In Texas, income from electricity sales does not even cover the direct costs of coal power plants. But their hidden costs are much higher, explains Daniel Cohen of Rice University in Houston. Courtesy The Conversation. … [Read more...]
Search results for Climate Policy Tags
Taxing carbon may sound like a good idea but does it work?
Exxon Mobil is financing lobbying for a US plan to tax oil, gas and coal companies for the carbon they emit. But do carbon taxes work to reduce greenhouse gas emissions? The evidence is underwhelming and support for the proposal is not down to altruism, says Paul Griffin of the University of California, Davis. In his view, what would impact climate change is for energy companies to disclose their carbon risks and footprints. … [Read more...]
Aligning the IEA Sustainable Development Scenario to Paris goals
As part of its World Energy Outlook 2018 report, on 13 November the International Energy Agency will publish its latest Sustainable Development Scenario that it claims shows governments and companies how to reach Parisâ climate change goals. To date, itâs fallen short â perhaps because it thinks the goals are too difficult to achieve, says Greg Muttitt of Oil Change International, which is calling on the agency to start showing how those goals … [Read more...]
Bioenergy carbon capture: Climate snake oil or 1.5C panacea?
Most models for meeting 1.5â or 2â climate change targets suggest we will be using bioenergy carbon capture and sequestration (BECCS) to mop up the worldâs total annual CO2 emissions by around 2070 (for 2â). This means moving from todayâs three BECCS power plants to 16,000 by 2060. But, explains Paul Behrens of Leiden University, large-scale BECCS is a âmonumentally tricky idea,â and, while aiming to fix climate disruption, it makes many things … [Read more...]
A blacklist of the worldâs top 120 coal plant developers
Nearly 1,400 new coal power plant developments are planned or under construction in 59 countries that would add 33% to coal power capacity. But the risks of investing in such projects are growing, and many banks and investors are looking to move away from coal. To help them, non-governmental organisation Urgewald has created a database of the worldâs top 120 coal plant developers, says Kathy Hipple of the Institute for Energy Economics and … [Read more...]
Why we canât reverse climate change with negative emissions technologies
The United Nationâs panel on climate change said that technologies to remove CO2 will be necessary to limit global temperature rise to only 1.5oC. But these techniques are largely unproven, and the technical, economic and environmental barriers of negative emissions technologies (NETs) are very real, states Howard J. Herzog, Senior Research Engineer at Massachusetts Institute of Technology and a leading expert in CO2 capture and storage. … [Read more...]
How can gas contribute to the achievement of EU climate targets
What role is there for gas in the European energy system over the next decades? Some believe the EU must give priority to coal-to-gas switching. Others see no role for natural gas at all in the long run and argue that EU policy must promote only ârenewableâ gas. An Energy Post panel debate in Brussels, sponsored by Nord Stream 2, saw conflicting views sound off against each other. Meanwhile, a new âGas for Climateâ initiative proposes a 10% … [Read more...]
Khashoggi and Skripal: wake-up calls for European energy policy
The apparent brutal murder of Jamal Khashoggi in Turkey by the Saudi Arabian regime and the equally brazen attempted murder of Sergei Skripal in England should serve as wake-up calls for European energy policymakers, writes Karel Beckman, editor-in-chief of Energy Post. These misdeeds demonstrate the aggressive nature of the Saudi and Russia regimes and underline the necessity for Europe to reduce its reliance on oil and gas much more rapidly … [Read more...]
UK homes need âdeep efficiency retrofitâ to meet climate goals
The British governmentâs policy of incrementally upgrading energy efficiency in UK homes is not enough to meet the countryâs 2050 climate targets. Instead, virtually every UK house needs a one-off retrofit, says a new report. It calls for government and cities to commit to pilot schemes for retrofitting whole houses using models such as the Dutch âEnergiesprongâ, which achieves a near net-zero energy home, typically by adding external insulation … [Read more...]
Europeans ‘not very worried about climate change’
The latest UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report is a wake-up call for the need to act quickly on greenhouse gas emissions. But research from the European Social Survey suggests European attitudes towards climate change could be hard to shift, says Ed Grover, senior communications officer at City, University of London. Courtesy of City, University of London. … [Read more...]
8 things you need to know about the IPCC 1.5ËC report
In its landmark report released today on global warming, the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) says urgent and unprecedented changes are needed to stop global temperatures from rising by over 1.5ËC â but it is possible. The report makes it clear to governments and businesses that limiting warming to 1.5ËC is imperative, says Kelly Levin of World Resources Institute: âNow itâs time for them to step up to the challenge.â … [Read more...]
Methane is a potent pollutant â letâs keep it out of the atmosphere
The USâs intended relaxation of rules for the oil and gas industry on methane emissions could to lead to more being released. Since the countryâs fracking boom began, evidence of a significant increase of methane in the atmosphere has already been seen as far away as Switzerland. As well as impacting climate change, this policy change may increase pollution, and damage the health of both humans and crops, say Alastair Lewis and Lucy Carpenter. … [Read more...]
How do ambitious climate pledges impact economic growth?
At the Global Climate Action Summit in San Francisco, delegates from all over the world made ambitious commitments to tackle climate change. But how will their actions impact economic growth? Chris Busch of think-tank Energy Innovation compares manufacturing and employment data from climate leader California to laggard Texas and the US as a whole. His findings suggest that climate actions are affordable and even provide a boost to economies. … [Read more...]
Why decarbonising gas might be harder than you think
Decarbonising the European energy system by 2050 will require a fundamental shift for the way the gas industry operates, away from business-as-usual in network planning and market design. Achieving net-zero greenhouse gas emissions in Europe, in line with the Paris Agreement on Climate Change, leaves no room for fossil gas consumption where CO2 is not captured and stored. But turning the gas industry into a zero-carbon industry is no simple task. … [Read more...]
What role for gas in Europeâs 2050 energy system?
The European Commission sees natural gas play a critical role in the energy transition to 2035, but beyond that its views on the role of gas are much less clear. Simon Blakey, analyst at IHS Markit, does not believe that renewables can be ramped up quickly enough to replace coal generation. Jonathan Gaventa of think tank E3G argues gas has no place in the energy mix by then, unless it is decarbonized. Energy Post editor Jason Deign spoke to both … [Read more...]
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