Scientists and climate activists have highlighed and warned against the significant global warming impact of fossil gas and an expansion of related infrastructure. Furthermore, analysts have also repeatedly criticized Europe’s deep dependency from Russia – created particular by Germany with the help of petrochemical giant BASF and it’s daughter Wintershall Dea. Putin’s war in Ukraine is forcing the EU now to profoundly restructure it’s energy landscape and to save gas for the coming winter. But while the public is being told to shower cold and heat less Europe is still feeding a fossil fuels hungry petrochemicals and plastics industry. Andy Gheorghiu outlines the major findings of a new report that reveals the significant dimension of this gluttony and that calls for a profound new diet for this sector.
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What France Gets All Wrong About Nuclear Energy
Nuclear energy is not sustainable, safe, or cost-effective. Only by investing in full-fledged clean energy can France and other countries meet climate goals on tight schedules – a key asset given the urgency of the climate crisis. Paul Hockenos explains.
Low-carbon Technology’s Russia Problem
Low-carbon technology has a Russia problem, too. And it’s going to get bigger. Higher prices, supply chain disruptions, and the war in Ukraine has Europe’s clean tech branch scrambling for non-Russian suppliers of key raw materials, such as nickel, palladium, lithium, platinum, cobalt, and neon-gas, as well as aluminium and copper. Some countries, such as the UK, have already begun to sanction them – a move the entire EU could take, if it chose to. But just about the only alternative markets that can cover rising European demand for exactly these raw materials is other authoritarian regimes. Paul Hockenos reviews.
As energy poverty persists and prices soar, Zimbabwe urgently needs sustainable answers
In Zimbabwe, relentless currency crises and inflation are triggering a rapid rise in the prices of goods and services. Electricity supply and production has not been spared with the commodity’s latest price increase in May almost reaching 100% despite currently persisting shortages exposing more citizens to energy woes. Can the country’s renewable energy scheme be effectively implemented to plug the deficit and avert energy poverty? Kennedy Nyavaya has the story.
Will winter smell of coal?
This chart is easy to remember. On 24 June 2022 the energy think tank Instrat published data on energy production with a special focus on its sources. Combined, photovoltaics and wind energy yielded more power (26.3 %) than the total electricity production from lignite (24.2 %). This means that a revolution took place in a country where successive governments blocked the development of renewable energy sources. For a long time, RES was an alien idea for Polish elites, especially for those on the right. RES was suspicious, contrary to the coal-oriented national interest. Poland was supposed to be a country fuelled by Polish coal. There is a very long list of politicians who have talked a greater or lesser degree of nonsense, or sometimes simply lied, about the subject.
2022’s energy winners: Oil and Gas companies
In 2022, there are wins to be celebrated for climate policy. The recent US legislation is the first time in 40 years that the government has managed to pass any meaningful climate policy. The invasion of Ukraine has shaken Europe to accelerate the move away from Russian oil and gas. However, it is hard to celebrate wins for the climate without addressing the elephant in the room – the thriving and ever-profiting oil and gas sector. While recent geopolitical events did indeed infuse the energy transition with, (no pun intended), some much needed energy, Joelle Thomas would argue that the biggest winners of the past year’s events have been oil and gas companies. What does this mean for the energy transition?
Methane (part 2) | The Global Energy Transition Podcast
While much of the international community’s climate action has focused on controlling carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions, in doing so, we’ve essentially given a pass on another very powerful greenhouse gas: methane. With 86 times the warming impact of CO2 over a twenty-year period, new studies show that methane accounts for about 30-50 percent of today’s global warming. Read More
Methane emissions remain a big problem – also for biogas
Biomethane and biogas are increasingly turned to as alternatives for fossil gas. However, their production and distribution can still result in climate damaging methane (CH4) emissions, the magnitude of which remains unclear. A new study from the Imperial College London finds that emissions along the supply chain are much greater than previously estimated. Mitigating CH4 throughout not only fossil gas, but also biomethane and biogas supply chains is urgently needed. Lisa Tostado investigates.
East Asia’s top economies to rise as top importers of Russian fossil fuels by end of year
While media coverage has mainly focused on China and India’s record-level imports, other countries in Asia – particularly East Asia – have also been among the top global importers of Russian energy – and are therefore also implicit contributors to the war effort. A new data visualization website shows that countries in the region are likely to become top importers of Russian fossil fuels once Europe finalizes its plans to phase them out, and that moving towards renewables makes more sense considering the global security risks of fossil fuels, the climate crisis and the falling costs of renewables.
Poland and the energy costs of the Russian war in Ukraine
The Russian Federation’s invasion of Ukraine is not only barbaric – it is also a harbinger of rapid economic changes around the world. Even if the war ends relatively soon (and that is unlikely), a return to the status quo ante is unthinkable. So too is a return to the heavily fossil-fuelled and import-dependent European energy model that existed before the war. Is it appropriate to ponder over raw materials as bombs fall on Kharkiv and Mariupol? Yes, if solely for the reason that the future shape of the energy market should constitute a response to this barbarism. The question is whether Poland is genuinely prepared for such a response. Michał Olszewski with a perspective from Warsaw.