New wind and biomass plants get go-ahead
News
Eight renewable energy projects approved
The BBC reports that eight major renewable energy projects havebeen given government approval, the first awarded under thegovernment’s energy market reforms. They comprise offshore windfarms and two biomass conversion projects at Drax and Lynemouth,although another project at Drax has not been approved. Theprojects still need to receive private investment.
Climate and energy news
Plan for 3,000 turbines ‘won’t be blown off course’
The number of onshore wind turbines is expected to double over thenext five years, despite Conservative opposition to them. Accordingto government, 7.2GW of onshore wind is already operating, 6GW hasbeen approved, and another 6GW is in the planning process. Ed Daveysays that most people support onshore wind, that it is a relativelycheap form of renewable power, and that a government target ofinstalling 13GW of onshore wind capacity will be easily reached.
Europe braces for gas showdown with Russia, helped by Japan’snuclear restart
EU countries are bolstering their gas reserves as worries overdeteriorating diplomatic relationships with Russia grow. Onealternative source of gas is LNG imported to the UK from Qatar:”Gas flows from Britain to Europe through the UK’s Interconnectorpipeline have soared over the past three weeks to almost 10bn cubicmetres (bcm), a sign that countries are boosting reserves eventhough stocks are high.”
Earth Day 2014: changing attitude to climate change is urgent, saysBan Ki-moon
On Earth Day, which was yesterday, “The UN Secretary General saidit is essential to recognise that our use of natural resources isunsustainable and burning fossil fuels causes climatechange.”
Poll: One in Four ‘Solidly Skeptical’ of GlobalWarming
Polling finds less Americans undecided about climate change, andmore skeptical: “The portion of Americans with mixed opinions aboutglobal warming has declined from 49 percent in 2001 to 36 percenttoday … while the number of people who say they’re “solidlyskeptical” of global warming has rocketed from 12 percent in 2001to 25 percent today.” The largest part of public opinion areconcerned about global warming and see mankind as itscause.
Climate and energy comment
Twodegrees:How the worldfailedonclimatechange
A two degrees target for limiting global temperature rise islooking increasingly difficult to meet, writes experiencedenvironment journalist Brad Plumer for new news site Vox. Thearticle assesses a range of opinions from scientists and analysts,to suggest that a series of “heroic assumptions” are required toprovide plausible ways for the world to stay below twodegrees.
Scientists Licking Wounds After Contentious Climate ReportNegotiations
Five blocks of text pertaining to the relationship between incomeand emissions were removed from the summary for policymakers of theIPCC’s working group three report, after countries including Chinaand Saudi Arabia opposed their inclusion. Some of the scientistsinvolved in the production of the report are unhappy about whatthey see as political interference.
Report: Eighty-Five Percent Of Climate Change Guests AreMen
Over 85 per cent of those recently quoted in the US media on thesubject climate change were men, a Media Matters analysissuggests.
Legal avenues to fight climate change are limited, butgrowing
A law professor assesses the legal framework around climatechange: “while legal systems are not currently well aligned to dealwith the injustices of climate change, it’s likely that legalrulings will ultimately turn against greenhouse gas emitters. Animproving scientific understanding of cause and effect shouldeventually provide the evidential basis required to establishliability for damage.”
Does El Niño Plus Global Warming Equal Global Temperature RecordsIn 2014 And 2015?
Scientists are suggesting that there is a good chance we may soonsee the recurrence of the natural climate cycle El Niño. This couldboost global temperatures: Joe Romm predicts “An El Niño appearsincreasingly likely this year … If it starts relatively quickly,then 2014 could well be the hottest year on record, but if it is astrong El Niño, as many currently expect, then 2015 would likelybreak all previous global records.”
Energy and Scottish independence
Analysis of claims and counter-claims about the effect of Scottishindependence on the energy sector: “Scottish renewables are gettingcheaper over time but the reverse is true in England and Wales[where there is a switch] to expensive offshore wind and smallscale PV. The subsidy cost of all Scottish renewables in 2020 …will be about £44 a megawatt hour compared to £93 in England andWales”.
Breaking Putin’s ‘stranglehold’ on energy? Good luck, EdDavey
Britain is dependent on hydrocarbon producers and will remain so,with “Shale oil and gas is a momentary sideshow in [the] greatenergy game”, writes the Telegraph’s Business News Editor. The UK’sfuture energy security “will increasingly depend on the benevolenceof major oil and gas producing states such as Qatar and Russia, notless. Unless, of course, the Government plans a major change to thenation’s energy policy with the construction of several new nuclearpower stations, even more wind generation, solar, and unpopularmeasures to cut consumption…”
New climate science
Increasing Storm Tides in New York Harbor,1844-2013
Three of the nine highest recorded water levels in the New YorkHarbour region have occurred since 2010, and eight of the largesttwenty have occurred since 1990. Looking at tide gauge data back to1844, a new paper finds the 10-year flood level has increased byapproximately 0.72?m, increasing the annual odds of breaching thetypical Manhattan seawall from less than 1 per cent to about 20 to25 per cent.
Uncertainties in Arctic sea ice thickness and volume: new estimatesand implications for trends
A new study estimates the change in Arctic sea ice volume betweentwo periods of satellite measurements – ICEsat from 2003 and 2008and CryoSat-2 from 2010 and 2012. The researchers find largeuncertainties in snow thickness and ice density, which they saycould mean the loss of sea ice volume may be less dramatic thanpreviously reported.