Accelerating Decarbonisation Through Innovation
WSS Energy is an independent management consulting company that provides target-research and advisory services to support industrial decarbonisation. Our focus is to accelerate collaboration and sustainable growth through technology development and deployment.
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We are:​
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Sector specific and technology focused with a proven track record.
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Commercial driven with a strong technical understanding.
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We believe that enabling new technology is the world's best chance to reduce global emissions to net zero. To achieve this, cost-effective scaling-up towards commercialisation is critical. Many of today's early-stage technologies are promising and will become an important part of a complex but comprehensive plan to address climate change.
The role of technologies in addressing climate change
Adaptation
Energy efficiency
Carbon removal
Eletrification with renewables
Flow batteries for BESS - appoaching commercisalisation after 140 years
There are several existing battery technologies which could be utilised for a grid-scale, long-duration BESS system. However, the best battery choice for a particular application will depend on its specific requirements. Currently, the state-of-the-art battery type used is lithium iron phosphate (LFP) as they are commercially proven and offer high energy density at a lower LCOS compared to alternatives such as lead-acid or sodium sulphur. However, for applications where longer discharge duration, greater cycle life, scalability and ease of maintenance are important selection criteria, flow batteries are now emerging as a promising option.
Why is flaring minimisation so difficult?
Approximately 150 billion cubic metres (bcm) of associated gas is flared annually, equivalent to two years of the UK’s entire gas consumption. Routine flaring of Associated Petroleum Gas (APG) remains a significant source of CO2 emissions and particulate pollution from the upstream oil and gas industry, and a very technically challenging problem to solve. Gas contaminants, remote sites, unpredictable flows and sub-optimal volumes all stand in the way of monetising this huge resource.
This insights article shares the slides and a synopsis of our opinions on the challenges and options facing operators investigating routine flaring minimisation, whether through gas-to-power or through other routes for flaring valorisation.
The role of DAC in battling climate change
Direct Air Capture technology captures CO2 directly from the ambient air and stores it underground or uses it in industrial processes. It involves a chemical reaction and several different DAC technologies are currently being developed and tested. Currently, DAC is an order of magnitude more expensive than alternative CCS technologies such as capturing CO2 from concentrated exhaust streams or other CDR technologies. However, DAC have advantages which cannot be easily replicated by other CDR approaches.
Future technologies for Sustainable Aviation Fuels (SAFs)
For synthetic aviation fuels, the main barrier in upscaling and deployments remains the accessibility of low-cost renewable energy over the time necessary for a $1Bn Synthetic Aviation Fuel capital project. The basket of applicable technologies is largely ready, however without cheap renewable energy, projects remain unbankable or only capable of being developed to a relatively small scale with significant government support.
UK CCS - a long and uncertain journey
The UK CCS market itself is clearly in an early stage of development. This development process is fragmented, with no established commercial model for sustainable CCS hub projects (at scale) and very limited existing transport and storage infrastructure that could be re-developed for CCS. If the UK is to achieve a viable and functioning CCS network with numerous CCS hubs the fundamental element is a web of transport and storage infrastructure, otherwise the whole concept of a network is undermined.
