Interesting links, articles, news and blog posts sent out to members on 08/11/24.
News: COP29 chief exec filmed promoting fossil fuel deals – BBC News Online
8 November 2024, Justin Rowlatt. A senior official at COP29 climate change conference in Azerbaijan appears to have used his role to arrange a meeting to discuss potential fossil fuel deals, the BBC can report:
Link: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/crmzvdn9e18o
Explainer: What will the UK’s plan for clean energy by 2030 mean for the industry and public? – Guardian Online
5 November 2024, Jillian Ambrose. Labour is relying on offshore wind and a move away from gas to make Britain a green energy economy. But the transition will not be cheap:
News: Hydrogen forecast to contribute to future droughts in 83% of catchments in England – Edie.net
5 November 2024. Hydrogen production is forecast to contribute to water scarcity and future droughts in 83% of catchments in England, a government-backed study has revealed:
News: Britain’s green energy pledge ‘credible’ if planning fixed, says system operator – Guardian Online
5 November 2024, Jillian Ambrose. State-owned Neso says Britain could be net exporter of green electricity by end of decade at no extra cost:
Research briefing: Fuel poverty in the UK – House of Commons Library
4 November 2024. Record energy price rises have led to concern that more families will be drawn into ever deeper fuel poverty. This briefing at how fuel poverty varies across the UK, policies to address fuel poverty, and stakeholder comment on the issue:
Link: https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/research-briefings/cbp-8730/
News: CCC advises UK to cut emissions by 81% by 2035 in updated Paris Agreement contribution – Edie.net
26 October 2024, Matt Mace. The UK’s climate watchdog has advised the Government that emissions need to be reduced by 81% by 2035 compared to 1990 levels if that nation is to play its part in meeting the Paris Agreement and averting the worst impacts of the climate crisis:
Article: ‘Labour’s 2030 target is a pipe dream that will cost taxpayers the Earth’ Andrew Bowie MP – Politics Home
24 October 2024, Andrew Bowie MP. It wasn’t quite “Forward, the Light Brigade” but the hollers and whoops of enthusiasm from Labour MPs and climate lobbyists as Ed Miliband steeled them for the charge for the guns of a zero-carbon grid had a ring of “Theirs not to reason why…” about it:
Link: https://www.politicshome.com/thehouse/article/labours-2030-target-pipe-dream-cost-taxpayers-earth
News: World on track for ‘catastrophic’ 3.1C of global warming this century, UN warns – The Standard
24 October 2024, Emily Beament. International goal to limit warming to 1.5C will ‘soon be dead’ without a massive mobilisation to cut climate emissions, UN says:
Article: Do our leaders understand the power grid at all? – The Critic
23 October 2024, Chris Bayliss. It seems as if basic facts are being completely ignored:
Link: https://thecritic.co.uk/do-our-leaders-understand-the-power-grid-at-all/
Report – Value for Money: Decommissioning Sellafield: managing risks from the nuclear legacy – National Audit Office
23 October 2024. This report examines progress since the NAO last reported in 2018 and, in particular, the extent to which the NDA and Sellafield have improved on the issues they have previously identified:
Link: https://www.nao.org.uk/reports/decommissioning-sellafield-managing-risks-from-the-nuclear-legacy/
Press release: Strategic plan for long-term energy infrastructure – Department for Energy Security and Net Zero and Michael Shanks MP
22 October 2024. Strategic spatial plan to provide a blueprint for Great Britain’s energy infrastructure:
Link: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/strategic-plan-for-long-term-energy-infrastructure
News: Miliband faces crunch decision on speed of greenhouse gas cuts – Guardian Online
22 October 2024, Fiona Harvey. Energy secretary prepares new pledge for big UK carbon cuts in next decade amid potential cabinet division:
News: Cadent Gas reveals plans for 60-mile blue hydrogen pipeline – City AM
20 October 2024, Jennifer Sieg. Gas distribution company Cadent has revealed plans for a blue hydrogen pipeline across the north of England, sparking a wave of environmentalist pushback:
Link: https://www.cityam.com/cadent-gas-reveals-plans-for-60-mile-blue-hydrogen-pipeline/
Government response: Consultation on policy considerations for future CfD rounds – Department for Energy Security and Net Zero
October 2024. This document will focus on the proposed changes for the next CfD allocation round and beyond that were the subject of a consultation earlier this year. The Department will announce further details on the next round in due course:
Business News: Trump has vowed to gut climate rules. Oil lobbyists have a plan ready – The Washington Post
2024. As companies fall short on methane flaring emission reductions, a top trade group has crafted a road map for dismantling key Biden administration rules:
Link: https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2024/10/17/oil-industry-trump-climate-lobbying/