Bertrand Piccard, the man who flew around the world in a solar-powered airplane, will be taking another trip around the world. This time he will show governments 1,000 innovations that together will make it possible to reduce energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions by half. “I want to show that it is possible and profitable for countries to be much more ambitious in their climate policies”, says Piccard, who considers this the second … [Read more...]
Solar power alone won’t solve energy or climate needs
Recent reports that solar capacity will soon exceed nuclear capacity reveal an important fact. They also hide a crucial distinction needed to understand the context of energy production, and use and consequences of choices among supply options for the future, writes Jatin Nathwani of the University of Waterloo. Courtesy The Conversation. … [Read more...]
Underestimating the contribution of solar PV risks damaging policy making
The continuing lack of realism in projections for solar PV - by the IEA and others - risks damaging policy making by misdirecting effort in developing low carbon technologies, writes climate change economist Adam Whitmore. … [Read more...]
U.S. Energy Department sees sizable increase in world energy use till 2040
Whereas DNV GL in its recent Energy Transition Outlook forecasts an energy demand peak in the 2030s, the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) will have none of this: it projects a 28% increase in world energy use by 2040. Consequently, it sees a much slower transition to a low-carbon energy system. … [Read more...]
DNV GL’s Energy Transition Outlook: for the first time in history, energy demand will peak
Global energy demand will plateau from 2030, oil demand will flatten from 2020 to 2028 and go to a significant decline thereafter, the shift to renewable energy will be quicker and more massive than most people realize, yet the energy transition will not be difficult to finance. These are some of the momentous conclusions of a set of major new reports from independent energy consultancy DNV GL, under the name Energy Transition Outlook (ETO). They … [Read more...]
Why solar keeps being underestimated
There are competing ideas on the best technologies to rapidly decarbonise the energy system. Some scenarios emphasise the role of carbon capture and storage to render coal- and gas-fired power plants more climate-friendly. Others point to nuclear energy and a third group is more optimistic on renewable sources. But it’s plausible that even these more optimistic outlooks have greatly underestimated the potential of solar power, writes Dr Felix … [Read more...]
IEA underreports contribution solar and wind by a factor of three compared to fossil fuels
The International Energy Agency’s (IEA) statistics underreport the role of wind and solar in the world’s energy mix by a factor of three, writes Erik Sauar. This gives policymakers, investors and the public the false impression that wind and solar are insignificant. According to Sauar, the counting method must be changed to reflect how close the world really is to a transition to renewables. Article courtesy Energi og Klima. [See note at the end … [Read more...]
100% renewable energy for 139 nations detailed in Stanford report
Mark Z. Jacobson, the famed professor at the Stanford School of Earth, Energy, and Environmental Sciences, and 26 of his colleagues have compiled a report that shows exactly how 139 nations could transition to 100% renewable energy by 2050 without throwing millions of people out of work. In fact, they contend that the changeover would actually spur job growth while dramatically reducing carbon emissions, writes Steve Hanley. Article courtesy of … [Read more...]
A new energy bible: Samuele Furfari explains why technology is king
If you’re in the energy business, here is a new manual for you that lays out the essentials of what energy is and how it shapes geopolitics today. Professor and long-time European Commission official Samuele Furfari has condensed his 39 years of experience in the energy sector into a two-volume tome of more than 1,250 pages that goes right from the fundamentals of physics through Britain’s rule of the Middle East to modern day realities such as … [Read more...]
China’s continuing green shift in electric power: evidence from 2016
Over the past decade, China has been greening its electric power system faster than any other industrial power. But China is also continuing to pump out more greenhouse gases than any other other country. Is its green transformation happening fast enough? Hao Tan and John A. Mathews dig deep into the 2016 data and present an awesome picture of the stunningly large Chinese electric power sector. Courtesy Asia-Pacific Journal. … [Read more...]
The coal-free 2°C scenario: within reach and cheaper than told by IEA
Scrapping of planned coal power and accelerated investment in wind and solar are essential if we are to reach the Paris climate goals. The good news: It can be done significantly cheaper than the International Energy Agency (IEA) estimates, writes Terje Osmundsen, Senior Vice President of the Norwegian-based international solar power company Scatec Solar. Courtesy of EnergiogKlima. … [Read more...]
Why the International Energy Agency still gets it wrong on fossil fuels
The IEA (International Energy Agency) has produced a remarkable and alarming report, together with IRENA (International Renewable Energy Agency), warning that “unprecedented” and “unparalleled” efforts are necessary “immediately” and “across all countries” to stave off climate disaster. Yet it still sees a significant role for fossil fuels in 2050. How is this possible? Greg Muttitt, Senior Advisor at NGO Oil Change International, argues that the … [Read more...]
Here comes the end of the Energiewende again
Yet again, an expert – this time, a German – has announced that Germany’s energy transition cannot succeed. He has a surprising insight for Energiewende proponents: the sun doesn’t always shine and the wind doesn’t always blow. How could we have missed that, wonders award-winning energy author Craig Morris? Courtesy Energy Transition/Global Energiewende. … [Read more...]
Green power revolution grinds forward, an unstoppable glacier
Webster’s defines revolution as “a sudden, radical or complete change.” The ongoing revolution in the United States electric utility industry fits that definition to a T, writes Washington-based energy reporter Dennis Wamsted. The changes have been unbelievably quick (at least by company standards, if not by activists’ desires), and the long-term impacts are going to be both radical and complete. Importantly, in today’s political climate, the … [Read more...]
Carbon Tracker: no growth for oil and coal from 2020, gas can flip-flop
Falling costs of electric vehicle and solar technology could halt growth in global demand for oil and coal from 2020, finds a new report co-authored by the Grantham Institute at Imperial College London and the Carbon Tracker Initiative launched on Thursday. The future of natural gas is highly uncertain in this new scenario analysis. … [Read more...]
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