Category: Asia and the Pacific

Accelerating Coal Plant Retirement at Scale 8/1/2023

Accelerating Coal Plant Retirement at Scale

Deb Chattopadhyay, Payne Institute Program Manager Brad Handler, and Chandrasekar Govindarajalu write about how coal plants in some countries are actively being retired ahead of their planned closure dates, there is yet to be sufficient clarity on which business model(s) might help to achieve this at scale.  Policy-based and market-led closures, buyout of coal plants, auctioning them off, repurposing them, and swapping coal assets with renewables have all been tried in different parts of the world. They make an assessment of various proposed financial and business models to retire coal fired power plants early and which model or combination of models might work best for “at-scale” closure. August 1, 2023.  

Lights on the Water? Accumulating VIIRS boat detection grids in Southeast Asia spanning 2012–2021 7/26/2023

Lights on the Water? Accumulating VIIRS boat detection grids in Southeast Asia spanning 2012–2021

Payne Institute Earth Observation Group Christopher D. Elvidge, Tilottama Ghosh, Namrata Chatterjee, and Mikhail Zhizhin write about how it has been known since the 1970s that heavily lit fishing boats can be detected with nighttime visible low-light imaging data collected by polar-orbiting meteorological sensors (Croft, 1979). The two-sensor series having low-light imaging capabilities include the U.S. Air Force Defense Meteorological Satellite Program (DMSP) Operational Linescan System (OLS) and the NASA/NOAA Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS).  The VIIRS sensor provides key improvements (Elvidge et al., 2013) in low-light imaging from 2012 to the present and the pixel resolution (742 m × 742 m) is finer and has in-flight calibration to radiance units.  The VBD data were produced in near real-time and the nightly record extends back to April 2012 in Asia. In addition to the nightly product, the EOG also made monthly and annual summary grids.  Starting on page 33. July 26, 2023.

A new attempt at building a carbon futures market 6/27/2023

A new attempt at building a carbon futures market

Payne Institute Sustainable Finance Lab Program Manager Brad Handler writes about how Climate Impact X is the latest operator to try to foster exchange-based trade in voluntary carbon credits.  Singapore-based Climate Impact X (CIX) launched its CIX Exchange for the voluntary carbon market (VCM) in early June to some fanfare about the city-state’s carbon trading ambitions. It is the carbon industry’s latest attempt to foster the growth of exchange-based trading in the VCM, as well as of a futures business.  June 27, 2023.

Turkmenistan Darvaza Gas Crater Seen by VIIRS Nightfire 6/14/2023

Turkmenistan Darvaza Gas Crater Seen by VIIRS Nightfire

Payne Institute Earth Observation Group Director Christopher Elvidge uses VIIRS Nightfire to look at the Darvaza Gas Crater in Turkmenistan, also known as the “Gates of Hell.”  The nightly temporal profile shows a gradual decline in the activity levels and an indication of annual cycling. The temperature has been steady near 1224 K. That is about 400 K cooler than the typical gas flare, perhaps an indication of inefficient combustion.  June 14, 2023.  

Six bold steps towards net-zero industry 3/30/2023

Six bold steps towards net-zero industry

Benjamin K. Sovacool, Payne Institute Director Morgan D. Bazilian, Jinsoo Kim, and Fellow Steven Griffiths write about how the rapid and deep decarbonization of global industry is key to reaching climate policy targets, yet it remains an incredibly difficult challenge. They propose six bold steps for accelerating progress on achieving net-zero industrial carbon emissions by mid-century with a focus on lessons learned and emerging analysis from both the Global North and Global South, the latter of which we consider as low or middle income countries primarily located in Africa, Asia and Latin America.  March 30, 2023.

CRITICAL MINERALS & ENERGY TRANSITION A LOOK AT AFRICA & WESTERN & CENTRAL ASIA 1/5/2023

CRITICAL MINERALS & ENERGY TRANSITION – A LOOK AT AFRICA & WESTERN & CENTRAL ASIA

The Payne Institute and the Future Minerals Forum collaborate on this paper about how as energy systems evolve on a global scale, the shift to a clean energy economy will depend on fulfilling critical mineral supply needs. Demand for raw materials such as Lithium, Nickel, Cobalt, Copper, Graphite, Silicon, Platinum Group Metals, and Rare Earth Elements are expected to increase fivefold over the next two decades. To meet the level of demand set forth in the Paris Agreement, the world looks to mineral-rich countries for reliable sourcing of inputs along the value chain. In the short to medium term, economies across Africa and Western and Central Asia can aim to play an important role in critical minerals supply chains. January 5, 2023.  

Retiring Coal? The Prospects Are Brighter Than They Appear 11/17/2022

Retiring Coal? The Prospects Are Brighter Than They Appear

Payne Institute Program Manager Brad Handler and Director Morgan Bazilian write about how as COP27 draws to a close, the conference is proving to be a disappointment for environmental advocates focused on eliminating the planet’s number one emitter: coal-fired power. In the tumult of international uncertainty, governments have looked to coal as a security blanket of sorts. Coal’s ability to deliver power 24/7 compares favorably to some renewable energy, like solar and wind, that is variable and, at least to some degree, unpredictable.  November 17, 2022.

Grass Fire in South Australia 10/28/2022

Grass Fire in South Australia

Payne Institute Earth Observation Group student researcher Elijah Mt. Castle looks at a wildfire in the Northeast edge of Southern Australia that grew to over 65,000 hectares (161,000 acres). The wildfire started on the 19th of September and burned for 10 days. Due to its location in remote APY land (An indigenous protected zone) fire suppression efforts was hampered. Fortunately, the communities of Kalka and Pipalyatjara were not threatened by the fire. Firebreaks were created to protect the endangered species of warru that live in the area. No damage was reported from the fire.  October 28, 2022.  

Monitoring of Portovaya Gas Flares 9/12/2022

Monitoring of Portovaya Gas Flares

Payne Institute Earth Observation Group Christopher Elvidge, Mikhail Zhizhin, Communications Associate Kelly Tabor, and Director Morgan Bazilian write about how using a proprietary Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) Nightfire clustering algorithm, Payne Institute scientists are monitoring two flares from Liquified Natural Gas (LNG) production facilities owned by Gazprom near Portovaya, Russia.  September 12, 2022.

A View from the Ground Along the Proposed Trans-Saharan Gas Pipeline (TSGP) Route 7/15/2022

A View from the Ground Along the Proposed Trans-Saharan Gas Pipeline (TSGP) Route

Payne Institute ESG Research Associate Baba Freeman writes about how the proposed Trans-Saharan Gas Pipeline (TSGP) has been conceived to transport gas from the Niger delta in Nigeria, across Niger and Algeria to supply Europe as it reduces its dependence on Russian gas while transitioning to lower carbon energy. Technical risks to the pipeline’s success can also be substantially mitigated through engineering studies before the final investment decision is made. A case can be made that beyond these latter risk categories, that there would be residual risks to the TSGP’s success that are non-market and non-technical in nature. July 15, 2022.