carbon reduction – Page 7 – Desdemona Despair

Anti-solar supporters pose for a portrait at the Johnson County BOCC public hearing on the solar amendments recommended by the Planning Commission in Olathe, Kansas, U.S., 4 April 2022. Photo: Arin Yoon / REUTERS

April 9, 2022

U.S. solar expansion stalled by rural land-use protests – “It’s pretty obvious that, if there’s a climate urgency, we’re not behaving that way”

By Nichola Groom 7 April 2022 (Reuters) – The Solar Star project in California is among the largest solar energy facilities in the world, boasting 1.7 million panels spread over 3,000 acres north of Los Angeles. Its gargantuan scale points to an uncomfortable fact for the industry: a natural gas power plant 100 miles south […]

Global net anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions projected to 2050. Projected global GHG emissions from Nationally Determined Contribution (NDCs) announced prior to COP26 would make it likely that warming will exceed 1.5°C and also make it harder after 2030 to limit warming to below 2°C. Graphic: IPCC

April 5, 2022

Amid backsliding on climate, the renewables effort now must be tripled – “A litany of broken climate promises”

By António Guterres 4 April 2022 (The Washington Post) – A report released Monday by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change is a litany of broken climate promises. Together with the IPCC’s previous two reports on physical science and adaptation in the past year, it reveals the yawning gap between climate pledges and reality. And the reality is that we are […]

Tokyo Tower is illuminated only in the lower-half part in response to the government’s request to save electricity in Tokyo, Japan on 22 March 2022. Photo: Issei Kato / REUTERS

March 27, 2022

The future of energy will require bigger sacrifices from citizens – “If you don’t want to act on going 1 degree lower for climate change, do it against Putin”

By Stephen Stapczynski and Shoko Oda 25 March 2022 (Bloomberg News) – Not since the late 1970s have governments around the world been under so much pressure to ask their citizens to cut energy consumption for the greater good. The need for more energy conservation has snowballed: The war in Ukraine is forcing Europe to curb […]

Smoke rises after Russian shelling near Kyiv, Ukraine, on 17 March 2022. Photo: Gleb Garanich / REUTERS

March 21, 2022

Russia’s war on Ukraine threatens climate goals, warns UN chief – “This is madness. Addiction to fossil fuels is mutually assured destruction.”

By Fiona Harvey 21 March 2022 (The Guardian) – The war in Ukraine risks putting global targets on the climate out of reach, the UN secretary general has warned, if countries respond to Russia’s aggression by increasing their use of fossil fuels. António Guterres said the aim of limiting global temperatures to 1.5C above pre-industrial levels, […]

Carbon emissions projected to 2050 in three scenarios: Accelerated, Net Zero, and New Momentum. BP’s Energy Outlook 2022 uses three main scenarios (Accelerated, Net Zero, and New Momentum) to explore the range of possible pathways for the global energy system to 2050 and help shape a resilient strategy for BP. Graphic: BP

March 17, 2022

BP Energy Outlook 2022 edition – The carbon budget is finite, and it is running out

By Spencer Dale 14 March 2022 (BP) – At the time of writing, the world’s attention is focussed on the terrible events taking place in Ukraine. Our thoughts and hopes are with all those affected. The scenarios included in Energy Outlook 2022 were largely prepared before the outbreak of the military action and do not include any […]

Projected U.S. energy-related carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions by fuel source in the AEO2022 reference case (left) and U.S. Energy-related CO2 emissions by AEO2022 economic growth cases (right). Energy‐related CO2 emissions dip through 2035 before climbing in later projection years. Graphic: EIA

March 12, 2022

U.S. energy projections to 2050: Fossil fuels still most-consumed energy sources through 2050 – Energy consumption increases as population and economic growth outweigh efficiency gains – Energy‐related CO2 emissions dip through 2035 but climb later

3 March 2022 (EIA) – Key takeaways from the Reference case and side cases: Petroleum and natural gas remain the most-consumed sources of energy in the United States through 2050, but renewable energy is the fastest growing Motor gasoline remains the most prevalent transportation fuel despite electric vehicles gaining market share Energy-related carbon dioxide (CO2) […]

Estimated economic impacts of unmitigated climate change on seven geographical regions in the United States. Over the next 50 years, climate change-induced economic losses in the U.S. could total approximately $14.5 trillion in present-value terms. Graphic: Deloitte

February 7, 2022

Climate change-induced losses in the U.S. could total $14.5 trillion by 2070 – “In a climate-damaged world of 2070, the U.S. could lose nearly 4 percent of GDP in that year alone”

By Rachel Koning Beals 26 January 2022 (MarketWatch) – Definitive and deliberate climate action from Wall Street to Washington and beyond could deliver a $3 trillion gain to the U.S. economy over the next 50 years to 2070. But it’s the toll of inaction that would cost the nation nearly five times that amount, a […]

Trends in atmospheric CO2 vs. global temperature change, 1958-2020, with climate conference dates indicated. #climateINACTIONstripes Graphic: @MuellerTadzio / @wiebkemarie / @MariusHasenheit / @sustentioEU

January 12, 2022

Graph of the Day: Atmospheric CO2 vs. global temperature change and climate conference dates, 1958-2020

10 January 2022 (Sustentio) – Climate conferences? All well and good, but what we need is action! Peter Gericke, Marius Hasenheit from Sustentio, together with Tadzio Müller and Wiebke Witt, have visualized international climate diplomacy, the increase in CO2 concentration, and heating of our planet. And thus landed a huge success on Twitter: More than 1000 retweets and shares by Greta […]

Global greenhouse gas emissions, 1990-2020. The reduction in emissions in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic and global recession was 10 times greater than the impact on emissions from the 2008 global financial crisis. Graphic: Rhodium Group

January 9, 2022

Global greenhouse gas reduction in 2020 from pandemic and global recession “was 10 times greater than the impact on emissions from the 2008 global financial crisis”

By Alfredo Rivera, Shweta Movalia, Hannah Pitt, and Kate Larsen 23 December 2021 (Rhodium Group) – Understanding annual trends in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions is a critical input for decision-makers in their efforts to reach net-zero emissions, whether is at the national, state, city, or corporate levels. Tracking emissions of the 190+ Parties to the […]

Newcastle Coal Futures, 5 December 2008 - 23 December 2021. In December 2021, Newcastle Coal Futures rose to $169 per metric ton, the highest price since the $222 peak on 29 October 2021, pressured by a surge in China’s thermal coal futures as supply is expected to tighten. In 2021, the Chinese government has intensified a crackdown on illegal mining in the country's top coal producing region Shanxi after a round of inspections at the region's miners and found at least 14 coal mines producing beyond their authorized capacity. Meanwhile, the National Development and Reform Commission, China’s top economic planner, released a plan to raise annual thermal coal prices for 2022 to CNY 700 per ton from 2017's CNY 535 per ton, well above an informal ceiling of CNY 600. Earlier in 2021, China introduced power curbs especially for energy-intensive businesses and restrictions on coal imports, aiming to reach its climate targets but such curbs led to a serious power crunch. Graphic: Trading Economics

December 23, 2021

“Prepare for lack of electricity” in 2022 says Foxconn founder

By Elles Houweling 20 December 2021 (Verdict) – The founder and director of Foxconn, the world’s largest contract manufacturer of electronics, Terry Gou, has said that “there will be a shortage of electricity in the next year.” Gou added that “people should not complain about the future lack of electricity.” Instead, they should “prepare”. Hon Hai Precision […]