Trump likely to name Exxon CEO secretary of state - source, New battery power-storage plants scheduled to keep UK lights on, & more
News
Trump likely to name Exxon CEO secretary of state – source
US president elect Donald Trump is rumoured to want Exxon chief executive Rex Tillerson as secretary of State. The oil major boss has close ties to the Russian government, Reuters says, and he has opposed US sanctions on Russia. Green groups have criticised the potential move, says the Hill. The Financial Times, the New York Times and others have more on the news. The New Yorker profiles Tillerson. Greens have also criticised Trump’s pick for the Department of the Interior, Cathy McMorris Rodgers, says the Hill, while Rick Perry could be put in charge of the energy department, according to Reuters. The Trump energy department transition team has requested names of employees involved in climate meetings, reports the Washington Post and others. The move sparked fears of a “witch hunt”, according to the Independent. Meanwhile Trump has told Fox News “nobody really knows” if climate change is real, according to the Washington Post. He is to be “studying” the Paris Agreement on climate change, says Climate Home. You can read a full transcript of the Trump interview at Time.
New battery power-storage plants scheduled to keep UK lights on
A government auction for power capacity to keep the lights on has secured a series of new battery storage plants, says the Guardian. The Capacity Market auction “dealt another blow” to government hopes for another dash for gas, it adds, with only small gas plants securing contracts. The auction results highlight rapid change in the UK’s energy sector, says the Financial Times, which also leads on batteries. The Times and the Telegraph focus on contracts worth £130m, secured by old coal plants for 2020/21. The plants, which are the UK’s most polluting, proved a cheaper option than new gas plants, the Telegraph says. The Times notes government plans to close all unabated coal plants by 2025.
Cows and rice paddies boost methane emissions: study
Global methane emissions have surged in recent years, threatening efforts to slow climate change, according to a widely covered international study. Methane concentrations began to surge around 2007, it says, and rose very rapidly during 2014 and 2015. Additional attention on methane is “urgently needed”, the study says, according to AFP. The BBC and the Washington Post also cover the new research. The study authors write about their work for the Conversation.
Foreign aid officials lose track of £274m climate fund handout
Some £274m of UK international climate finance has been given to the Strategic Climate Fund, created by president George W Bush in 2008, says the Times, in an article that prominently quotes the climate sceptic lobby group the Global Warming Policy Forum (GWPF). The Times says the fund lacks transparency.
Canada sets its first national carbon price at C$10 a tonne
The Canadian government has agreed a deal with almost all provinces to set a C$10 per tonne tax on CO2 emissions, reports Reuters. The pricing will be introduced in 2018, reports the New York Times. Climate Central also covers the news. Manitoba, one of two states opposing the move, appears to have reversed its position, leaving Saskatchewan as the sole opponent, reports Carbon Pulse.
Study backs wind power as key to reducing greenhouse emissions
UK wind farms prevented almost 36 million tonnes of CO2 in six years, according to an Edinburgh University study covered by the Press Association. The study suggests UK government figures underestimate the CO2 benefits of wind by around 10%, while the Scottish government overestimates the savings.
Comment
The Guardian view on flooding: more focus needed
A year after the floods that hit Cumbria, a Guardian editorial says flood resilience “should be a matter of intense and consistent focus in government…[but] this does not seem to be the case”. There needs to be bigger thinking about how to cope with flooding in future, it says, and the Environment Agency “may no longer be fit for purpose as it is”.
Climate Change Act has cost us the earth
The UK’s Climate Change Act will cost a cumulative £300bn by 2030, claims climate sceptic peer Matt Ridley in a comment for the Times. Ridley’s piece is based on a report for climate sceptic lobby group the Global Warming Policy Forum (GWPF) by Peter Lilley, one of the handful of MPs that voted against the Act. Ridley does not mention his own association with the GWPF. The report is also covered by David Rose for the Mail on Sunday, who picks up its claim that the Act will add £584 to average household bills by 2020. Separately, a senior partner at energy regulator Ofgem makes front page news at the Telegraph with comments claiming some households could be forced to “sit in the dark” as a result of a an energy supply crisis that he blames on renewable energy. Ofgem says the comments were made in a “personal capacity”. A Telegraph editorial covers Wright’s comments under the headline “Into the darkness”. The Press Association also covers Wright’s comments. Carbon Brief has previously looked at the cost of UK renewables policy and the Climate Change Act.
Science
Contemporary glacier retreat triggers a rapid landslide response, Great Aletsch Glacier, Switzerland
Scientists expect that climate change is likely to bring an increase in landslides triggered by retreating glaciers. In a new study of the Great Aletsch Glacier in Switzerland, researchers show that landslides could occur much more quickly after glacier melt than previously thought – even within a decade. The findings suggest a significant threat to inhabitants of glaciated mountain valleys around the globe, the researchers say.
Analogues for the railway network of Great Britain
Following extensive damage to UK railways from storms and flooding in recent winters, a new paper describes a programme to help adapt the rail network to extreme weather. The researchers identified “analogues” for the UK – parts of the world that already experience the weather conditions projected for the UK in the future, and that have similar rail infrastructure. The findings show that France, the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany and Denmark are all analogues for the UK, and the researchers have started working with representatives from the rail industries of these countries.
Other stories
- Climate denier David does it again (Open Mind )
- Reindeer becoming smaller due to global warming, research finds (The Telegraph )
- Squid may become favourite UK meal as seas become warmer (BBC News )
- Cryogenic storage offers hope for renewable energy (BBC News )
- Spain aims to raise environmental taxes to cut deficit (Reuters )
- Home Office forced to defend anti-fracking groups from extremism claims (The Observer )
- Transfer of power is to electric vehicles, whether oil producers like it or not (The Times )
- Big Oil should prepare for the lash of market forces (The Economist )