Fall in suns energy will not halt global warming, say scientists
News
Solar minimum could bring cold winters to Europe
and US, but would not hold off climate
change
Solar cycles have a powerful effect on the world’s climate
but they are no match for global warming, according to new
research. A prolonged period of lower solar output wouldn’t have
much impact on rising temperatures. However, it might increase the
chances of cold winters in Europe and the US.
Climate and energy news
Fall in sun’s energy will not halt global warming,
say scientists
The earth is facing a fall in solar activity like that which
saw ice skating on the Thames in centuries past, says the Financial
Times, but the widely reported Met Office research says the changes
won’t dent global warming. A 100-200 year solar cycle could be
entering a low phase, says RTCC, not seen since the seventeenth
century Maunder Minimum. The Timessays global warming will
“offset [the] big freeze”. The Guardianand the
Independentalso have the story.
World power sector emissions seen peaking in 2029
– research
Global greenhouse gas emissions from the power sector are
expected to peak in 2029 and then start falling, according to
Bloomberg New Energy Finance. Its report predicts a solar surge,
says BusinessGreen, but it won’t be enough to
limit dangerous climate change. RTCCsays the report sees coal
overshadowing the sunny outlook for solar. Greenpeace Energydeskpicks out
four lessons from the Bloomberg report, including that gas may have
a limited role as a transition fuel between coal and renewables.
The world will invest $3.7tn in solar by 2040, reports
The Washington Post. But the extent of
any solar surge/revolution is questioned by Carbon Counter.
UK officials delay shale permit decision to
Wednesday
Lancashire County Council’s planning committee will
reconvene this morning to decide whether the first fracking in the
UK for four years should be allowed to proceed. Councillors heard
evidence from locals and businesses for and against the plans put
forward by shale firm Cuadrilla, but ran out of time to make a
decision. They will consider a second application tomorrow and
Friday. Hundreds attended a protest outside the meeting,
reports The Guardian.
Amber Rudd: 250 onshore wind farm projects
‘unlikely’ to be built
Energy and climate change secretary Amber Rudd has told
parliament that 250 onshore windfarms may now not be built,
following the early closure of one government subsidy scheme.
Doubts continue to hang over onshore wind’s place in a second,
newer scheme, BusinessGreen reports. The Telegraphreports her claim
that the change could save “hundreds of millions of pounds”.
How Do You Get People To Care About Climate
Change? Talk About Public
Health
Personal messages such as talking about health impacts are
most likely to break through public apathy about climate change,
according to panelists at a White House health and climate summit.
“Individual stories will almost always trump a litany of
statistics,” says George Mason University’s Edward Mailbach, in
comments reported by Climate Progress. The Hillsays the White House is
making a public health pitch for climate action.
China puts $6 trillion price tag on its climate
plan
It will cost China more than $6.6tn to meet its expected
climate goals according to comments from the country’s lead
negotiator, reported by Reuters. Xie Zhenhua says China will
outline its climate pledge to the UN by the end of the month and
that it will be “quite ambitious”.
Top Dem: Carbon tax could come if Clinton
wins
Hillary Clinton could introduce a carbon tax if she becomes
US president and secures controls of the senate in elections in
2016, according to senior senate Democrat Chuck Schumer. There’s
almost no chance of such a tax passing the current senate, reports
The Hill. Republican presidential hopeful Jeb Bush says he will
“continue to embrace” carbon emissions reductions,
reports Greenpeace Energydesk.
Climate and energy comment
A moonshot to save a warming
planet
Improved technology might break the link between prosperity
and emissions by ending our dependence on the burning of fossil
fuels, writes Martin Wolf in the Financial Times. He backs the
findings of the Global Apollo Programme report,
published earlier this month, which said public funding for
renewable energy research was sorely lacking. Wolf says the project
is essential, its costs modest and the potential upsides enormous.
Tories are backing the wrong horses when it comes
to energy
Peter
Strachan and Alex Russell, The Conversation
The Conservative government’s approach to energy,
particularly wind energy, is “very unwise”, say two Scottish energy
experts in the Conversation. Its plans are damaging relations with
the Scottish government and are likely to increase consumer bills,
they say. They add that the costs of offshore wind in the UK
compare rather unfavourably to those in Denmark, where windfarms at
sea now cost less than the proposed new nuclear plant at Hinkley
Point in Somerset.
New climate science
Emission budget approaches for burden sharing:
some thoughts from an environmental economics point of
view
A new paper examines the use of carbon budgets as a device
for sharing out the burden for tackling climate change between
different countries. The budget approach can serve as a tool to
communicate the urgency of action against climate change and to
remind representatives from industrialised countries of their
historical responsibility, the authors conclude.
Stakeholder Perspectives on the Attribution of
Extreme Weather Events: An Explorative
Enquiry
Studies that evaluate the role of human activity in the
changing odds of extreme weather events are getting attention
beyond academic circles. Using the hot and dry summer 2012 in
South-East Europe as an case study, a new paper looks at ideas for
how to make such studies meaningful to the general public and
decision-makers.
Massive nitrous oxide emissions from the tropical
South Pacific Ocean
The oceans emit vast amounts of nitrous oxide, a potent
greenhouse gas, through natural processes. New measurements that
aim to pin down how and where this is happening have identified a
hotspot along the coat of Peru, where emissions of the gas are
between 5-20% of previous estimates for the whole globe.
Other stories
- Why the solar-plus-battery revolution may be
closer than you think (Washington Post Energy Environment) - Miscalculating climate risks could see credit
crunch repeated, study warns (BusinessGreen) - A beginner’s guide to fossil fuel
divestment (The Guardian) - Austria to file legal complaint against UK’s
Hinkley Point nuclear plans (AFP via The Telegraph) - ()