The U.S. should get behind Europe’s Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM), says Joseph Majkut at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. Under the EU’s newest agreement, anyone importing CBAM-listed goods into Europe will have to report the emissions associated with their products starting in October, and ultimately face tariffs if those emissions exceed those of the equivalent products made in the EU. The current list is iron and … [Read more...]
Make Hydrogen in developing nations: share prosperity while meeting our climate goals
The new hydrogen economy will not just be global, it must be used as a major economic development opportunity for low income nations and promoting shared prosperity, explain Dolf Gielen, Silvia Carolina Lopez Rocha and Priyank Lathwal at the World Bank. They carefully lay out the obstacles and pathways for making hydrogen in developing countries. It’s very capital intensive, but such projects – think of existing fossil fuels, mining, etc. – have … [Read more...]
Concrete: 8% of global emissions and rising. Which innovations can achieve net zero by 2050?
Concrete manufacture is responsible for 8% of global carbon emissions, with the ingredient “clinker” accounting for most of it. Global demand for cement (which hardens into concrete) is expected to increase 48% from 4.2bn to 6.2bn tons by 2050, mainly driven by developing nations. China used more concrete between 2011 and 2013 than the United States did in the entire 20th century. Ben Skinner and Radhika Lalit at RMI look at the materials and … [Read more...]
Russia, fossil prices, energy security will boost Renewables to 38% of global power mix by 2027, says IEA
The IEA has raised its 2027 forecasts for total renewables additions in its main scenario to 2,383GW – around the total power capacity of China. That’s a 28% increase on the previous estimate and up 76% from two years ago, explains Josh Gabbatiss at Carbon Brief who summarises the IEA’s latest forecasts. Globally, solar power will overtake gas by installed capacity in 2026 and coal in 2027. There are two main drivers for this acceleration. High … [Read more...]
COP 27: “Loss & Damage” can become the fourth pillar of climate action, along with mitigation, adaptation and finance
COP27 saw two major outcomes on the finance front: the creation of a “Loss and Damage” fund and a call to reform international financial institutions. It made fewer, if any, advances to reduce emissions, and narrowly missed sending a global call to phase down oil and gas consumption. But funding the emissions reductions of developing and vulnerable nations was a gap that had to be filled, and so this is a big step forward, explains Lola Vallejo … [Read more...]
Turning waste biomass into clean fuel: cheap, portable equipment, cuts emissions, earns income for rural poor
The burning of biomass accounts for 10% of primary energy used worldwide: wood, peat, animal dung, corn stalks, rice husks, hay, straw, and other agricultural waste. Billions of people, mainly in remote and poorer regions, rely on such fuels for cooking, heating, and other household needs. But it’s a major source of emissions as well as pollution. And, annually, an estimated $120bn worth of crop and forest residues are burned out in the open … [Read more...]
EC Consultation: ESG ratings need regulation to fix inconsistencies and bias
There are multiple problems with ESG ratings and that’s why they need to be properly regulated, says Hazel James Ilango at IEEFA. Different ratings agencies have different methodologies that are difficult to compare. They can lack transparency and be biased due to industry, geographical location or company size. As for a company’s impact on the planet and society, it can be overrated or underrated due to the aggregation of Environmental, Social … [Read more...]
EVs vs Biofuels: new study looks at ethanol’s impact on agricultural land use, food prices, emissions
For transport, biofuels have lower emissions than gasoline/petrol, but EVs will have the lowest emissions of all. Hence the opposition to those biofuels, along with objections to the valuable cropland used to make the ethanol. But the overall advantage depends on the speed of transition to EVs charged with clean electricity. Now, a calculation has been made of the amount of agricultural land preserved for global food production - or kept as … [Read more...]
Will price caps on Russian oil work? Three experts debate
Whatever the G7 does, the objective is to cut revenues flowing into Russia, not oil flowing out. And whatever the sanctions, getting compliance from neutral and pro-Russian countries will need a strong positive incentive. Hence the idea of a price cap which would keep prices low. Here, three experts – Edward Fishman and Brian O’Toole at the Atlantic Council, and Mark Mozur at S&P Global Commodity Insights (with background by Atlantic … [Read more...]
EU’s latest sanctions on Russian Oil: what are they and will it work?
On June 3, the EU agreed an embargo on Russian crude oil and petroleum products. Ben Cahill at the Center for Strategic and International Studies looks at the details of the latest sanctions imposed in response to Russia's ongoing invasion of Ukraine, and assesses the possible consequences. The aim is to cut oil imports from Russia by 90 percent by February 2023. A critical part of the sanctions is a ban on providing shipping insurance to Russian … [Read more...]
Record Renewables additions for 2021 and 2022 despite supply bottlenecks prove Solar & Wind’s resilience
Despite – or perhaps because of – global market and political turmoil, renewable power is set to break another record in 2022. That’s after 2021 also saw record new capacity from solar, wind and other renewables worldwide. It’s mainly driven by solar PV in China and Europe as governments around the world take advantage of renewables’ energy security and climate benefits, according to the IEA’s latest Renewable Energy Market Update. 295GW of new … [Read more...]
Using electrostatic repulsion to clean Solar panels, avoiding up to 30% power loss
Dust build-up on solar panels can reduce the power output by as much as 30% in just one month. Even a 1% reduction in power for a 150MW solar installation could result in a $200,000 (€180,000) loss in annual revenue. Cleaning normally requires purified water, but that needs to be trucked in to prime locations like deserts where solar potential is highest. Cleaning with brushes is labour intensive and can damage surfaces irreparably. David … [Read more...]
What’s your average lifetime CO2 footprint by year of birth, to achieve net-zero by 2050?
To reach net zero by 2050, babies born today must have CO2 footprints ten times smaller over their lifetimes than their parents and grandparents. In rich countries it’ll be fifteen times, while in emerging economies like India and China it’ll be around four times smaller. Laura Cozzi, Olivia Chen and Hyeji Kim at the IEA summarise how they have calculated the average allowable lifetime CO2 footprint by year of birth. Taking the two extremes, the … [Read more...]
Can Carbon Offset loopholes be fixed with better evaluation and rules?
Carbon offset programmes rightly get a lot of criticism. There’s plenty of evidence of offsets not delivering all the GHG emissions reductions they are credited for. Though still on the international agenda, should they be ditched? Or can they be improved with better analysis and evaluation, and making that a pre-condition for creating carbon offset credits, asks Meredith Fowlie at the Energy Institute at Haas. She starts by looking at those … [Read more...]
Fulfilling the Global Methane Pledge: “polluter pays”, more electrification, less gas
At COP26 the U.S. and the EU led a global pledge to slash methane emission by 30% by 2030. Methane makes up at least one-quarter of all greenhouse gases, and is more than 80 times more damaging than CO2 over a 20-year period. Success in cutting these emissions would be a major step towards meeting our 1.5°C goals. But far from declining, 2020 saw methane emissions grow at the fastest rate in 40 years. The increased use of natural gas (mostly made … [Read more...]
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