Gases are the invisible engine of the economic system and fashionable civilisation: basic in each sector, from vitality to chemical compounds, agriculture to business, medication to meals. Their contribution, in addition to their affect, determines our life on the planet. MR61 is subsequently a journey into the world of gases, exploring geopolitics, science and know-how.
Summary
EDITORIALS
An Orderly Chaotic World
Emanuele Bompan
To the ancients, gasoline had a divine origin; it was the factor that derived from Kaos, the primordial place of formless matter from which the Demiurge drew to kind the ordered world, the Cosmos.
Biomethane: The Key to Italian Energy Independence
Caterina Nigo
The manufacturing of renewable gasoline is now an undisputed cornerstone of European vitality coverage, a key precedence set out in black and white within the RePowerEU technique. But how does this continental imaginative and prescient translate into the Italian context?
THINK TANK
Making the Invisible Visible
Interview with Mark Miodownik
Giorgia Marino
Steam, methane, nitrogen, hydrogen, helium, carbon dioxide. Invisible and highly effective, these and lots of different gases are the cornerstone of contemporary civilisation. But we frequently fail to understand how a lot we rely on them and the affect that uncontrolled exploitation may cause.
No, Natural Gas Is Not Better Than Coal
Interview with Robert Howarth
Marco Moro
Methane is accountable for about 30% of world warming, but it’s nonetheless thought-about a needed “bridge fuel” within the transition from fossils to renewables. More and extra scientists, nevertheless, are warning that pure gasoline could also be even worse for the local weather than coal.
Europe and the Geography of Dependencies
Interview with Ana Maria Jaller-Makarewicz
Emanuele Bompan
Following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Europe has began adopting insurance policies to scale back its dependence on LNG imports from overseas. Amidst the vitality transition and the search for brand spanking new suppliers, right here is how European and international gasoline markets are shifting.
INSIGHT
The New Geopolitical Chessboard of Gas
Stefano Vergine
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Europe’s vitality transition, Trump’s aggressive overseas coverage and conflicts within the Middle East are reshaping the worldwide pure gasoline market. With new gamers getting into the scene and evolving eventualities, we tried to take inventory of the scenario.
In Europe, Carbon Capture Is Also a Matter of Money
Stefania Divertito
Many European international locations and huge firms are investing billions in Carbon Capture and Storage applied sciences. While bureaucratic and legislative setbacks aren’t serving to, the most important impediment to the sector’s growth is the financial hole.
Green Hydrogen: Revolution or Illusion?
Simone Fant
Amidst damaged guarantees, unrealistic targets and a market struggling to take off, is inexperienced hydrogen actually the trail to decarbonisation or of venture destined to lose out to fossil fuels?
Biomethane, the Renewable Gas Finding Its Place within the Energy Transition
Giorgio Kaldor
Biogas and biomethane convert waste into vitality, built-in into present networks and transport programs. While they nonetheless account for under a small portion of world pure gasoline demand, manufacturing is rising steadily virtually in all places.
Nitrogen In Agriculture: The Synthesis Of Abundance And Its Price
Giorgio Kaldor
Nitrogen has nourished the world, however at a rising price: environmental, social and political. For this purpose, from house to the Indian countryside, new options for nutrient administration are actually into account.
Cooling Down the Warming Planet Without Damaging It
Maria Carla Rota
Essential for fridges, warmth pumps and cooling programs, refrigerant gases have up to now been a risk to the ozone layer. Today, nevertheless, new-generation refrigerants have one other drawback: their international warming potential.
Noble and Circular
Antonella Ilaria Totaro
Helium, neon, krypton, argon, xenon and radon are the idea of strategic industries, from healthcare to semiconductors. Yet regardless of their huge financial and technological price, uncommon gases stay tough to extract and much more advanced to get well and reuse.
Anaesthetics That Harm the Climate
Lucrezia Lenardon
As healthcare spending will increase, so does using medical gases similar to nitrous oxide. Known for over two centuries for its anaesthetic properties, additionally it is a potent greenhouse gasoline, the administration of which ought to turn out to be extra round.
Radon, Indoor Enemy
Giorgia Marino
Invisible, odourless and asymptomatic, radon is a radioactive gasoline that may seep into buildings from the bottom, inflicting severe well being issues. It is a little-known drawback, however extra widespread than individuals suppose. And whereas legal guidelines are actually in place, extra info remains to be wanted.
CASE STUDIES
Nippon Gases Italia: The Circular Transition of Refrigerants
Stefania Divertito
Unseen protagonists of on a regular basis life, refrigerant gases however have an effect on the local weather that may not be ignored. As Nippon Gases Italia explains, decarbonisation of the sector requires the creation of round provide chains.
A New Technology Launched for LNG Transport
Valeriano Musiu
We headed to Genoa for the launch of the Green Pearl, the primary European gasoline tanker that permits ship-to-truck transfers for LNG and bio-LNG. One of the important thing gamers on this operation is the vitality firm Axpo, more and more serious about increasing the Mediterranean market.
Syngas, the Perfect Middleman
Emanuele Bompan
Synthesis gasoline, or syngas, at the moment performs an necessary function as an industrial wild card in numerous provide chains, from aviation fuels to fertilisers and hydrogen. We mentioned this with two specialists from Nextchem, one of many main gamers within the sector.
STARTUP
Antonella Ilaria Totaro
Alt Carbon: accelerated weathering that turns fields into carbon sinks
Cyclize converts advanced waste and CO₂ into round synthesis gases
Liquid Sun: clear aviation gasoline from CO₂
SuperFlox: a brand new frontier in industrial emissions discount
OUROBOROS
Why Ammonia Dominates Dutch Headlines, and What It Tells Us About Europe’s Food System
Ana Birliga Sutherland
Agriculture is accountable for 93% of all ammonia emissions within the EU, and livestock and manure account for the biggest share. The most evident case is within the Netherlands, an agricultural powerhouse the place the “nitrogen crisis” has been the main focus of media consideration for over 5 years.
CIRCULAR FUTURES: DISPATCHES FROM TOMORROW
2058: Closing the Loops of the Invisible
Patrick Schröder
Throughout the twentieth century, gases had been handled as the last word externality. Invisible, widespread and tough to manage, they had been launched into the environment with the concept dilution would remedy the issue. However, with the arrival of local weather science, that phantasm has collapsed.
READING MATTER
Oxygen for Your Mind
Giorgia Marino
Gases transfer the world, shaping life on the planet, however they will additionally destroy it. Three books protecting historical past, economics, geopolitics and science present a greater understanding of carbon dioxide, hydrogen and methane.