Climate change department axed by new British PM in ‘plain stupid’ and ‘deeply worrying’ move – ‘This is shocking news. Less than a day into the job and it appears that the new Prime Minister has already downgraded action to tackle climate change.’

By Ian Johnston 14 July 2016 (Independent) – The decision to abolish the Department for Energy and Climate Change has been variously condemned as “plain stupid”, “deeply worrying” and “terrible” by politicians, campaigners and experts. One of Theresa May’s first acts as Prime Minister was to move responsibility for climate change to a new Department […]

Piles of dirty secrets behind a model ‘clean coal’ project – ‘Hope is not a strategy’

By Ian Urbina5 July 2016 DE KALB, Mississippi (The New York Times) – The fortress of steel and concrete towering above the pine forest here is a first-of-its-kind power plant that was supposed to prove that “clean coal” was not an oxymoron — that it was possible to produce electricity from coal in a way […]

Graph of the Day: World primary energy consumption, 1990-2015

9 June 2016 (BP) – World primary energy consumption grew by a below-average 1.0% in 2015, the slowest rate of growth since 1998 (other than the decline in the aftermath of the financial crisis). Growth was below average in all regions except Europe and Eurasia. All fuels except oil and nuclear power grew at below-average […]

World sets record for fossil fuel consumption in 2015 – Net increase in fossil fuel consumption was 2.6 times the increase in the consumption of renewables

By Robert Rapier8 June 2016 (Forbes) – Each year in June two very important reports are released that provide a comprehensive view of the global energy markets. The highlight of the recently released Renewables 2016 Global Status Report was that the world’s renewable energy production has never been higher. But the biggest takeaway from this […]

White House warned of growing methane danger from fracking – ‘Total greenhouse gas emissions have been rising since at their most rapid rate ever, due to shale gas development and large methane emissions’

[cf. Our leaders thought fracking would save our climate – ‘Methane emissions are substantially higher than we’ve understood’] By Blaine Friedlander2 June 2016 (Cornell Chronicle) – As methane intensifies greenhouse gas in the atmosphere – propelling average global temperatures higher toward the brink of no return – Cornell’s Robert Howarth briefed the White House’s Office […]

New Zealand emissions reductions go up in smoke as generators keep coal-fueled power plant burning

Mr February4 May 2016 (Hot Topic) – The decision to keep the Huntly coal thermal power station open for another four years is not only contrary to all New Zealand’s commitments and climate targets, it also sends the Ministry for the Environment’s projections of stabilising energy emissions to 2020 up in a cloud of coal […]

Australia coalition government proposes 1.2GW coal plant to power the Carmichael coal mine, using climate funds – ‘It boggles my mind’

By Sophie Vorrath 19 April 2016 (RenewEconomy) – The Turnbull Coalition government has kicked off its informal re-election campaign by repeating its desire to build a massive coal fired power station in north Queensland, only this time it proposes to use climate funds to help pay for the project. In confirmation that little has changed […]

Australia state approves coal mining leases for $21 billion project – ‘Protecting the Great Barrier Reef and approving the Carmichael mining lease are diametrically opposed – you cannot do both’

3 April 2016 (ABC News) – The Queensland Government has approved mining leases for the $21.7 billion Carmichael coal mine and rail project in the Galilee Basin. State Mines Minister Dr Anthony Lynham on Sunday approved the three individual mining leases about 160 kilometres north-west of Clermont for Indian company Adani. Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said […]

Our leaders thought fracking would save our climate – ‘Methane emissions are substantially higher than we’ve understood’

 [cf. Report: Cheap natural gas leads to more plants and pollution] By Bill McKibben23 March 2016 (The Nation) – Global warming is, in the end, not about the noisy political battles here on the planet’s surface. It actually happens in constant, silent interactions in the atmosphere, where the molecular structure of certain gases traps […]

Methane matters: Scientists work to quantify the effects of a potent greenhouse gas – ‘There is no question that methane is doing some very odd and worrying things’

By Adam Voiland8 March 2016 (NASA) – For a chemical compound that shows up nearly everywhere on the planet, methane still surprises us. It is one of the most potent greenhouse gases, and yet the reasons for why and where it shows up are often a mystery. What we know for sure is that a […]

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