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Tuesday, May 30, 2017

WRI: to what extent multilateral development banks supporting a low-carbon future?


WRI’s working paper analyses approved and planned in 2015-2016 energy supply investments of three MDBs - the World Bank, International Finance Corporation (IFC) and Asian Development Bank (ADB),  which represent about 300 infrastructure projects with $35 billion of finance in developing countries.

Sunday, May 21, 2017

Pan-Canadian Framework on Clean Growth and Climate Change combines carbon price and output-based credit


In recent publication Technical paper: federal carbon pricing backstop, Canadian Government proposes combination of carbon price and output-based credit to reduce GHG emissions and address the business competitiveness problem at the same time.

Monday, May 15, 2017

Energy Efficiency Investment Toolkit presents a new perspective on boosting investments


The G20's Energy Efficiency Investment Toolkit, published by International Partnership for Energy Efficiency Cooperation, provides a set of collaborative and voluntary options for G20 countries to boost energy efficiency investments and realize the significant economic, environmental and social benefits of energy efficiency in their economies. 

Friday, May 12, 2017

Next oil boom: biofuels?


Researchers from the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) in Australia strongly believe that oil in the leaves and stems of plants as well as the seeds may become a game changer in the global production of renewable oils.

Monday, May 8, 2017

Limiting global warming whilst extending energy access requires both - energy decarbonization and better energy productivity



Recent Energy Transitions Commission’s report presents achievable pathways to limit global warming to well below 2˚C while stimulating economic development and social progress. The transition to a new global energy system should:

Tuesday, May 2, 2017

Pembina Institute proposes ‘low-carbon transition’ pathway for buildings in British Columbia


Recommendations published by the Pembina Institute are based on discussions during the two days forum attended by over 120 participants from 90 organizations. Experts proposed that the building sector in British Columbia should aim to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from the operation of buildings by 40-50% below 2007 levels by 2030, and 80-100% by 2050.

Thursday, April 27, 2017

Investment stimulated by market-based instruments for energy efficiency has risen six-fold over the last ten years


IEA published the first global overview of market-based instruments (MBIs) for energy efficiency, such as auctions, energy efficiency obligations on utilities and white certificate programmes. Contrary to other policy instruments, MBIs allow market actors to choose the measures and delivery routes that provide the most cost-effective way to achieve the outcomes set out by policy makers.

Monday, April 24, 2017

Canadian Biogas Association (CBA) provides tools and training for biogas project developers


The Canadian Biogas Association recently hosted two Renewable Natural Gas (RNG) Workshops for municipalities as part of a series of targeted communications for municipal and public sector staff to learn more about this important renewable fuel. Participants of the first workshop have learn about RNG technologies, tools for measuring GHG emission reductions, such as GHGenius, and a number of RNG projects that have been implemented by municipalities across Canada.

Monday, April 17, 2017

Multiple benefits of energy efficiency can deliver as much as 2.5 times the value of the energy demand reduction


According to IEA, energy efficiency should be recognized as a major energy resource. Thanks to energy efficiency investments over the preceding four decades, energy use avoided by IEA member countries was larger than any other single supply side resource, including oil, gas, coal and electricity. 

Monday, April 10, 2017

OECD report: current carbon prices are too low to ensure needed GHG emissions reduction



The OECD released the report about pricing CO2 through taxes and emissions trading systems, which presents a new data on “effective carbon rates” on CO2-emissions for energy use across six economic sectors in 41 countries. The study analyzed OECD countries responsible for some 80 percent of global carbon dioxide emissions and found a major gap between current carbon pricing policies and what should be the minimum estimated cost for carbon given its climate impact.

Monday, April 3, 2017

U.S. cleaner energy industry's revenue is comparable now with pharmaceutical industry


With $200 billion in revenue, advanced energy industry is among U.S. economy leaders, says report published by AEE, a national trade association of businesses working on cleaner and smarter energy. AEE includes in advanced energy the following sectors: building efficiency, electricity generation, delivery and management, advanced transportation, fuel production and delivery, combined heat and power, advanced manufacturing processes, etc.

Tuesday, March 28, 2017

Environment Canada projects the country is on pace to miss its GHG reduction target


The report, published by Canadian government, projects the country may emit at least 30 per cent more by 2030 than promised that year. Climate and energy think tank the Pembina Institute said the report is a “red flag” and a constant reminder that the "job is not done".

Friday, March 17, 2017

Hyperloop Pod prototypes competition in California


27 teams from the US and around the world participated in the world's first Hyperloop Pod Competition just outside SpaceX headquarters in Hawthorne, CA, USA. Acceleration of the development of functional prototypes and encouragement of student innovation to design and build the best high-speed pod were the purposes of the competition.

Friday, March 10, 2017

Low carbon technologies are now cost competitive with fossil fuels


The Lloyd’s Register Technology Radar – Low Carbon, analyses the outlook for renewables, nuclear, grid and infrastructure, and energy storage, based on opinions of almost 600 professionals and experts around the world. The report examines the technological future of low carbon across power generation, transmission, distribution and energy storage.

Friday, March 3, 2017

Just to be aware: key charts used by climate change skeptics


See other charts at https://wattsupwiththat.com.  Below the publication with charts you can see its discussion. 
  “Tips and Notes”  on the topic can be found on the other page of the same web site.

Thursday, January 26, 2017

Report on climate change impacts and costs in Europe



Report, published by European Environment Agency, shows that climate change is already having wide-ranging impacts on ecosystems, economic sectors and human health and well-being in Europe. Climate change is affecting all regions in Europe, but the impacts are not uniform. Most impacts of climate change across Europe have been adverse, although some impacts have been beneficial.

Monday, January 16, 2017

IEA's webinar: The Outlook for Renewable Energy



The lead authors of World Energy Outlook 2016 presented their views on current status and future of renewables, which were the subject of a special focus in this year’s Outlook.
Significant increase of renewable capacity in the power sector, which exceeded coal, gas, oil. and nuclear combined, as well as fast growth of EVs on the road to over 1 million vehicles are among the most impressive achievements in renewable energy in 2015.

Tuesday, January 10, 2017

China will spend on renewable energy over third of trillion dollars by 2020


China's National Energy Administration proposed plan to spend more than $360 billion through 2020 on renewable power sources like solar and wind. This will allow to create more than 13 million new jobs in the renewable energy sector, curb the growth of greenhouse gasses that contribute to global warming and reduce the amount of soot that creates strong smog in Beijing and other Chinese cities.
Thanks in part to Chinese manufacturing, costs in the wind and solar industries are decreasing fast, making them competitive with power generation from fossil fuels like coal and natural gas. According to  Greenpeace, in 2015 China installed an average of more than one wind turbine every hour of every day, and covered the equivalent of one soccer field every hour with solar panels. Bloomberg New Energy Finance  estimates that China has invested $102bn in domestic renewable energy in 2015.
China surpassed the United States a decade ago as the world’s biggest emitter of greenhouse gasses, and now its GHG emissions are twice as big as in the U.S. Read more at https://www.nytimes.com

Thursday, January 5, 2017

Renewables provided one-third of power generation in Germany in 2016


According to The Centre for Solar Energy and Hydrogen Research Baden-Württemberg and the German Association of Energy and Water Industries, in 2016 Germany used more renewable electricity than ever before, receiving 32 percent of the gross amount of electricity consumed in the country from renewable sources.