#ClimateChange#Renewables#FossilFuels#RenewableEnergy: "Countries' climate plans are not yet in line with a goal to triple renewable energy capacity worldwide by 2030 which was set at the COP28 climate summit in Dubai last year, a report by the International Energy Agency (IEA) said on Tuesday.
The target would involve increasing installed renewable energy capacity to at least 11,000 gigawatts (GW) by the end of the decade, compared to 4,209 GW in 2023.
Very few countries - just 14 out of a total of 194 - have included specific targets for total renewable power capacity for 2030 in their commitments under the Paris Agreement climate pact, called nationally determined contributions (NDCS).
Official commitments in current NDCs amount to 1,300 GW – just 12% of what is required to meet the global tripling objective set in Dubai, the IEA said."
A sinister gathering, RGA members support #fossilfuels:
Also pro-FF: RAGA, RNC, Sen GOP, HSE GOP, state GOP legs...
The meeting was held at the Chalmette oil refinery -EPA report: out of compliance with fed benzene regs. In 2020, fires at the FAC caused releases of sulphur dioxide, sending foul odors across the region.
The event was convened by the Republican Govs. Public Policy CME -accepts funding from the US’s largest FF trade org, the API.
Singapore buying 2 new 600MW natural gas ("fossil gas," as @drvolts says) power plants by the end of the decade. Power demand is rising, "driven largely by electricity-intensive sectors such as advanced manufacturing, digital economy, and transport" and projected 3.7% annual growth.
New research from UCL & the International Institute for Sustainable Development suggests that there are now enough sustainable/green energy projects running or in development that no new fossil fuel capacity is required.
As current fossil fuel capacity now degrades/reduces, so green energy capacity can take its place.
This is not how the fossil fuel firms see it, but as emissions keep rising (up 1.1% last year) this must become a crucial pivot point!
The world already has enough fossil fuel projects to last out until 2050 according to a new peer-reviewed study by researchers from University College London and the International Institute for Sustainable Development.
In all of the scenarios, all taken from the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s (IPCC) Sixth Assessment Report, existing fossil fuel capacity is enough to meet the world’s energy demands, it concludes.
#AI#GenerativeAI#LLMs#DataCenters#BigTech#Energy#WaterScarcity#FossilFuels#ClimateChange: "Large language models such as ChatGPT are some of the most energy-guzzling technologies of all. Research suggests, for instance, that about 700,000 litres of water could have been used to cool the machines that trained ChatGPT-3 at Microsoft’s data facilities. It is hardly news that the tech bubble’s self-glorification has obscured the uglier sides of this industry, from its proclivity for tax avoidance to its invasion of privacy and exploitation of our attention span. The industry’s environmental impact is a key issue, yet the companies that produce such models have stayed remarkably quiet about the amount of energy they consume – probably because they don’t want to spark our concern.
Google’s global datacentre and Meta’s ambitious plans for a new AI Research SuperCluster (RSC) further underscore the industry’s energy-intensive nature, raising concerns that these facilities could significantly increase energy consumption. Additionally, as these companies aim to reduce their reliance on fossil fuels, they may opt to base their datacentres in regions with cheaper electricity, such as the southern US, potentially exacerbating water consumption issues in drier parts of the world. Before making big announcements, tech companies should be transparent about the resource use required for their expansion plans."
The Indian government continues its unrelenting pursuit of coal power while ordinary Indians succumb to the heat in record numbers.
While developed nations bear the bulk of the responsibility, developing nations cannot turn a blind eye the impacts of #ClimateBreakdown and their role in it.
All governments need to act NOW, not just set benchmarks and targets that are never met
"The era of fossil fuels’ dominance is coming to an end.
For every dollar that goes to #FossilFuels, an average of $3 needs to be invested in low-carbon energy over the remainder of the decade – up from parity today. A fully decarbonized global energy system by 2050 could come with a $215 trillion price tag – not an insignificant amount, but only 19% more than in an economics-driven transition, where the Paris Agreement goals are missed and global warming reaches 2.6C."
"Even as insurers withdraw from #climate-vulnerable regions, they continue to invest in and insure #FossilFuels ― the very industry at the heart of the climate crisis. This omission points to a larger, uncomfortable truth about the insurance sector’s complicity in the crisis of our time, leading us to an uninsurable future."
"The industry organization that regulates advertisements in Canada has ruled against one of Canada's largest pro-fossil fuel advocacy groups for spreading disinformation about the harmful climate impacts of liquified natural gas (LNG), according to a confidential decision. "
And they are ignoring that ruling!
Alarm as German climate activists charged with ‘forming a criminal organisation’
“This is the first time in German history that a climate protest group that uses measures of peaceful civil disobedience is charged as a criminal organisation."
“Paragraph 129 of the German criminal code is to combat organised crime. Its application to non-violent protest criminalises civic engagement and thus restricts democratic freedoms."
#Senate#Democrats opened an investigation on Thurs into #Trump’s meeting w/ #oil & #gas execs last month to determine whether Trump offered a “policies-for-money transaction” [#bribe ] when he asked for $1B for his 2024 campaign so he could retake the White House & delete #POTUS#Biden’s #climate#regulations.
The investigation is the 2nd congressional inquiry into the April 11 fund-raising dinner…. Trump told ~20 oil & gas execs that they would save far more than $1B in avoided #taxes & #legal fees after he repealed #environmental regulations….
So while you & I might think its necessary to speed up the Green Transition & enhance/accelerate measures to reduce emissions, Shell's shareholders disagree.
The firm has just sought & obtained agreement from investors to slow down its measures to mitigate its environmental impact & reduce progress towards its own (already weak) climate targets.
More reason(s) the fossil fuels sector cannot really be central to climate response(s).