste contractors, authorized by the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), within a specified timeframe – typically 90 or 180 days – few abide by these rules.
Most solar farms are in remote areas and must pay to transport old equipment to authorised contractors. Solar glass has no real value, meaning there is little incentive for waste contractors to collect and manage the equipment.
This has led to the development of a network of informal operators – who dismantle, aggregate, transport and recycle panels.
Instead of ensuring proper disposal methods are followed, many operators sell their waste equipment to informal buyers, meaning the materials cannot be recycled and repurposed, and many of the materials end up harming both people and the environment.
To ensure that renewable energy equipment is disposed of appropriately, and recycled where possible, governments must establish clear standards and regulations for energy waste disposal.
Further, they must ensure the mechanisms are in place and funding is available to guarantee proper disposal takes place. Without the necessary standards, green energy equipment could contribute to environmental and health problems in the coming decades.
Bradstock writes for Oilprice.com.
By: Felicity Bradstock
The Nigerian Navy Units under the auspices of Operation Delta Sanity says it has recorded significant successes against crude oil theft and illegal refining sites in the Niger Delta.
The Navy, in an updated operations, said the successes were recorded between Thursday August 29 and Monday September 2, 2024.
According to the information, on 29th August, seven large cotonou and two fibre boats operated by heavily armed oil thieves loading crude oil from an illegal loading point around Botokiri axis of Nembe Local Government Area of Bayelsa State were seized.
Also, on 31st August, six suspected crude oil thieves with 109 sacks of illegally refined petroleum products, four fibre boats and two wooden boats were arrested and seized along Ogboinbiri-Kasama-Azama-Isoni of Bayelsa State.
Again, on 1st September, two wooden boats and 328 sacks of illegally refined automated Gas Oil were seized at Otuogori community’s river bank in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State.
Additionally, on 2nd September, 35 sacks of illegally refined Automotive Gas Oil in a wooden boat were seized at Gbaraun area of Southern Ijaw Local Government Area of Bayelsa State.
These successes indicate the effectiveness of Operation Delta Sanity, and the resolve of the Nigerian Navy to sustain current efforts to rid Nigeria’s maritime environment of the menace of crude oil theft and enhance crude oil production for the overall growth of the economy.
The Eko Electricity Distribution Company Plc. has clarified that the Ministries, Departments, and Agencies of the Federal Government, including the military, owed the power distribution company N42billion as the cost of electricity consumed and not N144billion.
The Bureau of Public Enterprise(BPE), disclosed this in a Statement signed by the Head, Public Communications, Amina Othman, at the Weekend.
According to the Statement, the Disco affirmed that its total outstanding debt was N144billion, of which the MDAs and the military owe N42billion.
“The Eko Electricity Distribution Company Plc has clarified that contrary to earlier reports, the aggregate outstanding debt owed by consumers is N144billion, out of which, ministries, departments, and agencies including the military owe N42billion”, Othman stated.
The Statement said this was against prior reports that the MDAs, including the army, police, and other government agencies, were owing N144billion and had refused to pay.
The Disco said, “the clarification became necessary for proper reportage on the matter and to put the records straight”, it stated.
Recall that during a recent oversight visit by members of the House of Representatives Committee on Privatisation and Commercialisation, led by its Chairman, Ibrahim, the Acting Managing Director of the EKEDC, Mrs. Rekhiat Momoh, among other things, informed the members about the legacy debts owed the company by MDAs.
The committee had reported the acting MD as stating that the company was owed N144billion by MDAs within its operational area, saying she mentioned that the military, police, and various state government agencies failed to settle their debts, creating financial difficulties for the distribution company.
Energy infrastructure, a crucial part of global oil and gas supply and the energy transition, are set to get a boost after a heavy lifting equipment provider unveiled the world’s strongest crane-equipment capable of lifting 6,000 tons, or 15 fully loaded Boeing 747 aircraft.
Dutch heavy lifting and transport services company Mammoet has launched a new type of crane, the SK6,000, which, the firm said, could be used for modules to be built faster and also “bigger than ever before”.
As oil and gas continue to be a key part of the world’s energy system—and likely will continue for decades to come—and as renewable energy developers aim for bigger wind turbines, the support equipment for installing oil and gas platforms, offshore wind equipment, and even nuclear power stations is becoming bigger.
Bigger cranes such Mammoet’s SK6,000 could remove some of the limitations of engineering and construction firms. These firms are generally limited by how much weight can be lifted when installed on a platform or turbine.
Cranes that can carry 5,000 tons and more can shorten the time of a project being erected on a site, onshore or offshore, Mammoet says.
“Limitations on lifting capacity force engineers to fabricate smaller modules than would be optimal; tying up site space and increasing the complexity and duration of projects,” the company notes.
“This limitation can also narrow the execution choices available during each project’s planning stage and the percentage of each project that can be executed locally.”
These days, energy companies and their contractors seek faster deployment of energy infrastructure, be it wind turbines or floating production storage and offloading (FPSO) vessels and platforms for oil and gas production.
“There are so many supply chain constraints at the moment that need to be de-bottlenecked,” Gavin Kerr, Mammoet’s director of global services, told Bloomberg, commenting on the new crane.
“The bigger everything gets, you need bigger cranes.”
Moreover, the SK6,000 is containerised and can be assembled quickly on-site. This feature allows it to deliver heavy lift capability wherever it is needed, giving contractors greater flexibility in where and how energy projects are completed” Mammoet said.
“With the innovation of the SK6,000 crane, our customers can think bigger than ever before; pushing modules beyond the 4,000t and even 5,000t barriers. Its low ground bearing capacity also means the crane can be used all over the world”, said Mammoet’s Sales Director Giovanni Alders.
“With its long outreach, small minimum footprint and relatively small site impact, the SK6,000 greatly reduces the topside integration time.
“Needless to say, with larger building blocks you spend less time connecting and testing, and more time producing” Alders added
Energy companies do need faster permit-to-production times in both oil and gas and renewable energy to provide the conventional and green energy sources the world will need.
Wind turbine technology is evolving and making the hub height increasingly taller. According to the Office of Energy Efficiency & Renewable Energy at the U.S. Department of Energy, the hub height for utility-scale land-based wind turbines has surged by 83per cent since 1998–1999, to about 103.4 meters (339 feet) in 2023. That’s taller than the statue of Liberty.
The average hub height for offshore wind turbines in the United States is projected to grow even taller from 100 meters (330 feet) in 2016 to about 150 meters (500 feet), or about the height of the Washington Monument, in 2035, DOE said.
In the oil and gas industry, new resource development is needed as demand for LNG grows and legacy oilfields mature and output declines.
If contractors can bring energy projects on stream faster, both oil and gas supply and the energy transition will benefit.
By: Charles Kennedy