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Russia’s war has exposed France and Germany’s energy policy differences. Can it also bring them together?

July 3, 2023 by Camille Lafrance and Benjamin Wehrmann

France and Germany combined account for 45% of EU GDP and 40% of energy consumption. No wonder they are the most influential EU members. But the Russia-induced energy crisis has forced both Paris and Berlin to expose and admit the differences in their national energy strategies, and that has made a search for a unified voice for Europe’s ambitious climate targets much harder to achieve, explain Camille Lafrance and Benjamin Wehrmann at CLEW. … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Energy, Policies Tagged With: electricity, Energy, EU, fossilfuels, France, Germany, hydrogen, interconnections, jobs, markets, Nuclear, policies, power, renewables, Russia, strategies, Ukraine

Nearly half of national climate pledges (NDCs) intend to keep extracting fossil fuels

June 22, 2023 by Natalie Jones

“Nationally Determined Contributions” (NDCs) are a nation’s published plans to reduce emissions and adapt to the impacts of climate change. Natalie Jones at the IISD, writing for Carbon Brief, summarises her co-authored study that reviews the fossil fuel production element of those NDCs. Nations are obliged to update their NDCs every five years, to give more detail. That added detail is a cause for concern in the latest round of NDCs: there is an … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Community, Oil, Gas & Coal Tagged With: coal, diversification, emissions, fossilfuels, gas, NDCs, oil, Paris2050, production, transition

Evidence of a direct link between Wildfires and Fossil Fuel firms. Can it be used to sue them?

June 19, 2023 by Mark Specht

Wildfires are back in the news. The link to rising global temperatures caused by climate change is clear. Mark Specht at the Union of Concerned Scientists summarises their study that, for the first time, puts a number on the level of responsibility attributable to fossil fuel companies. Rising temperatures create a “vapour pressure deficit,” a measure of the power of the air to dry out plants and trees. That leads to an increase in the area … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Energy, Environment, Oil, Gas & Coal Tagged With: California, cement, Colorado, forests, fossilfuels, prices, temperatures, US, utilities, wildfires

COP26 and the Glasgow Pact: a summary of achievements, and shortfalls

November 26, 2021 by Christina Hoicka, Daniel Sperling, Ian Lowe, Kate Dooley, Kyla Tienhaara, Mariola Acosta Francés, Mark Maslin, Piers Forster, Ran Boydell and Simon Lewis

Experts from around the world summarise their reaction to the outcomes of this year’s UN climate summit, COP26, including the Glasgow Climate Pact agreed by all 197 countries attending the talks. Each expert covers their area of interest: overall targets, greenhouse gas emissions, fossil fuel finance, nature conservation, transportation, cities and buildings, energy sector transitions, science and innovation, and gender equality. The overall … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Energy, Policies Tagged With: buildings, COP26, deforestation, electrification, emissions, EVs, finance, fossilfuels, gender, innovation, NDCs, renovations, transport

UNEP 2021 Emissions Gap report: only 11 countries have net-zero targets enshrined in law

November 1, 2021 by Zeke Hausfather

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 “gap” 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...]

Filed Under: Energy, Policies Tagged With: COP26, emissions, fossilfuels, GreenDeal, Paris2050, policies, UNEP

IEA WEO 2021 message to COP26: 40% of clean energy goals will cut costs

October 15, 2021 by Simon Evans

The IEA’s latest World Energy Outlook was published on Wednesday. This year’s WEO-2021 is released earlier than usual to inform COP26 and, for the first time, is available for free to ensure the widest possible audience. Simon Evans at Carbon Brief offers his summary of the 386-page report, quoting relevant numbers and charts. He first points to the new scenario, Net-Zero Emissions by 2050 (NZE), as the IEA’s recognition that this is what … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Energy, Energy Outlooks, Policies Tagged With: COP26, costs, efficiency, electrification, emissions, EVs, fossilfuels, IEA, infrastructure, innovation, jobs, JustTransition, markets, methane, NZE, scenarios, solar, weather, WEO2021, wind

The standard models overestimate the cost of the low carbon transition

May 17, 2021 by Alexandra Poncia, Paul Drummond and Michael Grubb

Why have forecasts for new low-carbon energy consistently underestimated their cost reductions? The IEA has, famously, repeatedly had to raise its estimates for solar’s contribution every year since 2009, and now describes it as the “cheapest electricity in history”. Writing for Carbon Brief, Alexandra Poncia at Arup and Paul Drummond and Michael Grubb at University College London explain that standard models focus on “technology-push” policies, … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Energy, Energy Outlooks, Policies Tagged With: electricity, fossilfuels, IEA, innovation, markets, policies, prices, solar, wind

The energy transition needs some of the $12tn global Covid stimulus. But much less than you think

October 22, 2020 by Marina Andrijevic and Joeri Rogelj

Governments worldwide have committed over $12tn to recover from the Covid-19 pandemic, spent over the next 5 years. Current estimates say the energy transition needs $1.4tn/year globally between 2020 and 2024 to get us on the path to meet the 1.5oC Paris goal. Clearly, there is an opportunity here. Although support for healthcare systems and the overall economy are the stated priority of governments, much of that $12tn is still not committed. … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Energy, Investment Tagged With: China, Covid, divestment, EU, fossilfuels, GreenDeal, India, Paris2050, stimulus, subsidies, US

“Green” chemical plants that ramp up and down with wind, solar

June 24, 2020 by James Conca

One solution to variable renewables is to create customers that have no problem with ramping up and down production along with the power. In fact, when the wind and solar is producing too much power for the grid it can be bought very cheaply, making intermittent customers very happy. Jim Conca describes a new design for a Chlor-Alkali Chemical Plant that can “idle” without critical components of the plant degrading – the main reason for a plant … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Energy, Industry Tagged With: Achíni, cement, chemicals, curtailment, fossilfuels, industry, solar, steel, wind

Methane emissions underestimated by 25-40%, says new study

March 6, 2020 by Robert McSweeney

The methane in our atmosphere comes from natural biogenic (plants, animals) and fossil sources. By telling the difference we can know how much we humans are responsible for. It matters because methane is a potent greenhouse gas, second only to CO2. Previous “bottom-up” estimates came from multiplying the number of sources (livestock, natural gas operations, landfills) by their likely emissions. Robert McSweeney at Carbon Brief describes a new … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Energy, Environment Tagged With: biogenic, CO2, emissions, fossilfuels, gas, ghg, methane, Nuclear

Peak Energy by 2030: Efficiency gains will make the Transition affordable

December 19, 2019 by Sverre Alvik

We can’t afford the energy transition? Next time you hear that from someone, perhaps you can show them this. Sverre Alvik at DNV GL explains that, according to their latest Energy Transition Outlook, although annual global energy expenditure will have to increase from $4.6tn in 2017 to $5.5tn in 2050, its share of growing world GDP will almost halve from 3.6% to 1.9%. That’s because continuing energy efficiency gains are making sure that total … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Energy, Policies Tagged With: efficiency, electricity, emissions, fossilfuels, grids, Paris2050, PeakEnergy, policies, renewables, support

Fossil fuel politics is changing: Big Oil, automakers split on Trump lowering standards

November 28, 2019 by Cara Daggett

Cara Daggett at Virginia Tech has noticed a positive change in corporate support for the Transition. In the past, Big Oil and automakers would have opposed any limits to business-as-usual. But today, major oil companies, including BP and Royal Dutch Shell, are opposing U.S. President Trump’s intention to further deregulate methane emissions. That’s because they’ve invested heavily in natural gas as a bridge fuel for a clean future, which would … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Energy, Oil, Gas & Coal, Policies, Transport and energy Tagged With: BMW, BP, emissions, Ford, fossilfuels, gas, Honda, methane, oil, Politics, Shell, transport, Volkswagen

An independent Global Energy Forecast to 2050 v the IEA’s WEO 2019

November 27, 2019 by Schalk Cloete

Schalk Cloete has completed his own 5-part independent Global Energy Forecast to 2050 to compare with this year’s IEA World Energy Outlook, published mid-November. Underpinning all his predictions is his bet that the world will adopt tech-neutral policies (i.e. not backing any one technology over another, like a very high carbon tax) in 2030: in his opinion it will be the best way to accelerate the transition to meet the Paris goals as the 1.5°C … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Energy, Energy Outlooks, Policies Tagged With: biomass, carbontax, CCUS, coal, fossilfuels, gas, IEA, Nuclear, oil, solar, WEO2019, wind

IEA’s WEO 2019 scenarios won’t hit the Paris targets, again. It must start telling us what will

November 14, 2019 by Kelly Trout

As always, the energy world is abuzz with reactions to the IEA’s annual World Energy Outlook, published yesterday. As always, it’s getting plenty of criticism from those who say it lacks ambition, and in doing so will again get quoted to justify support for continued reliance on fossil fuels, explains Kelly Trout at Oil Change International. The IEA’s most ambitious pathway, the Sustainable Development Scenario (SDS), gives a 66% chance of … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Energy, Energy Outlooks, Policies Tagged With: BECCS, CCUS, fossilfuels, IEA, IPCC, Paris2050, SDS, WEO2019

An independent Global Energy Forecast to 2050 (part 3 of 5): fossil fuels

October 18, 2019 by Schalk Cloete

Schalk Cloete is creating his own 5-part independent Global Energy Forecast to 2050, to compare with the next IEA World Energy Outlook, due in November. To make his predictions he has created simulations of cost-optimal technology mixes and made his own assumptions over the drivers that will affect them: policy, technology, demand growth and behavioural change are all included. Cloete reminds us that fossil fuels did not reach their dominant … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Energy, Oil, Gas & Coal Tagged With: Asia, coal, electricity, fossilfuels, gas, heating, industry, Nuclear, oil, Paris2050, transport, WorldEnergyOutlook

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        Recent Posts

        What does cutting-edge Smart Metering look like as Grids become increasingly complex?

        Nearly 2,000 Hydrogen projects worldwide: IEA’s interactive tools give snapshot on progress, costs

        Another chapter in Offshore Wind’s stop-go story: New York

        Making solid fuel from captured CO2 (with a 96% conversion rate)

        Poland’s Coal-to-Nuclear plans move forward with U.S. partners

        EU Energy Outlook to 2060: power prices and revenues predicted for wind, solar, gas, hydrogen + more

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