Energy in Demand News… July 23, 2023
The fossil fuel industry is playing an increasing role at global climate summits, and, it seems, especially at upcoming COP28. A column this week by Pilita Clark in the Financial Times (behind a paywall) argues that “we should not expect the fossil fuel industry to lead us out of a crisis caused by fossil fuels. Only governments have the power to cut demand for these fuels, and their job has barely started.” She questions the role that the fossil fuel industries can play. One passage is instructive: “On July 6, as scientists confirmed Earth had just had its hottest June on record by a “substantial margin”, the BBC broadcast an interview with Wael Sawan, Shell’s chief executive, who said cutting oil and gas production would be “dangerous and irresponsible”.” Really? This is the position that is being allowed ever greater prominence at climate talks. It bears repeating: “Only governments have the power to cut demand for these fuels, and their job has barely started.” Governments must play that rightful role, despite industry pressure. Time to ramp up now!
It is reassuring that the new president of the World Bank, Ajay Banga, has moved swiftly to create the Private Sector Investment Lab with 15 financial sector CEOs as founding members. The Lab will develop solutions to address the barriers to private sector investment in emerging markets. As the press release states, “the Lab will identify and focus on specific approaches that can be implemented and scaled by the World Bank to mobilize capital more effe
ctively, with the ultimate goal of crowding in greater levels of private finance.” It is a crucial complement to the public sector role in financing to address mitigation and adaptation needs in emerging economies. We seriously need both.
EiD would like to draw your attention to a new podcast series co-produced by the Global SDG7 Hubs and The Energy Talk focusing on how distributed renewables can transform livelihoods and lives in the Global South. In the first episode, Distributed Energy for People and the Planet, host Marilyn Smith is relieved that such distressing statistics are balanced with exciting news from Harish Hande (SELCO Foundation) and Gauri Singh (IRENA). The combination of ‘practical solutions and policy action’ for distributed energy holds the power to transform socio-economic development at local scales. Listen in for brilliant examples of how joint efforts are already delivering a ‘just, clean energy transition’.
This year the European Environment Agency invites avid photographers across Europe to capture both the good — sustainable, and not so good — unsustainable — production and consumption patterns, habits and behaviours in our daily lives. This year’s EEA photo competition ‘ZeroWaste PIX’, launched this week, calls us all to reflect on the state of modern lifestyles. The aim of ZeroWaste PIX is to raise awareness and inspire change, conveyed through photographs, whether it is an image of factories, landfills or a community garden that bring people together around a shared sense of purpose. Participants can enter photos in four categories: Circular and smart; Eco-lifestyles; Wasteful production; and Consumption mania. The competition remains open until October 3rd. More information on the categories, how to enter and contest rules are here.
A campaign for cheaper train travel in Europe was launched this week by Greenpeace, with a report lamenting that many of Europe’s trains cost more than double the equivalent trip on low-cost airlines (see related post this week). Nonetheless, it is encouraging that there is growing demand for train travel. Check out the best new European train routes launching in 2023 and 2024, according to Euronews. Interestingly, inews reports that in Gstaad and the valleys of Saanenland in Switzerland overnight guests can village-hop by train and bus for free. And, yes, you can escape the heatwave.
As for keeping cool, read the recent commentary from the IEA on “Keeping cool in a hotter world is using more energy, making efficiency more important than ever.” It is.
Nelson Mandela (1918-2013), a South African anti-apartheid activist, president of South Africa from 1994 to 1999 who was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1993, provides a valuable message as we get ready to travel: “There is nothing like returning to a place that remains unchanged to find the ways in which you yourself have altered.”
EiD welcomes your views about this week’s selection of posts on the zero-carbon energy transition:
Please send us your comments on any of the posts. EiD hopes you to follow us on Twitter at @EnergyDemand and @rodjanssen. Please recommend EiD to your friends and colleagues.
Energy in Demand - Sustainable Energy - Rod Janssen 
Benito Mueller provided this comment: While I agree that governments have a big role to play in changing consumer behaviour (to turn away from fossil fuels), I disagree that only they have the power to do so. Pilita Clark, the author of the quoted FT article, highlights the ‘explosive’ growth of electric car sales, which as far as I am aware was not primarily driven by governments but by private sector actors, notably Elon Musk’s campaign for high-end luxury EVs (for more on this sort of intervention, see http://www.COOL4climate.org). Another point that needs emphasising here is that there are renewable hydrocarbon fuels which are genuinely net-zero and sustainable which “oil and gas companies that appear to take climate change more seriously, such as BP” could easily embrace as alternative to traditional liquid fossil fuels and do so completely in their self-interest. An intriguing example of such synthetic hydro carbon fuel has been developed at the ETH in Zurich (for more see Rethinking air travel in a globally connected world: Beyond Flying? [http://blog.oxfordclimatepolicy.org/rethinking-air-travel-in-a-globally-connected-world-beyond-flying/]