European countries pledge huge expansion of North Sea wind farms

25.04.23

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European countries pledge huge expansion of North Sea wind farms

Nine European countries have pledged to multiply the capacity of offshore wind farms in the North Sea by eight times current levels before 2050, turning it into what Belgium’s energy minister called “Europe’s biggest green power plant”, reports the Guardian. The newspaper adds: “The French president, Emmanuel Macron, the German chancellor, Olaf Scholz, and the European Commission chief, Ursula von der Leyen, announced the plan with the prime ministers of Belgium, the Netherlands, Ireland, Denmark and Luxembourg. Norway’s prime minister and Britain’s energy security minister, Grant Shapps, also committed at the summit in Ostend, Belgium, on Monday to build more wind farms, develop ‘energy islands’ – connected renewable generation sites at sea – and work on carbon capture projects.” Reuters says: “The aim is to curb reliance on Russian gas and reduce use of CO2-emitting fossil fuels, which remain dominant…A draft of the leaders’ summit declaration, seen by Reuters, said the nine countries aimed for a combined 120 gigawatts (GW) of North Sea offshore wind capacity by 2030, and 300GW by 2050, more than quadrupling the current 25GW…Clusters of countries will announce projects to spur the green energy push, which will require bigger investments than countries and companies have planned.” City AM runs the story under the headline: “How UK and EU hope to use North Sea to fight Putin’s energy supremacy.” The Daily Telegraph describes the deal as the UK “joining forces with the European Union to protect offshore wind farms and pipelines from Vladimir Putin in a new security pact”. The New York Times says that “officials from Britain and the Netherlands said on Monday that they had agreed to build a giant undersea electric cable for sharing the power generated from offshore wind farms”, known as LionLink and with a capacity of 1.8GW. BBC News notes that the “huge electricity cable project in the North Sea could provide green power to 1.8m UK homes”. The Daily Express says it will be the “world’s largest cross border power line”. (The IFA interconnector between the UK and France is larger, with a capacity of 2GW. LionLink, referred to by Shapps as the “largest of its kind”, would additionally connect to an offshore windfarm.)

Meanwhile, on the same day, Norway agreed to a “green alliance” with the European Union, reports EurActiv, which will see them “committing to work together on tackling climate change, protecting nature and developing the technologies needed to transition away from fossil fuels”. The outlet continues: “The alliance, which has been in the works since February 2022, will cover different areas, including nature protection, reversing biodiversity loss, climate change adaptation as well as technologies to remove, capture and store CO2. The partnership also has a heavy focus on the transition away from fossil fuels, including clean mobility, renewable energy and hydrogen production, and obtaining the critical raw materials needed for these technologies…The alliance is the second of its kind, following a similar agreement made between the EU and Japan in 2021. Ahead of the signing ceremony, Norwegian prime minister Jonas Gahr Støre emphasised the need to transition away from fossil fuels, particularly after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.”

US: Supreme Court deals blow to oil companies by turning away climate cases

NBC News

The Supreme Court in the US has decided to allow lawsuits brought by municipalities seeking to hold energy companies accountable for climate change, reports NBC News. The outlet explains: “The court turned away oil company appeals in five cases involving claims brought by cities and municipalities in Colorado, Maryland, California, Hawaii and Rhode Island as part of efforts to hold businesses accountable for the effects of climate change. The relatively narrow legal issue is whether the lawsuits should be heard in state court instead of federal court. Litigants care because of the widely held view that plaintiffs have better chances of winning damage awards in state courts.” The Guardian says that the appeals to move the venue of the lawsuits were made by Exxon Mobil Corp, Suncor Energy Inc and Chevron Corp. It adds: “Monday’s decision by the supreme court was welcomed by climate experts. Dr Delta Merner, lead scientist at the Science Hub for Climate Litigation at the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS) said: ‘The supreme court’s decision today is a significant victory for climate justice and climate lawsuits filed across the US and around the world. The communities involved in this case suffered unimaginable losses due, in large part, to the recklessness and greed of the fossil fuel industry, and now they are one step closer to having their day in court.’” Reuters notes that Theodore Boutrous, an attorney for Chevron, “expressed confidence that the cases will be dismissed in state court”. Speaking to DeSmog, Richard Lazarus, a law professor at Harvard University, says: “This is excellent news for the plaintiffs in these climate cases. There was a significant risk that the Court might grant review.” He adds that future Supreme Court petitions in other climate liability cases “are very unlikely to be granted in light of this ruling, which was in the face of a full court press from industry”. Another Guardian article says climate experts and advocates have said the decision feels “like a dam breaking” after years of legal delays to the growing wave of climate lawsuits facing major oil companies.

In other US news, Politico reports that the “Biden administration’s upcoming attack on one of the nation’s largest contributors to climate change is expected to rest on a novel technology for capturing power plants’ greenhouse gas pollution, according to two people familiar with the deliberations”. It continues: “They say the proposal would require power companies to capture most of their carbon emissions rather than letting it enter the atmosphere. No commercial power plants in the US use carbon-capturing technology now, but the agency views it as ready to be used widely, the two people familiar with the discussions said. EPA is poised to release the two power plant rules near the end of the week, the people said. One rule would target existing coal- and natural-gas-fired plants, and the other would address new gas plants.”

UK: Extinction Rebellion ‘to step up climate campaigns’ after four-day demonstration

The Press Association

Marking the end of a four-day demonstration, Extinction Rebellion (XR) and other groups have vowed to “step up” campaigns to “force” the UK government to tackle climate change, reports the Press Association. The newswire adds that, according to XR, “almost 80% of protesters voted to amp up future campaigning using civil disobedience and non-violent direct action in a poll involving ‘tens of thousands’ of people”. It continues: “XR said the end of the demonstration acted as a deadline for the government to respond to a collective request by climate campaign groups to enter negotiations on demands – to halt all new coal, oil and gas exploration and set up emergency citizens assemblies – or ‘face the consequences’.” The Guardian says “four days of peaceful demonstrations” involved a “wide range of groups, including Extinction Rebellion, Friends of the Earth and Greenpeace, as well as the Christian climate coalition, with thousands gathering for Earth Day in London on Saturday”.

Meanwhile, in other UK news, the Guardian says that Greenpeace has “attacked the government’s ‘disastrous’ decision to award new licences for oil and gas drilling in the North Sea as it prepares to challenge the move in the high court”. The newspaper adds: “A court hearing on Tuesday will determine whether the environmental group will be permitted a judicial review of the decision, made during Liz Truss’s short-lived time as prime minister. Last year, her administration kicked off an oil and gas licensing round under which companies could bid for more than 100 new licences to explore for oil and gas. The North Sea Transition Authority began the process in October, offering up about 900 locations for exploration, and it is expected to conclude in June. It is the first new licensing round since 2019-20. The decision was carried out by the then energy secretary, Jacob Rees-Mogg, under Truss despite warnings of possible legal action by Greenpeace. The green organisation has since carried out that threat, arguing in its court filing that the new licences will further harm the environment.” The Times reports that “investors in BP should vote to remove its chairman and reject its annual report because of the oil major’s inadequate climate targets, a shareholder advisory group has said”.

Separately, the Evening Standard covers new analysis by the Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit which has found that the government’s plans to make the UK energy independent “cannot be met simply by drilling for more gas without reducing demand”. Under current plans, net imports of gas will rise by almost 60% by the middle of the next decade, says the analysis. But a “massive push” to reduce gas demand could instead reduce net imports by 55%, it adds. City AM speaks to Ovo Energy’s chief executive Raman Bhatia who says that “household bills should reflect lower costs of renewables sooner”. And another City AM article says “the nuclear industry has rushed to defend the £35bn Sizewell C nuclear project amid reports the project is struggling to lure domestic investors – highlighting its green credentials”.

Recent, rapid ocean warming alarms scientists

BBC News

BBC News covers “an important new study, published last week with little fanfare, [which] highlights a worrying development”. It explains: “A recent, rapid heating of the world’s oceans has alarmed scientists concerned that it will add to global warming. This month, the global sea surface hit a new record high temperature. It has never warmed this much, this quickly. Scientists don’t fully understand why this has happened. But they worry that, combined with other weather events, the world’s temperature could reach a concerning new level by the end of next year. Experts believe that a strong El Niño weather event – a weather system that heats the ocean – will also set in over the next months. Warmer oceans can kill off marine life, lead to more extreme weather and raise sea levels. They are also less efficient at absorbing planet-warming greenhouse gases.” The outlet adds: “In March, sea surface temperatures off the east coast of North America were as much as 13.8C higher than the 1981-2011 average. ‘It’s not yet well established why such a rapid change, and such a huge change is happening,’ said Karina Von Schuckmann, the lead author of the new study and an oceanographer at the research group Mercator Ocean International.”

Comment

Can Extinction Rebellion really be the new centre ground of the climate movement?

Ellie Mae O’Hagan, The Guardian

There is continuing commentary responding to four days of climate protests across the UK. In the Guardian, Ellie Mae O’Hagan from the Good Law Project argues that “three years ago, XR was hanging by a thread – the Big One protest suggests the movement has learned from its mistakes”. She continues: “While Just Stop Oil has been overwhelmingly successful in achieving its aim of drawing attention to climate change, there is undoubtedly also a need for a grassroots movement that welcomes people who may not be ready or daring enough for protests that could well land them in prison. So will it succeed? The answer to that question lies in your hands. XR has invited you to become part of a new, thriving campaign to protect and restore our world. About 60,000 people accepted that invitation over the weekend. I am one of them. Will you?” Writing in his weekly email newsletter, Ben Spencer, the science editor of the Sunday Times, comments: “So have Extinction Rebellion activists grown up and realised they have to take the public with them if they are going to enact change? It’s not yet clear. The weekend went so well that many within XR want to continue to build support. But the instinct of others within the group is that disruption is the only way to get attention…Last week [XR] presented a series of demands to the government on stopping fossil fuels and setting up new citizen assemblies. If these demands were not met by 5pm yesterday (spoiler alert – they weren’t), XR pledged that later this year it will carry out the ‘greatest acts of civil disobedience in this country’s history’. It’s not clear what this means – something to exceed the actions of the Chartists? Or the Suffragettes? It seems XR is reverting to type.” BusinessGreen’s Cecilia Keating explains “why Extinction Rebellion’s Earth Day protests matter for business”. She says: “Clearly, as XR becomes more mainstream and leaves more controversial disruptive stunts to the likes of Just Stop Oil and Insulate Britain, it has the potential to attract more business leaders and moderate voices to its cause. This is no bad thing, given the relative power businesses have to engage Ministers on climate issues compared to individual citizens.” Meanwhile, the Daily Mail columnist Richard Littlejohn returns once more to attacking the “privately educated ‘climate’ protesters blocking the roads”.

Meanwhile, in other UK comment, Conservative politicians Chris Skidmore and Ben Houchen write in the Times that “going net-zero isn’t just the right thing to do for our environment. It is essential for the future of our local and regional economies across the UK that we get on with delivering the energy transition as soon as we can.”

How the world Is spending $1.1tn on climate technology

Eric Roston, Akshat Rathi and Christopher Cannon, Bloomberg

In an interactive feature, Bloomberg analyses how “climate tech venture capitalists” invested their money in 2022. The article also looks at the impact of investments spurred on by the US Inflation Reduction Act: “The effect of these subsidies on investment has been almost immediate. Renewable power developers have invested more than $150bn in large clean energy projects over the last eight months, surpassing the total over the five preceding years, as a wave of federal incentives propel construction. There’s been a boom in battery tech too. Just look at the plans by Form Energy – backed by Bill Gates’s Breakthrough Energy Ventures and supercharged by the money on offer in the Inflation Reduction Act – to construct a $760m factory in West Virginia.”

Meanwhile, an editorial in the climate-sceptic comment pages of the Wall Street Journal attacks offshore wind farms because they “could” interfere with military training: “The Biden administration’s climate agenda won’t surrender to energy reality or national defence.”

Science

Mitigating trade-offs between global food access and net-zero emissions: the potential contribution of direct air carbon capture and storage

Climatic Change

Sucking CO2 straight from air using machines to meet net-zero rather than using land-based techniques such as planting bioenergy crops and trees could alleviate food access issues in sub-Saharan Africa, a new study finds. The research examines how removing CO2 from air (direct air carbon capture and storage or “DACCS”) could contribute to lessening the “trade-off” between food access and some CO2 removal techniques. Some land-based techniques, such as tree-planting and bioenergy crops with carbon capture and storage (BECCS) could, if not managed carefully, threaten food access by taking up large areas of land currently used for growing crops. (However, it is also worth noting that DACCS is expensive and would require very large inputs of energy to work at scale.)

Macroclimate data overestimate range shifts of plants in response to climate change

Nature Climate Change

Plant species may have to move shorter distances than once thought to adapt to climate change, a new study suggests. The research examines how more than 240 plant species could move in response to climate change, using both mainstream “macro” climate models and more high-definition “micro” climate models. It says: “Whereas macroclimate models predicted major range shifts (median 14 km shift), microclimate models predicted localised shifts, generally of less than 1 km, into favourable microclimates that more closely match observed patterns of establishment and extirpation.” Micromodels were more able to replicate small changes in plant habitat, such as sunlight exposure, according to the research.

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