Energy

This year’s climate summit has been described as a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to formally signal the beginning of the end of fossil fuels. The 28th conference of the parties (COP28) will be hosted by the United Arab Emirates (UAE) from November 30 to December 12. The president-delegate is Ahmed Al Jaber who is also the chief executive of the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC). Climate activists are outraged by the fact that this year’s summit is taking place in a petrostate and being hosted by an oil industry CEO.  While others believe that as the primary cause of climate change,...

Explore the hidden economic costs of fossil fuels – from environmental damage to healthcare expenses. Learn how transitioning to cleaner energy sources can save money and safeguard our future

Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber may have impressive green credentials, but many are saying his role as an oil company CEO disqualifies him as the host of this year’s global climate conference.  His critics say it is unconscionable that the head of a major oil producer is being allowed to oversee COP28. Al Jaber is the first CEO and the first head of an oil company to be president-designate of a COP meeting. His appointment has encountered considerable resistance from civil society and legislators. More than 400 environmental groups sent a letter to the UN secretary-general saying that Al Jaber’s position...

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) is working hard to sell sustainable development and green energy as the country prepares to host COP28 later this year.  The UAE is spending millions to pump up its green cred, while simultaneously planning massive increases in oil and gas production. The UAE’s efforts to position itself as a climate leader and global clean energy advocate are at odds with its core activities. Hydrocarbon production is antithetical to their rebranding efforts. There is no reconciling their ambitious climate commitments and their plans to increase oil and gas production.   The UAE’s public relations efforts are...

After years of insinuating itself into the COP process, a petrostate will host the COP28 climate talks later this year, and an oil company CEO will be the presiding president. This year’s Conference of the Parties (COP28) will take place from November 30 – December 12 in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). The UAE is an OPEC member and the seventh-largest oil producer in the world with the seventh-largest oil reserves. It will be hosted by president-designate Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber, the CEO of Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC). While the fossil fuel industry has been active during the...

Fossil fuels are at the center of the controversy surrounding the 2023 United Nations climate change conference known as COP28.   The precedent-setting host of this year’s UN Climate Conference of the Parties (COP28) is an oil executive from the United Arab Emirates (UAE), the world’s seventh-largest oil producer. The president-designate for the 2023 UNFCCC meeting is Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber, the CEO of Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC). Annual COPs are convened under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), which is an international treaty that aims to stabilize the global climate. Many are asking how an...

Renewable energy continues to grow at a prodigious rate, but are the tremendous advances we are seeing enough to keep us from exceeding the upper-temperature threshold limits?  Green energy has been steadily growing and in 2022, it grew even faster.  According to the IEA, global renewable electricity generation increased by 295 gigawatts in 2021 and added another 320 gigawatts in 2022.  Renewable sources of energy increased by more than 8.47 percent last year compared to 2021. Renewables were able to meet the significant increase in energy demand in 2022. Due largely to the uptick in clean energy, coal use has not increased as...

While renewable energy is widely touted as the future of energy, nuclear power is increasingly being discussed as a necessary part of the mix.  To combat climate change we must replace greenhouse gas (GHG) intensive fossil fuels with emissions-free energy. Although both nuclear and renewables are clean sources of energy, renewables (hydroelectric, solar, wind, and biogas) account for nearly 29 percent of the energy mix, while nuclear is only around 10 percent.  A breakdown of low carbon energy reveals that 11.4 percent comes from renewables, and only 4.3 percent comes from nuclear energy. A growing chorus is calling for emissions reduction...

Nuclear power is garnering an increasing amount of attention as a climate-friendly energy alternative to greenhouse gas (GHG) intensive fossil fuels.  Emissions-free nuclear energy is both safe and clean and as such it is a logical alternative to fossil fuels. Nuclear also generates a million times more energy per atom than the combustion of fossil fuels. The problem with fossil fuels Most of our serious and worsening environmental problems are related to the burning of fossil fuels. So it is not overly facile to suggest that ending fossil fuels is the answer,  A total of 70 percent of all carbon dioxide emissions in the atmosphere today...

Hyperbole bordering on hysteria has misinformed the debate about nuclear energy and obscured the facts. We have decades of data that clearly indicate nuclear is both safe and clean. The dangers have been wildly exaggerated and solutions to legitimate concerns like waste management have not received the attention they deserve.  What are the Dangers of Nuclear Power? The process of generating nuclear energy creates mutagenic gamma rays, which are a penetrating form of electromagnetic radiation that damage tissue and ionizes DNA. These high-energy photons must be contained or shielded by the design of the reactor and waste storage facilities to...