Beyond 1.5°C: a reason to act, not give up

The energy mix website continues following another post on the UNEP report published this week that reflects tension between accepting that 1.5°C will be exceeded and rejecting the idea that this means giving up. We simply can’t give up. ‘Call to Apathy, Not to Arms’ as UN Warns Climate Overshoot Is Inevitable, Downplays Fossil … Continue reading Beyond 1.5°C: a reason to act, not give up →

UNEP: World set to cross 1.5°C global warming, but can still limit, adapt to and return from higher temperatures

Report puts best-case scenario peak temperature rise at 1.8°C; others suggest over 2°C Above 1.5°C, climate impacts and risks of tipping points intensify with every fraction of a degree ‘Overshoot, peak and decline’ pathway best remaining option to help vulnerable nations and communities cope and return to below 1.5°C Global temperature rise is set to … Continue reading UNEP: World set to cross 1.5°C global warming, but can still limit, adapt to and return from higher temperatures →

Energy in Demand News, August 30, 2026

Europe’s new renewable energy champion is Romania, according to The Economist. Energy storage as become a key feature of its deployment of renewables. “Unlike many western European countries, Romania is deploying storage relatively early in its solar build-out, rather than trying to catch up after large amounts of solar capacity have already been installed,” says … Continue reading Energy in Demand News, August 30, 2026 →

The Odyssey’s climate warning for the modern world

In an article on the Deutsche Welle website, Maggie Quinlan discusses how Christopher Noland’s movie ‘The Odyssey’ is a bridge between past and present, and the idea that civilisations may be undone by accumulating climate stresses rather than one catastrophe. The Bronze Age collapse may have started with a water crisis. Today’s droughts raise … Continue reading The Odyssey’s climate warning for the modern world →

London is getting too hot for its trees

Verity Stevenson writes on the CBC News website that climate change could fundamentally alter one of London's defining characteristics—its extraordinary urban forest—and the city may have to rethink what it plants if it wants to remain green. London is famous for its great trees. More than 70% are at risk due to climate change, … Continue reading London is getting too hot for its trees →

Energy in Demand News, August 23-24, 2026

The Trump administration is doing everything possible to crush California’s environmental policies that have been respected world-wide, New York Times reports. “Mr. Trump and his Republican allies in Congress have blocked California from setting its own limits on automobile pollution, which federal law has permitted since the 1970s. The Energy Department has announced $75 million … Continue reading Energy in Demand News, August 23-24, 2026 →

Europe’s wildfire future: prevention helps, but climate action is essential

Tim Schauenberg writes on the Deutsche Welle website that Europe can reduce the growing wildfire threat through prevention and better management, but ultimately cannot manage its way out of continued climate warming. In another summer of European wildfires that have even seen wetlands burning, scientists say the situation is set to worsen in the future. … Continue reading Europe’s wildfire future: prevention helps, but climate action is essential →

The ‘forever chemicals’ hidden in the clean energy transition

In an article on the Deutsche Welle website, Stuart Braun questions whether the technologies intended to solve one environmental crisis depend on chemicals that create another. As nations globally move to ban forever chemicals, should renewable energy technologies be exempt for the sake of saving the climate? Can we go green without forever chemicals? … Continue reading The ‘forever chemicals’ hidden in the clean energy transition →

Energy in Demand News, August 16-17, 2026

The Financial Times, a newspaper of record for business and politics, has become almost passionate about climate change. “Even now, when weather records are being broken, when climate change is demonstrably here, not in the future, we seem frozen. We still go about our carbon-greedy lives: snapping up the last air-conditioning unit, booking another flight, … Continue reading Energy in Demand News, August 16-17, 2026 →

The growing cost of climate-proofing France’s energy system

A news item on the IN Power website discusses how the state-owned electric utility, Electricité de France (EDF), plans major investment in resilience across French generation assets. The €8.7 billion programme covers nuclear, hydropower, and island operations through 2040. EDF assigns €8.7bn to French generation resilience IN Brief: EDF’s €8.7 billion plan covers nuclear, … Continue reading The growing cost of climate-proofing France’s energy system →