The UK's latest carbon budget was well-received, even by environmentalists, write Kate Scott & Marco Sakai. But that's only because they didn't look hard enough. The Paris Agreement hugely elevated ambition to achieve even a 2C temperature rise limit - and the UK's effort is nowhere near the mark.
… UK's latest 'carbon budget' fails the Paris Agreement test … Brexit china-factory-cut.jpg The UK's latest carbon budget was well-received, even by … backstabbing meant the country's latest 'carbon budget', widely heralded as …
A long-awaited report by the UK Climate Change Committee has found that fracking could produce a 'substantial' emissions footprint if left unregulated, writes Victoria Seabrook, and force the government into more rapid emissions cuts in other areas of the economy to compensate.
… would also be incompatible with the UK's own carbon budgets, according to the newly … of UK onshore petroleum with meeting the UK’s carbon budgets '. The independent committee … fuels could affect global emissions. And carbon emissions in other areas in the UK …
Britain's soils are in a bad way, writes John Quinton, and the government is doing little to help - indeed its policies are making the problems worse. So concludes yesterday's Environment Audit Committee report on soil health. But are ministers bothered?
… we eat, for flood prevention, and for storing carbon ... Soil is crucial to society. … contaminated land; the potential to enhance carbon sequestration in soils; and the need to … as these soils contain much of our soil carbon and are source of flood water. Tackling …
The UK imports millions of tons of American wood pellets every year to be burned in power stations for 'climate friendly' electricity, writes Matt Williams. But his recent visit to the southern US showed him that this practice is devastating beautiful, natural forests rich in wildlife - while the UK government's own research shows that it's worse for the climate than the coal it replaces.
… is a public perception that bioenergy is carbon neutral because any emissions released … often assume that bioenergy can be counted as carbon neutral within the energy sector … and highly misleading, to count bioenergy as carbon neutral in the energy sector. One of …
Under my leadership Britain will act to protect the future of our planet, with social justice at the heart of our environment policies, writes Jeremy Corbyn. Meeting our Paris climate targets will be the starting point for a green industrial revolution that will deliver clean, affordable energy to all, create millions of new jobs, and establish the export industries of the future.
… internationally, and committed to cutting carbon emissions at home. We would once again … communities and unions to manage the low carbon transformation in a way that is fair to … we need to keep the lights on and cut carbon - while avoiding passing on all of the …
A new report finds that 28 nuclear reactors, 18 of them EDF plants in France and one at Sizewell in the UK, are at risk of failure 'including core meltdown' due to flaws in safety-critical components in reactor vessels and steam generators, writes Oliver Tickell. The news comes as EDF credit is downgraded due to a growing cash flow crisis and its decision to press on with Hinkley C.
… "operating at risk of major accident due to carbon anomalies." The review was carried out … the vessel and its cap contain high levels of carbon, making the metal brittle and … nature of the flaw in the steel, an excess of carbon, reduces steel toughness and renders …
Contrary to arguments advanced in a recent Ecologist article, the biomass industry supplying the Drax power station in North Yorkshire is a model of sustainability, writes Nina Skorupska, and delivers genuine, substantial emissions reductions compared to coal.
… actively saves millions of tonnes of carbon emissions every year and benefits the … on other pressing tasks. In terms of carbon emissions, it is clear that UK's heat … been increasing every year since 1950. The carbon contained in forests has therefore also …
Traveling in the US by boat and train visiting solar laboratories and environmental groups, Keith Barnham found many successful community initiatives in renewable electricity, and brings news of progress towards the ultimate renewable challenge: a solar fuel that could eventually replace gasoline in cars, trucks, buses, trains and aircraft.
… agreement to make significant reductions in carbon emissions. Now people power confronts a … a replacement for gasoline from atmospheric carbon dioxide and sunlight. And here's the … by anaerobic digestion (AD) is a lower carbon competitor to fracking, and threatens a …
This month wood pellet mills in the southern US that supply the UK's Drax power station were awarded 'sustainability' certificates under a voluntary scheme governed entirely by energy companies. The certificates provide no credible guarantee that the fuel does not come from ecologically valuable natural forests and wetlands, clear-cut and replaced by industrial plantations.
… clearcut forests is the very opposite of low-carbon. If the biomass standards were in any … problems with forest destruction and high carbon emissions for biomass electricity have … greenhouse gas standards ignore all of the carbon emissions associated with logging as …
After a succession of the hottest years and months ever recorded, climate is a hot topic, writes Liz Hutchins. But BBC1's 'Big Questions' climate change debate last Sunday completely missed the point. Instead of debating the only real question - how should we respond? - the BBC ran yet another repeat of the so-over 'believers versus deniers' ding-dong. Why do they still not get it?
… economic and social benefits make many low carbon policies and approaches worth pursuing … be winners and losers in the shift to a low carbon economy. The fossil fuel industry is on … - seizing their skills for the new low carbon, high tech, resource-efficient economy. …
Given the long list of technical and financial problems afflicting the Hinkley C power plant, writes David Thorpe, the Labour Party's continuing support for the over-priced, highly subsidised project is increasingly paradoxical. Labour must take a fresh look at HPC and the renewable alternatives that can do better at far lower cost.
… executive, went on to talk of the country's carbon emission reduction target of a 90% cut … same time, the government put its faith in carbon capture and storage (CCS), technology. … in keeping the lights on in Britain with low carbon electricity. It already manages eight …
The Drax power station in North Yorkshire is among Britain's greatest greenhouse gas emitters, writes Almuth Ernsting. Not only is it burning some 6 million tonnes of coal every year, it is also burning its way through forests in the USA and other countries as it converts to biomass-fired units, rewarded by £1.3 million a day in subsidies. Join the #AxeDrax protest this weekend!
… protests against the country's single biggest carbon emitter. It was the start of six years … open. And even if Drax's biomass burning was carbon neutral and sustainable - which is far … UK. But Drax's biomass burning is far from carbon neutral or sustainable. It relies on …
Should it be Heathrow or Gatwick? The answer, writes Keith Taylor, is neither. For climate and pollution reasons alone the UK should be scaling back on aviation, and in any case projections of future demand have been monstrously exaggerated. Step 1: a 'frequent flyer' tax on the 15% of people who take 70% of flights.
… of the energy sector to move towards a low-carbon future, it is at least an industry that … administration is overseeing a rise in carbon emissions emanating from road vehicles , there are low carbon alternatives on the horizon. Electric …
French energy giant EDF will today give the formal go-ahead for the Hinkley C nuclear power station in Somerset, writes Chris Goodall. But that's no reason for the UK to sign up to a disastrous deal that will cost us over £1 billion per year for 35 years - money that should be used to support the green technologies of the future.
… - although predictable - sources of low-carbon energy. By 2025 the UK will probably … used to split water into hydrogen and oxygen. Carbon dioxide and hydrogen can then be merged … the existing gas network. Other microbes take carbon and hydrogen molecules and turn them …
Onshore wind power is effective, hugely popular, and the UK's cheapest form of new power generation, writes Max Wakefield, already competing against gas turbines in prime locations. So why did Cameron's Government ban it? And what will it take to get Chancellor Philip Hammond to reverse that decision next week?
… a commitment to achieve the "lowest cost decarbonisation" for the taxpayer. The problem: … design a 'lowest cost' transition to a low carbon economy while leaving out onshore wind … solar either - meaning the two cheapest low carbon energy sources are off the table. Next, …
Twin nuclear reactors at Taishan in China have been sealed into their concrete domes despite fears that the reactor vessels have serious metallurgical defects. No safety test data has been released by the two companies in charge, EDF and CGN, to show that the reactors will not crack in operation, releasing radioactivity.
… the reactor's failure. Areas of very high carbon in the Flamanville reactor vessel and … key components. The danger posed by the high-carbon anomalies is that the reactor vessel … The Ecologist. The danger posed by the high-carbon anomalies is that the reactor vessel …
With European climate policy in post-Brexit lockdown, and US delegates gripped by uncertainty (even for their own jobs) following Trump's election, a new global climate leader is emerging, writes Natalie Bennett. China is stepping up as the country with the finance, technology and industrial might to take forward the Paris Agreement - and for its companies to reap the benefits.
… in Marrakesh. The urgency of slashing our carbon emissions before we exceed the … the need to promote and support small-scale, carbon-efficient agriculture that can also … American companies and industries towards low-carbon options despite the government. And the …
Last week the EU ratified the Paris Agreement to limit climate change, writes Tony Bosworth. So how did Communities Secretary Sajid Javid mark the occasion? By overturning Lancashire's democratic rejection of fracking, so giving a whole new fossil fuel industry the green light to let rip. Hypocrisy? The word hardly does justice to our government's mendacity.
… contribution towards the reduction of carbon". In what Alice-in-Wonderland world is … Government's clamour for shale gas with the carbon budgets underpinning the Paris 2°C and … a fossil fuel industry, we need a genuine low carbon transformation, and fast." The …
The main claim used to justify nuclear is that it's the only low carbon power source that can supply 'reliable, baseload electricity', writes Mark Diesendorf - unlike wind and solar. But not only can renewables supply baseload power, they can do something far more valuable: supply power flexibly according to demand. Now nuclear power really is redundant.
… to justify nuclear is that it's the only low carbon power source that can supply 'reliable, … along with big hydropower, it's the only low carbon generation technology that can supply …
Despite the endless rhetoric about a 'nuclear renaissance', there are fewer power reactors today than there were a decade ago, writes Jim Green. The one country with a really big nuclear build program is China, but no one expects it to meet its targets. And with over 200 reactor shut-downs due by 2040, the industry will have to run very hard indeed just to stay put.
… individual schemes on how to reduce national carbon emissions, show that nearly all of them … along with some bargaining ('we need all low carbon power sources'), depression and, in … have been found to have areas of excessive carbon leading to brittleness and possible …
The economic impacts of the Brexit vote will very soon make themselves felt to British consumers, writes Chris Goodall - kicking off with higher fuel bills and pump prices. The good news is that nuclear power is now looking increasingly unaffordable. But renewables and green energy research are also likely to suffer, especially if under a right-wing Brexit government.
… Other changes are also likely to slow decarbonisation of the economy. Hinkley Point C … the opinion on the EU. So renewable and low-carbon energies of all types will be under … that the EU had "tied our hands on decarbonisation" . That last complaint is about …
A future Labour government will ban all fracking in the UK and drive forward a clean, affordable energy revolution, Barry Gardiner promised in his conference speech today. And it will openly negotiate 'Just Trade' agreements that respect the environment, health and labour, boosting small business not just multinational corporations.
… a secret deal to stop our progress to a low-carbon high-skilled future. They've been … consultation and scrapped two world leading carbon capture and storage projects at the … we are going to need for the UK's low-carbon future. Energy is the cornerstone of …
Tidal lagoons could generate 8% of the UK's electricity, writes Stephen Tindale, and go on doing so for 120 years to come. With the Hinkley C nuclear project looking ever more dicey, and with promises to shut down coal fired generation by 2025, a promised new tidal lagoon In Swansea Bay would come in very useful. So why hasn't the government included it in the Energy Bill?
… helping to deliver secure, affordable and low-carbon energy" . This project was given … as one of a suite of other options for low carbon energy production" , says its … this technology can be used to produce low carbon energy, but also about how to manage …
In its decision to leave the EU, the UK is cutting itself off from one of the world's most effective systems of climate governance, write Tim Rayner & Brendan Moore. But we still have our own Climate Change Act and can lead the EU, if not as a member, at least by example - provided current and future Conservative Party leadership make their commitment clear, and implement their promises.
… insiders regard it as crucial to the UK's decarbonisation efforts. One increasingly … announced that it will implement the Fifth Carbon Budget , as required by the 2008 … Act . This means a reduction of 57% in UK carbon emissions from 1990 levels for 2028-32 …