Most recent 40 articles: Guardian - Energy
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Third pilot of household hydrogen heating shelved by UK government - Guardian - Energy (May 09, 2024) |
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May 09, 2024 · Move suggests homes will rely on electricity for low-carbon heating well into the future
A third pilot project to test the use of hydrogen heating in homes has been shelved by the UK government in the clearest sign to date that households will rely on electricity for low-carbon heating in the coming decades.
The government said it would shelve plans to develop a “hydrogen town” to test whether hydrogen could help to heat homes at scale before taking a final decision after 2026.
The decision comes after the government abandoned plans for two smaller “hydrogen village” trials – in Redcar, on Teesside, and at a village near Ellesmere Port, Cheshire – after months of ... Read more ...
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I understand climate scientists’ despair – but stubborn optimism may be our only hope - Guardian - Energy (May 09, 2024) |
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May 09, 2024 · Fighting spirit helped us achieve the Paris accords in 2015 – and we need it now the world is on course to overshoot 1.5C
'Hopeless and broken’: why the world’s top climate scientists are in despair
Christiana Figueres was the head of the UN climate change convention from 2010 to 2016
“Hopeless and broken”: that is how a top scientist interviewed by the Guardian described feeling as she and hundreds of other climate experts shared harrowing predictions of the future of the planet this week.
I resonate with her feelings of despair. Even as the former head of the UN climate change convention that achieved the Paris agreement in 2015, I, like many, can succumb ... Read more ...
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Trump promised to scrap climate laws if US oil bosses donated $1bn – report - Guardian - Energy (May 09, 2024) |
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May 09, 2024 · Donald Trump dangled a brazen “deal” in front of some of the top US oil bosses last month, proposing that they give him $1bn for his White House re-election campaign and vowing that once back in office he would instantly tear up Joe Biden’s environmental regulations and prevent any new ones, according to a bombshell new report.
According to the Washington Post, the former US president made his jaw-dropping pitch, which the paper described as “remarkably blunt and transactional”, at a dinner at his Mar-a-Lago home and club.
In front of more than 20 executives, including from Chevron, Exxon and Occidental Petroleum, he promised to increase oil drilling in the Gulf of ... Read more ...
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Anthony Albanese faces internal revolt from inner-city Labor MPs over gas strategy - Guardian - Energy (May 09, 2024) |
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May 09, 2024 · Resource minister Madeleine King released the party’s future gas strategy which says new sources will be needed 'to 2050 and beyond’
The prime minister, Anthony Albanese, is facing an internal revolt with Labor backbenchers pushing back against the government’s support for new gas production.
Five inner-city MPs have criticised the government’s gas strategy, arguing it will overshadow progress on clean energy.
The backbench MPs Josh Burns, Jerome Laxale, Sally Sitou, Josh Wilson and Carina Garland issued statements that either criticised or urged caution about the government’s future gas strategy, released on Thursday. Late on Thursday Ged Kearney, the assistant ... Read more ...
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Vermont poised to become first US state to charge big oil for climate damage - Guardian - Energy (May 09, 2024) |
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May 09, 2024 · Vermont is poised to pass a groundbreaking measure forcing major polluting companies to help pay for damages caused by the climate crisis, in a move being closely watched by other states including New York and California.
Modeled after the Environmental Protection Agency’s Superfund program, which forces companies to pay for toxic waste cleanup, the climate superfund bill would charge major fossil fuel companies doing business within the state billions of dollars for their past emissions.
The measure would make Vermont the first US state to hold fossil fuel companies liable for their planet-heating pollution.
“If you contributed to a mess, you should play a role in ... Read more ...
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Labor’s strategy is to reduce emissions from gas – but not if that means doing anything to cut its use - Guardian - Energy (May 09, 2024) |
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May 09, 2024 · The plan announced on Thursday offers the gas industry – and Western Australia in particular – everything it could want
The bottom line of the “future gas strategy” isn’t what it might mean for the government’s political fortunes, despite what Labor pollsters and political commentators might argue.
It’s this: the gas industry, one of Australia’s biggest greenhouse gas polluters, is getting what it wants. What it wants, in simple terms, is government approval to make multibillion-dollar investments in new gas reservoirs that will lead to billions of tonnes of emissions.
The strategy’s central claim adopts language used by the industry. It says gas is an important ... Read more ...
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Renewable energy passes 30% of world’s electricity supply - Guardian - Energy (May 07, 2024) |
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May 07, 2024 · Report says humans may be on brink of cutting fossil fuel generation, even as demand for electricity rises
Renewable energy accounted for more than 30% of the world’s electricity for the first time last year following a rapid rise in wind and solar power, according to new figures.
A report on the global power system has found that the world may be on the brink of driving down fossil fuel generation, even as overall demand for electricity continues to rise.
Clean electricity has already helped to slow the growth in fossil fuels by almost two-thirds in the past 10 years, according to the report by climate thinktank Ember. It found that renewables have grown from 19% ... Read more ...
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Sizewell C in Suffolk granted nuclear site licence - Guardian - Energy (May 07, 2024) |
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May 07, 2024 · Campaigners 'appalled’ as French energy company EDF gets go-ahead for next stage of project
A planned nuclear power station at Sizewell in Suffolk has been granted the first site licence in more than a decade as investors and government officials race to finalise a deal for the multibillion-pound project this year.
The licence from the nuclear regulator is considered a milestone for EDF, which plans to build Sizewell C as a replica of its Hinkley Point C project in Somerset, which has been dogged by delays and cost overruns.
The Office for Nuclear Regulation (ONR) has granted only two site licences to build new nuclear plants in more than 35 years: the first for ... Read more ...
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'It’s going to be messy’: advocates balance climate action and conservation amid Queensland’s green energy boom - Guardian - Energy (May 04, 2024) |
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May 04, 2024 · 'Some negative projects will get up, but we have to keep our eyes on the broader goals’, says WWF Australia
A map of operating windfarms in Queensland does not take too long to survey – of the 100 or so across Australia, only six of them are in the sunshine state.
But this is about to change in a very big way. According to state government data, there are 46 separate proposals for windfarms in Queensland with four more already under construction.
Many of those plans target the winds that sweep across the spectacular mountains and ridge tops of the Great Dividing Range from central Queensland to the state’s far north.
While this wind-grab will help wrench the ... Read more ...
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Sunak to allow oil and gas exploration at sites intended for offshore wind - Guardian - Energy (May 02, 2024) |
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May 02, 2024 · Exclusive: decision to grant licences condemned by critics as a stunt that shows Tories are 'playing politics with climate’
Fossil fuel companies will be allowed to explore for oil and gas under offshore wind-power sites for the first time, the government will announce on Friday, in a move that campaigners said is further proof that ministers are abandoning the climate agenda.
The North Sea Transition Authority (NSTA), which regulates North Sea oil and gas production, will confirm that it is granting licences to about 30 companies to look for hydrocarbons on sites earmarked for future offshore windfarms.
The move has brought renewed criticism of Rishi Sunak from ... Read more ...
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Methane emissions from gas flaring being hidden from satellite monitors - Guardian - Energy (May 02, 2024) |
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May 02, 2024 · Use of enclosed combustors leaves regulators heavily reliant on oil and gas companies’ own flaring data
Oil and gas equipment intended to cut methane emissions is preventing scientists from accurately detecting greenhouse gases and pollutants, a satellite image investigation has revealed.
Energy companies operating in countries such as the US, UK, Germany and Norway appear to have installed technology that could stop researchers from identifying methane, carbon dioxide emissions and pollutants at industrial facilities involved in the disposal of unprofitable natural gas, known in the industry as flaring.
Flares are used by fossil fuel companies when capturing the ... Read more ...
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A new project promised low-income families 'zero net energy homes’ – but they still rely on gas - Guardian - Energy (May 02, 2024) |
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May 02, 2024 · US gas utilities are partnering with one of the nation’s most trusted non-profits as part of a “cynical PR stunt” to combat efforts to curb fossil fuel usage, a Guardian investigation has found.
Local Habitat for Humanity affiliates have teamed up with at least four utilities across 10 states to build “zero-net energy homes”, which are meant to produce more energy than they use.
The houses, which are sold at affordable rates to low-income families, are weatherized and meticulously insulated to boost efficiency and equipped with rooftop solar panels. But they also come with appliances powered by gas, a planet-heating fossil fuel that has been shown to degrade indoor air ... Read more ...
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Climate victims file criminal case against bosses of oil firm Total - Guardian - Energy (May 02, 2024) |
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May 02, 2024 · Case alleges French company’s exploitation of fossil fuel contributed to deaths of victims in extreme weather disasters
A criminal case has been filed against the CEO and directors of the French oil company TotalEnergies, alleging its fossil fuel exploitation has contributed to the deaths of victims of climate-fuelled extreme weather disasters.
The case was filed in Paris by eight people harmed by extreme weather, and three NGOs. The plaintiffs believe it to be the first such criminal case filed against the individuals running a major oil company. The public prosecutor who received the file has three months to decide whether to open a judicial investigation or dismiss ... Read more ...
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Closing Australia’s biggest coal-fired power station would leave NSW exposed to risk of blackouts – Aemo - Guardian - Energy (May 02, 2024) |
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May 02, 2024 · States must roll out batteries, solar and wind energy more quickly to ease risk of blackouts, market operator says
Eraring, the nation’s biggest coal-fired power station, may need to delay its closure to ease blackout threats in New South Wales, while other eastern states also face “periods of high risk” because of the slow rollout of renewables, the Australian Energy Market Operator warns.
In an unusual update of its Electricity Statement of Opportunities report, Aemo forecast so-called reliability gaps in NSW, Queensland, South Australia and Victoria unless authorities “orchestrated” faster deployment of solar and wind energy as well as batteries.
“While new ... Read more ...
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Coalition’s brave nuke world a much harder sell after new CSIRO report - Guardian - Energy (May 02, 2024) |
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May 02, 2024 · The agency’s GenCost analysis says a first nuclear plant for Australia would deliver power 'no sooner than 2040’ and could cost more than $17bn
The Coalition’s pitch on nuclear energy for Australia has had two recurring themes: the electricity will be cheap and it could be deployed within a decade.
CSIRO’s latest GenCost report – a document that analyses the costs of a range of electricity generation technologies – contradicts both of these points. It makes the Coalition’s job of selling nuclear power plants to Australians ever more challenging.
For the first time, the national science agency has calculated the potential costs of large-scale nuclear electricity in ... Read more ...
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Corporate welfare may keep the lights on. But backing Eraring power station will have other costs for the NSW government - Guardian - Energy (May 02, 2024) |
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May 02, 2024 · Propping up Australia’s largest coal-fired power station could deter investments in renewable energy or batteries. And might other operators now coming begging?
The New South Wales government has bought itself an insurance policy worth as much as $450m to keep open a power station it couldn’t afford to have exit the grid.
But operating the 2880-megawatt Eraring plant up to four years beyond its scheduled August 2025 closure date will cost more than just the price of corporate welfare – there’s also the environmental and economic impacts to quantify.
The government promised to compensate Eraring for 80% of its losses, up to $225m a year for the first two years. ... Read more ...
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CSIRO puts cost of new nuclear plant at $8.6bn as Coalition stalls on policy details - Guardian - Energy (May 02, 2024) |
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May 02, 2024 · Report finds nuclear energy more expensive than renewable alternatives and calculates costs for large-scale reactors for first time
Electricity from nuclear power in Australia would be at least 50% more expensive than solar and wind, according to a report from the CSIRO that has for the first time calculated costs for large-scale reactors.
The federal Coalition, which has claimed nuclear would provide cheap electricity, is still to reveal any details on its nuclear policy after initially promising it would make an announcement in time for last week’s federal budget.
This week the opposition leader, Peter Dutton, said more plans would be released “in due course” and ... Read more ...
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CSIRO stands by nuclear power costings that contradict Coalition claims - Guardian - Energy (May 02, 2024) |
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May 02, 2024 · The Coalition has attacked the GenCost report that found nuclear power plants would be at least 50% more expensive than solar and wind
The CSIRO says it stands by its analysis on the costs of future nuclear power plants in Australia after the Coalition attacked the work, which contradicted its claims reactors would provide cheap electricity and be available within a decade.
The opposition’s energy spokesperson, Ted O’Brien, claimed on Tuesday in the Australian newspaper that the CSIRO should re-run its modelling to account for longer life-spans and running times of nuclear generators in other countries with nuclear programs.
Last week the CSIRO released its GenCost ... Read more ...
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Extending life of Australia’s biggest coal-fired power station is 'deeply disappointing’, green groups say - Guardian - Energy (May 02, 2024) |
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May 02, 2024 · NSW Labor agreement with Origin to keep Eraring plant open for two more years to 2027 leaves environmental groups 'deeply disappointed’
Environmental groups say they are “deeply disappointed” by the New South Wales government’s decision to extend the life of Australia’s biggest coal-fired power station for at least two more years, saying it would have “far-reaching consequences” for investments in renewable energy.
The agreement, announced with Origin Energy on Thursday, involves NSW taxpayers potentially underwriting the 2.88-gigawatt Eraring plant to keep generating power beyond the scheduled closure date of August 2025 Origin set two years ago.
Origin agreed to ... Read more ...
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In the largest windfarm in the southern hemisphere, 'renewable energy farmers’ look to the future - Guardian - Energy (May 02, 2024) |
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May 02, 2024 · You can see 119 wind turbines scattered across the landscape from the highest point on sheep grazier Brent Finlay’s southern Queensland property. Within a few months, there will be 162; within a decade, with another gigantic project proposed next door, about 350.
And that’s just to the north. In every other direction, Finlay says with a sweep of his hand, wind developers are knocking on farmers’ doors.
“People either like wind turbines or they don’t like them. It’s quite polarising,” says Finlay, once president of the National Farmers’ Federation and now chair of the government’s centrepiece drought policy, the Future Drought Fund. He says the view “doesn’t really worry me”. Read more ...
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Just Stop Oil 'alienates people’ from its cause, says Ed Miliband - Guardian - Energy (May 02, 2024) |
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May 02, 2024 · Labour shadow energy security secretary agrees climate crisis is emergency but 'massively questions’ activist group’s tactics
The climate activist group Just Stop Oil is “alienating people” from its cause, Ed Miliband said at the Hay festival.
Speaking at a Q&A at the event via a video call from his constituency in Doncaster, the shadow secretary of state for energy security and net zero responded to an audience member who said she had been driven to support Just Stop Oil because she felt “so let down by politicians”.
Miliband agreed with the audience member that the climate crisis is an emergency and must be treated as one, but said: “When you block a motorway of ... Read more ...
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Large-scale nuclear power station planned for Anglesey in Wales - Guardian - Energy (May 02, 2024) |
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May 02, 2024 · Ministers are discussing who will build the plant, which will join Hinkley Point C and Sizewell C as major future suppliers to the grid
Ministers have earmarked north Wales as the site of a large-scale nuclear power plant, which is part of plans to resuscitate Britain’s nuclear power ambitions.
Wylfa on Anglesey (Ynys Môn) has been named as the preferred site for the UK’s third major nuclear power plant in a generation, coming after EDF’s Hinkley Point C nuclear plant, which is under construction in Somerset, and its Sizewell C nuclear project planned for Suffolk.
The government added that it is already in discussion with major energy companies interested in ... Read more ...
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Majority of US voters support climate litigation against big oil, poll shows - Guardian - Energy (May 02, 2024) |
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May 02, 2024 · As US communities take big oil to court for allegedly deceiving the public about the climate crisis, polling shared with the Guardian shows that a majority of voters support the litigation, while almost half would back an even more aggressive legal strategy of filing criminal charges.
The poll, which comes as the world’s first-ever criminal climate lawsuit was brought in France last week, could shed light on how, if filed, similar US cases might ruled by a jury.
The 40 existing US lawsuits against major oil companies, filed by cities and states, are based on civil charges such as tort law and racketeering protections. But last year, the consumer advocacy non-profit ... Read more ...
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Make accreditation mandatory for low-carbon heating installers, says Which? - Guardian - Energy (May 02, 2024) |
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May 02, 2024 · Widening government-run scheme would counter mistrust among householders, says consumer group
The next government should force all tradespeople who install home heat pumps, solar panels and insulation to sign up to a mandatory accreditation scheme to counter mistrust in the industry, a leading consumer group is demanding.
A report from Which? found that households face “significant anxiety” in choosing tradespeople to fit low-carbon heating systems, such as heat pumps, and insulation after “press stories about poor work and rogue traders”.
It said 45% of households report that they do not know what qualifications to check for when selecting a tradesperson to carry ... Read more ...
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MasterChef Australia fans being deceived by 'renewable gas’ campaign, climate advocates tell watchdog - Guardian - Energy (May 02, 2024) |
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May 02, 2024 · Comms Declare asks ACCC to investigate show sponsor Australian Gas Networks for alleged greenwashing
A climate communications group has asked the Australian consumer watchdog to investigate claims made about “renewable gas” by one of the sponsors of Network Ten’s MasterChef.
Comms Declare said it had filed a complaint with the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission about the Australian Gas Networks’ partnership with the hit cooking show and its promotion of two developing products – “renewable” hydrogen and biomethane.
The complaint asks the watchdog to investigate the “renewable gas” campaign for alleged greenwashing.
“We believe that hundreds of ... Read more ...
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National Grid taps shareholders to help fund £60bn low-carbon energy switch - Guardian - Energy (May 02, 2024) |
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May 02, 2024 · Infrastructure firm raises £6.8bn to connect homes to renewable energy sources across US and UK
National Grid has tapped shareholders for nearly £7bn to fund a £60bn spending spree to upgrade its networks to cope with the switch to low-carbon energy on either side of the Atlantic.
The energy infrastructure company announced a £6.8bn rights issue – where existing shareholders are offered new shares – to provide fresh funds for investment in thousands of miles of cables to connect homes with renewable energy projects in the UK and the US.
The company said nearly £60bn – to be spent between 2024 and 2029 – represented a “significant step-up” in investment, and double ... Read more ...
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Nearly 175 arrested as climate protesters target France’s TotalEnergies and key investor - Guardian - Energy (May 02, 2024) |
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May 02, 2024 · Demonstrators gathered outside Paris meetings of energy giant and Amundi, with some forcing their way into fund manager’s tower block
The head of TotalEnergies has told shareholders that new oilfields have to be developed to meet global demand, as the annual meetings of the French energy giant and one of its biggest shareholders were picketed by climate activists.
Police said they detained 173 people among hundreds who gathered outside the Paris headquarters of Amundi, one of the world’s biggest investment managers and a major TotalEnergies shareholder.
Climate activists also gathered hours before the TotalEnergies annual general meeting opened. Greenpeace members ... Read more ...
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On Australia’s climate and extinction crises, the major parties both have questions to answer - Guardian - Energy (May 02, 2024) |
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May 02, 2024 · The Coalition has no climate policy. But Labor’s positions are undermined by its confused stance on gas and the delay of new environmental laws
Federal parliament is back for the next fortnight and I have a wishlist. Not for things that will happen – let’s not get ahead of ourselves – but for questions that could be addressed if the country is to treat the climate and extinction crises as seriously as our leaders claim they do.
There is no shortage of discussion about nuclear energy due to the Coalition’s much-hyped but yet-to-appear plan to overturn a national ban and bring it to Australia. The issue won plenty of attention after a CSIRO-led assessment that it would be ... Read more ...
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One Big Chart: how does the cost of nuclear power compare to renewables? - Guardian - Energy (May 02, 2024) |
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May 02, 2024 · Peter Dutton has suggested Australia should build large-scale nuclear reactors, but CSIRO’s GenCost report shows the price compared to solar and wind
Electricity from nuclear power would cost Australia significantly more than generating it from solar and wind, according to the CSIRO.
The opposition leader, Peter Dutton, has revived the idea of Australia lifting its restriction on nuclear power, but has yet to provide any details apart from suggesting large-scale nuclear reactors should be built on the sites of decommissioned coal power plants.
This chart draws from the CSIRO’s latest GenCost report, which estimates the cost of building new electricity generation ... Read more ...
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Top oil firms’ climate pledges failing on almost every metric, report finds - Guardian - Energy (May 02, 2024) |
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May 02, 2024 · Major oil companies have in recent years made splashy climate pledges to cut their greenhouse gas emissions and take on the climate crisis, but a new report suggests those plans do not stand up to scrutiny.
“There is no evidence that big oil and gas companies are acting seriously to be part of the energy transition,” David Tong, global industry campaign Manager at Oil Change International, who co-authored the analysis, said in a statement.
None of the companies were immediately available for comment.
The report’s authors used 10 criteria and ranked each aspect of each company’s plan on a spectrum from “fully aligned” to “grossly insufficient” and found all eight ... Read more ...
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When smart meters save money – and the overheating planet - Guardian - Energy (May 02, 2024) |
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May 02, 2024 · Michael Wilkinson has had a good experience using a smart meter when charging his electric car and using a heat pump. But other readers remain unconvinced about their benefits
Recent letters about smart meters (14 May) reported some readers’ bad experiences, but it’s not all negative – our smart meter is allowing our household to cut carbon and save money. In combination with our electric vehicle charger, the smart meter allows us to automatically charge our car at times when there is less demand on the grid and higher renewable-energy generation. This helps balance the grid, and I only pay 7p per kWh to charge the car. This works out at about 1.5p per mile to drive.
The ... Read more ...
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'Magical thinking’: hopes for sustainable jet fuel not realistic, report finds - Guardian - Energy (May 01, 2024) |
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May 01, 2024 · IPS report says replacement fuels well off track to replace kerosene within timeframe needed to avert climate disaster
Hopes that replacement fuels for airplanes will slash carbon pollution are misguided and support for these alternatives could even worsen the climate crisis, a new report has warned.
There is currently “no realistic or scalable alternative” to standard kerosene-based jet fuels, and touted “sustainable aviation fuels” are well off track to replace them in a timeframe needed to avert dangerous climate change, despite public subsidies, the report by the Institute for Policy Studies, a progressive thinktank, found.
“While there are kernels of ... Read more ...
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Australia risks being 'world’s nuclear waste dump’ unless Aukus laws changed, critics say - Guardian - Energy (May 01, 2024) |
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May 01, 2024 · Labor-chaired inquiry calls for legislation to rule out accepting high-level nuclear waste from US and UK submarines among other recommendations
Australia risks becoming the “world’s nuclear waste dump” unless the Albanese government moves to rewrite its proposed Aukus laws, critics say.
A Labor-chaired inquiry has called for the legislative safeguard to specifically rule out accepting high-level nuclear waste from the US and the UK. One of the members of a Senate committee that reviewed the draft laws, independent senator Lidia Thorpe, said the legislation “should be setting off alarm bells” because “it could mean that Australia becomes the world’s nuclear waste ... Read more ...
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Banks have given almost $7tn to fossil fuel firms since Paris deal, report reveals - Guardian - Energy (May 01, 2024) |
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May 01, 2024 · Among world’s top 60 banks those in US are biggest fossil fuel financiers, while Barclays leads way in Europe
The world’s big banks have handed nearly $7tn (£5.6tn) in funding to the fossil fuel industry since the Paris agreement to limit carbon emissions, according to research.
In 2016, after talks in Paris, 196 countries signed an agreement to limit global heating as a result of carbon emissions to at most 2C above preindustrial levels, with an ideal limit of 1.5C to prevent the worst impacts of a drastically changed climate.
Many countries have since promised to reduce carbon emissions, but the latest research shows private interests continued to funnel money to ... Read more ...
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Biden proposes end to new leases in US’s largest coal-producing region - Guardian - Energy (May 01, 2024) |
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May 01, 2024 · Republicans opposed to plan from Bureau of Land Management affecting Powder River Basin area of Wyoming and Montana
The Biden administration on Thursday proposed an end to new coal leasing from federal reserves in the most productive coal mining region in the US as officials seek to limit climate-changing greenhouse gas emissions from burning the fuel.
The Bureau of Land Management proposal would affect millions of acres (millions of hectares) of federal lands and underground mineral reserves in the Powder River Basin area of Wyoming and Montana.
The immediate impact is likely to be limited because coal leases take many years to develop and demand has flagged in ... Read more ...
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Consumer groups criticise energy companies charging solar panel owners for exporting power - Guardian - Energy (May 01, 2024) |
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May 01, 2024 · Critics argue change could lead to people installing smaller solar power systems so they aren’t penalised for exporting excess energy during the day
A new tariff that will charge solar panel owners for exporting their energy during the middle of the day could discourage solar uptake, consumer groups say.
Ausgrid, which has about 280,000 customers in New South Wales with rooftop solar panels, has introduced a two-way tariff system to incentivise solar panel owners to export their power into the grid in the evening, when it is most needed.
This will include a charge to solar panel owners of 1.2 cents a kilowatt hour to send electricity to the grid between 10am and ... Read more ...
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Don’t despair about the climate. Be part of the social tipping point - Guardian - Energy (May 01, 2024) |
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May 01, 2024 · A Guardian survey of leading climate scientists revealed their despair about the future. John Coghlan, Rachael Orr, Natalie Bennett, Dr Robin Russell-Jones and Gregory Johnson find reasons to keep on fighting
I must commend the Guardian and Damian Carrington for the excellent reporting on the views of leading climate scientists ('Hopeless and broken’ Why the world’s top climate scientists are in despair, 8 May). I have experienced climate despair, which has led me to take part in non-violent protests, and I can certainly bear witness to the fact that this kind of collective action goes a long way to offset the despair. However, protest is not for everyone. There are other ways ... Read more ...
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Fossil fuel firms forcing countries to compensate them, Mary Robinson says - Guardian - Energy (May 01, 2024) |
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May 01, 2024 · Former Irish president and Ban Ki-moon say fossil lobbying is hampering climate progress
Fossil fuel companies are forcing governments to compensate them for lost earnings in the transition to a low-carbon global economy, and destroying the world’s ability to counter their harmful activities, former top UN officials have warned.
Mary Robinson, the former president of Ireland who was twice a UN climate envoy, said she was “outraged” by the activities of fossil fuel companies, including forcing governments into “investment treaties” that reward them with billions in compensation when countries reduce their reliance on oil, gas and coal.
“It is well worth looking at ... Read more ...
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Free the fridges! Make dishwashers great again! US conservatives have odd priorities - Guardian - Energy (May 01, 2024) |
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May 01, 2024 · The latest victims of the culture wars? Woke white goods. Because, apparently, energy efficiency and lower electricity bills are unAmerican
If you’ve ever wished your dishwasher used more water, or found your fridge too cheap to run, help is at hand. US Republicans have their sights set on one of the greatest scourges of our age: woke white goods.
You may or may not remember last year’s “induction hobs are unpatriotic” idiocy. For the mercifully uninitiated, one of 2023’s more niche culture war moments crystallised around an allegation that “the Feds” were going to “take away” gas stoves. This was demonstrably untrue: despite plentiful research demonstrating gas stove ... Read more ...
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