While there has been more environmental reporting, there have also been more academic studies that prove that there are serious grounds for doubt about the published environmental results. A Financial Times newsletter refers to one draft paper from King’s College London that uses data from Climate Trace, an open-access initiative that takes inputs from more than 300 satellites and thousands of sensors to provide estimates of GHG emissions from individual sites. “The authors calculated total detected emissions for 279 companies, and compared those figures with the ones that had been reported in their public disclosures. In theory, companies should have reported higher numbers, because the systems used by Climate Trace may not have captured all of their emissions. . . . In fact, the researchers found that 75 of the companies were significantly under-reporting their emissions — stating figures that were on average just a third of the level shown in the Climate Trace data. The under-reporting was particularly strong among mid-sized companies in the US oil and gas sector.” The article concludes: “The new paper may be of interest in Brussels, where EU officials are working to develop a more efficient framework for corporate emissions disclosures. Perhaps less so to Donald Trump’s US administration, which is moving to strike down the extensive disclosure requirements that Joe Biden’s government imposed on the oil and gas sector around methane emissions.”
The Washington Post reports on a new approach taken by the Trump administration: stop enforcing laws the president doesn’t like. “Trump officials say these efforts will allow the president to swiftly scrap regulations that are burdening a variety of businesses and industries. . . . The president on May 9 signed a memorandum directing the Energy Department “not to enforce” what he called “useless” water conservation standards for home appliances including bathtubs, faucets, showerheads and toilets. . . . Devin Watkins, an attorney at the Competitive Enterprise Institute, a conservative think tank that has long fought efficiency standards, praised Trump’s move.” No doubt the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy (ACEEE) will take a different view.
The Paris Agreement is a legally binding international treaty on climate change adopted at the UN Climate Change Conference (COP21) in Paris in December 2015. Its overarching goal is to hold “the increase in the global average temperature to well below 2°C above pre-industrial levels” and pursue efforts “to limit the temperature increase to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels.” This week the journal communications earth & environment published a paper, Warming of +1.5 °C is too high for polar ice sheets. We should be very worried.
For some positive news, EiD congratulates Renovate Europe and all the organisers for a successful C4E Forum held this week in Cavtat, Croatia. It was presented as the “go-to event” for the implementation of the EU’s Energy Performance of Buildings Directive and the Energy Efficiency Directive in Central and Eastern Europe. There were participants from 23 countries. Check out the news from the event. Great tag line: #NotYourAverageConference!
The European Council for an Energy Efficient Economy (eceee) recently announced that the next Zero Carbon event will be held in Rome next February 4-5, 2026. The event is co-organised with the Italian Federation for Energy Efficiency – FIRE.
In planning travel over the upcoming weeks, here are some useful ideas to help you along:
- Country Living Magazine provides 3 European train routes set to transform travel in 2025.
- World Walks provides us with the top spring walks in Europe.
- For those who want to combine hiking with food and wine in Europe and Australia, check out the Hedonistic Hiking website.
- Cycling for Softies provides us with the 15 Best Cycling Holidays in Europe 2025.
- Turin, Italy is embracing a new era, transforming from an industrial powerhouse into a flourishing tourism destination: Torino Named European Capital of Smart Tourism 2025.
Katherine Anne Porter (1890-1980), an American journalist, essayist, short story writer, novelist, poet, and political activist makes us wonder where our past is: “The past is never where you think you left it.”
EiD welcomes your views about this week’s selection of posts on the zero-carbon energy transition:
- Understanding the rise of anti-environmentalism
- Trust alone will not solve the climate crisis, but it plays a crucial role in shaping how societies respond to scientific guidance
- “This is when my consciousness about climate as a journalist truly awakened”
- The world has lost foremost proponent of energy conservation
- Builders are harnessing the power of AI to make the construction industry more efficient and sustainable
- Social Climate Fund could subsidise up to 20 million heat pumps across Europe, new study finds
- What if there were a battery that could release energy while trapping carbon dioxide?
- Spotlight on EU funded project: Innovative energy (efficiency) service models for sector integration via blockchain (InEExS)
- Why French men have a higher carbon footprint than women
Please send your comments on any of the posts. Please recommend EiD to your friends and colleagues.
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Energy in Demand - Sustainable Energy - Rod Janssen 