World's largest economies agree to phase out coal power before 2035, but miss the opportunity to reject fossil fuels at the scale and speed necessary to meet climate targets
G7 ministers gather in Italy for 'strategic' talks on #ClimateChange
"Together the #G7 [Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom, and the United States] makes up around 38 percent of the global economy and was responsible for 21 percent of total greenhouse gas emissions in 2021.
Not one member of the group is on track to meet existing emission reduction targets for 2030."
"Energy ministers from the Group of Seven wealthy countries meeting in Italy are discussing setting a common target date of 2035 to shut down their #coal-powered power plants.
As well as seeking a deal on ending coal in electricity generation, Rome also aims to spur efforts to develop battery storage capacity and boost investment in power grids, two sources said, as the #G7 increases its renewable energy output."
"Energy ministers from the Group of Seven (G7) major democracies reached a deal to shut down their #coal-fired power plants in the first half of the 2030s, in a significant step towards the transition away from fossil fuels."
Not going to lie, I'm skeptical. Very skeptical. But there is a chance CO2 emissions will have peaked in 2023.
"We find there is a 70% chance that emissions start falling in 2024 if current clean technology growth trends continue and some progress is made to cut non-CO2 emissions."
Regardless of if it actually happens, it is important to recognize the progress we are making, which are more rapid than most realize and many predicted. There is hope.
An inherent part of the production of #SolarPanels is the use of #COAL (and other sources of Carbon, like woodchips) to reduce the source material (Silicon Oxide) into pure Silicon, thereby emitting, you guessed it right, huge amounts of #CO2 !
China's #coal consumption will fall by just 1/3 by 2040, according to a report published today by Norwegian consultancy DNV, threatening climate targets that call for phasing out much of global coal use by 2040 https://buff.ly/3QerUby
The simplest argument against funding new #oil, #gas & #coal projects is not that they’re immoral. It’s that they’re unsound. For investors & shareholders, funding new #FossilFuel projects is a risky bet https://buff.ly/3Jt5H5y
"Documents released under Alberta Freedom of Information laws confirm the United Conservative government was talking with the coal industry for years about relaxing a policy that protected the Rocky Mountains from open-pit mines.
The documents also show the province was talking about opening those landscapes to more development generally for at least seven months before letting the public in on its plans."
"Most of the funding, $621 million, will go toward 36 projects aimed at bolstering the resilience of existing infrastructure through things like improving draining, moving roadways, and lifting up bridges.
An additional $119 million will go toward protecting, strengthening, or removing at-risk coastal infrastructure like highways."
"The most high-profile rule issued Thursday is the greenhouse gas restriction, which applies to both existing #coal plants and newly constructed #NaturalGas plants.
Under the rule, these power plants are expected to have to capture 90 percent of their carbon dioxide #emissions."
Coal plants: by 2032, gas plants: by 2035.
They have a decade to develop carbon capture as real, cheap, and at scale, or it's the end of coal and gas power plants.
"West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey has already vowed to challenge the Biden rule in court and predicted he’d score a repeat victory against what he called an “out-of-control agency.”
But legal observers say the new rule’s focus on facility-level carbon emissions may save the regulation from the pitfalls the Clean Power Plan encountered in the 2022 case."