The Green Edge Reports Roundup, Sep-24: Part Two - Sectors
Continuing with our selection of reports and other publications from this month’s reading list.
Part Two of our crop of green reports from this months reading list. Also see Part One - General.
֎ Reports we feel are particularly worth a look.
Energy
Carbon Capture, Utilisation and Storage
Green Jobs Delivery Group – CCS Task and Finish Group: Findings and Recommendations of the Group
BP, CCSA and ECITB, April 2024.
Charts the labour market and jobs element of CCS and finds 2,500 - 3,000 jobs by 2030. And the jobs? Looking at the occupational heat map and focusing on the “red” zone, we find a series of well-known occupations like welders and pipefitters. This suggests the transition to full adoption of CCS should be manageable but will need a boost to the pipeline of people entering key apprenticeships.
Carbon Utilisation Infrastructure, Markets and Research and Development: A Final Report
National Academies Press, 2024.
Make sure you have some spare time on your hands if you are planning to read this report as it stretches to over 600 pages, but you will by the end understand key aspects of carbon utilisation. Key for us, the report helped us to think through the potential and importance of creating scalable technology solutions to meet net zero targets.
Hydrogen
Towards a green hydrogen roadmap for the UK: A summary report
The Royal Society and the Royal Academy of Engineering, September 2024.
Hydrogen is a key part of the net zero transition and could well provide 20-30% of all energy requirements by 2050. On the skills front, the report highlights the key skills requirements for R&D, and the potentially high level of transferability of skills from engineering, procurement and construction sectors into hydrogen. It highlights the work of the Hydrogen Skills Alliance that undertook the work for the Green Jobs Delivery Group. For those interested in hydrogen the HSA page we just gave you the link for includes six courses on hydrogen, including the fundamentals and its use in a few sectors. Surprisingly, the report does not present any costings analysis, nor consider any alternatives. It would be good to extend the workshop attendees next time and include others from alternative solutions and a few economists and accountants.
Innovation in hydrogen and its role in the energy transition
CERES, September 2023.
For a quick answer to the questions of the whys and the wheres for hydrogen in the net zero transition, this set of slides gives an excellent message and answer. Hydrogen will have a major impact in the the hard-to-abate-and-electrify-sectors: steel, chemicals, and some forms of transport, especially marine, rail, and (probably) heavy trucks. This focus of application for hydrogen helps focus attention as regards skills development. It all links well with the skills work and wider support being undertaken in the UK, driven by the Catapult network.
Shaping Sustainable International Hydrogen Value Chain
IRENA, September 2024.
Two aspects of this report we found useful: first as a primer on hydrogen (see Figure 4 on the priority markets – the least priority market is domestic properties); and second, the jobs aspects (pages 52-54), which picks-up on the global aspects of the jobs forecast and the profile of jobs across the various stages of the value chain.
Consultation Towards a Future Grangemouth Hydrogen Hub
Optimat for Scottish Enterprise, January 2024.
Brings home the reality of a major chemical industrial complex making the transition which is central to the Scottish economy.
SASHA Coalition: addressing aviation’s ‘green hydrogen gap’
Skies and Seas Hydrogen-Fuels Accelerator Coalition (SASHA), April 2024.
Another key part of hydrogen’s contribution to the net zero transition and this presentation covers the ground well and provides some useful context setting charts.
Marine Energy
Marine Energy: Sector Profile
Crown Estate Scotland, October 2023.
A useful briefing document on tidal and wave projects in Scotland, giving us a flavour of a sector which gets too little coverage when compared to offshore wind.
Energy Pricing
How can nodal pricing engage consumers?
Future Power Market Platform Workshop Report, June 2024.
We have picked out one paper here, but there are many others we could list. Our interest is in the potentially radical reshaping of the electricity market where consumers are placed at the centre of the emerging system, and the education required to support this shift. This is in addition to the education needed to shape the customer journey to near full decarbonisation and high energy efficiency. From our understanding of energy transitions in other countries, the education and communications for consumers needs to operate on a very long term and have a consistent basis. No knee-jerks or U-turns needed here.
Renewables
Unlocking Investment to Triple Renewables by 2030
Bloomberg NEF, September 2024.
A well-formatted report allowing rapid assimilation of the core message, which identifies staffing for infrastructure (grid access) as being a barrier. Surprisingly didn’t identify skills and staffing as an issue for construction and installation, but this does not detract from an excellent status and forward-looking report.
Heat
Economic Value of Clean Heat in Scotland
Optimat for Scottish Enterprise, June 2024.
A practical and insightful study of clean heat in Scotland where there are 470 companies employing 8,300 direct employees and sales of £1.66bn. Companies in this sector tend to export and innovate more than typical companies. It is this base set of companies that form the infrastructure upon which the transition to net zero will be delivered in Scotland. It would be good to dig further across these 470 companies and examine the skills issues they are facing, and also the requirements of their customers.
Agriculture & Nature
Biodiversity Net Gain
UK Parliament POST, POST Note 728, September 2024.
With Biodiversity Net Gain (BNG) now part of the planning system, it will be interesting to see how the “market” develops around major developments and rural communities (and farmers) providing a service. From a skills point of view, the note says that Planning Officers will need to become fully conversant in BNG options and value through to consultants and farmers.
UK Peatland Strategy: Progress Report 2024
IUCN, September 2024.
A useful status report where we find issues of capacity and skills gaps being identified.
Chemicals
Policy barriers to greening the chemicals industry
Green Alliance, August 2024.
A good briefing covering six areas: CCS and hydrogen; electrification; resource efficiency and circularity; alternative feedstocks; innovation; and skills. Generally, not a good picture. We would broadly agree with the solutions proposed on skills: boosting employer skills investment, and enhancing apprenticeships investment at all levels.
Roadmap for Distributed Green Ammonia in Minnesota
RMI, June 2024.
Agriculture, despite a move towards organic practices, still requires fertilisers, and with fertiliser production under pressure to decarbonise, we are seeing new production approaches using new inputs. This shift might disconnect fertiliser production from many of its current locations, and almost localise production. We also have to factor in the current challenges to trading patterns, and the potential use of ammonia for energy storage. So, the transition for ammonia and fertilisers might see jobs moving and shift a requirement for skills development to quite rural locations. One point to note: fertilisers derived from fossil fuels and used to help produce wheat account for nearly half of the emissions of a loaf!
Circular Economy
Closing the institutional gap: Perspectives on the circular economy from selected African TVET institutions
UNESCO, 2024.
We think many the areas covered here around deep, technical skills and generic ones are just as relevant to the circular economies of all countries, not just Africa. So, skip to pages 10 onwards and there are some useful charts and pointers. For us many existing programmes can be modified to incorporate many of the key elements of the circular economy.
The Circularity Gap Report Ireland: Closing the circularity gap in Ireland
Circle Economy, September 2024.
A comprehensive report on a topic which is so important but seems to play second fiddle to shorter term net zero agenda. These national reports are really helpful for policy makers in shaping their understanding as to what is possible, and what is working.
Construction
Global Construction Skills: Implications for UK Economy
NOCN Group, September 2024.
Three messages hit us in reading this report: first, the need for much greater co-ordination and direct management of the UK skills system and the flows into skills programmes (enter Skills England); second, the need to further invest in “core” construction roles and pathways to attract and develop new entrants; and third, a greater focus on micro-credentials to enhance current members of the construction workforce.
Food
Linking middle-chain actors to the environmental impacts of food producers and consumers: underlying drivers and policy implications
Centre for Food Policy, City University, March 2023.
Food waste and its whole supply chain system have been well covered, and this report adds to our understanding of reducing GHG emissions/Scope 3 in a key industry. It shows to us the complexity of tackling multi-organisation issues, and the impact of a predominant mind-set/business model upon an industry.
Manufacturing
Making it to net zero: a manufacturers’ guide
Make UK, May 2024.
A very practical guide which takes us through an eight-step process from understanding net zero through to evaluating success. By entering into a net zero plan, a business is acquiring, developing and deploying green skills. Such plans are often prompted by a business’s customers requesting carbon emissions data as it looks to collate data from across its supply chain.
Marine
Marine Delivery Routemap: Towards a shared vision for our seabeds and coastline
The Crown Estate, September 2024.
Providing a strategic direction and detail for the routemap for marine is a key aspect of taking forward offshore wind. One aspect of which struck us was the pooling of data to ensure an informed approach e.g. the Marine Data Exchange and the Offshore Wind Evidence Change Programme. We have to wonder if Skills England could run a data portal to share and accept data to help inform skills investment decisions.
Mobility
Active Travel in England
NAO, June 2023.
Provides a quick status update, but suggests to us the challenge of progressing active travel across England relies on having capacity and capability at local levels.