Renewables jump 70 per cent & councils across England have slashed climate change staff, & more

15.08.16

News

Renewables jump 70 per cent in shift away from fossil fuels

The world’s 20 biggest economies are now generating a share of their electricity from the sun and the wind that is 70% larger than it was five years ago, according to data compiled by Bloomberg New Energy Finance for the Financial Times. G20 countries collectively produced 8% of their electricity from renewables in 2015, up from 4.6% in 2010, and seven G20 members now generate more than 10% of their electricity from these sources, instead of just three in 2010.

Exclusive: Councils Across England Have Slashed Climate Change Staff After Funding Cuts, Analysis Reveals

DeSmogUK

Local governments across England have cut the number of staff working on climate change, according to a Freedom of Information request. In 38 councils, more than half have cut climate and sustainability positions since 2011, according to a Freedom of Information request. Some, such as Southampton and Nottingham, no long have any staff working directly on climate change issues.

Divided America: Global warming polarizes more than abortion

Associated Press

As part of an ongoing series on the economic, social and political divisions in American society, Associated Press explores divisions in society over climate change, interviewing a range of experts and people who are involved in fighting for either side, including one family where the father is a sceptic and the daughter is a climate activist.

China to use carbon scheme to boost electric car numbers: draft rules

Reuters

China has said that it plans to include carmakers in its planned national carbon trading scheme, in a draft of rules that are currently being circulated around the industry. The idea behind this would be to encourage the manufacture of more electric vehicles. Domestic manufacturers and importers of fossil fuel cars will have to participate in the scheme once they meet a minimum production or sales threshold, the draft says, although there are no details yet on what this threshold might be or when the programme will be implemented.

Hinkley Point partner making reactors for disputed islands

The Times

Fresh scrutiny has thrown up more issues surrounding the China National Nuclear Corporation, the UK’s Chinese partner in building the Hinkley C nuclear power station in Somerset. The state-owned company has been working on a design to construct as many as 20 floating reactors “to help colonise disputed islands in the South China Sea”, says the Times. The Spratly Islands, for which they would provide fresh water and electricity, are claimed by countries including Vietnam, Malaysia and Brunei. CNNC is developing the reactor technology “to support China’s effective control in the South China Sea,” according to one a state-run Chinese newspaper.

Comment

Britain’s vast national gamble on wind power may yet pay off

Ambrose Evans-Pritchard, The Telegraph

Wind power does not have many friends on the right, writes Telegraph business editor Ambrose Evans-Pritchard, but this is based on the mistaken assumption that early hiccups in the technology still apply today. He says that, today, costs are coming down fast, Britain provides optimal conditions for the deployment of offshore wind, and in the aftermath of the UN Paris deal, those who drag their feet on renewables could be penalised. He adds: “Nothing would be more disastrous for the diplomatic credibility of this country in the febrile post-Brexit mood than to resile from core global commitments. Nor is it necessary.”

Hinkley C’s future is in doubt. Let’s turn our sights to offshore wind

Huub den Rooijen, The Guardian

The Crown Estate’s director of energy, minerals and infrastructure has waded into the debate over Hinkley C, suggesting that offshore wind should be seen as a viable alternative to the controversial nuclear power station. In particular, the author looks at the situation in the Netherlands, where a recent offshore wind tender means the Dutch are going to be paying significantly less for some of their electricity than the cost of the electricity from Hinkley. “As active managers of the UK seabed, including awarding leases for offshore wind, we take a keen interest in this result,” he writes.

UK PM should seize chance to overhaul energy policy

Jonathan Ford, The Financial Times

The Financial Times’ chief leader writer Jonathan Ford argues that the UK needs to build more thermal power plants in order to ensure that the UK has enough electricity for the future. He says: “If there is little danger of the lights going off, that is mainly because the grid has kept open some dirty old coal-fired stations that would otherwise have shut by striking temporary supply contracts with them.” He argues that Brexit provides an opportunity for the UK to push back on its 2030 climate target, which he says is “arbitrary”, in order “to give more time for R&D to bear fruit”.

Security is not the only reason to cancel Hinkley. There are many others

Editorial, The Observer

If the government does decide to scrap the Hinkley C nuclear power plant, it should not just be because of the security reasons that have recently come to the fore over Chinese involvement. According to an editorial in the Observer: “it should be because alternatives offer more value, efficiency, and safety. The potential cost to the taxpayer through subsidies to EDF and China, and the question marks about the EPR reactor – there still isn’t one in service anywhere in the world – are more pressing concerns than Chinese involvement.” The government should also ensure that there are “no hard feelings” in Beijing.

Science

The robustness of mid-latitude weather pattern changes due to Arctic sea-ice

Journal of Climate

While the mechanisms behind why the Arctic is warming faster than the rest of the world is understood, the impacts on northern hemisphere weather differ between models. A new analysis of ten sea-ice scenarios and 550 simulations finds that mid-latitude circulation changes do not scale directly with prescribed sea-ice anomalies and are not present in all scenarios, leading the authors to conclude that the impacts can be can be statistically significant under certain conditions, but the link is generally not robust.

Will Global Warming Make Hurricane Forecasting More Difficult?

Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society

Rapid intensification of hurricanes just before they make landfall is likely to become increasingly frequent and severe as the globe warms, according to new research. A review of two recent historical examples shows how these rare instances can cause the most harm, catching forecasters and populations off guard. Generally, hurricane track forecasts have improved steadily over the past few decades but predicting their intensity remains challenging, the paper notes.