Firm-level technology transfer and technology cooperation for wind energy between Europe, China and India: From North–South to South–North cooperation?

For several decades the leading wind energy nations were European, while China and India were mainly the recipients of technology transfer. This paper aims to explore the role technology transfer/cooperation from Europe played in shaping firm-level wind energy technologies in China and India and to discuss whether the recent technology cooperation between the Chinese, Indian, and European wind firms challenges the classical North–South technology cooperation paradigm. The research finds that firm-level technology transfer/cooperation shaped the leading wind energy technologies in China and to a lesser extent in India. The paper also finds that several trends towards South–North technology cooperation have been observed between China, India and Europe, such as South–North flows of capital, drivers for market access, and R&D leadership, while the origins of innovation (e.g. patents) seem to remain predominantly in the global North. The paper concludes that the technology cooperation between China, India, and Europe has become more multi-faceted and increasingly Southern-led

MEDEAS: a new modeling framework integrating global biophysical and socioeconomic constraints

Producción CientíficaA diversity of integrated assessment models (IAMs) coexists due to the different approaches developed to deal with the complex interactions, high uncertainties and knowledge gaps within the environment and human societies. This paper describes the open-source MEDEAS modeling framework, which has been developed with the aim of informing decision-making to achieve the transition to sustainable energy systems with a focus on biophysical, economic, social and technological restrictions and tackling some of the limitations identified in the current IAMs. MEDEAS models include the following relevant characteristics: representation of biophysical constraints to energy availability; modeling of the mineral and energy investments for the energy transition, allowing a dynamic assessment of the potential mineral scarcities and computation of the net energy available to society; consistent representation of climate change damages with climate assessments by natural scientists; integration of detailed sectoral economic structure (input–output analysis) within a system dynamics approach; energy shifts driven by physical scarcity; and a rich set of socioeconomic and environmental impact indicators. The potentialities and novel insights that this framework brings are illustrated by the simulation of four variants of current trends with the MEDEAS-world model: the consideration of alternative plausible assumptions and methods, combined with the feedback-rich structure of the model, reveal dynamics and implications absent in classical models. Our results suggest that the continuation of current trends will drive significant biophysical scarcities and impacts which will most likely derive in regionalization (priority to security concerns and trade barriers), conflict, and ultimately, a severe global crisis which may lead to the collapse of our modern civilization. Despite depicting a much more worrying future than conventional projections of current trends, we however believe it is a more realistic counterfactual scenario that will allow the design of improved alternative sustainable pathways in future work.Ministerio de Economía, Industria y Competitividad (Project CO2017-85110-R)Ministerio de Economía, Industria y Competitividad (Project JCI-2016–28833)MEDEAS project, funded by the European Union’s Horizon2020 research and innovation programme under grant agree-ment no. 691287.LOCOMOTION project, funded by the EuropeanUnion’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programmeunder grant agreement no. 82110

Hydrogen storage in porous geological formations – Onshore play opportunities in the Midland Valley (Scotland, UK)

Hydrogen usage and storage may contribute to reducing greenhouse gas emissions by decarbonising heating and transport and by offering significant energy storage to balance variable renewable energy supply. Underground storage of hydrogen is established in underground salt caverns, but these have restricted geographical locations within the UK and cannot deliver the required capacity. Hydrogen storage in porous geological formations has significant potential to deliver both the capacity and local positioning. This study investigates the potential for storage of hydrogen in porous subsurface media in Scotland. We introduce for the first time the concept of the hydrogen storage play. A geological combination including reservoir, seal and trap that provides the optimum hydrogen storage reservoir conditions that will be potential targets for future pilot, and commercial, hydrogen storage projects. We investigate three conceptual hydrogen storage plays in the Midland Valley of Scotland, an area chosen primarily because it contains the most extensive onshore sedimentary deposits in Scotland, with the added benefit of being close to potential consumers in the cities of Glasgow and Edinburgh. The formations assessed are of Devonian and Carboniferous age. The Devonian storage play offers vast storage capacity but its validity is uncertain due to due to a lack of geological data. The two Carboniferous plays have less capacity but the abundant data produced by the hydrocarbon industry makes our suitability assessment of these plays relatively certain. We conclude that the Carboniferous age sedimentary deposits of the D’Arcy-Cousland Anticline and the Balgonie Anticline close to Edinburgh will make suitable hydrogen storage sites and are ideal for an early hydrogen storage research project