Renewables: Paris Agreement Sets The Global Tone

The worldwide fight against climate change took a hit in mid-2017 when the Trump administration pulled the U.S. out of the Paris climate agreement. But the rest of the world—along with 14 states and more than two dozen cities within the U.S.—is moving ahead with policies that put a bull’s-eye on carbon emissions.

In December, China kicked off a cap-and-trade carbon market for its energy industry. The market’s rules have yet to be announced, but China’s need for renewable power will drive a global 20% increase in solar installations this year, the consulting firm IHS Markit predicts.

Meanwhile, the Canadian government is working to impose a carbon tax on provinces that don’t meet its standards for reducing emissions.

In the U.S., the new tax legislation preserved key tax credits for the solar and wind industries, which now produce 7% of the nation’s electricity. As utilities continue to shutter coal-fired power plants, reliance on renewable sources will rise. The growth of renewables has put a new focus on energy storage, including batteries. The storage market will roughly double in size to nearly 600 MW in 2018, according to GTM Research and the Energy Storage Association.

The New York State Energy Research & Development Authority has invested in 50 energy storage technology projects as part of its commitment to supply 50% of the state’s power from renewables by 2030. New York is one of the U.S. states that will uphold the Paris Agreement.

In contrast, the outlook for advanced biofuels has not improved. In the U.S., two of three much-touted cellulosic ethanol facilities—operated separately by DuPont and Abengoa—have been shut down.

A few bright spots persist for the biobased chemicals industry in 2018. Projects to produce jet fuels from waste and from purpose-grown crops have attracted corporate support. Firms such as Enerkem and Fulcrum BioEnergy are successfully producing chemicals and fuels from municipal solid waste.

And some industrial biotechnology companies are reporting strong demand. DuPont’s Sorona fibers, made with biobased propanediol, are now in everything from jeans to high-end fashion, the company says. Its biobased ingredients are increasingly popular with marketers of cleaning and food products.

“We have been accelerating the pace of our new product introductions over the past few years, and in 2018 you will see new products in basically every market space we serve,” says William Feehery, president of DuPont Industrial Biosciences.