May threatens Hinkley Point deal, Earth enters new geological epoch, & more
News
May threatens Hinkley Point deal
Prime minister Theresa May is set to fly into “a damaging row” with her Chinese hosts at next weekend’s G20 summit, says The Times, after British officials threatened to unravel a deal on Hinkley Point nuclear power station. One option on the table for the government is to give the go ahead for Hinkley Point but delay a decision on the planned reactors in Bradwell and Sizewell to allow further discussion about the effect of Chinese involvement on British security, reports The Guardian. On Sunday, Vincent de Rivaz, EDF’s UK chief executive, urged the UK government to set aside its concerns about Chinese involvement in the project. Writing in The Sunday Telegraph, de Rivaz said: “Some critics risk losing sight of the bigger picture by overlooking the positive impact and importance of this investment for Britain. We know and trust our Chinese partners.”Reuters, The Telegraph and The Guardian all covered de Rivaz’s comments over the weekend. Other supporters of Hinkley are staging a fight back, reported the Financial Times on Sunday, with union leaders calling for an end to the “faffing” over a scheme they say is crucial for keeping Britain’s lights on. Elsewhere, today’s Independent features warnings by the chief executive of Energy UK, Lawrence Slade, that the dawn of a ‘golden age’ of cheap and green energy is being put at risk by constant “tinkering” by the government that is driving away investors. As well as uncertainty over Hinkley, Slade cites changes to planning law to allow new windfarms to be blocked, the cancellation of a £1bn competition to design an effective carbon-capture-and-storage system and exemption from the climate change levy for renewable generators.
Earth has entered first new geological epoch in more than 11,500 years, scientists agree
Scientists say the 11,700-year-old geological epoch known as the Holocene ended in the mid 20th century, marking the start of a new “era of man”. Known formally as the Anthropocene and referred to as “the golden spike”, scientists has recommended to the International Geological Congress in Cape Town on Monday that the new period be added to the official Geologic Time Scale to mark the new period in which human activity is permanently influencing the chemistry of the atmosphere and Earth’s climate. After several years of deliberation over the period’s official start date, scientists seem to have settled around the 1950 mark, though the formal approval process by the International Geological Congress is not a quick process – potentially taking two years and requiring ratification by three other bodies before it becomes official. Mail Online has the story, while TIME has an obituary to the Holocene.
Insurers call on G20 to phase out fossil fuel subsidies by 2020
Three of the world’s biggest insurers have called on the group of 20 developed nations to set a timetable for a “full and equitable” phase out of subsidies for fossil fuels by 2020. Aviva, Aegon NV and MS Amlin said fossil fuel subsidies were at odds with nations’ commitments under the Paris Agreement to tackle climate change. A joint statement said the G20 must go further than its current commitment to phase out “inefficient fossil fuel subsidies that encourage wasteful consumption” over the “medium term”, reports Climate Home. Aviva CEO Mark Wilson called fossil fuel said “distort the energy market” and are “simply unsustainable,” adding: “Climate change in particular represents the mother of all risks – to business and to society as a whole.” The G20 will meet at a summit in the Chinese city of Hangzhou on Sept. 4-5.
Batteries power UK switch to renewables
The UK’s energy system entered a new era on Friday with the announcement that eight huge battery systems will be used to help the country’s power grid cope with the influx of wind and solar power, says the FT. National Grid confirmed EDF Energy, E.On and Vattenfall were among eight companies winning contracts worth £66m to supply power to the electricity system in a bid to help balance energy supply and demand on the UK grid. The batteries can respond within less than a second to either deliver or absorb power to or from the grid, bringing the system back into balance, explains The Telegraph. BusinessGreen has more on the story.
Factory machines to heat homes under huge green networks plan
Warmth generated by industrial machinery, geothermal energy and even Tube trains could be used to heat thousands of homes under a new government-backed scheme. Heat networks transporting hot water or steam to entire neighbourhoods are seen as one way to meet targets for greener forms of heating replacing gas-fired boilers. Ministers are due to announce the latest 38 councils to win funding to work on feasibility studies, taking the total number of local authorities working on such plans up to 131 out of the 381 in England and Wales.
Comment
US election: Nobody is talking about climate change
The Financial Times, Edward Luce
With climate change not featuring highly on the US election campaign trails and ranking near the bottom of the list of voters’ concerns, is democracy on course to duck the biggest challenge of our age? Luce says: “There are two big obstacles. The first is that voters increasingly distrust experts nowadays…Second, people are afraid that doing something about global warming will make them poorer…Will the 2016 election make any difference? Forecasting short-term politics is harder than long-term weather.” Read a summary of what key Republicans and Democrats are saying on climate and energy in Carbon Brief’s US election tracker.
We’ve only just begun: more climate fights are coming
Climate Home has pulled together some of the key initiatives underway this year that will offer a sense of how seriously global leaders are taking efforts to tackle climate change. It’s a safe bet many heads of government may think they have done their bit on the international stage but the Paris deal isn’t the only game in town, says King. With fossil fuel subsidies, aviation and finance all featuring on the list, he says potentially the most important event for the climate since Paris will be the US election: “In terms of emissions, it’s a stark choice between Republicans and Democrats. Do you pick the party that says coal is clean, or the one that approved what activists say is the most ambitious climate policy platform on record?”
Greenland’s ice sheet is in danger. Here’s what we’re seeing on the frozen landscape.
Taugid Chappell, The Washington Post
The Washington Post’s energy and environment reporter, Chris Mooney, and senior video journalist, Whitney Shefte, are documenting their trip to Greenland to see firsthand the changes taking place on the diminishing ice sheet. The ice sheet lost 1 trillion tons of ice from 2011-2014 and earlier this year, logged its highest June and April temperatures ever recorded. You can follow their trip on the Post’s Instagram account.
Science
The resilience of Amazon forests emerges from plant trait diversity
A new study finds that Amazon forests may be able to adjust to new climate conditions via a process of “ecological sorting”, thereby protecting its function as a carbon sink. Using a terrestrial biogeochemical model, the authors describe how responding by increasing the diversity in plant traits can have a “strikingly positive” effect on Amazon trees, and should be considered in ecosystem projections.
Contribution of the Interdecadal Pacific Oscillation to twentieth century global surface temperature trends
A natural cycle known as the Interdecadal Pacific Oscillation was responsible for 27% of the discrepancy between the surface warming expected from greenhouse gas forcing and the warming actually observed in the period 1995-2013, according to new research. In other periods that have seen rapid warming, such as 1971-1995, the IPO has been responsible for around 75% of the extra warming on top of that expected from greenhouse gases alone.
Storm track processes and opposing influences of climate change
Extratropical storms contribute to rainfall, wind and temperature extremes in mid-latitude regions. Predicting how their passage will be affected by climate change is difficult, however, because different processes can have opposing influences on the temperature gradients that fuel them. A new study examines this “tug of war” and how progress in predicting storm tracks relies on better understanding how the opposing forces compare.
Other stories
- UK nuclear industry hit by fresh turmoil (The Financial Times)
- Britain’s refineries face battle for survival against global rivals (The Telegraph)
- Shipping markets must reward most efficient vessels, say researchers (BusinessGreen)
- Victoria to permanently ban fracking and coal seam gas exploration (The Guardian)
- Scientists have identified a key way the Amazon’s forests may adapt to climate change (The Washington Post)
- Obama to join Paris climate pact ‘as soon as possible’ (The Hill)
- Climate change looms large in Obama’s final trip to Asia (Reuters)
- Statoil makes flagship project profitable at $25 a barrel (The Financial Times)
- China drops carbon tax from new environmental law (Carbon Pulse)
- Greg Hunt’s approval of Adani’s Queensland mine upheld by federal court (The Guardian)
- Living with Hinkley: the view from Somerset on the £18bn nuclear plan (The Telegraph)
- Coastal councils are already adapting to rising seas – we’ve built a website to help (The Conversation)