Author name: Nu:ionic

Natural gas is widely used in North America as a fuel for heating homes, offices and industrial processes. In fact, by analyzing data published by Energy Information Agency (EIA) and the Canada Energy Regulator (CER) we estimate that approximately 37% of the total natural gas consumption in the USA and Canada is combusted as fuel in the industrial, commercial and residential sectors. This corresponds to almost 35,000,000 MMBTU of energy per day, accounting for approximately 735,000,000 tons per year of CO2 emissions.

As we reflect upon the year and look ahead to the next, it’s clear that 2020 has undoubtedly been a historic one, both for the world and for us at Nu:ionic. In some ways, it feels as though we’ve lived through 10 years worth of events in a single trip around the sun, most encouraging of which would be the acceleration in commitment and adoption of clean, renewable energy. This year we have witnessed companies, governments and most notably, investors, all get serious about cleaning up the energy economy and it seems we’ve made more than 10 years worth of progress toward a cleaner future, in 2020 alone.

As an engineer by training, I have a weakness for well-designed charts, and I love to ‘geek out’ on simple charts that convey big ideas. Sankey diagrams are incredibly interesting, and one of my favorite ones are created by the smart people at Lawrence Livermore National Lab (LLNL). 

Ever since the first electric grids were established in the late 1800s, the power we consume at home is energy that is only a few seconds old, generated ‘on demand’ at power plants. With a shift toward renewable energy, however, that supply model is being challenged. As we welcome December, turn up the heat in our homes and look ahead to a new year, with new policies and shifting attitudes about the environment, creating renewable energy storage has never been more important.

American Thanksgiving is often a turning point, the time when we transition from autumn to winter and start heating our homes to insulate ourselves from the cold. Did you know that almost a quarter of all global energy consumption is used by residential and commercial buildings, contributing more than 17% of global greenhouse gas emissions? As we prepare to give thanks in the US, here are some actionable ways we can use hydrogen to create energy savings and work towards decarbonization.

Whether you consume your news via television, radio, social media or some combination of the three, you are no doubt aware of the heightened global buzz around reaching “net zero” by 2050. This was a hot topic in the recent US election and routinely appears in headlines from France to China, India to Australia. Like most news bites, it sounds great, but what does ‘reaching net zero by 2050’ actually mean?

Environmental policy under a Biden presidency is expected to shift Washington D.C. toward measures that intentionally fight climate change, with the President-elect announcing that the United States will rejoin the Paris Climate Accord and will target net zero carbon emissions in the US by 2050. 

I’m pleased to be announcing our new Nu:ionic website with the first of what will be a series of articles exploring renewable energy, hydrogen’s role in building a cleaner future and our passion as a company for building a better tomorrow, today. Please share your thoughts and questions on our LinkedIn page or email me directly at jan.boshoff@nuionic.com.