Energy

June 15th is Global Wind Day, an opportunity to explore the power of wind energy to help reshape our energy systems, decarbonise our economies and boost jobs and growth. Wind is key to our energy mix because it reduces fossil fuel use which combats climate change and contributes to cleaner air. There is now more than 591GW of wind power capacity installed globally in 91 countries, with continued growth predicted. According to a report by the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) the U.S. added 7,588 megawatts (MW) of new wind power capacity in 2018 which is 21 percent of...

The largest-ever Arctic oil spill has drawn attention to warming-related feedback loops. The recent Siberian oil spill was caused by thawing permafrost which caused ground subsidence under a storage tank.  This is a pervasive problem in Russia as 65 percent of the country is covered by permafrost. Fires and melting sea ice are two additional feedback loops that exacerbate Arctic warming. The May 29, 2020 spill near the Siberian city of Norilsk in the Arctic Circle leaked 21,000 tons of diesel oil into the Ambarnaya River and turned the water blood red. Within days the leaked oil drifted more than...

Covid-19 is helping to drive a seismic shift in energy that will accelerate the rise of renewable energy and expedite the demise of dirty energy.  Replacing fossil fuels with clean energy is an absolutely essential part of keeping temperatures within acceptable limits. A report commissioned by the Guardian found that replacing fossil fuels with renewable energy could curb the rise in global temperatures and reduce CO2 emissions as much as 70 percent by 2050. Although it may be hard to see from where we are today, there is a hopeful upside to this deadly virus. There is little doubt that...

The coronavirus will result in one of the largest declines in greenhouse gas emissions (GHGs) in history.  This is the biggest emission reduction in more than seventy years.  In a mere matter of weeks COVID-19 has done what we have been trying to do for decades. This modern day plague has also dealt a significant blow to the fossil fuel industry and thousands of extraction and production companies are expected to become insolvent due to the oil crash of 2020. Any decrement in fossil fuel infrastructure increases the likelihood that we can keep temperatures below critical thresholds.According to data commissioned...

The oil crash of 2020 is driving down prices and contributing to the demise of the fossil fuel industry. This will drive hundreds and perhaps even thousands of companies into bankruptcy as part of a cascade of industry failures. In the face of oversupply and falling demand due to the coronavirus, the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and Russia agreed to cut oil output by 10 percent but this did not stop the free-fall. The fossil fuel industry was in trouble long before the start of the price war between Russia and OPEC. Market realities have been signaling...

The fossil fuel industry is dying and COVID-19 is expediting the demise of this climate-destroying monster. This comes after years of volatility and poor returns which had already forced many investors to concede that the industry is approaching the end of its life cycle. We know that phasing out fossil fuels could go a long way towards arresting climate change and the current market realities are inviting us to do so. According to a study published in the journal Nature Communications, we have a 64 percent chance of staying below 1.5 C above preindustrial levels if we stop building new...

Fossil fuels are a leading cause of climate change and research shows that ubiquitous spills and leaks are often far worse than reported.  This is according to studies out of Stanford University,  the University of Miami, Florida State University, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), the American Chemical Society (ACS) and North Dakota’s Department of Environmental Quality. Deepwater Horizon Ten years ago BP's Deepwater Horizon drilling rig exploded in the Gulf of Mexico. As a result oil poured into the Gulf of Mexico for nearly three months straight, resulting in the worst...

It is important to acknowledge where most of the current greenhouse gas emissions come from. The world still gets about 80 percent of its energy from fossil fuels and this generates the lion's share of emissions. According to the EIA, in 2017, carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from burning fossil fuels for energy were equal to about 76 percent of total U.S. anthropogenic GHG emissions (based on global warming potential) and about 93 percent of total U.S. anthropogenic CO2 emissions. As reported by MIT, as of 2011, the burning of fossil fuels was responsible for more than 36.6 billion metric tons...

The coronavirus pandemic has killed more than 4,000 people and infected more than 120,000, but on the upside it is cutting global carbon emissions for the first time in more than a decade. In China we have seen emissions fall by 25 percent (200 megatonnes of CO2). We are seeing a tremendous decline in emissions intensive air travel (global air traffic decreased by 4.3% in February) and a looming recession could decrease fossil fuel consumption and resultant emissions just like we saw in the recession of 2008-2008. Whether or not the coronavirus has long-term impacts depends on what we do....

The combination of market forces and changing public sensibilities are driving a major shift in the energy landscape. The need for renewable energy to combat climate change is incontrovertible, while a plethora of warnings tell us that we are rapidly exhausting our carbon budgets. Ending fossil fuels is a mathematical imperative if we are to have a chance of keeping temperatures from rising above the upper threshold limit of 1.5 - 2.0 C. In 2016 we were already seeing how diminishing profits were contributing to the fall of fossil fuel and the rise of renewables  In 2020 the momentum away...