Coal-fired power stations to close & UN releases climate deal negotiating text
News
Coal-fired power stations to close
Britain will shut down all its coal-fired power stations by 2023, under plans being drawn up by ministers before a United Nations climate change conference in Paris next month, the Times reports. It is understood that Amber Rudd, the energy secretary, could announce the plan before the conference begins on November 30. Under the proposals, Britains ten coal-fired power stations, the biggest supplier of electricity for decades, would be forced to convert to alternative fuels, fit carbon capture and storage equipment, or shut. Coal – the most polluting fossil fuel in terms of carbon emissions – generated about 30% of electricity in the UK last year. The plan “is likely to add to fears” that new renewables will not come on to the system quickly enough to replace the lost coal-fired generation capacity, the Times writes. “While fossil fuels have a role to play in meeting our energy demands, evidence shows that coal as a percentage of total generation has fallen from 40 per cent in 2012 to 29 per cent in 2014”, a DECC spokesperson said.
UN releases 20-page negotiating text for climate deal
The UN has produced a slimmed-down negotiating text for the global climate pact due to be signed in Paris this December – less than a quarter the length of the last version, published in July. The document clarifies which elements will be legally binding and which go into a ‘decision document’ that can evolve over time. The legally-binding portion will include a long-term global goal for peaking or phasing out greenhouse gas emissions. The draft has no official status – the only way such pre-negotiation negotiations can take place, notes Andy Revkin in the New York Times. The problem is that the draft remains “riddled” with square brackets, he writes. The Guardian also carries the story.
Leaders will not negotiate at Paris climate talks
Summit organisers of the Paris climate conference want to reverse the way such talks have been held in past years by summoning world leaders at the start, and then leave the nitty gritty of forging a deal to their representatives. By doing so they hope to avoid a repeat of the Copenhagen summit five years ago – widely regarded as a failure after “fraught last-minute, closed-door negotiations”. The French idea is to have heads of state come at the beginning to make statements they will not negotiate, you wont have them in closed doors, an EU source told Politico.
China is working to reach its emissions peak before 2030 deadline, analyst says
China may aim for an earlier greenhouse gas emissions peak before its 2030 deadline, according to Qi Ye, director of the Brookings-Tsinghua Center for Public Policy in Beijing. China hopes to peak as early as possible because it understands its in the national interest and to the benefit of the people in terms of health considerations, he told the Guardian Australia. This will put a greater onus on Australia to work with its key trading partner on renewable energy rather than fossil fuels.
BP finalises $20.8bn Deepwater Horizon settlement
BP will pay a higher than expected $20.8bn to settle civil claims with US federal and state authorities over the 2010 Deepwater Horizon disaster, an oil spill and explosion that killed 11 workers. The deal announced on Monday is the largest ever reached by the Department of Justice with a single entity. The Telegraph also has the story.
Renewables could supply nearly a quarter of Africa’s energy by 2030, says report
Almost a quarter of Africa’s energy needs could feasibly be supplied by renewables within the next 15 years, according to a report by IRENA released yesterday. Hydropower, wind, solar power, and modern biomass systems for cooking, could all play a major role in the continent’s energy mix. With 50% of all energy use in Africa today coming from traditional biomass, around half of the projected increase in renewable energy capacity would come from modern biomass-based heat applications.
Wind and solar boost cost-competitiveness versus fossil fuels
A levelised cost of electricity analysis by Bloomberg New Energy Finance for the second half of the year shows onshore wind to be fully competitive against gas and coal in some parts of the world, while solar is closing the gap. “Our report shows wind and solar power continuing to get cheaper in 2015, helped by cheaper technology but also by lower finance costs. Meanwhile, coal and gas have got more expensive on the back of lower utilisation rates, and in Europe, higher carbon price assumptions”, said Seb Henbest, head of Europe, Middle East and Africa at Bloomberg New Energy Finance.
Comment
Upping the ante at COP21
The Paris negotiations represent a classic ‘prisoner’s dilemma’, writes Nick Hay of Edelman in BusinessGreen. To successfully manage climate change, each leader must pledge their commitments to carbon abatement. If the group fails to put in a sufficient number of ‘chips’ to keep within the 2 degree threshold – the resulting environmental disaster will cost each player a much larger stack of ‘chips’. However, increasing democratisation of climate science could also have an impact, by bringing new clarity to the debate. A clear line of sight of how a 2 degrees trajectory can be achieved is “vital for encouraging generosity from countries in achieving an effective deal at COP21”, he writes.
The Conservatives have forgotten the greatest challenge of all: climate change
Early promises from Cameron and Osborne of becoming the ‘greenest government ever’ feel very far away indeed writes Lisa Nandy, Labour MP for Wigan. As clean tech companies turn their back on Britain, the government’s silence on the Paris climate change summit is “a dangerous neglect of our national interests and should not pass without challenge”. Nandy refuses to believe in the “false choice” that people in Britain have to choose between a clean, healthy environment and decent jobs and services.
Amber Rudd: Climate Crisis, What Climate Crisis?
As we enter the last two months leading to the international Paris climate conference, inspiration not excuses is what we need from our government, writes Kyla Mandel of DeSmogUK. Yet Amber Rudd remained silent on the issue of Paris at the Conservative party conference. And beyond defending renewable energy subsidy cuts, there was “no mention of what policies will be put in place to reassure investors and the public that low carbon energy has a future in Britain.”
Rare disaster information can increase risk-taking
The recent increase in the frequency and impact of natural disasters highlights the need to provide the public with accurate information concerning the likelihood of extreme weather events. Most approaches to this problem assume that providing summaries of the nature and scale of disasters will lead people to reduce their exposure to risk. However, a new study puts forward evidence that such news reports of disaster occurrences can actually increase people’s tolerance of risk.
Science
European high impact weather caused as a downstream response to the extratropical transition of North Atlantic Hurricane Katia (2011)
Severe thunderstorms in Central Europe in September 2011 were a direct result of the movements of Hurricane Katia in the western North Atlantic, a new study shows. The researchers found that as the Category 4 tropical cyclone crossed into the subtropics and mid latitudes – known as “extratropical transition (ET)” – it triggered the atmospheric conditions necessary for the storms to develop and reach Europe. The study is the first to show European extreme weather caused by the after effects of a North Atlantic hurricane that has undergone ET.
Conservation policy and the measurement of forests
The sheer number of different definitions for “forest” is creating uncertainties in estimations of global forest extent, a new study says. There are more than 800 official definitions of “forest” that can be used as a basis for satellite measurements. For example, the difference between >10% tree cover and >30% to define forests translates to a difference of 19bn sq km of land area – equivalent to 45.2bn tonnes of carbon in biomass in the tropics alone, the researchers say.
Other stories
- Seven practical steps to protect our cities from the effects of climate change (Guardian Global Development )
- What the historic South Carolina floods can and cant tell us about climate change (The Washington Post )
- Why Once-In-A-Lifetime Flooding Keeps Happening (Time)
- Expert warns of fracking risk to water supplies and food chain (Herald Scotland)
- Britain’s commitment to climate aid is immoral (The Telegraph)
- The Republican Party stands alone in climate denial (Guardian Environment )
- IPCC election: What makes a great UN climate science chief? (Climate Home)
- The greenest island in the world? (BBC News)
- Peter Jones: North Sea oil is a risky business (The Scotsman )