Daily Briefing |
TODAY'S CLIMATE AND ENERGY HEADLINES
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Every weekday morning, in time for your morning coffee, Carbon Brief sends out a free email known as the “Daily Briefing” to thousands of subscribers around the world. The email is a digest of the past 24 hours of media coverage related to climate change and energy, as well as our pick of the key studies published in peer-reviewed journals.
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Today's climate and energy headlines:
- Energy firms paid £4bn more for power than market rate, claims Labour
- Energy minister wants four million solar panels installed on government land and buildings
- £30million for National Grid wind turbines that don't work when it's windy
- Ministers accused of energy bill cut 'con' as £5-per-household saving will be paid back with interest
- Wind farms 'can wipe one-third off house prices', MP claims
- UK Power Networks says its response to holiday blackouts was too slow
- Number of households getting help with insulation plummets
- Government Green Deal helps just 500 homes
- How sustainable is your mince pie (and its palm oil)?
- Biofuels are good for our economy and our environment
- Big six energy companies caught in political spotlight
- Great story telling is vital to winning the green debate
- The people who stood up for climate change in the US in 2013
- Power 'tighter' but National Grid is 'prepared for anything'
- Shell: 'Profits guarantee future energy supplies'
- National Grid: Managing the nation's energy supplies
- A science news preview of 2014
- Energy groups pin hopes on carbon capture and storage
- The Ghost Of Climate Change Yet To Come
- World's climate warming faster than feared, scientists say
- Global warming will intensify drought, says new study
News.
Climate and energy news:.
Energy minister Greg Barker will soon confirm plans to
install one gigawatt’s worth of solar panels on government land,
the Telegraph reports.
Windfarms were paid £30 million to switch off when demand
was low or supply was too high in 2013, according to Renewable
Energy Foundation data. The Foundation also calculates that recent
storms boosted profits from windfarms, the Mailreports.
The government’s plans to save households £5 on their energy
bills next year allows network companies to reclaim the cost the
following year, with interest.
Geoffrey Cox, Conservative MP for West Devon and Torridge,
says local houses are being devalued by their proximity to
windfarms.
The head of one of the UK’s biggest power distributors says
it was slow to respond to Christmas blackouts because many staff
were on holiday.
1.61 million lofts were insulated in 2012, but only 110,000
were in 2013, according to new government data.
New government figures shows take up of Green Deal loans
remains low despite a recent marketing push, the Sun
reports.
Climate and energy comment:.
A Rainforest Foundation report scores mince pies based on
how ethically they source palm oil, a key ingredient.
The head of industry group the Renewable Energy Association
says “biofuel bashing” has become a popular sport, but the energy
source gets an unnecessarily bad rap.
Labour’s attack on the big six energy companies shows they
will be in the political spotlight for some time yet, says the
Guardian’s energy editor.
Andrew Simms reports from the Tyndall Centre’s Radical
Emissions Reduction conference where Professor Kevin Anderson said
the public’s lack of imagination to conceive that the world could
be different is an obstacle to tackling climate change.
From the CEO of the Weather Channel, to the public policy
director at the National Ski Areas Association – Anne Kelly runs
down eight climate champions in 2013.
Society’s communal habits – such as making a cup of tea
straight after Kate and Will said “I do” – can be annoying for
those trying to balance the electrical grid.
Shell UK’s chairman says energy companies must make profit
to ensure the country’s future energy needs are met.
National Grid’s chief executive tells the BBC that
“conserving energy, finding ways of using less just has to be a
part of the modern world”.
2014 should be a “big year for climate change”, says the
BBC’s environment analyst, Roger Harrabin.
The UK’s heavy industry is betting on the development of
carbon capture and storage to survive in a low carbon
world.
New climate science:.
Climate Progress rounds up the best research predicting climate
change impacts yet to occur.
A new study says the world’s climate is warming faster than
expected because previous predictions overestimated the cooling
effect of clouds, the Telegraph reports. TheGuardianalso covers the
research.
A new paper says global warming may not cause droughts, but is
expected to to make them more intense and set in quicker when they
occur.