Cemetery for Renewable Technologies






I shared with you in a previous installment that the waste of the future has to do with the technology that is used. Just as today we see dumps of tires or technological waste —such as computers and cellphones—, in the future we could be witnesses of dumps of solar panels and batteries. If this is a possibility, then, should we not be planning a cemetery for renewable technologies with the purpose of conducting them in an appropriate and sustainable way to their final resting place?

It is expected that in the coming years there will be a boom regarding distributed generation on rooftops. For example, San Francisco has already passed a law that prevents new residential constructions from using fossil fuels. If this trend continues, the solar panels and batteries that will be part of the everyday landscape of the future must be disposed of responsibly.

This cemetery of renewable technologies is not a conventional dump; because it requires a recycling and treatment process to, first, reuse the greatest possible part of the discarded materials; second, to dispose of in a sustainable and adequate way the waste that can have a negative impact on the soil and the environment.

Regarding solar panels, conventionally more than 75% of these is glass that can be recycled without much problem; 10% is plastic, 10% metals and 5% silicon. Perhaps the greatest value of recycled panels is the metals, which are mainly aluminum, silver and copper. Although aluminum is easy to extract, silver and copper require more complex chemical processes that can reduce the recovery of plastic and glass.

Batteries, for their part, can have a somewhat more complicated process because, although they have iron, aluminum, plastic and copper, there are also chemicals in liquid state of lithium, nickel, cobalt and other substances. The final disposal of batteries is more complex than that of solar panels since the cells represent chemical risk that can derive in fires and burns; poisoning by toxic substances in the environment and causing cancer.

In this way, the cemetery for batteries must be much more careful since the greatest part of the materials must be recovered through physical, chemical separation and by means of heat; subsequently, safely storing those substances that represent risks to the health and safety of communities.

The recycling and final disposal of renewable technologies, due to their complexities, is not a cheap process. Despite this, it is rarely considered in the budgets of installers, leaving under the protection of the final consumer the responsibility of replacing and safely disposing of these components.

This, at the end of the useful life of the technology, would represent a cost not considered at the moment when the renewable solution was budgeted. In this sense, the real savings would be adjusted downward and in a single exhibition, which would imply allocating more resources for the removal and disposal of the technology.

For these reasons, in Europe the extended responsibility of the producer has been promoted, which requires all producers to consider in their prices and within their responsibilities the removal of solar panels and batteries that are installed in homes, businesses and other buildings; with the purpose that the final cost also reflects the cost of getting rid of these technologies when their useful life ends. In Mexico, we are still in time to promote the extended responsibility of the producer and the minimum standards to dispose of renewable technologies —this cemetery for renewable technologies—, before it becomes a public problem that gets out of our hands. At the end of the day this is the principle of circular energy.

This article was originally published by Business Insider México.
Date: November 25, 2020
Original Link: https://businessinsider.mx/cementerio-tecnologias-renovables-opinion-paul-alejandro-sanchez-energia-circular/ [offline]
Archived Link: https://web.archive.org/web/20211023143433/https://businessinsider.mx/cementerio-tecnologias-renovables-opinion-paul-alejandro-sanchez-energia-circular/ [Archived]

Late Again?






Surely you have heard this phrase: “Mexico arrived late to the industrial revolution.” And it is that while in Great Britain its beginnings are traced to the end of the eighteenth century, in Mexico it arrived until the end of the nineteenth century, almost 100 years later. While in Europe the textile industry was being mechanized, roads were increasing; maritime transport and large extensions of railway lines were being installed, in Mexico we rested strongly on textile manufacturing; there was no strong connectivity between production and consumption centers and we fell behind, in contrast, particularly with the United States, where the northern states began to industrialize rapidly.

But it does not end there. Mexico arrived late to other revolutions: the technological revolution, the digital revolution, the computer revolution and even the revolution of industry 4.0. Already on a roll, it could also be debated that we arrived late to the democratic revolution, the revolution of human rights; economic and cultural rights and, of course, environmental rights. Faced with this panorama, I ask myself: will we arrive late this time to the renewable revolution?

If we could divide the world into two categories, those who generate technological innovation and those who adopt innovations, would we doubt that Mexico is in the second? Although, in its fair dimension, Mexico, in general, is a country that adopts technology in its early phases.

Late for renewable energy

At this moment it seems that the perfect storm is hitting us and we have closed not only the door to the development of renewable energy in our country; also the window of early adoption of the technologies that would allow us to be competitive on the international scene.

Today the trend is clear: countries, companies, investment funds; research centers and society in general are betting on renewable energies and their growth in the energy matrix. It is a window of opportunity that, as always, will be taken advantage of by those who work to seize it.

In such a way that, while in other countries there is talk of solar roofs, hydrogen airplanes, electric trains; thermal energy batteries, green or blue hydrogen and homes 100% free of fuels, in Mexico we continue discussing regarding the dispatch of coal plants and purchase plans from small producers, intermittency and regulatory capture.

Undoubtedly, we are losing valuable time that could be dedicated to promoting scientific and technological development to integrate renewable energies into the networks and to destroy once and for all the myth of intermittency, to create auctions that have greater benefits for users and CFE at the cost of the risk assumed by private parties or to expand the transmission and distribution networks to the most vulnerable and marginalized areas of the country.

Otherwise, this period will go down in the history of Mexico as the time when our country arrived late to the energy revolution that redefined the economic and social system at the international level. Let us hope that this time it is not 100 years late, because we have everything to make energy work for you, for me and for all of us.

This article was originally published by Business Insider México.
Date: November 18, 2020
Original Link: https://businessinsider.mx/otra-vez-tarde-revolucion-energia-renovable-energia-circular-opinion/ [offline]
Archived Link: https://web.archive.org/web/20210509043040/https://businessinsider.mx/otra-vez-tarde-revolucion-energia-renovable-energia-circular-opinion/ [Archived]

Gray, Blue and Green Hydrogen






You read here first, a few months ago, that the hydrogen fever would begin in the world. From then to date we have heard notes such as Airbus’s bet to develop a zero-carbon-emissions airplane powered by hydrogen; using natural gas transportation and distribution pipelines to distribute hydrogen to industries, businesses and homes in the United Kingdom and the development of cargo transportation schemes that use hydrogen as a primary source of energy. Even the promotion of a National Hydrogen Association.

Surely hydrogen will continue giving something to talk about in the future and surely this column will continue following up on it. On this occasion, given the interest it has awakened, I want to touch on the three hydrogen production processes. To make the distinction simpler we can talk about gray hydrogen, blue hydrogen and green hydrogen.

Gray Hydrogen

Gray hydrogen is that which is obtained from a process known as steam reforming using natural gas. Through a chemical reaction of methane with water, hydrogen and carbon monoxide are obtained.

Although it uses natural gas, given the greenhouse gas emissions, it is not considered in itself a clean technology. This is the dominant technology for hydrogen production in the world.

It is worth highlighting that when this process is used with coal it is considered brown hydrogen, but we will not analyze this for the moment.

Blue Hydrogen

For its part, blue hydrogen uses the same steam reforming process; however, it sequesters 90% of greenhouse gas emissions and stores them underground.

Since the production process is considered low in greenhouse gas emissions, it has been called low-carbon-emissions hydrogen. However, this process is costly, which has limited its adoption compared with gray or brown hydrogen.

Green Hydrogen

Lastly, green hydrogen is that which is obtained through the electrolysis process; it consists of using electricity to separate water molecules into hydrogen and oxygen.

Although this can be done with any source of electricity —from the grid, combined cycle or nuclear—, green hydrogen is considered to be that process that uses renewable energy sources such as photovoltaic solar and wind as the exclusive energy source for the electrolysis process.

Technological developments at the moment do not discriminate among the ways of producing gray, blue or green hydrogen, and concentrate on its usefulness to replace fossil sources of energy in industrial, commercial and residential processes; however, it is expected that in the future green hydrogen will be developed with greater intensity, particularly in places with intensive processes of renewable energy generation such as the coasts of the United Kingdom.

Implementing hydrogen in Mexico is a process that will require much evaluation and investments. Although we are closer to the development of gray hydrogen due to the abundant natural gas from the United States, the country has great potential to develop green hydrogen; skipping the phase of blue hydrogen and preparing for a future where it does not depend on energy inputs from abroad. That would be a decisive step for the country to consolidate its energy security.

This article was originally published by Business Insider México.
Date: November 4, 2020
Original Link: https://businessinsider.mx/hidrogeno-gris-azul-verde-opinion-energia-circular-paul-alejandro-sanchez/ [offline]
Archived Link: https://web.archive.org/web/20240413040223/https://businessinsider.mx/hidrogeno-gris-azul-verde-opinion-energia-circular-paul-alejandro-sanchez/ [Archived]