Energy in Demand News, August 25, 2024

In an article on the Guardian website, former UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown wonders where the urgency is to address climate change and the many other environmental and political threats. He writes: “Nor, even up against the existential problem of climate change (the planet is on course for a temperature increase of 2.7C above pre-industrial … Continue reading Energy in Demand News, August 25, 2024

Our energy and climate transition: au revoir Paris

In an excellent article on The Conversation website, James Dyke, Associate Professor in Earth System Science, University of Exeter; Robert Watson, Emeritus Professor in Environmental Sciences, University of East Anglia; Wolfgang Knorr, Senior Research Scientist, Physical Geography and Ecosystem Science, Lund University warn us that the time has come for us to leap.   The … Continue reading Our energy and climate transition: au revoir Paris

Energy in Demand News, August 18, 2024

Expanding oil production certainly gets a lot of attention these days. In an energy newsletter by the Financial Times (behind a paywall) this week, the lead article was on a technology breakthrough by Chevron that could extend the production lifespan of the US Gulf of Mexico oil basin and “and potentially bring billions of additional … Continue reading Energy in Demand News, August 18, 2024

It will be no simple task for farmers and the food sector to achieve net zero carbon emissions by 2050

In an article on Canada’s National Newswatch website, Alex Binkley discusses the challenges that Canada’s agrifood sector has in achieving net zero. No doubt this will be a similar problem in most countries.   Achieving net zero emissions no simple task for agrifood sector It will be no simple task for farmers and the food … Continue reading It will be no simple task for farmers and the food sector to achieve net zero carbon emissions by 2050

The impact of Africa’s growth on global carbon targets is likely to be low, especially in the short term

In an article on The Conversation website, Daniel M. Kammen, Professor of Energy, University of California, Berkeley and Oluwagbemisola Deborah Akinsipe, PhD Candidate in the Energy and Resources Group, University of California, Berkeley discuss their research into analysing how Africa’s growth could potentially affect efforts to reduce global warming or mitigate climate change.   African … Continue reading The impact of Africa’s growth on global carbon targets is likely to be low, especially in the short term

Nobel winners hit out at removal of fossil fuels from draft UN pact

Nearly 80 Nobel prizewinners and former world leaders have hit out at the removal of a specific mention of fossil fuels from the draft of a UN climate pact at the centre of a summit in New York next month. Nina Bo Wagner discusses the letter in an article on the Research Professional News website. … Continue reading Nobel winners hit out at removal of fossil fuels from draft UN pact

Energy in Demand News, August 11, 2024

This week Lord Adair Turner, the former chairman of the UK’s Climate Change Committee and the current chair of the Energy Transitions Commission, was interviewed in the Financial Times (behind a paywall). There are two particularly important quotes from him. The first concerns what it will cost to get to net zero: “In 2020, the … Continue reading Energy in Demand News, August 11, 2024

UK caught in dilemma to build new houses and yet maintain environmental targets

Rosa Silverman and Ollie Corfe write on the Telegraph website about the new UK Labour government that is determined to build on its green belt to accelerate the number of new homes. The problem is that this may be incompatible with the government’s environmental targets – and could create a major problem. This is an … Continue reading UK caught in dilemma to build new houses and yet maintain environmental targets

Zimbabwe’s energy transition

The Zimbabwean government is racing against time to meet the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goal 7: affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all by 2030. However, the race towards green energy is top-down and mostly privatised. New technology is being introduced or sold to individuals or small families, but renewable energy is not being … Continue reading Zimbabwe’s energy transition

Energy in Demand News, August 4, 2024

You may remember that in March 2023, the final instalment of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s (IPCC) Sixth Assessment Report (AR6) was published. This eight-year long undertaking from the world’s most authoritative scientific body on climate change detailed the devastating consequences of rising GHG emissions around the world — the destruction of homes, the … Continue reading Energy in Demand News, August 4, 2024