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The green revolution sweeping Sweden
“We need a shift from an administrative mind-set to a courageous one,” says CEO Henrikkson, a gust of wind rearranging his hair while he walks near the H2GS office in Stockholm. Nowadays, Henriksson says, major projects often grind to a halt because politicians and bureaucrats fear making mistakes. “Instead, you should be rewarded for challenging the system. Nobody wants wind turbines in their backyard, but maybe there are compromises to be found,” he says. “It’s one thing to set goals, but in order to reach them, you need to dare sacrifice something.” [ read more … ]
Wind Energy
Offshore wind installations surged threefold last year
The United States, by contrast, is only just getting started on offshore wind. Seven wind turbines twirl off the U.S. East Coast, totaling 42 megawatts (0.042 gigawatts) of capacity. However, 11 states have more than 35 gigawattsof offshore wind projects in their combined pipeline, and two commercial-scale offshore wind farms are now under construction: the South Fork Windfarm near Long Island, New York, and the Vineyard Wind project off the coast of Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts. The federal government has also resumed leasing large swaths of seabed for offshore wind development after a three-year hiatus. Earlier this year, developers bid a record $4.37 billion to lease areas off the coasts of New York and New Jersey and offered around $315 million for leases in the Carolina Long Bay Area near North Carolina and South Carolina. [ read more … ]
Offshore wind industry growth falling short of net zero goals
The global offshore wind industry had a record year in 2021 in terms of new capacity but is still projected to fall short of the International Energy Agency’s net zero goals by 2030, a Global Wind Energy Council (GWEC) report said on Wednesday. More giant offshore turbines were installed in 2021 than in any previous year, with 21.1 gigawatts (GW) of capacity connected to the grid, the GWEC’s 2022 global offshore wind report said. [ read more … ]
SCOTUS
‘Stomach-churning mornings’: Lawyers await SCOTUS climate case
Environmental lawyers this week are greeting each Supreme Court opinion day with a mix of anticipation and dread — hearts pounding, stomachs flipping — as the justices get ready to issue their ruling in the blockbuster EPA climate battle. The court, which is likely in its last week of opinion releases, issued three decisions in 10-minute intervals starting at 10 a.m. yesterday. None of them was West Virginia v. EPA, which could curb the federal government’s power to regulate climate and other key issues. [ read more … ]
Vehicle Emissions
Canada to toughen, but delay new standard for fuel emissions
Canada will delay the start date of its regulation to reduce the carbon intensity of gasoline and diesel by seven months, but increase its stringency, according to a draft of the Clean Fuel Standard (CFS) seen by Reuters. The CFS is one of the key pieces of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s plan to cut national emissions by 40-45% by 2030, from 2005 levels. The CFS will be officially in place by next week, the source said. [ read more … ]
Climate
Deaths, Costs of Climate-Linked Disasters May Be Grossly Undercounted
Climate change is outpacing scientific efforts to tally its widespread costs, particularly in the low- and middle-income countries seeing some of the worst effects. A new overview of weather disasters and the role of climate change within them reports grotesque inequality in the amount of information available from country to country, and recommends investment in local expertise to close the gap. As a result of sometimes scant information, scientists are having trouble assembling a system-wide look at how climate change is affecting people globally, according to the research published today in the new journal Environmental Research: Climate. [ read more … ]
Natural Gas
Gas Piped Into Homes Contains Benzene and Other Risky Chemicals, Study Finds
Over 16 months, researchers led by the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health collected 234 samples of unburned natural gas from 69 homes in the Boston metropolitan area that received natural gas from three suppliers. They found 21 “air toxics” — an Environmental Protection Agency classification of hazardous pollutants known or suspected to cause cancer, birth defects or adverse environmental effects — including benzene, which was detected in 95 percent of the samples. [ read more … ]
Hazardous air pollutants found in home-use natural gas
Natural gas used for home heating and other purposes in the Boston area typically includes trace amounts of benzene and 20 other air pollutants classified as hazardous, according to the findings of a newly released study. For the study, researchers took 234 gas samples from 69 kitchen stoves and building pipelines over a year and a half.
[ read more … ]
Markets
U.S. retreats from pledge to end gas investments
Dozens of countries rallied around phasing out fossil fuel financing during global climate negotiations seven months ago. Yesterday, those efforts were weakened by the world’s most powerful economies. The shift illustrates how the fear of losing access to energy imports — due to Russia’s war against Ukraine — is testing the commitment of countries that have been among the most vocal advocates of curbing climate change. Leaders of the Group of Seven nations — the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Germany, Italy, France and Japan — agreed to support public investments in the natural gas sector “as a temporary response” to the abrupt shortfall in global gas supplies created by the pariah status of Russian fossil fuels. [ read more … ]
Carbon Capture
Climeworks is building a bigger carbon removal plant — and getting some new competition
Direct air capture plants and other methods for removing carbon from the atmosphere have become “unavoidable” in the fight to stabilize the climate, according to the United Nations’ climate body. The world must cut fossil fuels from the electric grid, cars, and homes. But carbon removal can counterbalance the emissions that are more challenging to cut, like those from agriculture and flying. It can also be deployed to mop up past emissions that are already warming the planet. As Climeworks learns how to go bigger, a groundswell of new direct air capture companies are sprouting up in its wake. [ read more … ]
EVs
EU Takes Historic Step to Phase Out Combustion Engines by 2035
European Union countries endorsed a push to eliminate carbon emissions from new cars by 2035, effectively heralding the end of the era of the internal combustion engine. Environment ministers struck a deal on the proposal after Italy, home to Ferrari NV and Automobili Lamborghini SpA, gave up demands for a five-year delay in the EU’s plan for automakers to clean up their fleet. Italian Ecological Transition Minister Roberto Cingolani told his counterparts earlier on Tuesday he was “satisfied” with a compromise proposed by Germany that could enable the use of carbon-neutral fuels after 2035. [ read more … ]
Elon Musk once laughed at Warren Buffett-backed BYD. Now, the EV maker is on such a hot streak not even a pollution scandal can stop i
BYD distinguished itself from other automakers early on by making many of its components—from batteries to semiconductors—in-house. That strategy drew investors including Buffett, whose firm bought a 10% stake in the company in 2008 after longtime partner Charlie Munger touted Wang as a founder who combined the technical know-how of Thomas Edison with the business smarts of Jack Welch. [ read more … ]
EV battery output bigger challenge than EU combustion engine ban, says VW
The European Commission had first proposed the package last summer, aimed at slashing planet-warming emissions this decade, but the deal overnight makes it likely that the proposal will become EU law. “It’s a challenging goal. We think it’s doable,” VW Chief Financial Officer Arno Antlitz told Reuters in an interview at Reuters Automotive Europe conference on Wednesday. “The most challenging topic is not ramping up the car plants. The most challenging topic will be ramping up the battery supply chain.”
[ read more … ]
Off-Topic
Pruitt loses Okla. Senate primary; Casten beats Newman
Former EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt failed in his attempt to return to Washington yesterday, finishing far behind his opponents in the primary race for a U.S. Senate seat for Oklahoma. Meanwhile, a handful of lawmakers were defeated in yesterday’s primary elections, due to redistricting that pitted them against fellow incumbents or successful intraparty challengers. In the Oklahoma race, Pruitt came in fifth place in the GOP primary to succeed retiring Sen. Jim Inhofe (R), with just 5 percent of the vote. [ read more … ]
Note: News clips provided do not necessarily reflect the views of coalition or its member governors.