» November 13 2018 - #Geopolitics #ClimateChange #EU [#EC] Europe is ready for climate impacts: Commission evaluates its strategy [...] Adapting the EU regions and economic sectors to the impacts of climate change is now more urgent than forecast in the EU’s 2013 adaptation strategy. This is one of the key findings of the Commission’s evaluation of the strategy published today. The analysis results in a report on lessons learned and reflections on improvements for future action [...]

» October 8 2018 - #Geopolitics #ClimateChange [#ipcc] The Special Report on Global Warming of 1.5ºC approved by the IPCC. Limiting global warming to 1.5ºC would require rapid, farreaching and unprecedented changes in all aspects of society, the IPCC said in a new assessment. With clear benefits to people and natural ecosystems, limiting global warming to 1.5ºC compared to 2ºC could go hand in hand with ensuring a more sustainable and equitable society, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). The Special Report on Global Warming of 1.5ºC was approved by the IPCC on Saturday in Incheon, Republic of Korea. It will be a key scientific input into the Katowice Climate Change Conference in Poland in December, when governments review the Paris Agreement to tackle climate change. “With more than 6,000 scientific references cited and the dedicated contribution of thousands of expert and government reviewers worldwide, this important report testifies to the breadth and policy relevance of the IPCC,” said Hoesung Lee, Chair of the IPCC. Ninety-one authors and review editors from 40 countries prepared the IPCC report in response to an invitation from the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) when it adopted the Paris Agreement in 2015. The report’s full name is Global Warming of 1.5°C, an IPCC special report on the impacts of global warming of 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels and related global greenhouse gas emission pathways, in the context of strengthening the global response to the threat of climate change, sustainable development, and efforts to eradicate poverty [...]

» October 3 2018 - #Geopolitics #UnitedStates [#bloomberg] #Kuwait #Oil to U.S. Stops for 1st Time Since 1990-91 Gulf War [...] Sign of the times [...]

» October 2 2018 - #Geopolitics #Oil [#woodmac] the spectre of #PeakOil supply [...] forecasts for the sources of oil supply to meet global oil demand through to 2040 [...] risk assumptions: Future reserves growth for conventional field and unconventional oil plays; Production forecasts for pre-FID projects and pre-drill tight oil; Volumes from other existing discoveries. High cost discoveries we deem sub-commercial are excluded. Invariably, the opportunity to develop known sources diminishes. A supply gap opens up in the mid-2020s, reaching 3 million b/d by 2030, 9 million b/d by 2035 and a formidable 15 million b/d by 2040. Barring technology breakthrough beyond what we already assume, we’ll need new oil discoveries [...]

» September 13 2018 - #RenewableEnergy #California [#SenateCaGov] Californians want a #CleanEnergy future. 100% Clean Energy. Senator de León announces #SB100 that puts California on the path to 100% fossil-fuel free electricity by the year 2045. 100% renewable energy means a cleaner and better future for our children [...]

» September 13 2018 - #Energy [#DNV] #EnergyTransition Outlook 2018. A global and regional forecast of the energy transition to 2050. 2014 #Coal Peaked, 2023 #Oil Peaks. 2026 #TransportEnrgyDemmand Peaks. 2033 #Nuclear Peaks. 2034 #NaturalGas Peaks [...]

» September 10 2018 - #FossilFuel #CarbonMarket [#Imperial] #Europe’s #Coal producers and #EnergyIntensive industries are the most exposed to a surge in the price on releasing the most common #GreenhouseGas into the atmosphere. #CarbonFutures in the continent’s #EmissionsTradingSystem reached their highest in a decade on Thursday, surpassing the psychological threshold of 20 euros ($23) a ton when energy users start taking note of the price. That’s up more than five-fold from less than 5 euros little more than a year ago [...] By adding to the cost of using the most polluting fuels, higher carbon prices are already persuading utilities to burn more natural gas and less coal and for energy-intensive users to invest in efficiency. It’s driven up electricity prices from Britain to Germany and Italy, prompting industry complaints [...]

» September 10 2018 - #Oil #FossilFuel [#Imperial] The company plains to apply advanced technologies and improvements in efficiency to reduce the #GreenhouseGasEmissions intensity of its operated #OilSands facilities. The company’s plans build on a longstanding commitment to improve the environmental footprint and economics of production associated with its oil sands operations [...] The application of next-generation oil recovery technology at Imperial’s Cold Lake in-situ operations, improvements in reliability at its Kearl mining facility and continuous improvements in energy efficiency are expected to be key drivers behind the reductions, which are anticipated to result in a 10 percent decrease in greenhouse gas emissions intensity by 2023, compared with 2016 levels [...]

» September 7 2018 - #RenewableEnergy #BlockchainTechnology #Geopolitics [#PE] #PoweLedger P2P Platform Goes Across the Meter with BCPG at T77 Precinct, Bangkok [...] Up to 635KW of Solar PV will be traded across four participating entities at Bangkok’s T77 precinct, including a shopping centre, international school, serviced apartments and a dental hospital. The trial is the first ‘across the meter’ energy trading project of its kind within the ASEAN region, with Thai utility Metropolitan Electricity Authority (MEA) allowing access to its network for the physical transaction of energy between participants. Power Ledger’s P2P platform will leverage participants’ excess renewable energy to help lower their energy costs and maximize the utilization of renewable energy. BCPG and Power Ledger have agreed to deploy the solution across other prospective sites a with total power generation capacity of 2MW over a 3-year period upon successful completion of the trial [...] [...] In electricity trading platform, each party can be both buyer and seller previously agreed on smart contract. The buyer buys electricity at the lowest price and the seller sells excess electricity at the highest price. The trading transaction will be settled through the Sparkz tokens, which is not affected by rates in cryptocurrency exchanges. This is the advantage of Power Ledger platform which can separate the access and exchange level into two processes – between consumers and BCPG, and between BCPG and Power Ledger, which eliminate the risk of cryptocurrency from consumers [...]

» September 6 2018 - #RenewableEnergy #PV #Geopolitics [#PE] #SaudiArabia and #Japan's SoftBank signed a $200bn agreement for the construction of a whopping 200 gigawatts of solar power generation capacity, scheduled for completion in the kingdom by 2030. This would turn the country into the world's largest solar producer. The scale of the project is epic. Equivalent to two-thirds of all the existing solar worldwide, it's about 100 times larger than the next-biggest proposed development—in Australia. Projected output would more than double what the global photovoltaic (PV) industry supplied last year. The project would also overtake the original Saudi target of a far more modest 9.5GW of renewable energy by 2023, as outlined in the country's National Renewable Energy Programme, which was launched just two years ago [...]

» September 4 2018 - #ClimateChange #CH4 #ZeroWaste [#c40] Currently, one-third of all the food produced for human consumption is lost or wasted, amounting to 1.3 billion tonnes every year. When food waste decays in landfills, it produces methane, a greenhouse gas 87 times more potent than CO2 at retaining heat in the atmosphere over a 20-year period and already causing 25% of current global warming. Yet when food scraps are separated and treated rather than sent to landfills, they can produce compost to grow new food and enhance the soil’s carbon capture capacity to pull CO2 from the atmosphere. and recover energy through anaerobic digestion and biogas utilization [...] 23 pioneering cities and regions committed to significantly cut the amount of waste they generate, accelerating them on the path toward zero waste. By signing C40’s Advancing Towards Zero Waste Declaration, these cities and regions have pledged to cut the amount of waste generated by each citizen 15% by 2030, reduce the amount of waste sent to landfills and incineration by 50% and increase the diversion rate to 70% by 2030. Signatory cities and regions include Auckland, Catalonia, Copenhagen, Dubai, London, Milan, Montreal, Navarra, New York City, Newburyport, Paris, Philadelphia, Portland, Rotterdam, San Francisco, San Jose, Santa Monica, Sydney, Tel Aviv, Tokyo, Toronto, Vancouver, & Washington D.C. [...]

» August 31 2018 - #Energy #GlobalEconomy #Oil [#bloomberg] Have the world’s largest oil companies learned their lesson from $80 billion of cost blowouts in major projects during the era of $100-crude? From liquefied natural gas in Mozambique to deep-oil in Guyana, the world’s biggest energy companies are gearing up to sanction the first slate of mega-projects since the price crash in 2014, Wood Mackenzie Ltd. analysts, including Angus Rodger, said in a report. Firms will approve about $300 billion in spending on such ventures in 2019 and 2020, more than in the three years from 2015 to 2017 combined. That spree will provide the first real test to the capital discipline that energy companies have vowed they adopted after oil’s collapse, when they downsized their ambitions and began to complete projects on time and below budget. Before the crash, the 15 biggest oil and gas projects combined went $80 billion over budget, eating away at investor returns [...]

» August 30 2018 - #Energy #GlobalEconomy #FutureEarth [#greentechmedia] #BMW’s Plan to Optimize #EV Charging With #Renewables on the Grid. Electric vehicles are cleaner than their gasoline-powered counterparts on a life-cycle basis, research shows. But they are not emissions-free. The total climate impact of operating an EV depends largely on the sources of electricity used to charge up the car's batteries. The U.S. electricity sector is steadily transitioning to lower-carbon energy resources. But what if the impact of dirty power plants could reduced or eliminated immediately by fueling up EVs with renewable energy that's already available? Well, that’s what BMW has been working on with Pacific Gas & Electric. In the second phase of the automaker’s ChargeForward pilot program, BMW has been developing the capability to align EV charging with renewable energy generation. PG&E provides a renewable energy projection to the car company, which is used to optimize charging in a way that maximizes the amount of renewables used to power participating vehicles. [...]

» August 30 2018 - #Energy #GlobalEconomy #FutureEarth [#greentechmedia] Xcel to Replace 2 Colorado #Coal Units With #Renewables and Storage [...] For the Public Service Company of Colorado (PSCo), an Xcel Energy subsidiary, that time is now [...] the utility won preliminary approval for its coal plant retirement plan. The Colorado Public Utilities Commission voted unanimously to allow for the early closure of coal-fired units 1 and 2 at Xcel’s Comanche Generating Station in Pueblo County. The units are capable of producing a combined 660 megawatts of coal-fired generation, which represents approximately one-third of PSCo’s remaining coal fleet. Under Xcel’s Colorado Clean Energy Plan (CEP), the Comanche coal units will be replaced with a $2.5 billion investment in renewables and battery storage — including of 1,131 megawatts of wind, 707 megawatts of solar PV, and 275 megawatts of battery storage across the state, including in Pueblo. Xcel estimates the transition will save ratepayers between $213 million and $374 million [...]

» August 27 2018 - #Geopolitcs #GlobalEconomy #FutureEarth [#corporateknight] #CleanEnergy’s explosive growth is good news for the global quest to confront #ClimateChange, but its geopolitical effects might not be uniformly beneficial. This should come as no surprise. #FossilFuels have driven not only #GlobalEconomicGrowth, but also global conflict. For decades, the #UnitedStates has waged wars and built international institutions to keep a thumb on the scales. As they replace fossil fuels, leading clean energy technologies – wind, solar, hydro, and nuclear energy – as well as emerging ones, such as electric vehicles and batteries, will reorganize power balances between energy producers and consumers and shift U.S. diplomatic interests. Recognizing the massive shifts ahead, this week the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) set up a commission to examine the geopolitical effects of clean energy technologies as they displace fossil fuels. The commission will examine changing trade patterns, cybersecurity risks and rare-earth mineral access. [...]

» August 23 2018 - #ClimateChange #ClimatePolitics #Geopolitcs #GlobalEconomy #TippingElements [#PNAS] Trajectories in the Earth System in the #Anthropocene. We explore the risk that self-reinforcing feedbacks could push the Earth System toward a planetary threshold that, if crossed, could prevent stabilization of the climate at intermediate temperature rises and cause continued warming on a “Hothouse Earth” pathway even as human emissions are reduced. Crossing the threshold would lead to a much higher global average temperature than any interglacial in the past 1.2 million years and to sea levels significantly higher than at any time in the Holocene. We examine the evidence that such a threshold might exist and where it might be. If the threshold is crossed, the resulting trajectory would likely cause serious disruptions to ecosystems, society, and economies. Collective human action is required to steer the Earth System away from a potential threshold and stabilize it in a habitable interglacial-like state. Such action entails stewardship of the entire Earth System—biosphere,climate, and societies—and could include decarbonization of the global economy, enhancement of biosphere carbon sinks, behavioral changes, technological innovations, new governance arrangements, and transformed social values [...]

» August 23 2018 - #RenewableEnergy #Geopolitcs [#Elsevier article] Productive use of energy – Pathway to development? Reviewing the outcomes and impacts of small-scale energy projects in the global south. Study evaluates if and how supply of sustainable energy supports productive uses. Analysis based on systematic impact evaluation of small-scale energy projects. Theory of change developed to assess development impacts of productive activities. Results show access to energy does not automatically trigger productive activities. Complementary activities necessary to realize full development potential of energy [...]

» August 22 2018 - #RenewableEnergy #Geopolitcs [#Enel’s] renewable arm #EnelGreenPower started construction of the 34 MW solar PV facility, which is located in southern Zambia and, once completed, is expected to produce around 70 GWh per year, avoiding the annual emission of over 45,000 tons of CO2 into the atmosphere. Enel will be investing approximately 40 million US dollars in the construction of Ngonye, which will be partly funded through a financing agreement signed with Zambia’s Industrial Development Corporation (IDC). The project, which is expected to enter into operation in the first quarter of 2019, is supported by a 25-year power purchase agreement with Zambia’s state-owned utility ZESCO [...]

» July 30 2018 - #Oil #Energy #Geopolitcs [#Bloomberg] #BP’s Biggest Deal Since 1999 Scores Prized BHP Shale Assets [...] The deal gives the London-based energy giant a position in the Permian, a swath of west Texas and New Mexico that’s the world’s fastest-growing major oil region. It’s another sign that BP has mostly rebounded from crude’s price crash and the fatal 2010 accident in the Gulf of Mexico that left it with a more than $60 billion bill [...]

» July 27 2018 - #NaturalGas #EnergyPolicy #Geopolitcs [#Bloomberg] #Europe to Become ‘Massive’ Buyer of #US #LNG [...] LNG imports to Europe are poised to rise almost 20 percent by 2040 from 2016 levels, according to International Energy Agency. While Russia has long been the region’s top supplier, it’s now facing significant challenges from both the U.S. and Qatar, rivals with vast natural gas reserves [...]

» July 24 2018 - #EnergyApplications #EnergySystems [#OurEnergyPolicy report] Promising #Blockchain Applications for #Energy: Separating the Signal from the Noise. Advances in digital technologies are unlocking new opportunities for businesses in every industry. Roughly 7.5 million digital devices come online each day, changing the way people and businesses communicate and collaborate around the world. Cloud computing has grown at breakneck speed, resulting in remarkable levels of operational scalability for firms of all sizes. And recent developments in artificial intelligence, enabled by digitalization, are already disrupting how we think about transportation, medicine, energy, and other critical sectors. Blockchain is part of this revolution – a high-value data management/transaction platform that is made possible by this increasingly digital economy. Its value to energy systems and some key energy applications are the focus of this analysis [...]

» July 23 2018 - #ClimateChange #Finance [#WB] World Bank Group Exceeds its #ClimateFinance Target with Record Year. The World Bank Group announced that in fiscal year 2018, 32.1 percent of its financing had climate co-benefits – already exceeding the target set in 2015 that 28 percent of its lending volume would be climate-related by 2020. This amounted to a record-setting $20.5 billion in climate-related finance delivered in the last fiscal year - the result of an institution-wide effort to mainstream climate considerations into all development projects [...]

» July 23 2018 - #Energy #Business #Finance [#reuters] #BlackRock Inc (BLK.N) is planning to raise $3.5 billion for investments in energy infrastructure in what is poised to be its largest alternative investment fund yet [...] The company announced [...] that it has already raised $1.5 billion for the Global Energy and Power Infrastructure Fund III. The private fund will focus on operating infrastructure, such as power plants, pipelines and wind farms, in developed markets, potentially including the United States. Mark Florian, BlackRock’s global head of its energy and power infrastructure team, said there is growing demand for new infrastructure as countries around the world shift from coal and nuclear power sources to natural gas and renewable energy [...] Overall, BlackRock manages $6.3 trillion in assets, including $41 billion on the “real assets” team that includes the energy infrastructure business [...]

» July 22 2018 - #FossilFuel #Finance [#RAN] Banking on #ClimateChange: #FossilFuelFinance Report Card 2018. Banks increased extreme fossil fuel financing last year, led by a more than doubling in finance for tar sands companies and pipelines [...]

» July 20 2018 - #Oil [#WSJ] Houston New Status as Oil-Futures Hub. Houston is set to get its own oil futures, a sign of the city’s growing importance as the U.S. sends more crude abroad. Intercontinental Exchange Inc. is planning a new crude futures contract with physical delivery in Houston [...]

» July 20 2018 - #Oil #WTI #Futures [#ICE] Intercontinental Exchange, Inc. (NYSE:ICE), a leading operator of global exchanges and clearing houses and provider of data and listings services, announced plans to launch a physically delivered Permian West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil futures contract, deliverable in Houston, Texas. The Houston delivery point has become the pricing center for U.S. crude oil production and exports, and the new flat price futures contract is designed to serve hedging and trading opportunities in this growing market. The contract is expected to launch on ICE Futures U.S. in the third quarter, subject to regulatory review. With the growth in shale oil production in the Permian basin in West Texas, which is now estimated at 2.8 million barrels a day, and increased U.S. exports alongside growing Asian demand for light sweet crude oil, Houston has become the central delivery point for U.S. crude. The ICE Permian WTI futures contract is designed to provide price discovery, settlement and delivery at Magellan Midstream Partners, L.P.’s (NYSE: MMP) terminal in East Houston. “The U.S. Gulf Coast, with Houston as its trading hub, is the natural delivery point for a North American crude oil benchmark based on WTI from the Permian Basin,” said Jeff Barbuto, Vice President of Oil Markets at ICE. “We’re excited to work with Magellan to offer a new tool for price discovery and risk management for U.S. crude production and exports. The recent price divergence between Cushing-based WTI and Brent is a reminder that although Cushing is a marker for local crude fundamentals in the midcontinent, it diverges for pricing waterborne U.S. crude. We are working with the market to provide a reliable and predictable quality specification and location that is relevant to global crude pricing, and accessible for domestic and foreign buyers alike.” [...]

» July 18 2018 - #Energy #EnergyFuture [#IEA report] World #EnergyInvestment 2018. Total energy investment has fallen again. 2017 was the third consecutive year of decline in global energy investment with energy efficiency the lone sector of growth. Despite a 6% decline in spending, the electricity sector again attracted the largest share of energy sector investments, exceeding the oil and gas industry for the second year in row, as the energy sector moves toward greater electrification [...] Electricity investment has shifted towards renewables, networks and flexibility. Yet, renewable power investment declined in 2017 by 7%, despite record levels of spending on solar PV. Moreover, the expected output from low-carbon power investments fell 10% in 2017 and did not keep pace with demand growth [...]

» July 17 2018 - #Oil #Market #Geopolitics [#PE] #Opec and #IEA diverge on world’s capacity cushion. While the International Energy Agency's monthly report projected that capacity could be "stretched to the limit", Opec said rising supply, particularly from its rivals, will easily meet slowing global demand growth [...]

» July 13 2018 - #ClimateChange #US #ClimateResilience [#NAP National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine] Review of the Draft Fourth National #ClimateAssessment. Climate change poses many challenges that affect society and the natural world. With these challenges, however, come opportunities to respond. By taking steps to adapt to and mitigate climate change, the risks to society and the impacts of continued climate change can be lessened. The National Climate Assessment, coordinated by the U.S. Global Change Research Program, is a mandated report intended to inform response decisions. Required to be developed every four years, these reports provide the most comprehensive and up-to-date evaluation of climate change impacts available for the United States, making them a unique and important climate change document. The draft Fourth National Climate Assessment (NCA4) report reviewed here addresses a wide range of topics of high importance to the United States and society more broadly, extending from human health and community well-being, to the built environment, to businesses and economies, to ecosystems and natural resources. This report evaluates the draft NCA4 to determine if it meets the requirements of the federal mandate, whether it provides accurate information grounded in the scientific literature, and whether it effectively communicates climate science, impacts, and responses for general audiences including the public, decision makers, and other stakeholders [...]

» July 12 2018 - #Waterfootprint #ClimateResilience [#IHA] #Hydropower Sustainability Assessment Protocol. The Hydropower Sustainability Assessment Protocol is a tool for assessing projects across a range of social, environmental, technical and economic criteria. The Protocol provides an international common language on how these criteria can be addressed at all stages of a project's lifestyle: planning, preparation, implementation and operation. Assessments use objective evidence to create a sustainability profile, which can be used to identify gaps and drive continuous improvement. These assessments are delivered by fully accredited assessor [...]

» July 11 2018 - #EnergyPolicy #Geopolitics #UK [#theguardian] Cool down #Nuclear plan because #Renewables are better bet. Government advisers have told ministers to back only a single new nuclear power station after Hinkley Point C in the next few years, because renewable energy sources could prove a safer investment. The National Infrastructure Commission (NIC) said the government should cool down plans for a nuclear new build programme that envisage as many as six plants being built [...]

» July 10 2018 - #Oil #Geopolitics [#Bloomberg #Bernstein] Fears about an oil spike above $150. Companies have been compelled to focus on boosting returns and shareholder distributions at the expense of capital expenditures aimed at finding new supplies [...] That’s causing reserves at major producers to fall and the industry’s reinvestment ratio to plunge to the lowest in a generation, paving the way for oil prices to surpass records reached last decade [...]

» June 29 2018 - #CircularEconomy [#EU] Delivering on the EU Action Plan for the Circular Economy - Council conclusions. The European Plastics Strategy. The Interface between Chemical, Product and Waste legislation. Monitoring and follow-up [...]

» June 29 2018 - #EnergyPolicy [#EU] #RenewableEnergy: Council confirms deal reached with the European Parliament. The agreement sets a headline target of 32% energy from renewable sources at EU level for 2030. There is a clause to review this target in the event of changes in demand of energy consumption and to take account of the EU's international obligations [...]

» June 27 2018 - #ClimateChange [#ClimatePolicy Journal] Decision making under uncertainty in climate change mitigation: introducing multiple actor motivations, agency and influence. Climate change mitigation has two main characteristics that interact to make it an extremely demanding challenge of governance: the complexity of the socio-technical systems that must be transformed to avoid climate change and the presence of profound uncertainties. A number of tools and approaches exist, which aim to help manage these challenges and support long-term decision making. However, most tools and approaches assume that there is one decision maker with clearly defined objectives. The interaction between decision makers with differing perspectives and agency is an additional uncertainty that is rarely addressed, despite the wide recognition that action is required at multiple scales and by multiple actors. This article draws inspiration from dynamic adaptive policy pathways to build on current decision support methods, extending analysis to include the perspectives and agency of multiple actors through a case study of the UK construction sector. The findings demonstrate the importance of considering alignment between perspectives, agency and potential actions when developing plans; the need for mobilizing and advocacy actions to build momentum for radical change; and the crucial influence of interaction between actors. The decision support approach presented could improve decision making by reflecting the diversity and interaction of actors; identifying short-term actions that connect to long-term goals and keeping future options open [...]

» June 27 2018 - #ClimateChange [#EBRD (European Bank for Recostruction and Development) #GCECA (Center of Excellence for Climate and Adaptation) Report] Advancing TCFD (Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures) Guidance on Physical #ClimateRisks and Opportunities. Weather records continue to be broken with relentless frequency. The impacts of a changing and more variable climate are becoming ever more apparent. This new climate reality is creating physical risks, but also opportunities that affect both companies and financial institutions. Therefore, there is an urgent need for better market information to enable business and finance to factor physical climate risks into their operations, decision-making and financial reporting. The TCFD recommendations on climate-related financial disclosures are already transforming the way that markets respond to climate change. We need to build on the TCFD recommendations and develop ways of disclosing physical climate risks and resilience opportunities in financial reporting. This requires better data, clear metrics and well-informed strategic planning. It also requires common ground rules that are understood and accepted across the market [...]

» June 27 2018 - #ClimateChange [#CaFoscari University of Venice] Climate change science and management. 2nd level university Master - academic year: 2018/19. Climate change is one of the main challenges facing the planet's population. Its impacts affect most of its geographical areas, all of its main production sectors and all aspects of social organisation forming the basis for civil cohabitation within a country and between countries. It is therefore important to know how to predict changes in the climate, assess their impact, manage their consequences and plan preventive measures. The Master's Programme provides the scientific competencies necessary to understand the mechanisms guiding climate and economic changes and assess the importance and, most importantly, the costs and benefits of the measures to be taken [...]

» June 25 2018 - #Oil #Geopolitics [#Opec] The 4th OPEC and non-OPEC Ministerial Meeting concludes ... Recalling the DOC reached on 10 December 2016; and noting that countries participating in the DOC have exceeded the required level of conformity that had reached 147% in May 2018. Accordingly, the 4th OPEC and non-OPEC Ministerial Meeting hereby decided that countries will strive to adhere to the overall conformity level, voluntarily adjusted to 100%, as of 1 July 2018 for the remaining duration of the DOC and for the JMMC to monitor the overall conformity level and report back to the OPEC and non-OPEC Ministerial Meeting. [...]

» June 22 2018 - #Oil #Geopolitics [#Opec] Opening address to the 174th Meeting of the OPEC Conference No 12/2018, Vienna, Austria ... focus is on making sure that the market is both well-supplied and balanced. This also includes looking beyond the short-term, with a specific focus on investments. So far in 2018, the pace of investment has gradually picked up, but we are still not seeing enough robust investment in long-cycle projects. These are the baseload of future supply, the foundation of this industry’s future, and will be vital to long-term global economic expansion. To put this into some perspective, in the period to 2040, the required global oil sector investment in OPEC’s World Oil Outlook is estimated to be $10.5 trillion, with oil demand set to surpass 111 million barrels a day by 2040 [...]

» June 21 2018 - #Oil #Geopolitics [#iea #OMR] Adding the boost to demand from the growing petrochemicals sector, where some projects are coming on stream earlier than previously thought, the result is Global oil demand growth for 2019 of 1.4 mb/d, similar to this year’s level. Of course, there are downside risks: these include the possibility of higher prices, a weakening of economic confidence, trade protectionism and a potential further strengthening of the US dollar. As far as supply is concerned, we have revised upwards our estimate for 2018 non-OPEC production growth to 2 mb/d and in 2019 we will also see bumper growth, albeit slightly reduced, of 1.7 mb/d [...]

» June 19 2018 - #Oil #Geopolitics [#bloomberg] U.S. Oil's Pricing and China Tariff. Crude pumped from the shale fields of Texas and wells in the Gulf of Mexico have been increasingly finding their way to Asia as American oil turned relatively cheaper versus supplies from other parts of the globe. While China has been the top importer of cargoes in the region, its proposed tariffs risk eroding the benefit from U.S. crude’s discount over other benchmarks that had opened the door for arbitrage shipments to flow east. The Asian nation imported 18.4 million barrels of American crude and oil products in March, making it the third-biggest customer behind Mexico and Canada [...]

» June 14 2018 - #EnergyPolicy #Geopolitics [#BP report] Statistical Review of World Energy. Global primary energy consumption grew strongly in 2017, led by natural gas and renewables, with coal's share of the energy mix continuing to decline. Primary energy consumption growth averaged 2.2% in 2017, up from 1.2 % last year and the fastest since 2013. This compares with the 10-year average of 1.7% per year. By fuel, natural gas accounted for the largest increment in energy consumption, followed by renewables and then oil. Energy consumption rose by 3.1% in China. China was the largest growth market for energy for the 17th consecutive year. Carbon emissions increased by 1.6%, after little or no growth for the three years from 2014 to 2016. The #Oil price (Dated Brent) averaged $54.19 per barrel, up from $43.73/barrel in 2016. This was the first annual increase since 2012. Global oil consumption growth averaged 1.8%, or 1.7 million barrels per day (b/d), above its 10-year average of 1.2% for the third consecutive year. China (500,000 b/d) and the US (190,000 b/d) were the single largest contributors to growth. Global oil production rose by 0.6 million b/d, below average for the second consecutive year. US (690,000 b/d) and Libya (440,000 b/d) posted the largest increases in output, while Saudi Arabia (-450,000 b/d) and Venezuela (-280,000 b/d) saw the largest declines. Refinery throughput rose by an above-average 1.6 million b/d, while refining capacity growth was only 0.6 million b/d, below average for the third consecutive year. As a result, refinery utilisation climbed to its highest level in nine years. #NaturalGas consumption rose by 96 billion cubic metres (bcm), or 3%, the fastest since 2010. Consumption growth was driven by China (31 bcm), the Middle East (28 bcm) and Europe (26 bcm). Consumption in the US fell by 1.2%, or 11 bcm. Global natural gas production increased by 131 bcm, or 4%, almost double the 10-year average growth rate. Russian growth was the largest at 46 bcm, followed by Iran (21 bcm). Gas trade expanded by 63 bcm, or 6.2%, with growth in LNG outpacing growth in pipeline trade. The increase in gas exports was driven largely by Australian and US LNG (up by 17 and 13 bcm respectively), and Russian pipeline exports (15 bcm). #Coal consumption increased by 25 million tonnes of oil equivalent (mtoe), or 1%, the first growth since 2013. Consumption growth was driven largely by India (18 mtoe), with China consumption also up slightly (4 Mtoe) following three successive annual declines during 2014-2016. OECD demand fell for the fourth year in a row (-4 mtoe). Coal’s share in primary energy fell to 27.6%, the lowest since 2004. World coal production grew by 105 mtoe or 3.2%, the fastest rate of growth since 2011. Production rose by 56 mtoe in China and 23 mtoe in the US. #Renewable power grew by 17%, higher than the 10-year average and the largest increment on record (69 mtoe). Wind provided more than half of renewables growth, while solar contributed more than a third despite accounting for just 21% of the total. In China, renewable power generation rose by 25 mtoe – a country record, and the second largest contribution to global primary energy growth from any single fuel and country, behind natural gas in China. #Hydroelectric power rose by just 0.9%, compared with the 10-year average of 2.9%. China’s growth was the slowest since 2011, while European output declined by 10.5% (-16 mtoe). Global #Nuclear generation grew by 1.1%. Growth in China (8 mtoe) and Japan (3 mtoe) was partially offset by declines in South Korea (-3 mtoe) and Taiwan (-2 mtoe). #PowerGeneration rose by 2.8%, close to the 10-year average. Practically all growth came from emerging economies (94%). Generation in the OECD has remained relatively flat since 2010. Renewables accounted for almost half of the growth in power generation (49%), with most of the remainder provided for by coal (44%). The share of renewables in global power generation increased from 7.4% to 8.4% [...]

» June 14 2018 - #G7 #FossilFuel #Geopolitics [#ODI #OCI #NRDC #gsi report] The G7 fossil fuel subsidy scorecard ranks the G7 countries according to seven indicators of the fossil fuel subsidy phase-out: transparency; pledges and commitments; ending support for coal mining; ending support for exploration; ending support for oil and gas production; ending support for fossil fuel-based power; and ending support for fossil fuel use. Each country has an overall score and ranking [...] less than seven years to meet their 2025 phase-out deadline, G7 governments continue to provide substantial support the production and use of oil, gas and coal. On average per year in 2015 and 2016 the G7 governments gave at least $81 billion in fiscal support and $20 billion in public finance, for both production and consumption of oil, gas and coal at home and overseas [...]

» June 7 2018 - #Oil #Geopolitics [#OPEC] 2018 Annual Statistical Bulletin. In 2017, world crude oil production declined by 701,000 b/d, or 0.9 per cent, as compared to 2016, to reach 74.69 mb/d, marking the first yearly decline since 2009. OPEC-14 crude oil production fell year-on-year by 926,000 b/d, or 2.8 per cent, while crude production in non-OPEC countries registered gains. World oil demand averaged 97.20 mb/d in 2017, up by 1.7 per cent y-o-y, with the largest increases taking place in Asia and Pacific region (particularly China and India), Europe and North America. The 2017 oil demand in Africa and the Middle East grew by around 100,000 b/d, as compared to 2016, while oil demand declined in Latin America for the third year in a row. Total exports of crude oil from OPEC Member Countries averaged 24.86 mb/d in 2017 declining by 406,000 b/d, or 1.6 per cent, as compared to 2016. As in previous years, the bulk of crude oil from Member Countries was exported to the Asia and Pacific region, in the amount of 15.56 mb/d or 62.6 per cent. Significant volumes of crude oil were also exported to Europe, which increased its imports from OPEC Member Countries from 4.40 mb/d in 2016 to 4.64 mb/d in 2017. North America imported 3.21 mb/d of crude oil from Member Countries, which was 82,000 b/d, or 2.5 per cent, less compared to 2016 volumes. Total world proven crude oil reserves stood at 1483 billion barrels (bn b) at the end of 2017, decreasing slightly by 0.4 per cent from the level of 1,489 bn reached at the end of the previous year. Total proven crude oil reserves in Member Countries decreased by 0.3 per cent to 1,214 bn b at the end of 2017. In 2017, total world proven natural gas reserves rose by 0.2 per cent to approximately 199.4 trillion standard cubic meters (cu m). Proven natural gas reserves in Member Countries stood at 95.95 trillion standard cu m, unchanged from the level of the previous year. World refinery capacity expanded by 104,000 barrels per calendar day (b/cd) to stand at 96.93 mb/cd during 2017, mainly supported by additions in the Asia and Pacific region, particularly China and India. Global refinery throughput ramped up by 1.6 per cent to reach 83.7 mb/d in 2017, with the largest gains in the Asia and Pacific region and North America. The OPEC Reference Basket averaged $52.43/b in 2017, up from $40.76/b in 2016. The yearly increase valued at $11.67/b, or 28.6 per cent, compared to 2016. The 2017 volatility stood at $5.00/b, or 9.5 per cent, relative to the yearly average [...]

» June 6 2018 - #EnergyTransition #Economy #Decarbonisation [Council of European Energy Regulators, #CEER] 3D Strategy and Smart Technology report. Digitalisation: Drive forward a new deal for consumers in a digital world, Decarbonisation at least cost, Dynamic regulation: European solutions for adaptive regulation in a fast-changing world. European energy regulators launched for public consultation their proposed 3-year, 3D strategy from 2019 to 2021, focused on Digitalisation, Decarbonisation and Dynamic Regulation. CEER also published a Smart Technology Development report2 which links with the Digitalisation and Dynamic Regulation objectives of our 3D strategy. This report identifies the impact of new technologies (including the Internet of Things and blockchain) on energy consumers and on regulation [...]

» June 4 2018 - #Oil #Economy #Geopolitics [#iea report] #Upstream investment. With global demand rising steadily, the response from the supply side is crucial. The recovery from the historic drop-off in investments by 25% in both 2015 and 2016 has barely started. Investment was flat in 2017, and early data suggests only a modest rise in 2018. This is potentially storing up trouble for the future. An added concern is that investment is overwhelmingly focused on the light tight oil (LTO) sector in the United States. As a result, upstream investment may be inadequate to avoid a significant squeezing of the global spare capacity cushion by 2023, even as costs have fallen and project efficiency has improved [...]

» June 4 2018 - #ArtificialIntelligence #Economy [#kpcb report] #Internet trend 2018 [...]

» June 1 2018 - #RenewableEnergy #EnergyTransition [#IHA] The 2018 #Hydropower Status Report offers insights and trends on the hydropower sector. A record 4,185 terawatt hours (TWh) in electricity was generated from hydropower in 2017, avoiding approximately 4 billion tonnes of greenhouse gases, as well as harmful pollutants. Worldwide hydropower installed capacity rose to 1,267 gigawatts (GW) in 2017, including 153 GW of pumped storage. During the year, 21.9 GW of capacity was added including 3.2 GW of pumped storage. Growth was fastest in East Asia and the Pacific, with 9.8 GW of capacity added in 2017, followed by South America (4.1 GW), South and Central Asia (3.3 GW), Europe (2.3 GW), Africa (1.9 GW) and North and Central America (0.5 GW). China is the world’s largest producer of hydropower, and accounted for nearly half of global added installed capacity, at 9.1 GW. It was followed by Brazil (3.4 GW), India (1.9 GW), Portugal (1.1 GW) and Angola (1.0 GW). 58.4 per cent of surveyed hydropower decision-makers and professionals expect to expand their company's installed capacity in the next three years, while 51.7 per cent of respondents expect to increase investments in hydropower over the next three years [...]

» May 31 2018 - #RenewableEnergy #EnergyTransition #SustainableDevelopmentScenario [#iea] The IEA’s newly-enhanced Tracking Clean Energy Progress provides a comprehensive and rigorous assessment of a full range of energy technologies and sectors that are critical in a global clean-energy transition. It includes the most up-to-date information for where technologies are today and where they need to be according to the IEA’s Sustainable Development Scenario, a pathway to reach the Paris Agreement well below 2°C climate goal, deliver universal energy access and significantly lower air pollution [...]

» May 28 2018 - #FossilFuel [#UN] The United Nations Handbook on Selected Issues for #Taxation of the #ExtractiveIndustries by Developing Countries (the Handbook) is a response to the need, often expressed by developing countries, for clearer guidance on the policy and administrative aspects of applying taxes to enterprises, including multinational enterprises (MNEs) acting in the extractive industries and other local and international companies accessory to the business. Such guidance should not only assist policy makers and administrators in dealing with complex issues such as the quantification of the fiscal take, the costs of decommissioning, and loss of revenues derived from the indirect transfer of assets, but should also assist taxpayers in their dealings with tax administrations [...]

» May 23 2018 - #CircularEconomy [#EC] New rules will make #EU the global front-runner in #WasteManagement and #Recycling. EU Member States approved a set of ambitious measures to make EU waste legislation fit for the future, as part of the EU's wider circular economy policy. The new rules - based on Commission's proposals part of the Circular Economy package presented in December 2015 - will help to prevent waste and, where this is not possible, significantly step up recycling of municipal and packaging waste. It will phase out landfilling and promote the use of economic instruments, such as Extended Producer Responsibility schemes. The new legislation strengthens the "waste hierarchy", i.e. it requires Member States to take specific measures to prioritize prevention, re-use and recycling above landfilling and incineration, thus making the circular economy a reality [...]

» May 23 2018 - #CleanMobility #LowCarbonEconomy [#BNEF] #ElectricVehicle Outlook 2018. By 2040, 55% of all new car sales and 33% of the global fleet will be electric [...] Sales of electric vehicles (EVs) increasing from a record 1.1 million worldwide in 2017, to 11 million in 2025 and then surging to 30 million in 2030 as they become cheaper to make than internal combustion engine (ICE) cars. China will lead this transition, with sales there accounting for almost 50% of the global EV market in 2025 [...]

» May 22 2018 - #CleanMobility [#EC] #Transport in the European Union: Current Trends and Issues. The Report draws an overview of the main challenges transport is facing both at the EU-level and in Member States. It sets out the key trends and issues for the single European transport area [...]

» May 22 2018 - #Oil #Geopolitics [#iea] The decision by the #UnitedStates to withdraw from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action regulating #Iran’s nuclear activities has switched the focus of oil market analysis from the fundamentals to geopolitics. In these early days, there is understandable uncertainty about its potential impact on Iran’s oil exports, which are currently about 2.4 mb/d. There is a 180-day period for customers to adjust their purchasing strategies and it remains to be seen how waivers and other aspects of the sanctions will be implemented. In addition, other signatories to the JCPOA have said that they will continue with the agreement [...]

» May 15 2018 - #ClimateFinance #SustainableEconomy [#bloomberg] Investors Want Green Solutions. HSBC Global Asset Management and Legal & General Group Plc are among the 250 wealth managers in a group known as the Climate Action 100+ that are asking the companies they own to bring their investment programs in step with the Paris Agreement on limiting global warming [...]

» May 11 2018 - #ClimateScience #ClimatePolicy [#cmcc webinar] Can #BlockChains have a role in climate data quality management? For national and international climate data services it is quite a challenge to generate transparent complete and nevertheless compact information on the quality of datasets and their suitable application domains. Next to statistical properties of the dataset and its variables as such, the tractability of the data generation process is important. In many cases it is impossible that uncertainty indicators compound the cumulated effects of the data (re)processing, hence the importance of sufficient clarification of the data generation process. In the EU-MACS (European Market for Climate Services) project was clarified that insufficient quality management or insufficient communication about the quality can substantially reduce the use of data services and may also mean that users resort to simpler lower quality data [...]

» May 11 2018 - #EnergyMarket [#bloomberg] #Iran and #Oil. U.S. President Donald Trump’s announcement to pull out of the Obama-era deal and reinstate sanctions on Iran sent ripples through markets, pushing oil further above $70 a barrel. Minimizing the economic damage will be key to the country’s efforts to ensure domestic stability. $200 billion in potential energy deals for Iran now hang in the balance. Higher crude prices will likely hit economies elsewhere [...]

» May 9 2018 - #EnergyMarket #SustainableFinance [#bloomberg] The War on #Coal Is Making the World’s Top Mine Owners a Lot Richer. Anglo American Plc, Glencore Plc and BHP Billiton Ltd. are generating the highest profits in years from their coal mines. Income for the 37 coal producers tracked in a Bloomberg Intelligence index was the highest in six years. It all comes down to the simplest equation in business: supply and demand. With governments from Asia to Europe setting stricter pollution limits as the climate change debate intensifies, output of the planet’s dirtiest fuel is dropping. Some of the more significant declines are occurring in China, the top mine operator, and financing for new supplies is drying up. That’s creating a windfall for the producers who remain [...]

» May 7 2018 - #Oil #NaturalGas [#IEA report] Offshore Energy Outlook. Offshore energy activity looks set to rise. In our projections to 2040, the amount of energy-related offshore activity is poised to increase in both scenarios, although the fortunes of oil, gas and wind power vary depending on the policies in place. This resilience is good news for the offshore supply and services industry; the world's continued need for offshore energy is also good reason for regulators to pay close attention to operational and environmental performance. In the New Policies Scenario, in which we explore the evolution of the global energy system in line with existing policy frameworks and announced intentions, offshore oil production edges higher, while gas surges ahead to become – in energy-equivalent terms – the largest component of offshore output. Generation from offshore wind rises by more than ten times to 2040, helped by supportive policies in Europe, the People’s Republic of China (hereafter, “China”) and elsewhere. In a Sustainable Development Scenario, in which the world gets on track to attain its climate, air quality and energy access goals, the balance of offshore activity shifts, but the overall level remains substantial. By the 2030s, offshore investment in this scenario – currently heavily weighted towards oil – is split into three roughly equal parts as oil and (to a lesser extent) gas output growth is lower than in our main scenario, while offshore electricity generation grows twice as fast and provides 4% of global power generation by 2040. Overall, the Sustainable Development Scenario requires $4.6 trillion in capital investment in all types of offshore energy over the period to 2040, compared with $5.9 trillion over the same period in the New Policies Scenario [...]

» May 4 2018 - #LowCarbonEconomy #Sustainability [#ABN AMRO] #EnergyTransition Fund. Fund volume exceeds 200 million euros. The Fund targets companies and projects in the sectors sustainable energy, energy efficiency/carbon reduction, smart infrastructures and clean mobility, and will make equity capital investments varying from 10 to 25 million euro per transaction. Over the next few years, the Fund has room to grow to a total volume of more than 200 million euros [...]

» May 3 2018 - #LowCarbonEconomy #CarbonTax #Geopolitics [#EU] Key trends regarding the implementation of explicit #CarbonPricing policies throughout the world in 2018. 5 key trends in 2018. (Too) Few jurisdictions have implemented an explicit carbon price: as of April 1, 2018, 46 countries and 26 provinces or cities have adopted carbon pricing policies; The adoption of carbon pricing policies is accelerating: in 2017, 3 ETS and 3 carbon taxes have been implemented, and more than 25 carbon pricing instruments have been announced for the years to come; Carbon revenues represent an increasingly important financing tool for both the environment and the economy: I4CE estimates that carbon pricing initiatives generated USD 32 billion (EUR 26 billion) in revenues in 2017, up from USD 22 billion in 2016; Carbon prices are perceived as too low for the economic sphere : the explicit price of a CO2 ton in 2018 varies generally between less than USD 1 (EUR 1) and USD 139 (EUR 114) depending on the jurisdiction; Explicit carbon prices in 2018 are not aligned with the 2°C trajectory [...]

» May 2 2018 - #Economy #Research #Innovation #Sustainability #Geopolitics [#EU] The Commission is today proposing a long-term budget for the 2021-2027 period. Overall, the Commission proposes a long-term budget of €1,135 billion in commitments (expressed in 2018 prices) over the period from 2021 to 2027, equivalent to 1.11% of the EU27's gross national income (GNI). This level of commitments translates into €1,105 billion (or 1.08% of GNI) in payments (in 2018 prices). This includes the integration into the EU budget of the European Development Fund – the EU's main tool for financing development cooperation with countries in Africa, the Caribbean and Pacific and which to date is an intergovernmental agreement. Taking into account inflation, this is comparable to the size of the current 2014-2020 budget (including the European Development Fund). To fund new and pressing priorities, current levels of funding will need to be increased. Investing now in areas such as research and innovation, young people, the digital economy, border management, security and defence will contribute to prosperity, sustainability and security in the future. For instance, the budget of Erasmus+ and the European Solidarity Corps will be doubled [...]

» April 27 2018 - #NuclearPower #RenewableEnergy #Geopolitics [#routledge] Low Carbon Politics. A Cultural Approach Focusing on Low Carbon Electricity. Low Carbon Politics focuses on how policies and institutions have influenced the deployment of renewable energy and nuclear power in the electricity sector. Cultural theory is used to analyse this. Egalitarian pressures have had a profound influence on technological outcomes, not merely in securing the deployment of renewable energy but also in increasing the costs of nuclear power. Whereas in the 1970s it might have been expected that individualist, market based pressures allied to dominant hierarchies would deliver nuclear power as the main response to problems associated with fossil fuels, a surprising combination has emerged. Egalitarian and individualist pressures are, together, leading to increasing levels of deployment of renewable energy. This work finds that electricity monopolies tend to favour nuclear power whereas competitive arrangements are more likely to lead to more renewable energy being deployed. It covers developments in a number of countries including USA, UK, China, South Africa and also Germany and Denmark [...]

» April 27 2018 - #Energy #Geopolitics #SDGs [#UNDP] The Future is Decentralised. #BlockChains, distributed ledgers & the future of #SustainableDevelopment. The potential of block chains to disrupt industrial sectors, commercial processes, governmental structures or economic systems seems to know no bounds. We suggest that the transformative power of block chain technology should not be seen as a threat to existing systems of governance; rather, it should be seen as an opportunity for national and international institutions to defend the rights of those they represent and to accelerate our collective progress towards meeting the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals. Block chains can bring transparency to opaque or corrupt systems, and verifiability and immutability to commercial processes. They can bring security and resilience to vulnerable infrastructure, ensure individual privacy whilst guaranteeing autonomy, and encourage cooperation and engender trust where they are needed most. Block chains can ease the frictions that prevent a vast array of sustainability, humanitarian, and environmental initiatives from fulfilling their potential [...]

» April 27 2018 - #ClimateChange #CarbonLeakage #ETS [#ClimatePolicy journal] Electricity regulation in the Chinese national emissions trading scheme (ETS): lessons for carbon leakage and linkage with the #EU ETS. Carbon leakage is central to the discussion on how to mitigate climate change. The current carbon leakage literature focuses largely on industrial production, and less attention has been given to carbon leakage from the electricity sector (the largest source of carbon emissions in China). Moreover, very few studies have examined in detail electricity regulation in the Chinese national emissions trading system (which leads, for example, to double counting) or addressed its implications for potential linkage between the EU and Chinese emissions trading systems (ETSs). This article seeks to fill this gap by analysing the problem of ‘carbon leakage’ from the electricity sector under the China ETS. Specifically, a Law & Economics approach is applied to scrutinize legal documents on electricity/carbon regulation and examine the economic incentive structures of stakeholders in the inter-/intra-regional electricity markets. Two forms of 'electricity carbon leakage' are identified and further supported by legal evidence and practical cases. Moreover, the article assesses the environmental and economic implications for the EU of potential linkage between the world's two largest ETSs. In response, policy suggestions are proposed to address electricity carbon leakage, differentiating leakage according to its sources [...]

» April 27 2018 - #FossilFuelEconomy #Geopolitics #FFS [#routledge] #FossilFuel Subsidy Reforms. A Guide to Economic and Political Complexity. Countries around the world are spending up to $500 billion per year on subsidising fossil fuel consumption. By some estimates, the G20 countries alone are spending around another $450 billion on subsidising fossil fuel production. In addition, the indirect social welfare costs of these subsidies have been shown to be substantial - for instance due to air pollution, road congestion, climate change, and economic inefficiency, to name a few. Considering these numbers, there is no doubt that fossil fuel subsidies cause severe economic distortions that compromise countries’ prospects of achieving equitable and sustainable development. This book provides a guide to the complex challenge of designing, assessing, and implementing effective fossil fuel subsidy reforms. It shows that subsidy reform requires a careful balancing of complex economic and political trade-offs, as well as measures to mitigate adverse effects on vulnerable households and to assist firms with implementing efficiency enhancing measures. Going beyond the purely fiscal perspective, this book emphasises that smart subsidy reforms can contribute to all three dimensions of sustainable development - environment, society, and economy [...]

» April 27 2018 - #Coal [#ClimatePolicy journal] Prospects for steam coal exporters in the era of climate policies: a case study of Colombia. Continued global action on climate change has major consequences for fossil fuel markets, especially for coal as the most carbon-intensive fuel. This article summarizes current market developments in the most important coal-producing and coal-consuming countries, resulting in a critical qualitative assessment of prospects for future coal exports. Colombia, as the world's fourth largest exporter, is strongly affected by these global trends, with more than 90% of its production being exported. Market analysis finds Colombia in a strong competitive position, owing to its low production costs and high coal quality. Nevertheless, market trends and enhanced climate policies suggest a gloomy outlook for future exports. Increasing competition on the Atlantic as well as Pacific market will keep coal prices low and continue pressure on mining companies. Increasing numbers of filed bankruptcies and lay-offs might be just the beginning of a carbon bubble devaluing fossil fuel investments and leaving them stranded. Colombia largely supplies European and Mediterranean consumers but also delivers some quantities to the US Gulf Coast, and to Central and South America. Future coal demand in most of these countries will continue to decline in the next decades. Newly constructed power plants in emerging economies (India, China) are unlikely to compensate for this downturn owing to increasing domestic supply and decreasing demand. Therefore, maintaining or even increasing mining volumes in Colombia should be re-evaluated, taking into account new economic realities as well as local externalities. Ignoring these risks could lead to additional stranded investments, aggravating the local resource curse and hampering sustainable economic development [...]

» April 26 2018 - #Gas #Geopolitics #MediterraneanRegion [#MEDREG] Assessment of Natural Gas Competition and Market Prices within MEDREG Members Using a common set of indicators, the report provides an assessment of gas market competition among MEDREG members for household and non-household consumers and analyses gas retail prices in each country. This assessment focuses on the situation in 10 countries (Croatia, Egypt, France, Greece, Israel, Italy, Jordan, Portugal, Spain and Turkey), considering that there is no gas consumption in Albania, Cyprus, Malta and Montenegro. The report shows major differences between the national gas markets in the MEDREG countries surveyed in terms of energy demand, number of customers, distribution of gas demand between the household and non-household segments, level of liberalisation of the gas retail market, and geographical coverage for gas suppliers. The analysis also provides information on switching rates and dispute resolution [...]

» April 26 2018 - #EnergyPolicy #Geopolitics [#IRENA report] #RenewableEnergy needs to be scaled up at least six times faster for the world to meet the decarbonisation and climate mitigation goals set out in the Paris Agreement. Global Energy Transformation: A Roadmap to 2050 finds that increasing cumulative energy system investment by 30% to 2050 in favour of renewable energy and energy efficiency, can create over 11 million additional energy-sector jobs, completely offsetting job losses in the fossil fuel industry. The report shows that immediate action will reduce the scale and value of stranded energy-related assets in the future, and its roadmap currently anticipates up to USD 11 trillion of stranded energy assets by 2050 - a value that could double with delayed action. IRENA finds that by following its decarbonisation roadmap, compared to the current trajectory, the global economy will grow by 1% and global welfare, including benefits not captured by GDP, such as health benefits from reduced air pollution and reduced climate impacts, among others, would improve by 15% [...]

» April 26 2018 - #Oil #Geopolitics [#Gulf] #Energy Outlook Q2 2018. An ability to seamlessly integrate and collaborate along the value chain means energy stakeholders in the Middle East, including international oil companies (#IOCs), can ride the wave of change in 2018. Failing to act results in getting wet and urgently seeking a life raft; at worst, drowning. The spotlight is especially bright on one link in the chain; downstream. Egypt has set its sights on becoming a new energy hub, potentially the nexus in the Eastern Mediterranean (p6), and Kuwait will add more cash to the $50 billion it has already spent on domestic refineries (p8). Big ticket investments in refineries and port infrastructure are luring foreign investors in at a time when 'lower for longer' oil prices mean energy companies are eagerly scanning the lending horizon for affordable injections of cash. Keep in mind that the loosening of investorsí purse strings i.e. how ambitious a project they are willing to back will be heavily influenced by the success or failure of the initial public offering (IPO) of 5% of Saudi Aramco in late-2018. Have no doubt; ripples from the IPO will spread far and wide. There is also an unnerving change on the regulatory horizon; downstream will feel the greatest impact, but no part of the value chain is immune. The International Maritime Organizationís (IMO) ruling to limit sulphur in bunker fuel to 0.5% from 3.5% from 1 January, 2020 is giving energy stakeholders a new set of wrinkles. The clock is ticking loudly and uncomfortably for refineries, port operators, storage providers, trading and marketing, ship operators and more as they try to figure out their new status quo. There is some good news; the average price for Brent crude in the first half of 2018 will be in the $60s/bl, according to 76% of respondents to a GIQ Industry Survey. How the price plays out largely rests on whether the unprecedented holding of hands between OPEC and non-OPEC countries continues (p12). While the price forecast offers a tentative and rudimentary platform of stability, donít forget that uncertainty is the only certainty. Hedge your bets; diversify [...]

» April 25 2018 - #Oil #OilFinance #Geopolitics [#bloomberg] The recent surge in #OilPrices is poised to boost global assets as crude-producing states deploy replenished stashes of #Petrodollars, according to a growing chorus of analysts. It's the potential reversal of part of the global "quantitative tightening" that was said to have occurred as oil prices dropped precipitously, and could amount to an extra shot of liquidity at a time when central banks are beginning to normalize monetary policy [...] Hedge funds investing in oil are luring capital at the fastest pace in more than a year. With crude climbing to levels not seen since 2014, commodity funds have recovered the client outflows they suffered last year. And if firms such as Westbeck Capital Management and Commodities World Capital are correct about prices soon exceeding $80 a barrel from about $68 currently, then the jump in allocations may just the beginning [...]

» April 25 2018 - #ClimateChange #DOE Unveils Exascale Earth Modeling System. After four years of development, the US Department of Energy (DOE) is releasing the Energy Exascale Earth System Model (#E3SM), a computational platform for performing high-resolutions simulations of the weather and other earth systems. ES3M is described as "the first end-to-end multi-scale Earth system model" coupling simulations of the atmosphere, land, and ocean (including sea ice). As such, it will provide forecasting on how these various elements interact. The software will also be used to study the interplay between humans acivities and natural processes. In particular, ES3M can model how man-made global climate change will impact the various earth systems [...]

» April 23 2018 - #EnergyTransition #Geopolitics #ClimateAction #FossiliFuelEnergyEconomy #Decarbonisation #LowCarbonEconomy [#DNV GL report] Energy Transition Framework for Cities. The world of energy is transforming rapidly, with cities adopting decentralized, zero carbon strategies at the local level. This publication by DNV GL examines ten of the world's pioneering cities through the lens of the seven dimensions of the DNV GL Energy Transition Framework for Cities. Our findings show that while significant attention has been given to the world's mega-cities, smaller cities are proving to be nimble centers for energy innovation. This report highlights best practices related to sustainability, climate action and resilience as cities move from a fossil fuel-based energy economy towards a safer, smarter, greener future. The report highlights best practices related to sustainability, climate action and resilience for cities facing the challenge of the energy transition and provides a framework to develop individual approaches to create a decarbonized and reliable energy supply [...]

» April 19 2018 - #Geopolitics #Decarbonisation #LowCarbonEconomy [#IEA #IRENA #REN21 joint report] #RenewableEnergy Policies in a Time of Transition. Since 2012, renewable energy has accounted for more than half of capacity additions in the global power sector. In 2017 alone a record-breaking 167 GW of renewables capacity was added worldwide. 146 million people are now served by off-grid renewable power, and many small island developing states are advancing rapidly towards targets of 100% renewables. One of the main rationales behind the call for a higher share of renewables in the energy mix is the urgent threat posed by climate change. Of the 194 parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change 145 referred to renewable energy in their nationally determined contributions (NDCs), and 109 included quantified renewable energy targets. Air pollution is also a pressing issue, with an estimated 7.3 million premature deaths per year attributable to household and outdoor air pollution. Energy security is another influencing factor, with small island states particularly affected by security issues and resilience in the face of natural disasters. Finally, countries looking to expand energy access in rural areas are increasingly turning to renewables as the most cost-effective, cleanest and most secure option [...] Renewable Energy Policies in a Time of Transition provides policymakers with a comprehensive understanding of the diverse policy options to support an accelerated development of renewables across sectors, technologies, country contexts, energy market structures, and policy objectives, to scale up renewable energy deployment. An updated joint classification of renewable energy policies to illustrate the latest policy developments around the world [...]

» April 19 2018 - #EnergyPolicy #EnergyTransition [#UN] POLICY BRIEFS IN SUPPORT OF THE FIRST #SDG7 (AFFORDABLE AND CLEAN ENERGY) REVIEW. Without urgent action, the world will fall short of achievement of SDG 7 and consequently other SDGs. About a billion people currently live without electricity, which significantly limits their development opportunities. Almost three billion people lack access to clean-cooking solutions and are exposed to dangerous levels of air pollution, which results in millions of deaths each year, mostly among women and children. Although power generation using renewable energy is expanding rapidly, little progress has been made on integrating renewable energy into end-use applications in buildings, industry and transport. Meanwhile, the current rate of improvement in energy efficiency (2.2 per cent per year) is less than the 2.7 per cent per year needed to meet the global target. Financial flows, including public and private investments in energy, are also falling short of what is needed [...]

» April 18 2018 - #EnergyFinance #RenewableEnergy #Decarbonisation #LowCarbonEconomy [#FrankfurtSchool #UNEP #BNEF] Global Trends in Renewable Energy Investment Report 2018. Banking on sunshine: World added far more solar than fossil fuel power generating capacity in 2017. Last year was the eighth in a row in which global investment in renewables exceeded $200 billion - and since 2004, the world has invested $2.9 trillion in these green energy sources. Overall, China was by far the world's largest investing country in renewables, at a record $126.6 billion, up 31 per cent on 2016. Solar energy dominated global investment in new power generation like never before in 2017. The world installed a record 98 gigawatts of new solar capacity, far more than the net additions of any other technology - renewable, fossil fuel or nuclear and solar power attracted far more investment, at $160.8 billion, up 18 per cent, than any other technology. In total $279.8 billion was invested in renewables excluding large hydro and a record 157 gigawatts of renewable power were commissioned last year, up from 143 gigawatts in 2016 and far out-stripping the net 70 gigawatts of fossil-fuel generating capacity added (after adjusting for the closure of some existing plants) over the same period [...]

» April 18 2018 - #FossilFuelEconomy #Decarbonisation #LowCarbonEconomy [#medium] Who deserves a Just Transition to a cleaner economy? Coal miners, of course! Maybe steel workers, too, and truck drivers? Actually, all working people - and their families - probably need some support. So do the public services they depend on. Perhaps the whole economy needs a Just Transition. But wait, I thought this was about the coal miners? As it turns out, deciding who is included in the Just Transition conversation is a more complicated question than it first appears. In every articulation of the Just Transition concept, there is a threshold (either explicit or implicit) for who is vulnerable and, therefore, who deserves support. Few Just Transition advocates have explored what it means to provide targeted programmes to people on one side of this line but not to people on the other. As governments increasingly take up the Just Transition cause and start putting money into social projects and programmes, these equity [...]

» April 18 2018 - #PublicTransport #Decarbonisation #Sustainability [#UITP] The 2016 & 2017 Activity Report looks back over the significant progress UITP and its members have made during this revolutionary period in public transport [...] The challenges the sector has faced during this period include: increasing urbanisation, the demand for decarbonisation, digitalisation and the introduction of new mobility players. UITP and its members have 'led the transition', working hard on all fronts to meet new sustainability and accessibility goals, as well as taking considerable steps to digitalise the sector and incorporate new mobility services into established urban transport networks [...]

» April 16 2018 - #Oil #Geopolitics [#iea] #Opec, Mission accomplished? Uncertainty about the next steps in Syria and Yemen have helped propel the price of Brent crude oil back above $70/bbl. It remains to be seen if recently elevated prices are sustained and if so what are the implications for the market demand and supply dynamics. In the meantime, our overall view of global demand and supply growth in 2018 is unchanged from last month. For demand, early in 2018 stronger growth in the US was partially offset by weaker growth in China. India has seen a strong start to the year. Globally, we expect oil demand to grow by 1.5 mb/d in 2018. However, there is an element of risk to this outlook from the current tension on trade tariffs between China and the US [...] if OPEC production were constant this year, and if our outlooks for non-OPEC production and oil demand remain unchanged, in 2Q18-4Q18 global stocks could draw by about 0.6 mb/d. With markets expected to tighten, it is possible that when we publish OECD stocks data in the next month or two they will have reached or even fallen below the five-year average target [...]

» April 13 2018 - #OilFinance [#bloomberg] Oil surges to three-year high as Middle East tensions intensify. Crude in London and New York are at the highest levels since 2014 [...] Meanwhile, an Energy Information Administration report released Wednesday showed American oil inventories rose 3.31 MMbbl last week [...] West Texas Intermediate for May delivery rose $1.17 to $66.68/bbl at 10:48 a.m. on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Total volume traded on Wednesday was about 52% above the 100-day average. Brent for June settlement added $1.18 to $72.22/bbl on the London-based ICE Futures Europe exchange [...]

» April 11 2018 - #OilFinance [#bloomberg] Billion Barrel Bet. Hedge funds turned bullish on #Oil last summer and built a speculative position of more than one billion barrels [...] Speculative length has actually dropped by a notional 100 million barrels, or 8 percent, since it peaked in late January. But short positions, thin already, dropped by a fifth over the same period [...]

» April 10 2018 - #OilIndustry [#visualcapitalist] The Evolution of #StandardOil. The company was split into 34 separate entities (1911), mainly based on geographical area. Today, the biggest of these companies form the core of the U.S. oil industry [...]

» April 5 2018 - #ClimateInvestmentReadiness #RenewableEnergy [University of Delaware, Center for Energy & Environmental Policy, Working Paper Series] Enhancing #ClimateFinance Readiness: A Review of Selected Investment Frameworks as Tools of Multilevel Governance. The International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) has estimated that to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and limit global mean temperature rise to well below 2° Celsius, new forms of low-carbon investment must be unlocked and cost-effectively doubled by 2030. This level of deployment of low-carbon solutions require doubling current investment in renewable energy to US$500 billion per year up to 2020 and tripling in the 2020s to reach US$900 billion each year up to 2030. However, the mechanisms for scaling up such investments remain constrained by high transaction costs, insufficient investment size, and limited market liquidity. We explore recent development of climate investment readiness frameworks (CIRFs) and their application in support of low-carbon development strategies. The paper focuses on two objectives driving the creation and use of such frameworks: (a) barriers to attracting large-scale private investment in climate-sensitive technologies, and (b) how these barriers can be reduced through effective capacity building mechanisms. We consider the utility of the main investment readiness (IR) frameworks with a particular focus on their contributions to developing a climate investment-friendly policy regime through appropriate governance reforms and technical capacity building measures. Important connections between the performance of climate investment readiness frameworks and broader governance issues are highlighted. Conclusions for strengthening such frameworks as tools of multilevel governance regimes are offered [...]

» April 5 2018 - #LowCarbonEconomy #LowCarbonIndustry [#norden report] #CircularEconomy in the Nordic construction sector: Identification and assessment of potential policy instruments that can accelerate a transition toward a circular economy. Potential policy instruments that can accelerate a transition toward a circular economy in the Nordic construction sector, including demolition of buildings, are discussed and assessed. Sixteen interviews were carried out with actors representing stakeholders from Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden. Implementation of the 32 policy instruments that the 16 interviewees suggest is expected to speed up the transition toward a circular economy. But the implementation of the policy instruments can be complicated and the implementation process needs to address a number of barriers that may hinder a reduction in the use of resources, greenhouse gas emissions and a full growth in gross profit [...]

» April 2 2018 - #LowCarbonEconomy #LowCarbonIndustry #GHGs #Emissions [#joule #cell] What Should We Make with #CO2 and How Can We Make It? In a world struggling to limit global temperature increases to below 2°C, we see a host of emerging technologies aiming to recycle CO2. They range from those nearing commercialization, such as electrocatalytic reduction, to technologies being explored in the lab environment, such as photocatalytic, CO2 polymerization, and biohybrids, to those only now being imagined, such as molecular machine technologies. With a multitude of available pathways for CO2 recycling, we ask ourselves a question-what should we make with CO2 that is both economically viable and helpful for the environment and how should we make it? In this forward-looking Perspective, we discuss the current state of technology and the economics of electrocatalytic transformation of CO2 into various chemical fuels. Our analysis finds that shor--chain simple buildin--block molecules currently present the most economically compelling targets. Making an optimistic prediction of technology advancement in the future, we propose the gradual rise of photocatalytic, CO2 polymerization, biohybrid, and molecular machine technologies to augment and enhance already practical electrocatalytic CO2 conversion methods [...]

» March 29 2018 - #Geopolitics #NuclearEnergy [#thenational.ae] The completion of the UAE's first nuclear reactor is not only a milestone in the 46-year history of the Emirates - it is also the starting point for what could be a wider roll out of civilian nuclear energy in the Middle East. Just as the UAE is looking to reduce its reliance on fossil fuels by building four reactors at its Barakah site, so Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Jordan and Turkey are aiming to develop programmes, while Iran is expanding its nuclear capacity. In the Emirates, nuclear power is seen as necessary because rapid population growth has resulted in heavy increases in energy demand, much of it required to desalinate water. This has made the country more reliant on natural gas supplies from elsewhere in the Gulf. Although the UAE has invested heavily in solar energy, by 2020 renewables will still account for less than 10 percent of the country's energy requirements, while the four Barakah reactors will provide almost a quarter. As well as energy security, economic factors too have been at play, here and elsewhere in the Gulf [...]

» March 28 2018 - #Geopolitics #Economy #MacroTrends [#bain report] #Labor 2030: The Collision of #Demographics, #Automation and #Inequality. Demographics, automation and inequality have the potential to dramatically reshape our world in the 2020s and beyond. Our analysis shows that the collision of these forces could trigger economic disruption far greater than we have experienced over the past 60 years. The aim of this report by Bain's Macro Trends Group is to detail how the impact of aging populations, the adoption of new automation technologies and rising inequality will likely combine to give rise to new business risks and opportunities. These gathering forces already pose challenges for businesses and investors. In the next decade, they will combine to create an economic climate of increasing extremes but may also trigger a decade-plus investment boom [...]

» March 27 2018 - #Geopolitics #ClimatePolicy [#mitigationmomentum report] Closing the gap between finance and #ClimateMitigation actions. Accessing climate finance remains a challenge for developing and less developed countries. To cover the costs of mitigation actions, countries tap into national public funds, international public finance, and private sector investments. However, the level of success in accessing finance continues to be low. Looking at Nationally Appropriate Mitigation Actions (NAMAs) using the Ecofys NAMA database (2017) one can see that out of 259 NAMAs developed since 2010, less than 9% have succeeded in securing funds and started implementation. Throughout the studies carried out under the Mitigation Momentum Project, the team has highlighted this trend and identified that one of the major reasons for this is a lack of successful financial mechanisms attached to NAMAs. Most NAMAs and low carbon programmes that seek international climate finance appear to be facing difficulties in achieving financial close [...]

» March 27 2018 - #Geopolitics #Economy [#bloomberg] #Oil's Seven Sisters Enter a 'Golden Age', Goldman Sachs report. Big Oil is in a sweet spot with rising oil prices and low operating costs, leaving them with the biggest cash-flow growth in two decades and boosting earnings, Goldman said in a report. That will increase their attraction for investors after years of elevated spending followed by crude's slump sent their weighting in global equity indexes to a 50-year low, according to the bank [...]

» March 26 2018 - #EnergyPolicy #Geopolitics #CO2 #Emissions [#IEA report] Global energy demand grew by 2.1% in 2017, according to IEA preliminary estimates, more than twice the growth rate in 2016. Global energy demand in 2017 reached an estimated 14050 million tonnes of oil equivalent (Mtoe), compared with 10035 Mtoe in 2000 [...] Global energy-related CO2 emissions grew by 1.4% in 2017, reaching a historic high of 32.5 gigatonnes (Gt), a resumption of growth after three years of global emissions remaining flat. The increase in CO2 emissions, however, was not universal. While most major economies saw a rise, some others experienced declines, including the United States, United Kingdom, Mexico and Japan. The biggest decline came from the United States, mainly because of higher deployment of renewables [...]

» March 26 2018 - #ClimatePolicy #Geopolitics [#SEI report] Aligning #FossilFuel production with the Paris Agreement. The authors explain the rationale for considering fossil fuel supply [...] and highlight available policy options that address this vital piece of the climate puzzle. We also outline concrete steps that Parties and bodies of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) can take to ensure that fossil fuel production is addressed as part of an ambitious and holistic post-Paris climate strategy [...]

» March 23 2018 - #ClimatePolicy #Geopolitics [#WorlBank report] Groundswell: Preparing for Internal #ClimateMigration. This report, which focuses on three regions-Sub-Saharan Africa, South Asia, and Latin America that together represent 55 percent of the developing world's population-finds that climate change will push tens of millions of people to migrate within their countries by 2050. It projects that without concrete climate and development action, just over 143 million people-or around 2.8 percent of the population of these three regions-could be forced to move within their own countries to escape the slow-onset impacts of climate change. They will migrate from less viable areas with lower water availability and crop productivity and from areas affected by rising sea level and storm surges. The poorest and most climate vulnerable areas will be hardest hit. These trends, alongside the emergence of "hotspots" of climate in- and out-migration, will have major implications for climate-sensitive sectors and for the adequacy of infrastructure and social support systems. The report finds that internal climate migration will likely rise through 2050 and then accelerate unless there are significant cuts in greenhouse gas emissions and robust development action [...]

» March 22 2018 - #EnergyPolicy #Geopolitics [#ClimatePolicy Journal] Prospects for steam #Coal exporters in the era of climate policies: a case study of Colombia. Continued global action on climate change has major consequences for fossil fuel markets, especially for coal as the most carbon-intensive fuel. This article summarizes current market developments in the most important coal-producing and coal-consuming countries, resulting in a critical qualitative assessment of prospects for future coal exports. Colombia, as the world's fourth largest exporter, is strongly affected by these global trends, with more than 90% of its production being exported. Market analysis finds Colombia in a strong competitive position, owing to its low production costs and high coal quality. Nevertheless, market trends and enhanced climate policies suggest a gloomy outlook for future exports. Increasing competition on the Atlantic as well as Pacific market will keep coal prices low and continue pressure on mining companies. Increasing numbers of filed bankruptcies and lay-offs might be just the beginning of a carbon bubble devaluing fossil fuel investments and leaving them stranded. Colombia largely supplies European and Mediterranean consumers but also delivers some quantities to the US Gulf Coast, and to Central and South America. Future coal demand in most of these countries will continue to decline in the next decades. Newly constructed power plants in emerging economies (India, China) are unlikely to compensate for this downturn owing to increasing domestic supply and decreasing demand. Therefore, maintaining or even increasing mining volumes in Colombia should be re-evaluated, taking into account new economic realities as well as local externalities. Ignoring these risks could lead to additional stranded investments, aggravating the local resource curse and hampering sustainable economic development [...]

» March 21 2018 - #EnergyPolicy #Geopolitics [#iea] U.S. crude #Oil exports grew to an average of 1.1 million barrels per day (b/d) in 2017, the second full year since restrictions on crude oil exports were removed. Crude oil exports in 2017 were nearly double the level of exports in 2016. Increased U.S. crude oil exports were supported by increasing U.S. crude oil production and expanded infrastructure. U.S. crude oil exports went to 37 destinations in 2017, compared with 27 destinations in 2016. Similar to previous years, Canada remained the largest destination for U.S. crude oil exports, but Canada's share of total U.S. crude oil exports continued to decrease, down from 61% in 2016 to 29% in 2017. U.S. crude oil exports to China accounted for 202,000 b/d (20%) of the 527,000 b/d total increase. China surpassed the United Kingdom and the Netherlands to become the second-largest destination for U.S. crude oil exports in 2017. Many European nations are among the largest destinations for U.S. crude oil exports, including the United Kingdom, Netherlands, Italy, France, and Spain. India, which did not receive U.S. crude oil exports in 2016, received 22,000 b/d in 2017, tying with Spain as the tenth-largest destination [...]

» March 21 2018 - #ClimatePolicy #CarbonMarket #ETS #EU [#umweltbundesamt] Analysis of Risks and Opportunities of Linking Emissions Trading Systems. Within the frame of this project, a structured system for evaluating the risks and opportunities of linking emissions trading schemes was developed. To this end, economic, ecological and political objectives for linking were identified, relations and interdependencies were investigated and assessment criteria and indicators were defined. The report also includes an overview on economic models that can be used for analyzing linking effects. Another focus is the relevance of differences in the design of emission trading schemes and critical design features that would need to be potentially adjusted to ensure the proper functioning of a linked carbon market [...]

» March 19 2018 - #Innovations #ElectricityMarket #EnergyTransition #Financing [#EnergyAndCarbon] The coming of the platform business in #Energy. What platforms like #Amazon, #WhatsApp, #Spotify and #Facebook have taught over the last years is that size matters and that once such a business reaches a certain scale, they produce customer benefits that cannot be matched by smaller platforms, often described as #NetworkEffects. These businesses then have almost monopoly power and their access to huge amounts of data about their customers and their value chain enables them to continuously improve the user experience and/or extract more revenue from those users which in turn increases their market penetration and competitive advantage. To date, we have not seen any platform businesses in energy, but my view is that we will see them as all that is needed is two things: a trusted customer facing platform and a back-office platform that combines the purchasing and trading of energy together with the management of customer demand [...] Given that utilities are so bad at dealing with customers this begs the question of why we have not seen Amazon or other such platform companies offer energy to their customers. There are a few reasons for this, starting with regulation which has hindered the standardization and commoditization of energy [...] The other issue is the financial strength that has been traditionally necessary to guarantee delivery of energy to the customer which plays to the strengths of energy companies which tend to have strong balance sheets, power generation assets and trading relationships with key fossil fuel suppliers [...]

» March 16 2018 - #ClimateChange [The International Journal of Space Politics & Policy article] Potentialities of Space-Based Systems for Monitoring #ClimatePolicies and Mitigation of #ClimateProcessDrivers. The services of space-based technology have advanced for monitoring strategies, especially for studying and predicting the physical events in ecosystems. This article investigates the viability of space technology use for monitoring implementations of climate policies and, potentialities for mitigation of climate process drivers. Qualitative data were sourced through Delphi experts' method and quantitatively analyzed. The key findings show that experts allude to the high (3.33/4) anticipatory contributions of deploying space-based systems with dedicated sensors for monitoring implementation of international climate treaties. However, while there is a very strong yes (84.44 percent) rate on the potentiality of space-based solar power for direct climate change mitigation, the feasibility of deploying such systems in the near-future (2020 to 2025) is low (1.77/4). The statistics further show that the further away the possible start-time (2040 and a 50-year horizon of 2065) for deployment of space-based solar power, the more likely it will be deployed. The article concludes that deploying satellites for monitoring and mitigating global climate change contributes significantly to climate change management efforts. Specifically, the development of space-based solar power if fast-tracked. The article also provides a conceptual framework for climate change management using space technology, which facilitates constructive discussion informing policy direction on the subject [...]

» March 16 2018 - #Energy #Oil [#Statoil] to change name to #Equinor. The name Equinor is formed by combining "equi", the starting point for words like equal, equality and equilibrium, and "nor", signalling a company proud of its Norwegian origin, and who wants to use this actively in its positioning [...] The new name will be proposed to shareholders in a resolution to the Annual General Meeting on 15 May. The Norwegian government, as majority shareholder, supports the proposal and will vote in favour of the resolution [...] Statoil's strategy presented in 2017, sets clear principles for the development of a distinct and competitive portfolio. Statoil will develop long-term value on the Norwegian continental shelf, deepen in core areas and develop new growth options internationally. Statoil is one of the world's most carbon-efficient producers of oil and gas, and will develop its low carbon advantage further. Statoil is building a material industrial position within profitable renewable energy, and expects to invest 15-20% of total capex in new energy solutions by 2030 [...]

» March 15 2018 - #BECCS #SocioEconomicPathways #SSPs [#Nature #ClimateChange article] How to spend a dwindling greenhouse gas budget. The #ParisAgreement is based on emission scenarios that move from a sluggish phase-out of fossil fuels to large-scale late-century negative emissions. Alternative pathways of early deployment of negative emission technologies need to be considered to ensure that climate targets are reached safely and sustainably [...]

» March 14 2018 - #ClimateChange #EU [#EnvironmentalResearchLetters article] Future #HeatWaves, #Droughts and Floods in 571 European #Cities. Stockholm and Rome could see the greatest increase in number of heatwave days, while Prague and Vienna could see the greatest increase in maximum temperatures during heatwaves [...] the European capitals worst hit by flooding would be Dublin, Helsinki, Riga, Vilnius and Zagreb. Cities are particularly vulnerable to climate risks due to their agglomeration of people, buildings and infrastructure. Differences in methodology, hazards considered, and climate models used limit the utility and comparability of climate studies on individual cities. Here we assess, for the first time, future changes in flood, heat-waves (HW), and drought impacts for all 571 European cities in the Urban Audit database using a consistent approach. To capture the full range of uncertainties in natural variability and climate models, we use all climate model runs from the Coupled Model Inter-comparison Project Phase 5 (CMIP5) for the RCP8.5 emissions scenario to calculate Low, Medium and High Impact scenarios, which correspond to the 10th, 50th and 90th percentiles of each hazard for each city. We find that HW days increase across all cities, but especially in southern Europe, whilst the greatest HW temperature increases are expected in central European cities. For the low impact scenario, drought conditions intensify in southern European cities while river flooding worsens in northern European cities. However, the high impact scenario projects that most European cities will see increases in both drought and river flood risks. Over 100 cities are particularly vulnerable to two or more climate impacts. Moreover, the magnitude of impacts exceeds those previously reported highlighting the substantial challenge cities face to manage future climate risks [...]

» March 13 2018 - #EnergyPolicy #Decarbonization #CarbonPricing #Economics [#ClimatePolicy Journal article] Combining #LowCarbon economic development and #Oil exploration in #Brazil? An energy-economy assessment. This article aims to clarify under what conditions low-carbon economic development and oil exploration can possibly be combined in Brazil and what would be the energy system, environmental and macroeconomic implications of enabling policies for doing so. To address these questions, an energy-economy computable general equilibrium (CGE) model of the Brazilian economy is used to simulate alternative scenarios up to 2030. The results first show that implementing the most recent energy plans, which take into account the new economic reality in Brazil, should lead to over 20% lower domestic CO2 emissions in 2030 than the indicative NDC target, and to the export of the bulk of newfound crude oil. Second, with the same level of oil production, deeper domestic decarbonization, triggered by additional carbon pricing and sustainable efficiency measures, appears achievable with very small gross domestic product (GDP) loss and maximum oil exports, while being aligned with a 2°C emission pathway. However, (i) extra oil exports may induce net additional emissions outside Brazil and be seen as a perverse incentive and (ii) the economic growth strategy based on high oil exports may hinder the necessary diversification of the Brazilian economy [...]

» March 8 2018 - #SmartIndustry #Market #Finance #Economics #EU [#KfW #Bpifrance #CDP #ICO #BritishBusinessBank report] Internationalisation Of European #SMEs - Taking Stock And Moving Ahead. The EU is strongly integrated into global trade flows. The five largest EU economies - Germany, France, Italy, Spain and the UK - represent nearly one fifth of world trade. Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) also contribute to EU exports and imports. Yet, their role in international trade is much smaller than their weight on the domestic market, as a joint study of KfW Research and Europe's national promotional banks Bpifrance, CDP, ICO and the British Business Bank shows. The obstacles are diverse. For many SMEs, financing their cross-border activities is a major challenge. Fostering the internationalisation of European SMEs requires effort - both at national and European level [...]

» March 7 2018 - #FossilFuelSubsidies #GHGs #EnergyPolicy #Economics [#OECD] Companion to the Inventory of Support Measures for Fossil Fuels 2018. This report is concerned with policies that directly support the production or consumption of fossil fuels in OECD countries and in a selection of partner economies. It provides a useful complement to the online OECD database that identifies and estimates direct budgetary transfers and tax expenditures benefitting fossil fuels, and from which it derives summary results and indicators on support to fossil fuels, as well as policy recommendations. This report emphasises the problems that fossil-fuel subsidies cause in the context of broader policy efforts to mitigate greenhouse-gas emissions, and reviews the various reform initiatives that have already been taken at the international level (G-20, APEC, etc.). In addition, it presents methods for combining the IEA and OECD support estimates and for measuring the support element of government credit assistance [...]

» March 7 2018 - #Energy #Geopolitcs [#reuters] The global #Oil and #Gas industry needs to invest more than $20 trillion over the next 25 years to meet expected growth in demand and compensate for the natural decline in developed fields, Saudi Aramco Chief Executive Officer Amin Nasser [...] even "conservative estimates" suggest the need for about 20 million barrels per day of new capacity in the next five years [...]

» March 7 2018 - #EnergyPolicy #CarbonTax #ClimateChange [#OECD] Taxing #Energy Use 2018. Emissions from energy use cause environmental and health damages and they also contribute to climate change. By charging for these damages, taxes on energy use can reduce excessive emissions, while raising revenue that can be used to fund vital government services. This report assesses the magnitude and coverage of taxes on energy use - carbon taxes and other specific taxes on energy use - in 2015, across different countries and selected country groups, six sectors and five main fuel groups. It also considers change in effective tax rates on energy use between 2012 and 2015. The analysis is based on the OECD's Taxing Energy Use database, a unique dataset to compare coverage and magnitude of specific taxes on energy use across 42 OECD and G20 economies, which together represent approximately 80% of global energy use and CO2-emissions associated with energy use [...]

» March 6 2018 - #Oil #Geopolitics [#spratings] Over the next decade, we see downside to oil demand as a limited risk because each 1 million EVs (roughly equal to 2017 EV sales) only replace about 20,000 barrels/d and oil demand growth should continue on the back of growth from commercial transport and chemicals, with demand growth over the next three to five years projected to continue potentially above 1%. Longer term (beyond 2030), although both the rate of change and scenarios are less certain, the shift of light vehicle transport to EVs is more critical and could contribute to declining demand for oil products. The long lead time until EVs take over should allow the major oil companies to look for alternative growth routes, with more focus on gas and renewables. These two energy sources are well placed to meet some of the increased demand for electricity from power producers as a result of EVs. Gas makes up about half of the reserves and production of the five super major oil companies. For oil producers, growth in demand from emerging markets for transport remains the larger factor in the near term, whereas 47% of crude oil is currently used in road transportation. About 1.2 million EVs (including lighter trucks) were sold in 2017 compared with total global car sales of between 93 million and 95 million. Platt's Analytics has pointed to an oil demand loss of 20,000 barrels per day (bbls/d) for each additional million EVs. Even if assuming EV sales multiplied to 10 million-15 million in 2025, it would imply an initial impact of a 200,000-300,000/d decline in oil demand, compared with current production of about 95 million bbls/d. Over the longer term (after 2030), as EV market share translates into higher EV stock levels, the cumulative impact of the shift to EVs and heavier trucks could result in downside to global oil demand, outweighing the continued growth projected from commercial transport and chemicals. We see oil-focused producers with reserves at the high end of the cost curve as most exposed. While producers have focused on shorter cycle developments, including shale, in recent years of low prices, the investment profile is also important. A high cost development could still be economically attractive, if the costs are front loaded and the long-term investment needs to maintain production are low. As with existing, producing developments, even if oil prices are low, the capital cost is largely sunk. As demand and potential returns wane and companies pull back on investment, free cash flow generation could actually increase. Such a lack of reinvestment can't ultimately support a sustainable business model, however [...]

» March 5 2018 - #ClimatePolicy [#ICCIP] Handbook of #ClimateChange #Communication. This comprehensive handbook provides a unique overview of the theory, methodologies and best practices in climate change communication from around the world. It fosters the exchange of information, ideas and experience gained in the execution of successful projects and initiatives, and discusses novel methodological approaches [...]

» March 2 2018 - #Emissions #ClimatePolicy [#winrock Report] New Guidance on Applying the Monte Carlo Approach in #GHG accounting. When calculating greenhouse gas emissions, it is always necessary to evaluate and quantify the uncertainties of the estimates. Uncertainty analyses help analysts and decision-makers identify how accurate the estimations are and the likely range in which the true value of the emissions fall. This guidance serves as a technical guide for analysts who desire to apply the Monte Carlo approach to quantify uncertainty, filling information gaps that currently exist in international literature on how to carry out uncertainty analyses in forestry and greenhouse gas accounting [...]

» March 1 2018 - #EnergyMix #GHGs #LowCostElectricity [#CERI] A Comprehensive Guide to #ElectricityGeneration Options in #Canada. Canada's electricity generation mix consists of hydro, gas, oil, coal, nuclear, biomass, wind, solar and tidal sources. Each province's unique mix will vary based on its natural resource availability and accessibility. In 2015, renewables (mostly hydro) accounted for 66% of the electricity generation, with the majority of hydro power production coming from Quebec, British Columbia, Ontario, Manitoba and Newfoundland (NEB, 2017). Canada has the opportunity to move away from more traditional electricity generation options to produce low cost electricity with fewer greenhouse gas emissions. While there are other elements associated with the management of Canada's electricity systems, such as smart grids and demand-side management, generation is still a key component of the system which provides the services Canadians have come to depend on in modern society. Study findings will provide insights into the economics of different generation technologies by considering the resource potential of each province, the technical maturity of each option and technical improvements in generation equipment [...]

» February 28 2018 - #EnergyIndustry #Geopolitics [#] Diversifying for the future energy landscape. Four trends that brought us to this point. In the last couple of decades we've seen a shale gale that has nearly doubled US oil production, while gas has grown by around 20% globally. We have seen a renewables revolution that has quadrupled the global capacity of renewables other than hydropower. We have seen technological advances enhancing recovery rates ... And we have seen digital transforming what is achievable [...] Four enablers. First, we have partnerships of strengths. Like BP is doing with Europe's leading solar developer, Lightsource, is important. Unlike in the past where we manufactured panels, we have now partnered with Lightsource, bringing together their expertise in development with our global scale, relationships and expertise in major project management and delivery. Second there is partnering to foster innovation. In BP we are investing up to $200 million a year on venturing and related activity to seed funding for a range of clean energy prospects. This is about pursuing small businesses with big potential. For example, we've invested in a company that can produce concrete with between 30 and 70% less CO2. The potential is huge when you consider that concrete is the single most-used substance on the planet, apart from water. Third are partnerships in policy. The most effective way in our view to limit greenhouse gas emissions is through a carbon price - be that cap and trade or carbon taxation. BP's view is that carbon pricing is the most effective policy to limit greenhouse gas emissions as it incentivizes all actors - businesses and consumers - to take action on a wide range of fronts. For businesses, one of those actions is low carbon innovation - innovation in technologies, business models, markets and new resources including renewables. To do this takes policy, so government and industry working is vital. And this leads me to my final point, which is about partnering to accelerate progress. It means the UN holding the ring, academia showing what needs to be done, governments creating the policies, and for businesses to create the innovations. A good example of where businesses are showing such innovation is in the Oil and Gas Climate Initiative, which brings together 10 IOCs and NOCs representing 20% of the world’s oil and gas production. It has invested $1bn to lead to a reduction of 1bn tonnes of GHGs [...]

» February 28 2018 - #Oil #Geopolitics [#bloomberg] U.K. Is Set to Become Net Crude Oil Exporter. A handful of new projects in the North Sea that will come on stream this year will lift the nation's crude output above 1 million barrels a day, according to JBC Energy GmbH, a Vienna-based forecaster. On a net trade basis, that will soon allow overseas sales to overtake imports [...] While joining the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries is almost unthinkable in reality, the potential for net exports does highlight a rebound in U.K. crude production that once seemed in permanent decline. Output declined for consecutive years between 2000 and 2014, according to BP Plc, whose figures include natural gas liquids [...]

» February 27 2018 - #CarbonTax #FeedInTariff #Decarbonization [#ClimatePolicy journal] Policy instruments for limiting global temperature rise to 1.5°C - can humanity rise to the challenge? In order to mobilize the volume of mitigation required to reach a global emissions path consistent with 1.5°C, policy instruments need to be much more stringent than they have been to date. They will have to ensure full decarbonization of key economic sectors within one generation, which will require retirement of high-carbon assets before the end of their technical lifetime. However, political economy shows that only those instruments will be implemented that benefit well-organized interest groups while spreading costs as widely as possible. In the past, this has led to distortions such as emissions trading systems with systemic overallocation of allowances, or carbon taxes that exempt industry. Under favourable lobbying constellations strong subsidy schemes for mitigation can emerge. Renewable feed-in tariffs in Europe persisted for over two decades and were crucial for the breakthrough of wind and solar power technologies. But once competition from China led to the demise of European technology providers and the European population started to feel the pinch from the surcharges on their electricity bills, feed-in tariffs were abolished. Historically, rapid transformations of the nature required to reach 1.5°C built on either lavish public investment into the underlying infrastructure or a general notion of national emergency. Innovative forms of market mechanisms could convince policy makers that mitigation costs are lower than expected and thus accelerate mitigation. For the long-term success of far-reaching mitigation policies, it will be crucial whether they can be framed as harnessing an opportunity or whether they are seen as a grim, but grudgingly accepted response to a societal emergency [...]

» February 27 2018 - #ClimatePolicy #Geopolitics #EU [#science] Asylum applications respond to temperature fluctuations. International negotiations on #ClimateChange, along with recent upsurges in #Migration across the #Mediterranean Sea, have highlighted the need to better understand the possible effects of climate change on human migration-in particular, across national borders. Here we examine how, in the recent past (2000-2014), weather variations in 103 source countries translated into asylum applications to the European Union, which averaged 351,000 per year in our sample. We find that temperatures that deviated from the moderate optimum (~20°C) increased asylum applications in a nonlinear fashion, which implies an accelerated increase under continued future warming. Holding everything else constant, asylum applications by the end of the century are predicted to increase, on average, by 28% (98,000 additional asylum applications per year) under representative concentration pathway (RCP) scenario 4.5 and by 188% (660,000 additional applications per year) under RCP 8.5 for the 21 climate models in the NASA Earth Exchange Global Daily Downscaled Projections (NEX-GDDP) [...]

» February 26 2018 - #NETs #CCS [#ClimatePolicy journal] The #PoliticalEconomy of negative emissions technologies: consequences for international policy design. Negative emissions technologies (NETs), especially bioenergy with carbon capture and storage and direct air capture and storage, have been invoked as necessary to achieve the aspirational 1.5°C target of the #ParisAgreement. However, currently their costs are estimated to be very high, NETs do not seem to offer co-benefits besides mitigating climate change and there are significant concerns regarding possible negative impacts of their large-scale implementation on sustainable development. Costs can vary significantly due to locational factors such as availability of biomass resources and geological storage capacity. It will be up to progressive industrialized countries to take first steps to mobilize the mitigation potential of NETs. In order to understand whether NETs can provide a significant contribution to mitigation, financial incentives are needed that allow implementing the most attractive NET activities at the global scale. We see the market mechanism under Article 6.4 of the Paris Agreement - colloquially called 'Sustainable Development Mechanism' - as a possible cornerstone of such a policy instrument. While initially NETs will not be competitive on the free market, the mechanism can facilitate bilateral financial transfers for NETs, where mitigation units accrue to the financier. We discuss the functions and design elements that an international policy instrument may need to fulfil to successfully mobilize NETs. This includes in particular robust quantification of removed carbon under international oversight and preventing social and environmental conflicts particularly on land and water use by NETs to ensure long-term acceptability [...]

» February 23 2018 - #EnergyTransition #LowCarbonEnergy [#IRENA report] #RenewableEnergy prospects for the European Union. For more than two decades, the European Union (EU) has been at the forefront of global renewable energy deployment. The adoption of long-term targets and supporting policy measures has resulted in strong growth in renewable energy deployment across the region, from a 9% share in gross final energy consumption in 2005 to 16.7% in 2015. The REmap study by the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA), prepared in co-operation with the European Commission, identifies cost-effective renewable energy options for all EU Member States, spanning a wide range of sectors and technologies. Key findings: The EU could double the renewable share in its energy mix, cost effectively, from 17% in 2015 to 34% in 2030. All EU countries have cost-effective potential to use more renewables. Renewables are vital for long-term decarbonisation of the EU energy system. The European electricity sector can accommodate large shares of solar photovoltaic (PV) and wind power generation. Heating and cooling solutions account for more than one third of the EU's untapped renewable energy potential. All renewable transport option, including both electric vehicles and biofuels, are needed to realise long-term EU decarbonisation objectives. Biomass will remain a key renewable energy source beyond 2030 [...]

» February 22 2018 - #EnergyTransition #EnergyIndustry #LowCarbonEnergy [#greentechmedia forum] #Blockchain in #Energy. The first blockchain in energy transaction took place in April 2016 in Brooklyn, New York. Today, less than two years later, there are 122 organizations involved in blockchain technology and 40 deployed projects. Between Q2 2017 and Q1 2018, $300 million was invested in the blockchain in energy industry [...]

» February 21 2018 - #Energy #Geopolitics [#BP] Energy Outlook - 2018 edition. Fast growth in developing economies drives up global energy demand a third higher. The global energy mix is the most diverse the world has ever seen by 2040, with oil, gas, coal and non-fossil fuels each contributing around 25%. Renewables are by far the fastest-growing fuel source, increasing five-fold and providing around 14% of primary energy. Demand for oil grows over much of Outlook period before plateauing in the later years. Natural gas demand grows strongly and overtakes coal as the second largest source of energy. Oil and gas together account for over half of the world's energy. Global coal consumption flatlines with Chinese coal consumption seeming increasingly likely to have plateaued. The number of electric cars grows to around 15% of the car parc, but because of the much higher intensity with which they are used, account for 30% of passenger vehicle kilometres. Carbon emissions continue to rise, signalling the need for a comprehensive set of actions to achieve a decisive break from the past [...]

» February 21 2018 - #OilPrice #Geopolitics [#theenergymix] The Next Price Crash: #Oil Pays the Price. Physical markets do not lie [...] If regional areas of oversupply cannot find pockets of demand, prices will decline [...] warning from the International Energy Agency that another oil oversupply is not out of the question this year-despite determined efforts by the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) to limit production and clear a long-standing surplus in global oil markets, thereby driving up oil prices [...]

» February 21 2018 - #Coal #CCS #Geopolitics [#WCA] Tax break for CCS technologies [...] increased and extended tax breaks for companies that invest in carbon capture use and storage (#CCUS) technologies in the #UnitedStates. The provision is part of a two-year budget deal which was approved last week by the US Congress. [...]

» February 16 2018 - #ClimatePolicy #COP23 #UNFCCC [#wupperinst] The Calm Before the Storm. The report starts by discussing developments regarding the implementation of the #ParisAgreement, in particular the negotiations on the detailed 'rulebook' for implementing the Agreement. Other key issues addressed at the conference were the support for countries of the Global South in dealing with the effects of climate change (adaptation and climate finance) and preparation of the first global review of climate action that will take place in December this year. In addition, the report discusses recent developments in the wider world that have an impact on the UNFCCC, in particular the rise of pioneer alliances at the intergovernmental and civil society level. Although some progress was achieved regarding the rulebook for implementation of the Paris Agreement, no real breakthrough was made. Therefore, quite some diplomatic work and political leadership will be needed this year to make the adoption of the rulebook at COP24 in Katowice (Poland) possible. This will require quite some tailwind from civil society and the media [...] the full calendar of climate diplomacy over the next years will hopefully contribute to keeping climate protection in the news and high on the political agenda [...] for the success of COP24 in Katowice in December this year, it will be essential that all countries rediscover the central message of the Paris Agreement: that in the face of the coming storms on a finite planet, we are all in the same boat [...]

» February 14 2018 - #ClimatePolicy #CarbonMarket #LowCarbonEconomy [Environmental Commissioner of #Ontario (ECO) #Canada 2017 #GreenhouseGas Progress Report] Ontario's Climate Act: From Plan to Progress. The province's first year of cap and trade went well. Carbon prices raised $1.9 billion in 2017 to support reductions of greenhouse gas emissions. Ontario's Climate Act: From Plan to Progress notes that of the $1.37 billion in projects funded as of November 2017, almost all meet the requirements of the Climate Change Mitigation and Low-carbon Economy Act [...] The report notes that the government needs a better plan for spending cap and trade funds and a number of proposed policies may not lower emissions. Some government ministries must take climate change more seriously by considering it in their decision making, spending and regulations [...]

» February 13 2018 - #SustainableDevelopment [#Canada Min. of Environment and #ClimateChange] Impact Assessment Act. A new government agency to oversee environmental reviews of proposed projects and set new timetables and rules for carrying out assessments. Among other things, the proposal-which will have to be approved by Parliament-calls for increased consultation with Canada's indigenous groups, expanding reviews to include social, economic and climate impacts, and making greater efforts to explain the kinds of information regulators are using in evaluations. The bill would also shorten timelines for project reviews and potentially alter the number of projects that would receive full reviews [...]

» February 12 2018 - #EnergyTransition #ClimateChange #SustainableDevelopment [#IRENA] the Global Commission on the #Geopolitics of Energy Transformation, with the support of the governments of Germany, Norway and the United Arab Emirates. The Commission will examine the immediate and longer-term geopolitical implications of global energy transformation driven by large scale-up of renewable energy in the context of global efforts to tackle climate change and advance sustainable development. The Commission will be chaired by Mr. Olafur Grimsson, the former President of Iceland [...] The Commission will be composed by twelve leaders and experts on international energy and global security issues, with particular emphasis given to ensuring diverse geographical and expert background representation. The Commission will present its report at the 9th Session of the IRENA Assembly in January 2019 [...]

» February 12 2018 - #NaturalGas #EU #Geopolitics #EnergyUnion [#set-nav report] Projects of Common Interest (#PICs) and Gas Producers Pricing Strategy. The European Union aims to prepare its infrastructure for further #Decarbonisation of its #EnergySystem in the longer term towards 2050. The Commission has introduced a number of initiatives to support this goal. EU Regulation 347/2013 states that accelerating the refurbishment of existing energy infrastructure and the deployment of new energy infrastructure is vital to achieve the Union's energy and climate policy objectives. To support the energy transition and decarbonisation pathways for the EU, this regulation provides a methodology to select key EU infrastructure projects (PCIs). This paper intends to answer the question, whether the existing gas infrastructure is capable to serve the decarbonization goals of the EU and if not, what pieces of infrastructure could fill the gap. As part of the SET-Nav project, in this case study, three different gas models analyse a set of natural gas infrastructure projects and the results are compared. The input data set and the key assumptions are harmonized for the coordinated gas market modelling exercise [...]

» February 12 2018 - #EnergyTransition #Norway #Statoil [#CNBC] It's realistic that mounting pressure to diversify away from #Oil and #Gas could see Statoil raise its target to around 40 percent of capital expenditure over the next decade [...] The oil and gas producer it is poised to increase its capital expenditure to $11 billion this year, up from $9.4 billion spent in 2017 [...] it expected to invest around 15 to 20 percent of its total capital expenditure in so-called new energy solutions by 2030 [...]

» February 9 2018 - #Blockchain #CarbonFootprint #EconomicAndSocialStructure [#WEF] From #Biodiversity loss and ecosystem collapse to #WaterCrises and #ExtremeWeatherEvents, most of the biggest risks identified in the World Economic Forum #GlobalRisksReport [#GRR] are environmental. Addressing their impact on our wellbeing, our prosperity and on enterprise requires a profound shift in how we produce and consume. Our orientation to nature must change too. We must move from being egocentric to ecocentric, balancing human and biosphere needs [...] Perhaps of all the new technologies that comprise the Fourth Industrial Revolution, blockchain shows the most promise for radical disruption [...]

» February 9 2018 - #LowCarbonEconomy #EnergyEfficiency [#IEPEEC report] Country-led task groups consolidated and reinforced their activities to progress energy efficiency in key areas: appliances and equipment, buildings, industrial energy management, electricity generation, transport, finance and data [...]

» February 8 2018 - #Geopolitics #ClimatePolicy #FossilFuelSubsidies [#nature] Limited emission reductions from fuel subsidy removal except in energy-exporting regions. Hopes are high that removing fossil fuel subsidies could help to mitigate climate change by discouraging inefficient energy consumption and levelling the playing field for renewable energy. In September 2016, the G20 countries re-affirmed their 2009 commitment (at the G20 Leaders' Summit) to phase out fossil fuel subsidies and many national governments are using today's low oil prices as an opportunity to do so. In practical terms, this means abandoning policies that decrease the price of fossil fuels and electricity generated from fossil fuels to below normal market prices. However, whether the removal of subsidies, even if implemented worldwide, would have a large impact on climate change mitigation has not been systematically explored. Here we show that removing fossil fuel subsidies would have an unexpectedly small impact on global energy demand and carbon dioxide emissions and would not increase renewable energy use by 2030. Subsidy removal would reduce the carbon price necessary to stabilize greenhouse gas concentration at 550 parts per million by only 2-12 per cent under low oil prices. Removing subsidies in most regions would deliver smaller emission reductions than the Paris Agreement (2015) climate pledges and in some regions global subsidy removal may actually lead to an increase in emissions, owing to either coal replacing subsidized oil and natural gas or natural-gas use shifting from subsidizing, energy-exporting regions to non-subsidizing, importing regions. Our results show that subsidy removal would result in the largest CO2 emission reductions in high-income oil- and gas-exporting regions, where the reductions would exceed the climate pledges of these regions and where subsidy removal would affect fewer people living below the poverty line than in lower-income regions [...]

» February 8 2018 - #Geopolitics #Oil [#stratfor] #SaudiArabia-#US, cooperation vs competition [...] The biggest question next year is how well #SaudiArabia and its Gulf allies will see the pact through to its conclusion. They will try to shoulder the bulk of the burden of maintaining production cuts as compliance starts to slip among other members eager to exit the agreement. And as its expiration draws near, #US #Shale production will likely ramp up amid higher oil prices. Determined not to incentivize a strong recovery in U.S. shale output, Saudi Arabia and Russia may continue to collaborate in energy long after the current quotas have ended. For instance, Saudi Arabia can use Russian assistance to diversify its energy sector while working with Moscow to restrict production. But this cooperation in energy will do little to defuse the competition intensifying in the Middle East [...]

» February 7 2018 - #Energy [#irena] #Renewable #PowerGeneration Costs in 2017. Renewable power generation costs continue to fall and are already very competitive to meet needs for new capacity. Competitive procurement - including auctions - accounts for a small fraction of global renewable energy deployment. Yet these mechanisms are very rapidly driving down costs in new markets. Global competition is helping to spread the best project development practices, reducing technology and project risk and making renewables more cost-competitive than ever before. In developed countries, solar power has become cheaper than new nuclear power. The levelised cost of electricity (LCOE) from solar photovoltaics (PV) decreased by 69% between 2010 and 2016 - coming well into the cost range of fossil fuels. Onshore wind, whose costs fell 18% in the same period, provides very competitive electricity, with projects routinely commissioned nowadays at USD 0.04/kWh. As installation accelerates, the cost equation for renewables just gets better and better. With every doubling of cumulative installed capacity for onshore wind, investment costs drop by 9% while the resulting electricity becomes 15% cheaper. Solar PV module costs have fallen by about four-fifths, making residential solar PV systems as much as two-thirds cheaper than in 2010. The IRENA Renewable Cost Database includes 15000 data points for LCOE from projects around the globe, representing over 1000 gigawats (GW) of power generation capacity. An additional auctions database encompasses over 7,000 projects with nearly 300 GW of capacity [...]

» February 7 2018 - #Oil #Geopolitics [#PetroleumEconomist] Kuwait's big energy spending plans. The country is working towards raising crude oil production capacity by more than 1.5m barrels a day by 2040. Kuwait Petroleum Corporation (KPC) has set itself some ambitious upstream targets [...] the Petroleum Economist annual Strategy Forum in Kuwait City last week that KPC had "launched its 2040 strategy which focuses on growth in oil activities that require significant capital to finance the mega-projects" [...] It's not clear whether the 4.75m b/d target includes Kuwait's 250,000-b/d half-share of production from the Neutral Zone. A dispute between Saudi Arabia and Kuwait resulted in joint operations in the zone stopping in 2015. While on a number of occasions there have been suggestions that the issue was close to being resolved, production remains shut in [...]

» February 7 2018 - #SustainableEnergy [#eurostat] Consumption in the EU above the #EnergyEfficiency target 4% - gap for primary energy consumption and 2% gap for final energy consumption targets. The European Union (EU) has committed itself to reducing energy consumption by 20% by 2020 compared to projections. This objective is also known as the 20% energy efficiency target. In other words, the EU has pledged to attaining a primary energy consumption of no more than 1483 million tonnes of oil equivalent (Mtoe) and a final energy consumption of no more than 1086 Mtoe in 2020. In 2016, primary energy consumption in the EU was 4% off the efficiency target. Since 1990, the first year for which data are available, the consumption has reduced by 1.7%. However, over the years, the distance from primary energy consumption target has fluctuated greatly. The biggest divergence from the target was in 2006 (16.2%, a consumption level of 1723 Mtoe), while a record low was reached in 2014 (1.7%, 1509 Mtoe). Over the last two years the gap rose again, to 4% above the 2020 target, equating to a consumption of 1 543 Mtoe in 2016 [...]

» February 7 2018 - #SustainableEnergy [#IEA] #EnergyEfficiency Indicators Highlights 2017. This statistical report is designed to help understand what drives final energy use in IEA member countries in order to improve and track national energy efficiency policies. It is the second edition of a comprehensive selection of data that the IEA has been collecting each year, after its member states recognised in 2009 the need to better monitor energy efficiency policies. The report includes country-specific analysis of end uses across the largest sectors - residential, services, industry and transport. It answers questions such as: What are the largest drivers for energy use trends in each country? Was energy saved because of efficiency progress over time? How much energy is used for space heating, appliances or cooking? What are the most energy-intensive industries? Improving energy efficiency is a critical step for governments to take to move towards a sustainable energy system. This report highlights the key role of end-use energy data and indicators in monitoring progress in energy efficiency around the world. This publication is complemented by the new Energy Efficiency Indicators database, which contains annual data from 2000 to 2015, covering end use energy consumption by energy product, end use energy efficiency indicators, and carbon intensity indicators for the four sectors [...]

» February 7 2018 - #EnergyPolicy #Renewable #EnergySecurity #EnergySources #EnergyPrices #RDD #CO2Emissions EnergyForecast [#IEA] Key World Energy Statistics (KWES). This milestone's edition has been enriched with more information on energy efficiency and renewables, more geographic data and also more of the fundamental data required to fully understand energy security. Key World Energy Statistics contains timely, clearly presented data on the supply, transformation and consumption of all major energy sources for the main regions of the world, proving everyone with an interest in energy key statistics on more than 150 countries and regions including energy indicators, energy balances, prices, RDD and CO2 emissions as well as energy forecasts [...]

» February 6 2018 - #RiskAssessment [Atmos. Chem. Phys. Article] Evidence for a continuous decline in lower stratospheric #Ozone offsetting ozone layer recovery [...] Ozone in the lower stratosphere between 60°S and 60°N has indeed continued to decline since 1998. We find that, even though upper stratospheric ozone is recovering, the continuing downward trend in the lower stratosphere prevails, resulting in a downward trend in stratospheric column ozone between 60°S and 60°N. We find that total column ozone between 60°S and 60°N appears not to have decreased only because of increases in tropospheric column ozone that compensate for the stratospheric decreases. The reasons for the continued reduction of lower stratospheric ozone are not clear; models do not reproduce these trends, and thus the causes now urgently need to be established [...]

» February 6 2018 - #ClimatePolicy #ClimateFinance [#OECD] Making Blended Finance Work for the #SustainableDevelopmentGoals. The global community has spoken loud and clear: more resources must be mobilised to end extreme poverty and mitigate the effects of climate change. Blended finance - an approach to mix different forms of capital in support of development - is emerging as an important solution to help raise resources for the Sustainable Development Goals in developing countries. But scaling up blended finance without a good understanding of its risks could have unintended consequences for development co-operation providers. This report presents a comprehensive assessment of the state and priorities for blended finance as it is being used to support sustainable development in developing countries. It describes concepts and definitions, presents an overview of actors and instruments, and discusses lessons learned from blending approaches, tracking and data, and monitoring and evaluation. Its findings and recommendations are useful for policy makers and practitioners [...]

» February 6 2018 - #EnergyPolicy #Economics [#exxon] 2018 Outlook for #Energy: A View to 2040. Advances continue to reshape the energy playing field. Many technologies not prevalent five to 10 years ago have a more significant role today, and their impacts will continue to expand. Examples include wind and solar power, unconventional oil and gas development, and electric cars. Meeting the dual challenge of mitigating the risks of climate change while boosting standards of living will require additional technology advances [...] This year's Outlook also includes a new section, "Pursuing a 2°C Pathway." This section utilizes work coordinated by the Energy Modeling Forum at Stanford University. It provides a view of potential pathways toward a 2°C climate goal, and the implications such pathways might have in terms of global energy intensity, carbon intensity of the world’s energy mix and global demand for various energy sources. The section concludes with a discussion of the need to pursue practical, cost-effective solutions to address multiple goals simultaneously [...]

» February 6 2018 - #Geopolitics #EnergyPolicy #Economics [#unescwa report] Towards Good Governance of the #Oil and #Gas Sector in the #MENA. A preliminary analysis of the governance of the oil and gas sector among Arab net oil exporters [...] Algeria, Bahrain, Iraq, Kuwait, Libya, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the UAE. Norway was used as the benchmark. Although international comparisons should be treated with caution given varying domestic conditions and history, a meaningful comparison is typically carried out using a good benchmark. In this respect, Norway was chosen because its management of the oil and gas sector is typically seen as exemplary and the country scores high on various governance indicators. The comparison of the management strategies of each of the five pillars of the value chain - mainly: the award of contracts and licenses, regulations, fiscal regime, revenue management and sustainable development, reveals many commonalities between the Arab net oil exporters and significant divergences from Norway [...] the most recurring feature throughout the comparative analysis, is the limited transparency surrounding the management of the oil and gas sector in the Arab region particularly as compared to Norway [...]

» February 5 2018 - #Geopolitics #SaudiArabia [#Stratfor Worldview Webcast] The Road to #Vision2030. When Saudi Arabia announced its ambitions Vision 2030 plan, and the massive economic and cultural overhaul it would require, it was clear the road would be long and challenging. As the march toward Vision 2030 moves forward, high level corruption crackdowns and power grabs have garnered international attention, but what do they say about what's really happening within Saudi Arabia? Globally engaged businesses and organizations join Stratfor Worldview for Teams and Enterprises for independent, unbiased insight that reveals the underlying significance and future implications of emerging world events. That insight powers strategic decision making and global situational awareness [...]

» February 2 2018 - #ClimatePolicy #US #ParisAgreement [#WeAreStillIn] Since its initial realise, more than 2,500 leaders from Americas city halls, state houses, boardrooms, and college campuses, representing more than 130 million Americans and $6.2 trillion of the U.S. economy have signed the We Are Still In declaration. Spanning all 50 states - red and blue - we are demonstrating America's enduring commitment to tackling climate change, ensuring a clean energy future, and upholding the Paris Agreement. To date, 'We Are Still In' is the largest cross section of local leaders in support of climate action in the United States [...]

» February 2 2018 - #Energy #Renewable [#Aurora Research] The new economics of offshore wind. New analysis shows offshore wind could reach up to 30GW by the 2030s in #GreatBritain [...] Additional offshore wind could generate savings for consumers of c. £20 pa by the 2030s [...] In 2017, maturing of the offshore wind industry and supply chain, aggressive competition, rapidly falling costs, and clarity over future government support combined to create significant optimism and momentum for offshore wind in Great Britain. Offshore wind is seen increasingly not only as a low carbon technology, but also as a key part of the GB power system - able to provide not just power, but also potentially contribute to security of supply and balancing services [...] Government should continue its current policy of providing revenue stabilisation through the Contracts-for-Difference mechanism (CfD). In 2025, offshore wind costs will have reduced sufficiently such that CfD bids could be effectively 'zero-subsidy' i.e., bids will be costneutral and set at the level of the offshore wind 'capture price' in the wholesale electricity market, resulting in no net subsidy payments over the 15-year term of the CfD contract [...]

» February 1 2018 - #Energy #FossilFuel #Oil [#reuters] #Canada, the next frontier for #ShaleOil [...] Canadian producers and global oil majors are increasingly exploring the Duvernay and Montney formations, which they say could rival the most prolific U.S. shale fields. Canada is the first country outside the United States to see large-scale development of shale resources, which already account for 8 percent of total Canadian oil output. China, Russia and Argentina also have ample shale reserves but have yet to overcome the obstacles to full commercial development [...]

» January 31 2018 - #GreenBond #SustainableEconomy [#EuropeanCommission] Final report of the High-Level Expert Group on #SustainableFinance. HLEG recommends: establishing an EU sustainability taxonomy, starting with #ClimateMitigation, to define areas where investments are needed most; clarifying investor duties to extend the time horizons of investment and bring greater focus on environmental, social and governance (#ESG) factors into investment decisions; upgrading disclosures to make sustainability opportunities and risks transparent; enabling retail investors to invest in sustainable finance opportunities; developing official European sustainability standards for some financial assets, starting with green bonds; establishing 'Sustainable Infrastructure Europe' to deploy development capacity in EU member states for infrastructure necessary for a more sustainable economy; and integrating sustainability firmly in the governance of financial institutions as well as in financial supervision. [...] It advises the EU: to confront short-termism in financial markets so as to reduce its negative impact on long-term corporate investment and development; to consider ways to empower citizens to engage with sustainable finance; to monitor investment plans and delivery through a dedicated EU observatory on sustainable finance; to improve financial market benchmark transparency and guidance; to ensure that EU accounting rules do not unduly discourage long-term investment; to establish a 'Think Sustainability First' principle at the heart of EU policy-making; and to drive sustainable finance at the global level [...] to promote real economy and sustainability lending in the banking sector; to enable insurance companies to have a stronger role in equity, long-term and infrastructure investments; to ensure that asset managers, pension funds and investment consultants grasp the sustainability preferences of their clients; to ensure that credit rating agencies lengthen the time horizon of risk analysis and disclose how they consider ESG factors; to have listing authorities promote disclosure of ESG information; and to obtain better long-term research by investment banks. Finally, the HLEG is aware that there are many other social and environmental challenges to tackle. The HLEG recommends: supporting the growth of social enterprises and the financing of social-related projects; revaluing natural and environmental capital in economic and financial decisions; and re-orienting agriculture to a way that is more sustainable for the economy, the environment and public health. The Group's recommendations in this final report aim to inspire and guide the Commission's action plan on sustainable finance [...]

» January 31 2018 - #Geopolitics #EnergyPolicy #Renewables #FossilFuels [#Springer] The Strategic Realities of the Emerging Energy Game-Conclusion and Reflection. This volume explores the geopolitics of renewables: the implications for interstate energy relations of a transition towards renewable energy. Noting the different geographic and technical characteristics of renewable energy systems vis-a-vis those of fossil fuels, it investigates specifically how renewables might (re)shape strategic realities and policy considerations of producer, consumer, and transit countries and energy-related patterns of cooperation and conflict between them. Focus is on contemporary developments and how they may shape the coming decades. The objective is to establish a comprehensive overview and understanding of the emerging energy game, one that puts the topic on the map and provides practical illustrations of the changes renewables bring to energy geopolitics and specific countries. To this end, a novel analytical framework is introduced that moves from geography and technology to economics and politics and developments are studied on three levels of analysis: (a) the emerging global energy game, winners and losers; (b) regional and bilateral energy relations of established and rising powers; and (c) infrastructure developments and governance responses. This concluding chapter summarizes the core developments shaping the geopolitics of renewables, using the framework to reflect on the relationship under study and our expectations. It also draws overarching lessons for the field of geopolitics of renewables and regarding the challenges and opportunities countries face in securing an affordable energy supply in the emerging energy game [...]

» January 31 2018 - #ClimatePolicy #Germany [#cleanenergywire] E.ON CEO applauds postponed 2020 climate goal, calls for #CarbonTax [...] policymakers had to set a general course for emissions reduction and provide the tools toachieve it, "but the market and technological development will decide how quickly we move" [...] European emissions trading system (ETS) was “a failed instrumentâ€� that could not do to enough to reduce emissions, and that "an effective CO2 price" on a European level, backed by a national carbon tax would be "the most powerful instrument" for climate protection [...]

» January 30 2018 - #GlobalWarming [#Nature v. 553, pp. 319-322, Emergent constraint on equilibrium climate sensitivity from global temperature variability] Equilibrium climate sensitivity (ECS) remains one of the most important unknowns in #ClimateChange science. ECS is defined as the global mean warming that would occur if the atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) concentration were instantly doubled and the climate were then brought to equilibrium with that new level of CO2. Despite its rather idealized definition, ECS has continuing relevance for international climate change agreements, which are often framed in terms of stabilization of global warming relative to the pre-industrial climate. However, the 'likely' range of ECS as stated by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has remained at 1.5-4.5 degrees Celsius for more than 25 years. The possibility of a value of ECS towards the upper end of this range reduces the feasibility of avoiding 2 degrees Celsius of global warming, as required by the Paris Agreement. Here we present a new emergent constraint on ECS that yields a central estimate of 2.8 degrees Celsius with 66 per cent confidence limits (equivalent to the IPCC 'likely' range) of 2.2-3.4 degrees Celsius. Our approach is to focus on the variability of temperature about long-term historical warming, rather than on the warming trend itself. We use an ensemble of climate models to define an emergent relationship between ECS and a theoretically informed metric of global temperature variability. This metric of variability can also be calculated from observational records of global warming, which enables tighter constraints to be placed on ECS, reducing the probability of ECS being less than 1.5 degrees Celsius to less than 3 per cent, and the probability of ECS exceeding 4.5 degrees Celsius to less than 1 per cent [...]

» January 29 2018 - #EnergyPolicy [#EuropeanCommission] #EU #EnergyPoverty Observatory (#EPOV). More than 50 million households in the European Union are struggling to attain adequate warmth, pay their utility bills on time and live in homes free of damp and mould. Awareness of energy poverty is rising in Europe and has been identified as a policy priority by a number of EU institutions, most notably in the European Commission's 'Clean Energy for All Europeans' legislative package. The creation of an EU Energy Poverty Observatory is part of the Commission's efforts to address energy poverty across EU countries. The Observatory aims to provide a user-friendly and open-access resource that will promote public engagement on the issue of energy poverty, disseminate information and good practice, facilitate knowledge sharing among stakeholders, as well as support informed decision making at local, national and EU level. The Observatory is being developed by a consortium led by the University of Manchester and includes, as core partners, Ecofys, National Energy Action, the European Policy Centre, Intrasoft International and the Wuppertal Institut [...]

» January 29 2018 - #Economics [#SocieteGenerale] #Trade #Globalisation: going into reverse? Globalisation has been the dominant force in the development of the world economy in the post-Cold War era, making the world's economies more interconnected and more inter-dependent than ever before. This wave of globalisation is the second in the past 200 years. The first wave began in the first half of the 19th century, powered by a combination of technological breakthroughs and liberal trade policy in continental Europe. It collapsed when the Great Depression of the 1930s led to a widespread retreat into protectionism [...]

» January 26 2018 - #ClimateChange #ClimateCommitments #ParisAgreements [#climateandhealthalliance] Ramping Up Action on Climate and #Health in #Cities and #Regions. The 2017 Global Climate and Health Summit focused, through a health lens, on action in cities and regions to advance implementation of national targets under the Paris Agreement and build momentum for increased ambition in climate commitments. Summary of Proceedings [...]

» January 26 2018 - #EnergyPolicy #Geopolitics [Short-Term Energy Outlook (#STEO), #EIA] forecasts that total #FossilFuels production in the #UnitedStates will average almost 73 quadrillion British thermal units (Btu) in 2018, the highest level of production on record. EIA expects total fossil fuel production to then set another record in 2019, with production forecast to rise to 75 quadrillion Btu. Fossil fuels include dry natural gas, crude oil, coal, and hydrocarbon gas liquids (HGL). Although EIA tends to express fossil fuel production in physical units, such as cubic feet for natural gas, barrels for oil, and tons for coal, expressing production in heat content allows for comparisons across fuel types. Record production levels are largely attributable to increased production of natural gas and crude oil enabled by the use of hydraulic fracturing techniques in tight rock formations. EIA expects increases in natural gas production to be the leading contributor to overall fossil fuels production growth in 2018 and increases in crude oil production growth to the be leading contributor in 2019. In both years, expected growth in natural gas, crude oil, and HGL production more than offset expected declines in coal production. [...]

» January 26 2018 - #Oil #Economics #Finance [#Bloomberg] #BBL Commodities LP, one of the world's largest oil-focused hedge funds, believes Brent crude will climb to $80 a barrel this year as stockpiles drop rapidly on the back of production cuts made by OPEC and its allies [...]

» January 25 2018 - #ClimateChange #SustainableDevelopment [#WEF] 8 ways #AI can help save the planet [...] The challenge goes beyond guiding "human friendly AI" to ensuring "Earth friendly AI". As the scale and urgency of the economic and human health impacts from our deteriorating natural environment grows, we have an opportunity to look at how AI can help transform traditional sectors and systems to address climate change, deliver food and water security, build sustainable cities, and protect biodiversity and human wellbeing [...]

» January 24 2018 - #ClimatePolicy #ParisAgreement [Journal Cogent Environmental Science] Developing CBDR-RC indices for fair allocation of emission reduction responsibilities and capabilities across countries. The aim of this paper is to develop two indices for quantifying common but differentiated responsibilities (CBDR) and respective capabilities (RC) of countries in mitigating climate change. These composite indices can help facilitate fair allocation of GHG emission reduction responsibilities across countries. Indices are formulated by taking into account the economic, environmental, social, and technical indicators of a given country. These indicators are usually highly correlated. An index using these indicators must take this high correlation into account, otherwise it will either over or underestimate the responsibility and the capability of a country. This study takes the correlation between the indicators into account in developing the CBDR and RC indices via the principal components method. However, the novelty of this study arises from measuring and using economic, social, technical, and environmental indicators together in creating the composite indices. The CBDR and RC are constructed for 50 countries that are responsible for at least 81% of global GHG emissions, including OECD countries and emerging economies. The Cluster Analyses are employed to classify the countries according to their CBDR and RC scores. The results suggest revision of current responsibility and capability classifications of the UNFCCC [...]

» January 24 2018 - #Economics #CarbonPricing #LowCarbonEconomy #CircularEconomy [#WEF] #ClimateChange: is the glass half full or half empty? [...] Countries like China are introducing a carbon price and others, such as Chile, Peru, Colombia, Mexico, Canada, and the states of California and Washington, are working together by linking their carbon pricing systems. In addition, the European Union agreed to reduce access to allowances in the coming years, which will ramp up the prices of the EU Emissions Trading System to a more meaningful level [...] we can design compelling long-term strategies with new performance metrics and engage investors in the process. There are lots of shareholders who should be - or even are - interested. Pension funds and insurance companies, which have a very long-term focus, represent about 70% of money invested in the stock market. Leaders who focus on the long term can reinvent their companies with the future in mind [Two Degrees of Transformation. Businesses are coming together to lead on climate change. Will you join them?, Report]. They have more latitude to depart from old models and accelerate the transition to a low-carbon, circular economy [...]

» January 23 2018 - #Coal #EnergyPolicy [#IEA market report series] Coal 2017. Coal's decade of stagnation. Global coal demand dropped for a second year in a row in 2016, approaching the previous record for two-year declines set in the early 1990s. Global demand for coal fell by 1.9% in 2016 to 5357 Mtce, as lower gas prices, a surge in renewables and energy efficiency improvements put a major dent on coal consumption. Demand for coal has now dropped by 4.2% since 2014, almost matching the fall of 1990-1992 which was the largest two-year decline recorded since the IEA started compiling statistics more than 40 years ago. In 2016, rising coal use in India and other Asian countries was unable to offset large declines in the United States, China (where demand dropped for the third consecutive year) and in the United Kingdom (where demand dropped by more than 50%). In the United States, coal's dominance in the power sector has been eroded by low gas prices; in China, coal demand has fallen due to lower use in the industrial and residential sectors linked to efforts to improve air quality; while in the United Kingdom a recently introduced carbon price floor has rung the death knell for coal use in power generation. Coal's share in the global energy mix is forecast to decline from 27% in 2016 to 26% in 2022 on sluggish demand growth relative to other fuels. Growth through 2022 is concentrated in India, Southeast Asia and a few other countries in Asia. Coal demand declines in Europe, Canada, the United States and China, the largest coal consumer by far, and where we forecast a structural but slow decline with some fluctuations linked to short-term market requirements. As a result of these contrasting trends, global coal demand reaches 5530 Mtce in 2022, which is only marginally higher than current levels, meaning that coal use all but stagnates for around a decade. Although coal-fired power generation increases by 1.2% per year in the period 2016-22, its share of the power mix falls to just below 36% by 2022, the lowest level since IEA statistics began [...]

» January 22 2018 - #GlobalWarming #ClimateChange [#InternationalCenterforClimateAndEnvironmentSciences, Institute of Atmospheric Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences] 2017 was the Warmest Year on Record for the Global Ocean. 2017 was the warmest year on record for the global ocean according to an updated ocean analysis from Institute of Atmospheric Physics/Chinese Academy of Science. The oceans in the upper 2000 m were 1.51×10²² J warmer than the second warmest year of 2015 and 19.19×10²² J above the 1981-2010 climatological reference period [...]

» January 22 2018 - #GlobalEconomy #Growth #Development #Equity [#WEF] The Inclusive Development Index (#IDI) 2018. Designed as an alternative to GDP, the Inclusive Development Index (IDI) reflects more closely the criteria by which people evaluate their countries' economic progress [...] It ranks economies in two groups - advanced and emerging [...] Of the G7 economies, Germany (12) ranks the highest. It is followed by Canada (17), France (18), the United Kingdom (21), the United States (23), Japan (24) and Italy (27). In many countries, there is a stark difference between individual pillars. For example, the US ranks 10 out of 29 for Growth and Development; however, it ranks 28 on Inclusion and 26 on Intergenerational Equity. France, on the other hand, fares less well on Growth and Development (21 out of 29); however, it ranks 12 for Inclusion. Its low ranking on Intergenerational Equity (24) suggests it may be storing up problems for the future [...]

» January 19 2018 - #SustainableFinance [#Blackrock - $6.2 trillion firm's assets have grown in 2017] #Climate and social issues, A new model for corporate governance: Larry's Fink's 2018 Letter to CEOs [...] long-term value creation and work to build a better framework [...] To sustain that performance, however, you must also understand the societal impact of your business as well as the ways that broad, structural trends – from slow wage growth to rising automation to climate change – affect your potential for growth [...] a company's ability to manage environmental, social, and governance matters demonstrates the leadership and good governance that is so essential to sustainable growth, which is why we are increasingly integrating these issues into our investment process. Companies must ask themselves: What role do we play in the community? How are we managing our impact on the environment? Are we working to create a diverse workforce? Are we adapting to technological change? Are we providing the retraining and opportunities that our employees and our business will need to adjust to an increasingly automated world? Are we using behavioral finance and other tools to prepare workers for retirement, so that they invest in a way that that will help them achieve their goals? [...]

» January 18 2018 - #EnergyUnion #EnergyEfficiency #Renewable #NationalEnergyClimatePlan [#EuropeanParliament] MEPs set ambitious targets for cleaner, more efficient energy use. Parliament endorsed committee proposals for binding EU-level targets of an 35% improvement in energy efficiency, a minimum 35% share of energy from renewable sources in gross final consumption of energy, and a 12% share of energy from renewable sources in transport, by 2030. To meet these overall targets, EU member states are asked to set their own national targets, to be monitored and achieved in line with a draft law on the governance of the Energy Union [...]

» January 18 2018 - #EnergyInvestment #Renewable [#BNEF] World #CleanEnergyInvestment totalled $333.5 billion last year, up 3% from 2016 and the second highest annual figure ever, taking cumulative investment since 2010 to $2.5 trillion [...] Solar investment globally amounted to $160.8 billion in 2017, up 18% on the previous year despite these cost reductions. Just over half of that world total, or $86.5 billion, was spent in China. This was 58% higher than in 2016, with an estimated 53GW of PV capacity installed – up from 30GW in 2016 [...] Overall, Chinese investment in all the clean energy technologies was $132.6 billion, up 24% setting a new record. The next biggest investing country was the U.S., at $56.9 billion, up 1% on 2016 despite the less friendly tone towards renewables adopted by the Trump administration [...] Below are the 2017 totals for other countries and regions investing $1 billion-plus in clean energy: India $11 billion, down 20% compared to 2016; Brazil $6.2 billion, up 10%; France $5 billion, up 15%; Sweden $4 billion, up 109%; Netherlands $3.5 billion, up 30%; Canada $3.3 billion, up 45%; South Korea $2.9 billion, up 14 [...]

» January 17 2018 - #Oil #EnergySecurity #Geopolitics [#BP chief economist S. Dale, #OIES director B. Fattouh] #PeakOil demand and long-run #OilPrices. The point at which oil demand will peak has long been a focus of debate [...] The significance of peak oil is that it signals a shift from an age of perceived scarcity to an age of abundance - and with it, a likely shift to a more competitive market environment [...]

» January 16 2018 - #ClimatePolicy #ClimateChange #Mitigation #EnergySecurity #InternationalCooperation [#QueenMaryUniversity of London] Trade Redemption: How #TradeAgreements Can Help #Decarbonize the #Economy. This chapter takes the unconventional view that the trading system can make a great contribution to decarbonization. The chapter explores the potential of the trading system in helping mitigate climate change and enhance sustainable energy. The argument is that trade agreements have tremendous potential to help mitigate climate change that is currently under-explored. The chapter first explains how trade agreements may be a legal instrument to mitigate climate change and enhance sustainable energy. It then provides an analysis of the challenges of mitigating climate change and enhancing sustainable energy. It then examines the synergistic links between the trading and climate regimes and offers forum options that best deal with them with the aim to help mitigate climate change and enhance sustainable energy. The chapter ends with a section on what the future may hold on the links between international trade and renewable energy [...]

» January 16 2018 - #Geopolitics #ClimatePolicy #FossilFuel [#washingtonpost] #NewYork City sues #Shell, #ExxonMobil and other #OilCompanies over #ClimateChange. The New York City government is suing the world's five largest publicly traded oil companies, seeking to hold them responsible for present and future damage to the city from climate change. The suit, filed Tuesday against BP, Chevron, Conoco-Phillips, ExxonMobil and Royal Dutch Shell, claims the companies together produced 11 percent of all of global-warming gases through the oil and gas products they have sold over the years. It also charges that the companies and the industry they are part of have known for some time about the consequences but sought to obscure them [...] In addition to the litigation, officials said they expect to divest up to $5 billion in investments from as many as 190 companies with fossil fuel ties, even as they promised to maintain their fiduciary duty to New York's pensioners [...]

» January 16 2018 - #Geopolitics #Oil [#eia] #US #Crude #OilProduction averaged an estimated 9.3 million barrels per day (b/d) in 2017 and is estimated to have averaged 9.9 million b/d in December. U.S. crude oil production is forecast to average 10.3 million b/d in 2018, which would mark the highest annual average production in U.S. history, surpassing the previous record of 9.6 million b/d set in 1970. EIA forecasts production to increase to an average of 10.8 million b/d in 2019 and to surpass 11 million b/d in November 2019 [...]

» January 15 2018 - #Geopolitics #Brent #Crude [#bloomberg] #Oil topped $70 a barrel in London for the first time in three years as production cuts by OPEC and rising demand whittle away a global surplus. Brent crude futures, used in the pricing of more than half the world's oil, rose as much as 1.2 percent to the highest since Dec. 4, 2014. Prices rallied after the longest stretch of declines in U.S. inventories during winter in a decade [...]

» January 12 2018 - #Geopolitcs [#KleinmanCenter for #EnergyPolicy] #ClimatePolicy in a Disorganized World. Separate versus Single Markets for Externalities. Economists have long advocated for market-based solutions to correct environmental externality problems such as harmful emissions from combustion of fossil fuels, in place of traditional command and control regulations [...] Our work is motivated by recent failures to coordinate environmental policies across states or countries. One such example that closely motivates our work is the current legal and political challenge to the U.S. Clean Power Plan (CPP), a federal regulation based on the Clean Air Act that sets CO2 emissions limits from electric power plants for 2022 to 2030. Although the CPP is designed as a federal mandate, the final form of CO2 regulation is likely to be at the state level. There are two reasons that CPP implementation may be at the state level. First, the Clean Air Act only authorizes the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to set targets at the state level and solicit state implementation plans to achieve these targets. Second, the Trump administration ordered a CPP review in March 2017 that may delay or even terminate efforts to regulate CO2 emissions at a federal level. If the second and less optimistic scenario materializes, any regulation of CO2 emissions will be a state-level effort. A second example is the withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the European Union (EU). This process, known as Brexit, may imply a UK departure from the European Union Emissions Trading System (EU-ETS) as well, and force the UK to create its own carbon market. The discussion of which type of environmental policy the UK can implement by itself has already started. This is particularly important in light of the fact that, while the UK pledged a 57% emission reduction in the Paris Agreement, the EU as a whole was less ambitious, proposing only a 40% reduction [...]

» January 12 2018 - #NaturalGas #US [#Oil Change Int.] Jordan Cove #LNG and Pacific Connector #Pipeline #GreenhouseGasEmissions [...] This paper provides an estimate of the full lifecycle emissions of the project, calculating a reference and high case estimate using the best available information. It finds that the project would add significantly to greenhouse gas emissions both globally and within the state of Oregon. Annual emissions in the Reference Case are 36.8 million metric tons. This is equivalent to over 15 times the 2016 emissions from Oregon’s only remaining coal plant, the Boardman coal plant, which is scheduled to close in 2020 because of climate and air pollution concerns. Emissions in the high case are 52 million metric tons annually [...]

» January 12 2018 - #LowCarbon #PowerSystem #Decarbonization [#KleinmanCenter for #EnergyPolicy research] Getting to Zero: Pathways to #ZeroCarbon #ElectricitySystems [...] Cost-effective deep decarbonization relies on at least one reliable resource playing the role of a "flexible base" for the low-carbon power system, augmenting "fuel-saving" variable renewables. Energy storage and demand response provide "fast bursts" of power and play a distinct and complementary role. Furthermore, the best mix of resources for a zero carbon system may differ from the least-cost resource portfolio suited to more modest goals. This indicates a potential for path-dependency or costly lock-in if decarbonization proceeds myopically. This work implies that physical science and engineering research should improve and expand the set of flexible base resources. Policy should also harness a diverse suite of low-carbon technologies and avoid narrowing support to variable renewables alone. Failing to deploy sufficient flexible base capacity could significantly increase the cost of deep decarbonization of power systems—and thus the overall costs of climate mitigation [...]

» January 11 2018 - #Oil #Norway [Norwegian petroleum directorate #NPD] Never before has so much gas been sold from the Norwegian shelf as was the case in 2017. Oil production was down slightly; nevertheless, overall production rose for the fourth straight year. The Norwegian Petroleum Directorate's forecasts indicate that the production increase will continue toward 2023 - perhaps even reaching the level of the record year 2004. Back then, oil accounted for most of the production. In 2023, gas will account for about one-half of the production. Exploration activity must increase. At year-end, there were 85 producing fields on the Norwegian shelf, five of which came on stream in 2017. In addition, plans for development and operation (PDOs) were submitted for ten new projects, while nine are currently undergoing development [...] "If production is to be maintained at a high level also beyond 2025, more profitable resources must be proven, including in major discoveries. Therefore, the Norwegian Petroleum Directorate believes that exploration activity must be increased from today's level, in both mature and frontier areas" [...] Significant opportunities in the North. In 2017, the Norwegian Petroleum Directorate updated its estimates for undiscovered resources, e.g. based on its own mapping of the unopened areas in the Barents Sea North. The update reveals that the volume of resources in the Barents Sea is now around 80 per cent higher than in the previous analysis from 2015, while the estimate is unchanged for the North Sea and the Norwegian Sea [...]

» January 11 2018 - #ClimatePolicy [#Climatic Change Journal - #Springer] Beyond headline #Mitigation numbers: we need more transparent and comparable #NDCs to achieve the #ParisAgreement on #ClimateChange. Nationally determined contributions (NDCs) were key to reaching the Paris Agreement and will be instrumental in implementing it. Research was quick to identify the 'headline numbers' of NDCs: if these climate action plans were fully implemented, global mean warming by 2100 would be reduced from approximately 3.6 to 2.7°C above pre-industrial levels. However, beyond these headline mitigation numbers, NDCs are more difficult to analyse and compare. UN climate negotiations have so far provided limited guidance on NDC formulation, which has resulted in varying scopes and contents of NDCs, often lacking details concerning ambitions. If NDCs are to become the long-term instrument for international cooperation, negotiation, and ratcheting up of ambitions to address climate change, then they need to become more transparent and comparable, both with respect to mitigation goals, and to issues such as adaptation, finance, and the way in which NDCs are aligned with national policies. Our analysis of INDCs and NDCs (Once a party ratifies the Paris Agreement, it is invited to turn its Intended Nationally Determined Contribution (INDC) into an NDC. We refer to results from our INDC analysis rather than our NDC analysis in this commentary unless otherwise stated.) shows that they omit important mitigation sectors, do not adequately provide details on costs and financing of implementation, and are poorly designed to meet assessment and review needs [...]

» January 11 2018 - #Gas #EnergyPolicy #EU #GasMarket [#Eurogas] Views on the modification of the Gas Directive. In light of the preliminary analysis [...], Eurogas is of the opinion that it is of paramount importance to security of supply and a well-functioning internal gas market in the EU that the effects of extending the application of the Gas Directive to pipelines to and from third countries is more thoroughly analysed in a full impact assessment before the proposal is further pursued. The timeframe of that assessment should be such that stakeholder opinion can be taken into account [...]

» January 11 2018 - #Geopolitics #GlobalPower #US #China [#stratfor] The Difference Between Power and Leadership [...] Washington's decision to withdraw from the #ParisAgreement on #ClimateChange, as well as China's well-publicized meetings with European nations on the same topic, have reinvigorated national and international debate over the question of the United States' global leadership and China's usurpation of that role. But this, in many ways, is an ideological and subjective assertion. It is often couched in castigating terms against a U.S. government that has abdicated its role as an international leader, whether by deference to globalism or by embracing an "America First" policy. The assertion is followed, of course, by warnings against the rise of China. The counterargument is that the United States should not be the global leader, that other countries are rising in the natural order of global power, or that there should be no global leader at all. [...]

» January 11 2018 - #Geopolitics #EnergyPolicy #Qatar #US #LNG [#FT] Gazprom #Gas exports to #Europe rise 8% to new record. #Russia's gas exports to Europe rose 8.1 per cent last year to a record level of 193.9bn cubic metres (bcm),[...] as the world's largest gas producer continued to increase sales despite rising competition from LNG and other sources. Gazprom, which has a monopoly over Russia's gas pipelines to Europe, has been forced to reduce its prices as EU countries invest in terminals to import liquefied natural gas (LNG) from suppliers such as Qatar, while the US has also started shipping gas to Europe [...]

» January 10 2018 - #ClimateChange #ClimateRisk #Resilience #Sustainability [#CISL_Cambridge Report] The new model of insurance. Growing physical risks driven by climate change and an increasing population vulnerable to these risks means insurers need to rethink the traditional insurance model. This is necessary for both the sustainability of the industry and resilience of society as a whole. Insurers need to adapt how they design products and how they assess, price and mitigate risk to become key agents in loss prevention and build climate resilience in society. This report demonstrates the activities of ClimateWise members this year (2017) to enable this transition. Members have reported against the six ClimateWise Principles, as outlined below, and they have been scored on their disclosures. This annual process provides an opportunity to take stock of the overall progress being made by the ClimateWise community, while giving members individual rankings that allow them to benchmark progress against their peers [...]

» January 10 2018 - #EnergyStorage #Renewables #RandD #Innovation [#Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists] A #battery of innovative choices-if we commit to investing. Renewable energy - such as photovoltaics and wind power – is rapidly moving into the mainstream, with global solar capacity set to outproduce nuclear energy capacity for the first time. But a major holdup has been how to store the electricity produced by renewables; consequently, good, cheap, long-lasting battery storage has been the Holy Grail of R&D in this area. But how close are we in reaching this goal? To track progress, the authors have introduced a new, “two-factorâ€� model of analyzing innovations in energy storage that accounts not only for total sales of a particular technology but also for the degree of investment in innovation, measured by looking at the number of new patents issued in energy storage technology [...]

» January 9 2018 - #Geopolitics #EnergyPolicy [#UK gov] Implementing the end of unabated #Coal by 2025 [...] The level of coal generation on the electricity system has continued to decline since the consultation was launched in November 2016. This comes as a result of a number of factors, but is largely driven by the UK's carbon price support and the increase in lowcarbon generation on the system. The level of coal generation in 2016 fell to 9%, down from 22% in 2015, and in the second quarter of 2017 it fell to a record low of 2%. Over the same period low-carbon generation supplied more than 53% of electricity. The table below shows the success in reducing coal generation and the increased role of renewables. In addition to this, in April 2017 we had the first 24-hour period without coal on the system since the first coal power station opened in 1882 [...]

» January 9 2018 - #Geopolitics #OilPrice [#reuters] Oil rose further above $68 a barrel briefly on Tuesday, touching its highest since May 2015, supported by #OPEC-led production cuts and expectations U.S. crude inventories fell for an eighth week [...]

» January 9 2018 - #ClimateFinance #CDM #GHGEmissions [#ADB] Future #CarbonFund Delivering, Co-Benefits for #SustainableDevelopment. Asia and the Pacific is home to more than 60% of the world's population and 62% of the global economic output. But the region still faces enormous development challenges and with economic growth, it has become a major source of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. This has exposed Asia and the Pacific to the impacts of climate change, threatening to undo the development gains from economic prosperity over the past decades. This report reflects how Clean Development Mechanism projects supported by the Future Carbon Fund not only reduce GHG emissions but deliver social, environmental, and economic co-benefits contributing to sustainable development in the region. This report also presents qualitative and quantitative analysis of these co-benefits [...]

» January 9 2018 - #ZeroEmissions #TransportationSystem #EVs [#a19] #California, Clear cars 2040 bill [...] For the purposes of the bill, zero emissions vehicles cannot produce exhaust emissions of any criteria pollutant or greenhouse gas under any operational mode or condition. The bill does not apply to large commercial vehicles (larger than 10,000 pounds) and does not apply to vehicles owned by people moving into California from other states. California has set ambitious goals to reduce GHG emissions by 40 percent below 1990 levels by 2030. There are nearly 300,000 EVs on California roads today. In 2016, approximately 2.09 million new cars were sold in California, and 1.9 percent were EVs. Over 20 EVs are now on the market in subcompact, hatchback, sedan, luxury, and SUV/minivan models [...]

» January 8 2018 - #Wind #Energy #EU [#WindEurope] The Council supported the Commission's proposed 27% target for renewables by 2030. The Council has watered down the Governance Regulation but countries at least agreed [...] to set three indicative benchmarks. By 2023, they should meet 24% of both the 27% target and national goals. By 2025, progress should be at 40% and 60% in 2027. Together with detailed National Plans, the benchmarks will improve visibility for the wind energy supply chain including in the chemicals, steel, construction and other sectors - every €1,000 invested in wind generates €250 value for them [...]

» January 8 2018 - #Coal [#WCA] Carbon capture, use and storage (#CCUS) development vital to meeting #ClimateGoals. Given society's on-going reliance on fossil fuels, CCUS is vital to achieve the required level of emissions reduction to meet global emissions targets. Today, the following CCUS projects are operating on a global scale: Boundary Dam power station in Canada, the world's first application of CCUS at large scale in the power sector, has been operating since October 2014 (capturing 1 million tonnes of CO2 per annum). Petra Nova Carbon Capture Project is the world's largest post-combustion CCS facility installed on an existing coal-fuelled power plant (saving 1.4 million tonnes of CO2 per annum) and came online in January 2017. The Abu Dhabi CCS Project (capturing 800,000 tonnes of CO2 per annum) came online in 2016 and is the world's first commercial CCUS facility for the steel industry. The unsubsidised, fully commercial CCUS project from Carbon Clean Solutions in India has been able to significantly reduce the costs associated with capturing CO2 [...]

» January 5 2018 - #SustainableIndustrialization #SDGs [#GSTIC] A transition to a new industry framework based on a #CircularEconomy approach and enabled by smart manufacturing technologies is vital to realise maximum resource productivity, using recycled materials, wastewater, CO2 and bamboo as resources. Circular economy represents a fundamental alternative to the currently predominating linear take-make-consume-dispose model that is based on unlimited resource extraction but disregards the natural boundaries of planetary resources. Even if that model has brought unprecedented economic growth and welfare, it has run out of course. To help achieve SDG 9 (sustainable industrialization) and SDG 12 (sustainable production and consumption), a new model is needed to ensure that material usage per unit of functionality can be minimized and to manage materials to reduce waste and avoid pollution. The value chain needs to be revisited based on circularity principles, and customers need to be provided with services rather than throw-away products. An overview of G-STIC 2017 contributions [...]

» January 5 2018 - #Economy #InternationalFinance [#CIGI] What to Expect From the #GlobalEconomy in 2018. International arrangements that have shaped the global economy for over 70 years are at risk [...] It is too early to say if the Trump administration's international policies will have long-lasting effects. Nevertheless, it is possible to identify three trends that warrant close monitoring at the onset of 2018. 1. Disruption of International Trade (and the Institutions That Govern It). 2. Governance Challenges for the International Monetary Fund. 3. A Spike in Economic Risk [...]

» January 4 2018 - #SustainableFinance #LowCarbonEconomy [#Bloomberg] Sustainable investing went global in 2017 and is poised to continue that momentum with greater investor demand and corporate disclosure out of Asia, and more ESG (Environmental, Social and Governance)-focused funds launched in the U.S. and Europe [...] In last year's bull market, ESG indexes that excluded fossil-fuel companies or used an ESG tilt strategy to emphasize companies with better sustainability metrics, such as the MSCI USA ESG Select Leaders Index, showed some of the strongest returns versus broad benchmarks [...] Increased activism by the largest fund managers is creating a sea change in shareholder proposals. Blackrock, Vanguard, Fidelity and American Funds/Capital Group voted for the first time in favor of climate-related shareholder proposals in 2017, according to a Ceres and Fund Votes report on Dec. 21. Their support led to some of the first-ever majority-supported climat-change resolutions at companies such as Exxon, Occidental and PPL [...]

» January 3 2018 - #Petrochemicals #Oil [#Bloomberg] #Biochemicals and #bioplastics could erode a portion of #OilDemand, much like recycling can erode overall virgin plastics demand [...] Companies that make packaging from plants instead of fossil fuels are starting to challenge the oil industry's ambition to increase the supply of raw materials for plastics. Use of bioplastics made from sugar cane, wood and corn will grow at least 50 percent in the next five years, according to the European Bioplastics Association in Berlin, whose members include Cargill Inc. and Mitsubishi Chemical Holdings Corp. German chemical giant BASF SE and the Finnish paper maker Stora Enso Oyj have stepped into the business to meet demand from the likes of Coca-Cola Co. to Lego A/S [...]

» January 3 2018 - #Oil [#DallasFed #EnergySurvey] 42% of executives expect the #US #Oil rig count to substantially increase if #WTI crude #OilPrices are between $61 per barrel and $65 per barrel [...]

» January 1 2018 - #FossilFuel #RenewableEnergy #FFS [#IEA] Commentary: Fossil-fuel consumption #Subsidies are down, but not out. Getting energy prices right is critical for sound policymaking. But because of government energy subsidies prices that consumers pay in many countries are often well below their real market value, let alone the price that would reflect energy's full environmental and social cost. The estimated value of global fossil-fuel consumption subsidies decreased by 15% to $260 billion in 2016, the lowest level since the International Energy Agency started tracking these subsidies in the World Energy Outlook (WEO) ten years ago. Analysis in the new WEO-2017 showed that for the first time the largest share of global subsidies that benefit fossil fuel consumption went to keep electricity prices artificially low (41% of the global total), ahead of oil (40%) and natural gas. But while the figure for fossil-fuel consumption subsidies may be coming down, it remains much higher than estimated government support to renewable energy: subsidies for renewables in power generation amounted to $140 billion in 2016 [...]

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