Palm oil, beef, cocoa, coffee, soy, and other agricultural products are responsible for deforestation in the producing countries. Of the 10m hectares of tropical forest lost each year, two-thirds can be unambiguously attributed to agricultural expansion and international trade is responsible for about half of this. The EC is due in December to unveil a legislative proposal to address the issue. Alain Karsenty and Nicolas Picard, writing for IFRI, … [Read more...]
Climate Finance: the loopholes that are causing greenwashing
How do you know when an investment is truly âgreenâ? Whether companies and fund managers monitor themselves or are externally policed, the correct rules need to be identified. And then it gets harder. Clearly defining and then measuring carbon footprints is a bigger challenge, explains Meredith Fowlie at UC Berkeleyâs Energy Institute at Haas. She draws parallels with food nutrition labelling rules. But whereas counting the calories in a food … [Read more...]
Will COP26 set right the booming Carbon Offset Market
Carbon offsetting is when a company, rather than cut its own emissions, pays someone else somewhere else to cut their emissions. It has always been controversial because it has two main problems. Buying carbon credits means you arenât putting the effort in to cut emissions yourself. And the risk of double-counting: when the company reports it has cut emissions, and so does the âsomeone elseâ. A third problem exists too: measuring whether the … [Read more...]
Will Wind & Solar confront its 10 challenges? If not, we need Nuclear, CCS, and more
Wind and solarâs impressive cost declines have seen its welcome and rapid emergence. But currently they account for a mere 2â4% of global energy. So these variable renewable energy sources (VREs) must now address 10 big challenges if they are to dominate the energy sector, explains Schalk Cloete in this data-led review. Their cost declines will be confronted and even cancelled by new costs theyâve not yet faced during their low-hanging-fruit … [Read more...]
UNEP 2021 Emissions Gap report: only 11 countries have net-zero targets enshrined in law
Zeke Hausfather at Carbon Brief summarises the UNEP 2021 Emissions Gap report, released last week. It explores the impact of the net-zero emissions pledges of nations, and the âgapâ between them and the Paris targets. As COP26 gets started, 136 countries either have some form of commitment to a net-zero target or are considering it. Of those, 49 plus the EU have a firm net-zero commitment. But only 11 countries have targets enshrined in law. … [Read more...]
How much Carbon Capture will Germany need? Both nature-based and technological
Yet more studies have been published that show Germany needs carbon removal to meet its emissions targets. Simon Göss and Hendrik Schuldt at cr.hub add two, from the German Energy Agency and the Ariadne report (funded by the German Ministry of Education and Research), to those that already exist to shine more light on a carbon capture pathway. The main observation is that nature-based solutions (LULUCF: land use, land use change and forestry) … [Read more...]
Germany: can 100% renewable power reduce energy costs within the decade?
A bold report is presented by Thure Traber, Hans-Josef Fell and Sophie Marquitan at Energy Watch Group. It says that a 100% renewable power system for Germany can undercut fossil power within this decade. The authors look at the full cost of fossil power, including subsidies. Importantly, they explain how unit costs will rise further, as demand declines, due to the decreasing utilisation of its expensive infrastructure. Meanwhile, total system … [Read more...]
Modelling Hydrogenâs role in high penetration Wind + Solar grids
A hydrogen ramp-up is going to be expensive and asset-heavy. So, a whole-system analysis is needed to ensure its deployment is done cost-effectively today and meets long term goals. This is what all nations committing to hydrogen are struggling with. Kelley Travers at MIT describes their modelling, in collaboration with Shell, that looks at the optimisation of hydrogen deployment in grids where variable renewables (VREs) like wind and solar are … [Read more...]
PET: a toolkit to make existing Coal plants more efficient
Many nations are struggling to phase out coal. Some, like China, are heavily dependent on it, and have more plants in the pipeline to ensure energy security and keep prices low. In other words, a lot of coal will remain in operation for the medium term. Given that, it makes sense to make them more efficient while they are in use. Daisy Chi at ECECP looks at a new set of tools â the Plant Efficiency Toolbox (PET) - that can analyse and optimise a … [Read more...]
Coal phase-out by 21 nations only accounts for 3.2% of global power. What about the others?
The 21 nations committed to coal phase-out only account for 3.2% of global electricity generation. Three - Belgium, Austria and Sweden â have already done so. The rest hope to by different dates, ranging to 2040. Asia is where the main problem is, and their transition challenges are well known: growing economies, and energy security. Carlos FernĂĄndez Alvarez at the IEA spells out their recommendations, and references case studies in Canada, the … [Read more...]
Concern over auto job losses as Europe transitions to EVs
The state premier of Lower Saxony, home of Volkswagen, says he would not tolerate a large-scale reduction in staff at Germanyâs largest carmaker. There is talk of axing 30,000 VW jobs nationwide, though messages have been mixed. Benjamin Wehrmann and Sören Amelang at Clean Energy Wire look at the latest news, then summarise the implications of the EV transition for the auto industry across Europe. Highlights include the observation that a Tesla … [Read more...]
Aviation, Steel, Shipping CEOs ask COP26 to back their decarbonisation pathways
The seven âhardest to abateâ industries together account for 30% of global greenhouse gas emissions. They are aviation, steel, shipping, cement, aluminium, trucking and chemicals. John Matson at RMI explains how a growing number of sector-leading corporates in aviation, steel and shipping are now openly backing net-zero pathways. He quotes CEOs and top executives (ArcelorMittal, United Airlines, Trafigura) on what they say they are determined to … [Read more...]
Compact voltage converters for integrating new DERs into the grid
The switches and converters needed to plug new clean energy technologies into the grid are going to be needed soon. The cheaper and smaller they are, the easier it will be to cope with the wide range of solutions coming down the pipe. NREL and its partners are building a megawatt-scale prototype converter that could fit the bill. They will be 1/5th the size and 1/10th the weight of existing alternatives: small enough to place almost anywhere. … [Read more...]
Surging U.S. renewables on track to take 30% market share by 2026
While the U.S. Congress debates whether backing the transition is a winning strategy, the energy sector is clearly showing the nationâs direction of travel. Dennis Wamsted and Seth Feaster at IEEFA look at the impressive growth of the clean energy champions, wind and solar. Since 2019, wind and utility-scale solar generation has risen by 76 TWh â a 31% increase â while coal and gas has fallen by 1.6%. By 2026, wind and utility-scale solar will … [Read more...]
Chinaâs energy crisis: the problems with coal exit, emissions targets, and a command economy
China is also suffering from an energy crisis. Major industries have had to restrict production, and reports abound of candle-lit dinners, traffic lights failing and people getting trapped in elevators. Its effect has also been global, with Apple, Tesla, Microsoft and Dell saying itâs hitting their supply chains. As Jun Du at Aston University explains, Chinaâs drive to cut coal has collided with post-Covid resurgent demand and an unusually hot … [Read more...]
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