New boiler ban within 14 years

25.05.21

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New boiler ban within 14 years

The installation of new conventional gas boilers could be banned from 2035 as part of the UK’s new heat and buildings strategy, the Daily Mail reports. It says the strategy, now due to be published next month, will also include a ban on oil-fired boilers and “another push to insulate homes”. Contradicting other recent press coverage, the paper reports: “A source said the government had ruled out the idea of fining those who refuse to get rid of their gas boiler.” It also notes: “Some boilers could be converted to run on hydrogen but this is unlikely to account for more than 10% of the total due to supply constraints.” A brief editorial in the Daily Mail says “our eyebrow raises” at the mooted ban on gas boilers. It adds: “What will replace them? And won’t fuel bills rise?” In related news, the Daily Telegraph reports that under new government plans, mortgage lenders would be “discouraged from lending to owners of draughty homes”.

Meanwhile, the Guardian reports a new study, which it says has found that Drax’s proposed wood-burning power plant with carbon-capture technology “could cost British energy bill payers £31.7bn over 25 years, or £500 a household”. The paper adds that Drax plans to use the technology [BECCS] to become carbon negative, but “dozens of green groups have warned government ministers and Drax shareholders against supporting the company’s controversial plans over fears that burning biomass will not deliver ‘negative emissions’ and could prove to be an expensive misstep in the UK’s path to a carbon-neutral economy”. Sky News adds that according to the report, published by thinktank Ember, the proposed plant could increase carbon dioxide emissions rather than reducing them. However, according to BusinessGreen, Drax “rejects the calculations and insists carbon capture technology is likely to prove a crucial component of the net-zero transition”. The Daily Mail carries the story under the print headline “£31bn power station ‘is green con’.” In other UK news, the Times reports that the government has provided funding for Sizewell C, Britain’s planned new nuclear power station, to develop “direct air capture”.

UK finance sector in top 10 for carbon emissions

BBC News

If the UK’s biggest banks and investors were a country, they would be the ninth highest emitting country in the world, the Guardian reports. This is according to a new analysis by Greenpeace and WWF, which summed up the emissions from the global investments of 15 banks and 10 asset managers, the newspaper adds. It notes that the banks and investors were responsible for 1.8 times more emissions than the UK as a whole in 2019. A separate Guardian piece says that banks finance 805m tonnes of CO2 production per year, according to the new analysis. Sky News also covers the report. An article for CapX by Daniel Mahoney, programme director for economy and infrastructure at business campaign group London First, notes that a core part of the government’s strategy to decarbonise will be to create a UK Infrastructure Bank. The bank will not be a “silver bullet”, Mahoney writes, but is “a welcome and well-overdue development”. Meanwhile, BusinessGreen reports that the Bank of England has “unveiled plans to align its corporate bond purchase scheme (CBPS) with the UK’s net-zero target” and a separate BusinessGreen article notes that HSBC has appointed a new climate technology team called “Climatech”.

In other UK news, the Guardian reports that most of the UK’s offshore energy jobs will be in the low carbon energy industry by 2030. This is according to a study, which finds that “the number of green jobs off the UK’s coastlines is likely to climb from 20% of the country’s offshore energy sector to 65% by the end of the decade”, according to the newspaper. The Times notes that according to the report, the number of workers in the UK’s offshore energy sector could rise from 160,000 to 220,000 by the end of the decade. It adds that for the UK to meet its target for 40 gigawatts (GW) of offshore wind energy by 2030, some 2,500 new wind turbines are needed.

UK: Britain’s electric car charging network boosted by £300m funding

The Guardian

Britain’s energy regulator, Ofgem has approved a £300m investment to triple the number of “ultra-rapid” electric car charging points across the UK, the Guardian reports. According to the newspaper, Ofgem has approved more than 200 low-carbon projects across the country for the next two years – including the installation of 1,800 “ultra-rapid car charge points” for motorway service stations and 1,750 charging points for towns and cities. The Financial Times reports that ultra rapid charge points can charge a car battery in 20-40 minutes. However, it notes that additional power cables are often needed to support the extra electricity demand, adding that the cost these has been “one of the major sticking points to a faster rollout of rapid chargers”. The investment will be delivered in the next two years and is “part of a £40bn investment plan to ensure Britain can move to low-carbon transport and heating while maintaining secure energy supplies”, according to Reuters. The Daily Telegraph reports that demand for charging points is “expected to surge” as people switch to electric vehicles ahead of the 2030 ban on new petrol and diesel cars. Meanwhile, the i newspaper reports more than one third of people are “put off switching to an electric car because they are worried there will not be enough convenient charge points to keep their car batteries topped up” and BusinessGreen asks whether the investment can “herald an end to EV ‘range anxiety’”. Bloomberg and the Scotsman also cover the story.

US: Biden doubles FEMA program to prepare for extreme weather

The New York Times

The Biden administration has promised $1bn to the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to help communities prepare for extreme weather events, the New York Times reports. This pledge would double FEMA’s current budget, according to the newspaper, but is still “less than what some disaster experts had said is needed, especially because the warming planet is making storms, flooding, wildfires and other disasters both more frequent and destructive”. Last year, the US experienced 22 such “disasters” that exceeded $1bn in damages each, the paper notes. The Hill reports the the budget increase would go to the Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities (BRIC) programme, which “provides support for local, state and tribal government preparation efforts”. According to the Washington Post, around 40% of the additional money would be directed to “disadvantaged areas”. The newspaper adds that the US government is also “launching a new effort at NASA to collect more sophisticated climate data”. Reuters and CNBC also cover the announcement.

Meanwhile, the Associated Press reports, via the Independent, that the outlook for the western US fire season is “grim”. According to the newswire, this year’s fire season is “starting far drier than 2020’s record-breaking fire year” and the soil in the west is “record dry for this time of year”. It adds that the vegetation is “primed to ignite” and the western drought is “deepening week by week”. Yale Environment 360 reports that the western US is “in the midst of a 20-year mega-drought” and has not seen drought conditions as bad as this in 125 years. The outlook is “particularly bad” in California, where 73% of the state is currently suffering “extreme or exceptional drought”, it adds. According to the Los Angeles Times, deliberate power outages in California – used to “protect Californians and their homes from the threat of utility-caused blazes” – could “spell trouble” for state governor Gavin Newsom, who is up for re-election soon. The Los Angeles Times also runs a comment by capitol journal columnist George Skelton entitled: “Follow the warning signs: California is facing a devastating drought. It’s time to take action.” Meanwhile, the Guardian reports that Lake Charles in Louisiana has been “battered by extreme weather” and Scientific American reports that, according to new research, Yellowstone is warming at its fastest rate in 1,250 years.

In other US news, the Hill reports that the Biden administration “will return to Obama-era practices for granting waivers of offshore drilling safety regulations”.

Greta Thunberg reacts to ‘fatshaming’ by Chinese state media

Sky News

Greta Thunberg has responded to an article from China Daily, which commented on her weight, reports Sky News. The Swedish climate campaigner is cited tweeting that being ‘fat-shamed” by Chinese state media is a “pretty weird experience”. The Independent says the China Daily piece was penned by a writer called Tang Ge, who initially posted it on social media before the state-run paper republished it. [Read the Chinese column in question here]. Vice reports that social media users in China have joined the “attack”. The website notes that they accuse Thunberg of having “double standards”. See Carbon Brief’s China Briefing for more on why Thunberg is being criticised in China.

Meanwhile, a new study has found that rising temperatures due to climate change threaten railway infrastructure, reports engineering and technology website E&T. The research, led by Beijing Normal University, focused on the Chinese railway system. The researchers say that just half a degree Celsius less warming would save approximately $630m (£445m) per year in economic losses, according to the report. Elsewhere, DeSmog reports that “China finances most coal plants built today”.

In Chinese media, state-run China Energy News says that the first batch of electricity companies covered by the nation’s upcoming national emissions trading scheme (ETS) have completed their evaluation and registration process. One expert tells the outlet that a “relatively reasonable” range in the initial stage of the carbon market would be between 80 and 100 yuan (£8.8-11) per tonne. China’s national ETS is expected to start trading by the end of June. Elsewhere, Economic Information Daily urges authorities to “rectify the cryptocurrency hype urgently”. The state-run newspaper names bitcoin in particular and says its mining consumes “large amounts of electricity resources” and does not “match” the nation’s “carbon-neutrality” goal. Meanwhile, the South China Morning Post carries an opinion piece by Marc Lanteign, an Associate Professor of Political Science at The Arctic University of Norway, who says that “alluding to the South China Sea has become a shorthand of sorts for those attempting to demonstrate a China threat in the Arctic”.

Poland defies EU court ruling to close major lignite mine

Associated Press via the Independent

Officials in Poland have “defied an injunction by the top European Union court” to close a major brown coal mine, Associated Press reports via the Independent. The European Court of Justice ordered Poland to stop operation of the mine “immediately” due to complaints from Prague that the plant drains groundwater from Czech territory, the outlet notes. However, it adds that according to officials from Poland, the move “would shake the nation’s energy system and lead to the layoff of thousands of employees”. Reuters carries the latest development to the story, saying that the Czech Republic “has agreed to withdraw its lawsuit”. Meanwhile, a separate Reuters piece reports that the Czech government “sent back a recommendation to phase out coal by 2038 to a state commission to examine an earlier exit”.

Elsewhere in Europe, the Guardian reports that the EU “will introduce sweeping reforms of farming subsidies this week” to try to protect smaller farms from decline. Meanwhile, the Financial Times reports that “leading European companies and funds have invested in a Swedish ‘green steel’ start-up that is promising to build the world’s first large factory for emissions-free production of the alloy”.

EurActiv carries an interview with EU climate chief Frans Timmermans, who tells the outlet that revising the EU Emissions Trading System will be a “cornerstone” of EU energy and climate proposals due in July. And the Daily Telegraph reports that the UK’s top climate change advisor has “urged” ministers to link their carbon market to the existing EU scheme, but adds that ministers are “reluctant to give up their new-found autonomy on the carbon trading scheme”. Meanwhile, EurActiv reports that Germany wants the EU to create a “climate club” with countries including the US, Japan and China, to “avoid trade friction linked to green tariffs”.

Comment

Why it’s time for government and business to seize the moment

Lord Karan Bilimoria, BusinessGreen

BusinessGreen carries a comment piece by president of the Confederation of British Industry (CBI), Lord Karan Bilimoria, arguing that business leaders and policymakers have a responsibility to “grasp the opportunities of the coming decade and throw everything at winning the race to net-zero”. Bilimoria says that a “coordinated international response” is needed to tackle both Covid and climate change, adding that this year’s G7 meeting and the UN climate summit in Glasgow “feels more significant than ever before”. He continues: “As the UK hosts both the G7 and COP26, British business understands the unique opportunity to be a global leader, building consensus and mobilising action on a scale never seen before.” He notes the “enormous strides made by the UK in recent years” and adds that “turbo-charging the UK’s net zero plans would bring significant benefits for business”, according to research by the CBI. Next steps should include “a net-zero strategy that cuts our global climate impact and sets a new target to reduce consumption emissions”, building more gigafactories to support electric vehicles and “mandating all new domestic boiler installations after 2025 to be hydrogen-ready, or using heat pumps or through district heating”, he says. He concludes: “Get this right and we protect the planet for future generations. Get it wrong and the UK loses the race to net-zero. He concludes now is the time to “Seize the Moment!” Meanwhile, the Financial Times carries a similar comment piece by Tom Danker, director general of the CBI. Daker says that “the UK’s hydrogen power and carbon capture and storage technology has world-leading potential”, but adds that we “risk falling behind in the production of electric vehicles without more gigafactories”. He continues: “success or failure now depends on whether business and government can work in unison rather than in parallel”, and concludes that “we only have one shot at this”.

In other UK comment, journalist Jame Mulkerrins has penned a feature piece in the Times about Frank Luntz “the man who came up with ‘climate change’ – and regrets it”. And the Times Red Box carries a comment piece by Frances O’Grady, general secretary of the Trades Union Congress, and Polly Billington, chief executive of UK100. The pair say that the Green Homes Grant was meant to speed up progress on “climate-proof[ing]” homes, but that it “delivered less than a sixth of the retrofits promised” and has now been “scrapped”. However, they note that local councils have “made much better progress”. They continue: “when given the funds and the freedom, local councils are showing they can be hotbeds of innovation and enterprise on green homes”. They add that this approach creates new jobs, and argue that the government should “apply not only to direct employment through local government schemes, but also to supply chains and private contractors”. Meanwhile, BBC News reports that a group of metro mayors and council leaders have written to Boris Johnson, saying that “without a locally-led approach, the UK will struggle to reach its world-leading climate change targets”.

Science

Should energy efficiency subsidies be tied into housing prices?

Environmental Research Letters

Government subsidies to improve the energy efficiency of housing “should be allocated into areas with lower housing prices”, a new study suggests, “because emissions are evenly distributed, and lower income areas pay relatively more for energy”. Using the example of heat pumps, the study notes that, in Finland, “heat pumps are already very profitable and converting buildings’ heating systems into heat pumps creates major environmental and economic benefits”. However, while the costs of installation do not vary between locations, “housing prices, rents and income do”, the researchers say. They suggest that “subsidies could be tied into housing prices or more specifically into property tax”. These measures “could be used to guide energy efficiency investments into locations where they would not be carried out otherwise”, the study concludes.

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