Author: Arnes Biogradlija

In a year when Europe is under increasing pressure to accelerate climate action, the Northern Lights CO₂ storage project—Norway’s high-profile bid to commercialize carbon capture and storage (CCS)—is preparing to launch operations. Hailed as a cornerstone for Europe’s future CCS market, the project is set to begin storing industrial emissions beneath the North Sea this summer. But beneath the surface, analysts warn of mounting logistical constraints, underwhelming capacity, and ballooning costs that challenge the project’s promise as a scalable climate solution. A Pioneering Project Under Pressure Northern Lights, backed by oil majors Equinor, Shell, and TotalEnergies, and funded in part…

Air Products’ staggering $1.7 billion quarterly loss, driven primarily by a $2.3 billion write-down on abandoned hydrogen projects, serves as a stark wake-up call for an industry grappling with the chasm between ambition and economic reality. This retreat, including the cancellation of a green liquid hydrogen plant in New York and a sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) project in California under new CEO Eduardo F. Menezes, starkly contrasts the Hydrogen Council’s 2024 report touting over 1,500 announced global hydrogen projects representing $680 billion in potential investment through 2030, with a record $75 billion reaching Final Investment Decision (FID). This dissonance is…

A stark market reality: industrial sectors remain notoriously difficult to decarbonize, often reliant on intensive hydrocarbon combustion. Cambridge-based Levidian is advancing a methane pyrolysis technology, dubbed LOOP, that aims to address this by converting methane into low-carbon hydrogen and high-value graphene, potentially altering the economic equation for emissions reduction. The company reports a 20-fold increase in graphene yield per nozzle over the past two years, a critical factor for its business model, which hinges on graphene sales subsidizing hydrogen production. WATCH THE FULL INTERVIEW Levidian’s core proposition lies in its patented nozzle system, which utilizes microwave-generated plasma to crack methane…

China now claims half of the world’s green hydrogen production capacity, upending the global balance in a sector that Western governments hoped would become a linchpin of their decarbonization roadmaps. Fueled by aggressive policy targets and state-backed financing, China’s annual green hydrogen output recently crossed 125,000 tonnes, out of 36.5 million tonnes of total hydrogen production, delivered through 35 new green projects commissioned in 2024. This scale eclipses incremental gains elsewhere and underscores a widening technology gap. The heart of China’s competitive edge lies in its patent race. Since announcing carbon neutrality goals in 2020, Chinese firms have filed more…

Europe’s plan to scale up clean hydrogen—targeting 10 million tonnes of domestic production and 10 million tonnes of imports by 2030—faces fresh uncertainty as two senior European People’s Party (EPP) MEPs label the Commission’s draft “low-carbon” hydrogen criteria “restrictive and unworkable.” Restrictive Definition of Risks in Investment Under the delegated act circulated to member states in late April, hydrogen produced from non-renewable sources must achieve a minimum 70 percent reduction in greenhouse gas emissions compared to conventional fossil-fuel methods to qualify as “low-carbon.” By excluding nuclear-derived electricity and imposing tighter methane-based production rules, the draft effectively sidelines established producers and…

Global temperatures have surged past 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels, yet carbon emissions continue to rise at 1.1% annually, defying net-zero pledges. Against this backdrop, nuclear energy—responsible for 10% of global electricity and 25% of low-carbon power—faces a paradox: its potential as a climate solution clashes with entrenched policy short-termism and public skepticism. Dr. Alistair Miller, a 60-year veteran of nuclear research, dissects these challenges with unflinching pragmatism. WATCH THE FULL INTERVIEW The Cost of Short-Termism in Energy Policy Miller’s critique of institutional myopia is sharp: “The reluctance to address humanity’s crucial problems has never been worse.” While uranium-fueled reactors dominate…

Neom’s green hydrogen project, the largest of its kind globally, was conceived with the capacity to produce 600 tonnes of green hydrogen per day using four gigawatts of renewable power. When its partners closed financing in 2023, they celebrated an $8.4 billion investment—70 percent above initial estimates—as evidence of both swift execution and growing market confidence. Yet with only one firm buyer for its green ammonia output, more than half of this capacity now looms idle, exposing deep fissures in the nascent hydrogen economy. Structural Challenges The project benefited from expedited permitting and state backing, sidestepping the bureaucratic delays that…

On 20 February 2025, the European Commission closed its IF24 renewable hydrogen auction after attracting 61 bids across 11 Member States requesting nearly €4.9 billion to underwrite 7.3 million t of RFNBO production and 6.3 GWe of electrolyser capacity over ten years. By contrast, the Commission earmarked just under €1 billion in fixed‑premium subsidies, forcing project consortia to bid fiercely on price and scale to secure support. Auction Design and Strategic Rationale As part of the European Hydrogen Bank’s domestic pillar, the Innovation Fund’s market‑based auction mechanism departs from conventional grants by rewarding the lowest bid price per kilogram of renewable hydrogen. Projects must reach financial close within…

An early‑stage production target of 300,000 t yr at Envision Energy’s 500 MW Chifeng facility positions it among the world’s largest green hydrogen‑to‑ammonia complexes, now formally certified as “renewable” by Bureau Veritas and underpinned by a strategic offtake agreement with Marubeni Corporation. These milestones arrive as the plant approaches phase‑one commissioning in Q3 2025, marking a pivotal step in turning scale‑up ambitions into a bankable reality. Bureau Veritas’s Renewable Ammonia Certification verifies that Chifeng’s ammonia output is derived exclusively from renewable‑powered electrolysis, meeting stringent criteria on carbon intensity, safety, and traceability. Certification not only signals technical compliance but also serves as a de‑risking mechanism for financiers…

The European Union’s target to produce 10 million tonnes of renewable hydrogen by 2030 hinges on a critical question: Can fragmented policies, competing national interests, and infrastructural gaps be overcome to unlock hydrogen’s role in the energy transition? Paul McCormack, CEO of Hydrogen Ireland, argues that success demands a radical rethinking of Europe’s approach—one that prioritizes agility, inclusivity, and systemic integration over rigid frameworks. WATCH THE FULL INTERVIEW The Regulatory Maze: Innovation vs. Incumbency Europe’s hydrogen strategy faces immediate friction in its funding mechanisms. McCormack highlights the EU’s Hydrogen Bank auctions as emblematic of a system skewed toward large-scale incumbents,…