The IEA has released new interactive data tools to track the development of low-emissions hydrogen production around the world. They provide a snapshot of progress on hydrogen production, with data on almost 2,000 projects that are either already in operation or have been announced. Most projects to date are concentrated in Europe and Australia, with a growing number planned in Africa, China, India, Latin America and the U.S. One of the tools … [Read more...]
Middle East & Africa to export Hydrogen to Europe? Better to make green Iron & Steel and export that
The MENA region (Middle East and North Africa) is well suited to making green hydrogen. There’s huge potential for powering green hydrogen production with cheap solar. And Europe wants to import it. But Soroush Basirat and Simon Nicholas at IEEFA argue that MENA should use the green hydrogen to make green iron and steel and export that. It already has an established direct reduced iron (DRI) sector: now powered by gas which can be swapped out for … [Read more...]
Europe is updating its price cap sanctions on Russian oil. How to make them work?
The EC has put forward proposals for tightening the implementation of a price cap on Russian oil exports. Brian O’Toole, Olga Khakova and Charles Lichfield at the Atlantic Council and Tomasz Wlostowski at EU Strategies review the performance of the price cap sanctions one year on from their implementation, and give recommendations for how to make them work better. Though most observers agree that the cap has limited export income for Russia this … [Read more...]
Nations are on track to meet their NDC targets. The catch is those targets aren’t high enough for net zero by 2050
Globally, current Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) targets are within reach thanks to the increasing speed of clean energy transitions around the world. That’s as NDCs have, as planned, got more ambitious as nations have updated them every five years. The problem is current NDCs are still not ambitious enough to meet our actual 2050 net zero target. Daniel Wetzel, Gabriel Saive, Luca Lo Re and Alice Latella at the IEA summarise the … [Read more...]
Carbon Pricing: almost 25% of emissions now covered globally, but coverage and prices must rise further
Despite early scepticism, carbon pricing is making its mark globally. Today almost a quarter of global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions are covered by a carbon price, compared to just 7% ten years ago. 73 national and sub-national jurisdictions have carbon pricing, explain Joseph Pryor and Venkat Ramana Putti at The World Bank, writing for the Florence School of Regulation and quoting from the World Bank’s State and Trends of Carbon Pricing 2023 … [Read more...]
Nuclear power capacity is growing globally. Where, how and why
Ewan Thomson at the World Economic Forum summarises the state of nuclear power worldwide. In 2020 it made up 10% of global electricity generation, more than all the wind and solar PV combined. It’s the second-largest source of low-emissions electricity. But many advanced countries are no longer backing nuclear, citing safety and cost concerns, and instead are pushing the growing number of alternative clean energy technologies. Nevertheless, … [Read more...]
Will U.S. become the Global Gas Market’s source of flexibility and security of supply?
The U.S. will take the lead in offering flexibility and security of supply to the global gas market, and at prices linked to its wholesale gas market, the most liquid in the world, argue Kong Chyong and Ira Joseph at the Center on Global Energy Policy. It’s because the U.S. leads in the three key sources of gas trade flexibility, critical to meeting unexpected supply and demand gaps: natural gas storage systems, spare capacity in production and … [Read more...]
IEA report: global manufacturing capacity is expanding rapidly for solar, wind, batteries, electrolysers, heat pumps
The IEA summarises its special briefing, “The State of Clean Technology Manufacturing.” It’s a global update on recent progress in key regions, focussing on five technologies – solar PV, wind, batteries, electrolysers and heat pumps – critical to the energy transition. It should be read to keep decision makers informed of investment trends and the impact of industrial strategies. Overall, manufacturing capacity for these technologies is expanding … [Read more...]
Five charts on the Energy Transition: the 2020s is the decade of maximum disruption. By 2030 the endgame will be clear
Sam Butler-Sloss and Kingsmill Bond at RMI present a succinct summary of why the energy transition matters, how the 2020s is the era of maximum disruption, and how by 2030 the transition’s endgame will be apparent (though far from complete). Four key technologies are already entering the exponential growth stage: solar, wind, EVs and heat pumps. As early as 2030 their cheapness will flush away the fossil equivalents in succeeding decades, say the … [Read more...]
Global “explosive” growth means 1 in 3 new cars will be electric by 2030. But SUV emissions could wipe out those gains
More than a third of all new vehicles sold globally in 2030 will be electric, according to the IEA. That’s a doubling of its prediction made only two years ago. Josh Gabbatiss at Carbon Brief summarises the report. The IEA describes the growth as “explosive”: from just 1% of global car sales in 2017, to 14% last year, and now 18% expected by the end of 2023. China has consistently dominated those sales while new policies in the U.S. and EU are … [Read more...]
Will Europe now commit to long term imports of large quantities of LNG?
The EU and European nations need a more secure LNG supply strategy than just buying on the spot market where there is little control of prices and quantities. With Russian gas off the agenda for the foreseeable future, it’s LNG that’s filled the gap. But spot prices have been extremely high, and may return to the same heights. And though China’s Covid-caused drop in LNG consumption helped enable Europe to buy enough for now, that won’t be the … [Read more...]
Coal phase-out: Developing world targets are unfeasible. Rich nations must cut emissions faster
Developing nations like China, India and South Africa are being asked to phase out coal more than twice as fast as any comparable energy phase-out in history, for the world to meet the Paris climate goals. That’s simply unrealistic say James Price and Steve Pye at UCL who present the results of their new study. Instead, rich nations will have to reduce significantly their oil and gas to compensate for the shortfall. An oil and gas peak isn’t good … [Read more...]
The U.S. should support the EU’s Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM)
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...]
- 1
- 2
- 3
- …
- 5
- Next Page »
