Happy new year!
2015 promises to be an exciting one for energy and climate news, and we’re already off to a busy start.
Time to get up to speed – here are the climate science and policy stories that caught our eye from over the winter break.
Looking forward to 2015 and Paris
The BBC’s science and environment teams highlight the big UN climate talks being held in Paris this December as part of their preview of the stories they are expecting during 2015. Environment analyst Roger Harrabin says there will “inevitably be a gulf” between the outcome of the talks and what scientists say is needed to limit dangerous climate change.
The Independent also previews the Paris talks. They are the world’s “last best chance” according to a Guardian editorial. A cartoon for the same paper offers a jaded take on the process. InsideClimate News previews the prospects for climate action in the US. Meanwhile the Guardian picks out climate change among its 2014 good news stories. It points to progress in China, the US and the EU.
Attenborough on climate
National treasure Sir David Attenborough has castigated world leaders that “deny” the “overwhelming” evidence of climate change, the Independent reports. The Times covers his comments that climate change is “real and deadly”. The Express also has the story. A Guardian blog says time is “running out on climate denial”, and the paper predicts 2015 will be the year businesses recognise the dangers of climate change.
Catholic call for climate action
Several outlets reported that Pope Francis is expected to tell Catholics that acting on climate is “essential to the faith” as Climate Progress puts it. Following a visit to the Philippines in a few weeks time, the Pope is expected to release an “encyclical” – a church document – calling for measures to address climate change.
The Pope’s involvement will “undoubtedly add to the political pressure for an agreement [on climate change in Paris],” Arstechnica suggests. Andy Revkin of the New York Times examines some of the backstory to the move, looking at speeches given by close advisors to the Pope on the same issue. The Guardian says the Pope’s move will “anger deniers and US churches”.
Blackout Britain
The UK is unprepared for prolonged blackouts, according to a secret government document reported by the Telegraph in a series of articles. The document is the result of a cross-government exercise held last year to test preparedness and the likely consequences of a long-term, widespread power outage.
A government helpline set up after outages over the festive period will not be in operation until 2016, the Guardian says. The government’s capacity market, designed to ensure there’s enough generating capacity to keep the lights on, is a £1 billion Christmas giveaway to power firms for doing what they would have anyway according to analyst Chris Goodall.
Rising seas to claim UK homes
Some 7,000 homes and business premises in England and Wales will be lost to rising seas over the next century unless flood defence budgets are boosted, the BBC reports. Estimates from the Environment Agency show 800 will be lost over the next 20 years. Old Christmas trees are being used in flood defences, according to another BBC report, as the Times reflects on last year’s winter floods.
Scottish Power looks to the wind
There’s plenty of room for more windfarms despite public opposition in some places, according to an upbeat assessment from Scottish Power. It has revealed plans to expand wind capacity by a quarter. Growth in renewable energy around the world will mean a tough year for nuclear producers, says RTCC. The shift is causing investors to question the fossil fuel industry too, it reports. The shift to renewable energy is a battle we cannot afford to lose, according to the head of the International Renewable Energy Agency.
China gets serious on pollution
Record pollution fines have been handed down by the Chinese government against firms that emitted chemicals into rivers, the Financial Times reports. Campaigners say the move sets an important precedent for environmental governance in China.
The Chinese government also says it is on course to beat a 2014 target to reduce the carbon intensity of the Chinese economy, with emissions per unit of GDP falling by 4.7% on 2014, according to official figures. China has a target to reduce emissions intensity 16 per cent on 2010 levels by 2015, and appears to be on course to do so.
Cheap oil to fuel growth?
The falling oil price continued to make headlines over the break. It is among key reasons for optimism on the UK economy, according to the Financial Times’ annual economists’ survey. The Brent crude benchmark has fallen to a new low, reports the Telegraph. It also reports that a third of listed UK oil and gas drilling firms face bankruptcy due to low prices and large debts.
Examining the effect on the US energy economy, Climate Central concludes that “2014 set the scene for a major turning point in energy in 2015”. Will lower oil prices limit renewables growth? And what effect will the introduction of clean power plant legislation in the US have? The piece offers some thoughts.
Whatever happens, changing the way a country generates and uses electricity is likely to be disruptive – Scientific American reports on official figures which show a net loss of jobs in the US fossil fuel sector of 1,750 between 2011 and 2014. However, jobs gained in wind, solar, biomass and geothermal have grown by around 1,800, the figures suggest.
Electric vehicle targets
Reuters reports that China plans to extend subsidies for electric, hybrid and fuel-cell vehicles through to 2020, in order to drive take-up of vehicles which can be lower carbon. Production of such vehicles grew fivefold in 2014, and Beijing wants to have five million on the road by 2020.
Germany is also trailing plans to build infrastructure that can support electric cars, with a planning documents from the German government outlining a network of charging stations for electric cars across the country. Germany would like there to be one million electric cars on its roads by 2020, supporting the country’s ambitious decarbonisation plans.
Meanwhile US electric vehicle pioneer Tesla says it will double the range of its flagship Roadster sports car.
Indian sun goal
Indian premier Narendra Modi has said India should aim to attract $100bn of investment in solar energy by 2022, leading to 100GW of capacity. A previous target had been to attract the same amount of investment for all renewables. If successful, this could supply ten per cent of India’s electricity. But India should reconsider its stance on climate policy, according to former EU climate chief Connie Hedegaard.
Norway struggles on climate, oil
Norwegians are struggling to balance the economic imperative to exploit domestic oil reserves against responsibility for tackling climate change, says the New York Times. RTCC also reports on a new $8 billion push for green energy by Norway’s state owned electricity firm Statkraft.
US nuclear plant closures could hit climate plan
President Obama’s centrepiece clean power plan faces awkward questions over its treatment of financially-challenged aging nuclear power plants, the New York Times reports. Complex rules on how clean power sources are treated are being revisited in light of public comments. The paper reports on the closure of a 42-year old reactor in Vermont. It also looks at natural gas’s place in tackling climate change.
Arctic warming feedback
Scientists have measured the warming impact of melting Arctic sea ice for the first time, says the Independent. As sea ice cover recedes it reveals more dark ocean, which absorbs more of the sun’s radiation than white snow. The effect is a warming feedback loop that is self-reinforcing. Greenland ice melt is outpacing model projections, RTCC reports.
Warmest year and the warming pause
With 2014 looking likely to have been the warmest year on record – expect an official ruling later this month – the Telegraph’s Geoffrey Lean asks if the warming pause seen in recent years could be over. Dramatic changes are already being felt due to climate change, reports RTCC.
Rainforest carbon uptake
Tropical forests are absorbing more carbon dioxide than thought, according to a Nasa study reported by the Daily Mail. This shows how important it is to prevent deforestation as part of climate efforts, the paper reports, adding that Amazon loss fell by a fifth last year.
Christmas Turkey
Christopher Booker in the Telegraph made a bid to ruin Christmas by warning that “succulent, browned and delicious” Christmas Turkey could be a “thing of the past” if the government gets its way. The government’s proposed decarbonisation of the economy and a shift to more reliance on electricity to heat and cook with means that our very way of life is at risk, he suggests: “If this all sounds like the figment of some fevered imagination, I can assure you that it’s not.”
Roundups rule
And finally, many outlets have published climate roundups of 2014, and look ahead to the new year. We are no exception, examining 2014 in terms of new climate science research and the big science stories of the year, as well as summarising the main developments in international and domestic UK climate policy, and the big trends in the world of international energy politics.
Amongst many, many other roundups, Responding to Climate Change offer a detailed look at the international climate change politics to come in 2015. The top campaigning moments of 2014 include the people’s climate march in September and 350.org’s fossil fuel divestment campaign, according to a Guardian roundup, and InsideClimate News rounds up growth in opposition to fracking during 2014.