Congratulations to the UK to finally bid farewell to the power of King Coal with the closing of its last coal-fired power plant. Britain opened the world’s first coal-burning power plant in 1882 (built by Thomas Edison) and now has become the first major country to end coal-fired power. Renewables’ share of UK electricity jumped from 14.6% in 2013 to 51% last year. Excellent. But, of some concern, the new UK government this week committed to almost £22 billion to fund carbon capture and storage (CCS) projects. Greenpeace said there was a danger of “locking ourselves into second-rate solutions”. Quoted in the Guardian, Doug Parr, policy director at Greenpeace UK, said: “For a government that is committed to tackling the climate crisis, £22bn is a lot of money to spend on something that is going to extend the life of planet-heating oil and gas production.” And scouring all the articles written on the government’s new commitment, there was no evidence of the government giving a new priority to improved energy efficiency. Well, maybe we can take some assurance that the UK is still committed to meeting the COP28 objective of doubling the global average annual rate of energy efficiency improvements by 2030. The government had better not lose sight of that commitment. All governments had better not lose sight of that commitment.
In the context of COP29 in Azerbaijan in November, there is a global call to the UNFCCC to include cultural heritage, the arts and creative sectors in climate policy. Helen Prior wrote the paper How Can Music Help Us to Address the Climate Crisis? that attempts to identify areas in which research in music psychology provides evidence to suggest that music could play a role in influencing environment-related beliefs and behaviour.
The IEA Technology Collaboration Programme on Energy in Buildings and Communities (IEA EBC TCP) and Annex 88 “Evaluation and Demonstration of Actual Energy Efficiency of Heat Pump Systems in Buildings” has a webinar series starting soon on “How can we estimate actual energy performance of heat pump systems in buildings for better design?” It is in two parts and you can register here.
To ensure that the zero carbon energy transition gains momentum we need a new generation of experts to continue the good work. EiD encourages all young researchers (born after 1989) in energy efficiency and biomass to submit contributions for next year’s Young Energy Researchers Conference on March 5th as part of World Sustainable Energy Days, March 5-8, 2025 in Wels, Austria. Altogether there are six conferences and a tradeshow packed into the four days. The theme of this year’s energy efficiency conference is “2025: Competitive, collective, climate-neutral!” Submissions for the young energy researchers conference are invited from any scientific field (e.g. technology, engineering, economics, social sciences, architecture, law, arts) and must be in English only. The deadline for submissions – October 10th – is this week. Rod is a member of the scientific committee for the young researchers’ conference.
In planning travel over the upcoming weeks, here is some useful ideas to help you along:
- Lonely Planet’s train expert provides his top 5 rail journeys in Europe for 2024.
- The new European Sleeper train will travel between Brussels and Venice, passing through nine different cities. Bookings are now open. Here’s a breakdown of costs and other travel tips.
- For the best hikes in Europe in 2024, there are many good suggestions on the 57 hours website.
- For those who want to combine hiking with food and wine, check out the Hedonistic Hiking website.
- Climbing House provides the 11 Top Climbing Spots in Europe.
- Epic Road Rides provides their choice of the best places to cycle in September and October.
- The Guardian provides 15 tips for the reluctant camper to love life beneath the stars.
Jimmy Carter (b. 1924), the 39th US President and Nobel laureate for promoting and expanding human rights, who turned 100 this week, provides inspiration to all of us: “You can do what you have to do, and sometimes you can do it even better than you think you can.”
EiD welcomes your views about this week’s selection of posts on the zero-carbon energy transition:
- New EEA report on how but smart renovations that focus on efficient use of energy and resources can help Europe increase the sustainability of its housing sector
- High schoolers are more interested and absorb more information about climate change when it’s presented as a game
- New policy brief from Bruegel on four risks that could derail progress towards the EU’s 2040 climate target
- World leaders at the next AI summit hosted by France will focus on the impact on the environment and jobs
- Demystifying AI’s energy footprint in industry
- Report from the ENERGYNOW SDG7 Action Forum 2024
- Targeting art galleries – what makes this form of protest so unpopular with the general public, and why climate activists have continued to return to galleries despite, or even because of, the resulting social outrage
- An “electric highway” coming to France
Please send your comments on any of the posts. Please follow us on X at @EnergyDemand and @rodjanssen. Please recommend EiD to your friends and colleagues.
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Energy in Demand - Sustainable Energy - Rod Janssen 