Category Archives: The Mitigation Battle

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12 June 2015, Science Daily, Fighting climate change, with cement: The cement industry is one of the largest sources worldwide of carbon emissions, accounting for around five per cent of global emissions. New technologies being developed by the Norwegian University of Science and Technology may help substantially lower these emissions.Membrane-based technology developed at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) is one of four technologies that may be used in a full-scale CO2 capture project — in a cement factory. Gassnova, Norway’s state-funded effort to develop carbon capture and storage (CCS) technologies for commercial use, has identified Norcem’s cement plant in Brevik and Yara’s ammonia plant in Porsgrunn as the most promising candidates for a full-scale CCS demonstration project in Norway. The decision was submitted to Norway’s Ministry of Petroleum and Energy (OED) as part of a pre-feasibility study on 4 May. Read More here

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12 June 2015, Renew Economy, 10 things we learned about Tony Abbott’s war on renewables: Ever since the Coalition election victory in September 2013, and indeed beforehand, RenewEconomy has been accused of making a harsh assessment on its approach to climate and clean energy policies. Wind energy the biggest loser as Abbott sweeps to power, we wrote the day after this ultra-conservative Coalition came to power. And we continued with headlines such as Australia’s wind turbine syndrome, why Abbott hates the RET; Abbott’s Achilles Heel – is it ideology or ignorance?: andTony Abbott’s energy rules: It’s goodies versus baddies. Harsh? Turns out we were probably not harsh enough. Our lingering suspicion that the Abbott government’s policy positioning and actions have been designed with one thing in mind – to cripple the clean energy industry in Australia – have been proven to be true … by the Prime Minister himself. Read More here
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11 June 2015, Energy Post, Solar power passes 1% global threshold: Solar power now covers more than 1% of global electricity demand. In three countries in Europe – Italy, Germany and Greece – solar PV supplies more than 7% of electricity demand. This is reported by Solar Power Europe (previously EPIA – European Photovoltaic Industry Association). China is the fastest growing market. Research company GlobalData has adjusted projected new capacity in China for 2015 upwards. Last year 40 GW of new solar capacity was installed worldwide, compared to 38.4 GW in 2013, notes Solar Power Europe (SPE) in its Global Market Outlook 2015-2019. Cumulative capacity is now 178 GW. In terms of generation, this is equivalent to 33 coal-fired power stations of 1 GW, notes SPE. In Europe last year 7 GW was installed, which was less than in 2013. The UK was the fastest growing market, contributing 2.4 GW. Europe now installs less solar power capacity than China or Japan individually, but still more than the US. However, Europe is still the world’s largest player with more than 88 GW installed at the end of 2014. Read More here

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11 June 2015, World Resources Institute, Bonn Climate Talks Outpaced by Progress Outside the Negotiations: As negotiators leave Bonn, Germany after two weeks of talks on the international climate agreement that will be concluded in Paris at the COP 21 summit later this year, one thing is clear: The pace of negotiations must speed up considerably. Most importantly, that pace must catch up to what’s happening outside the negotiating halls.Actors around the world sent strong signals this past week for ambitious climate action. The G7 made historic pledgesto decarbonize the global economy over the course of the century and significantly increase the number of people around the world covered by climate disaster insurance. Norway’s $900 billion sovereign wealth fund announced that it will divest from coal-related investments. Ethiopia and Morocco were the latest countries to submit national climate plans – known as intended nationally determined contributions (INDCs) – to the UN climate process, demonstrating their intent to tackle climate change and build low-carbon and resilient economies.Inside the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) negotiations in Bonn, however, the talks did not match the momentum of outside developments. Negotiators focused on how to consolidate a lengthy text of the draft agreement and made only modest progress in discussing key, substantive issues. As nearly all negotiators said themselves, they will have to move the process forward quickly now and find ways to focus on the central questions at hand. Read More here