SUSTAINABLE & CLEAN ENERGY | ENERGY EFFICIENCY | LOW CARBON DEVELOPMENT | CLIMATE CHANGE | ___________ TECHNOLOGY | POLICY | INVESTMENT

Wednesday, December 15, 2021

The largest in the world carbon capture plant is build in Iceland

 The largest in the world “direct air capture” (DAC) plant will allow to capture and remove annually from the atmosphere the amount of carbon dioxide equivalent to emissions produced by 870 cars. CO2 is filtered out, mixed with water, and pumped into deep underground wells, where over the course of a few years it turns to stone. The plant was opened in September 2021 in Iceland, and it is operated by the Swiss engineering startup Climeworks.


Tuesday, November 23, 2021

EU funds the energy efficiency improvements in buildings

 Around EUR 25 billion have been allocated in energy efficiency investments in buildings from EU funds over the period 2014-2020, while more than half of these fundings (EUR 12.7 billion) have been invested in the public sector, according to the recent JRC report " Financing energy renovations at local and regional levels. European status and good practices".


Public procurement and grants & subsidies represent more than 80% of all financial instruments adopted and reported by local authorities for the achievement of the 2030 target within the Covenant of Mayors (CoM) initiative.

Source: https://lnkd.in/ghf8kAK9

Wednesday, September 15, 2021

Global pandemic caused the decrease of U.S. primary energy consumption by 7% in 2020

U.S. primary energy consumption in 2020 was 92.9 Quads, significantly dropping from 100.2 Quads in 2019.















The contribution of renewable energy sources exceeded 12%, while fossil fuels  (natural gas, oil, and coal) made up 79%, and nuclear - 9%.

Tuesday, August 10, 2021

IPCC: major climate changes are inevitable and irreversible

 The AR6 Climate Change 2021: The Physical Science Basis, is a result of eight years of hard work of hundreds of experts and peer-review studies. It represents the world’s full knowledge to date of the physical basis of climate change and found that human activity was “unequivocally” the cause of rapid changes to the climate, including sea level rises, melting polar ice and glaciers, heatwaves, floods, and droughts.

Human influence has warmed the climate at a rate unprecedented in at least the past 2000 years

Thursday, June 17, 2021

Current NDCs submission status under the Paris Agreement

Under the Paris Agreement, Parties must  submit  Nationally  Determined  Contributions  (NDCs)  to  the UNFCCC and  to introduce policies  aiming the achievement of their stated objectives. The first round of  NDCs,  submitted  by  191 countries,  covers  more  than  90%  of  global  energy‐related  and  industrial  process  CO2  emissions.

As  of  23  April  2021,  80 countries  have  submitted  new  or  updated  NDCs  to  the  UNFCCC,  covering  just  over  40%  of  global  CO2  emissions. 

Still, just a few percent of the global net zero emission targets currently are supported by law (see figure below).



Source: IEA, 2021

Sunday, May 30, 2021

IEA proposes technological and policy pathways allowing transition to a net zero energy system by 2050

The energy sector is the source of about 75% of GHG emissions today and holds the key to preventing the worst effects of climate change.

In its recent report NET ZERO BY 2050: A ROADMAP FOR THE GLOBAL ENERGY SECTOR, IEA proposes technological and policy pathways allowing transition to a net zero energy system by 2050 while ensuring stable and affordable energy supplies, providing universal energy access, and enabling robust economic growth.

The path to net-zero emissions is challenging: staying on it requires immediate and intensive deployment of all available clean and efficient energy technologies.

Saturday, April 17, 2021

IRENA presented the outline of World Energy Transitions Outlook till 2050

 Recently published preview of IRENA’s World Energy Transitions Outlook presents an outline of the global strategies towards carbon-neutrality and leads way to a climate-safe 1.5°C pathway by 2050.

It is projected that over 70% of all decarbonization solutions will involve renewable energy through the direct supply of low-cost power, efficiency, renewable-powered electrification in end-use. Carbon capture and removal technologies in combination with bioenergy will deliver the ‘remaining reductions towards a net-zero energy system.

Wednesday, April 7, 2021

More than 80% of global new electricity capacity added last year were renewables

Over 260 GW of renewable energy capacity were added last year worldwide, exceeding expansion in 2019 by close to 50%, despite the economic slowdown that resulted from the COVID-19 pandemic. Renewables account for 80% of all new electricity capacity added last year, with solar and wind representing 91% of new renewables, according to the recent report by IRENA.

The 10.3% rise in installed renewable capacity reflects expansion that beats long-term trends of more modest growth year-on-year.



Sunday, March 21, 2021

Global CO2 emissions are rebounding to pre-pandemic levels

According to the Global Carbon Project, world's fossil CO2-related emissions have dropped by about 2.6 GtCO2 in 2020 to 34 GtCO2 (see figure below). This  decrease, which is equivalent to EU's annual GHG emissions, was caused mainly by the measures taken to slow the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic, and it is about 7% below 2019 levels, while, in most countries, daily emissions decreased at the peak of the country’s lockdown by on average 27%.


Friday, March 12, 2021

The pathway to climate leadership for the United States

These 21 GHG reduction policies may allow cutting total emissions in the U.S. by 48 percent in 2030, and by 95 percent in 2050, relative to 2010 levels.

Source: energyinnovation.org

Simulations conducted by 
Energy Innovation: Policy and Technology LLC have identified policies across all economic sectors to achieve the IPCC’s recommended GHG reductions required to limit global warming to 1.5C.

The U.S. Energy Policy Simulator, an open-source and non-partisan computer model developed by Energy Innovation, has designed a policy scenario that achieves the IPCC’s recommended emissions reductions.



Thursday, February 25, 2021

Energy efficiency is not sufficient for the transition to low carbon buildings

 Energy efficiency, which reduces only buildings' operational carbon footprint, is not enough for transition to low carbon buildings.

67-76% of the total buildings' GHG emissions are embodied, i.e. associated with the extraction, transportation, and manufacture of materials and elements, as well as with construction processes and services.
The report [
https://lnkd.in/gfYRHc4] published by Architects Climate Action Network proposes a set of policies, regulations, and actions to be urgently adopted for the dramatic reduction of embodied carbon emissions in the UK.
According to 
World Green Building Council [https://lnkd.in/g2nXm8J], currently, buildings account for 39% of energy-related global CO2 emissions.
Architecture 2030 estimates that new construction creates more than 3.7 billion metric tons of embodied carbon emissions annually [https://lnkd.in/gACCNx2].



Friday, February 5, 2021

Have countries done enough to meet their climate action promises made five years ago in Paris?

 Unfortunately, according to BloombergNEF, the world's biggest #GHG emitters still are far behind in terms of implementing policies and actions to meet their #ParisAgreement commitments...

BloombergNews