Summary
Call it climate change or the blue rabbit, says the military, we are acting on it. Blame it on cheap airfare or something else, the BASIC group (Brazil, South Africa, India and China) is asking for more commitment on the part of industrialized countries to address climate change. All this and more in today’s edition.
Quote of the day
“The lack of ambition of developed countries in the pre-2020 period should not lead to transferring of responsibilities to developing countries in the post-2020 period.”
Ravi Shankar Prasad, India’s lead climate negotiator, in the Bloomberg’s story China, Brazil Seek Publicity Blitz to Steer Climate Talks
Lead stories
PACOM not waiting on politics to plan for climate change challenges
Stars and Stripes
As Congress remains gridlocked on more than 200 bills related to climate change, U.S. Pacific Command is forging strategies with partner nations in the region to mitigate the security effects of global warming.
http://jlne.ws/VbtkVZ
PG poll: Scientific consensus on climate change has not permeated the public
James P. O’Toole, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Despite the scientific consensus that global warming is occurring and caused by human activity, a new survey conducted for the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette demonstrates that many Americans remain uncertain about the impact of climate change and the need for government action to address it.
http://jlne.ws/1nHttXS
Deep emissions cuts needed by 2050 to limit warming: U.N. draft
Reuters
Deep cuts in greenhouse gas emissions of 40 to 70 percent by mid-century will be needed to avert the worst of global warming that is already harming all continents, a draft U.N. report showed.
http://jlne.ws/1uF69jh
China, Brazil Seek Publicity Blitz to Steer Climate Talks
Natalie Obiko Pearson, Bloomberg
China and Brazil are looking for ways to redirect a global climate debate, which they say unfairly accuses developing nations of delaying limits on fossil-fuel pollution.
http://jlne.ws/1pmccc1
Tony Abbott under pressure to put climate change on G20 meeting agenda
Oliver Milman, theguardian.com
Tony Abbott has come under fresh pressure to put climate change on the agenda at the upcoming G20 gathering, with a group of medical scientists led by the Nobel laureate Prof. Peter Doherty warning Australians face “serious health risks” if the issue isn’t urgently tackled.
http://jlne.ws/1kVzKEJ
Cheap airfare swamps industry’s emissions cuts – study
Alex Kirby, Climate News Network
The aviation industry insists that it is making only a tiny contribution to global warming, with just 2 percent of global carbon dioxide emissions coming from its aircraft.
http://jlne.ws/1oBw76O
***LB: Also in this story “The problem is the speed at which aviation itself is growing. One aircraft builder believes the number of planes in service in 2011 will have doubled by 2031.”
Study: Keystone carbon pollution more than figured
Seth Borenstein, The Associated Press
The much-debated Keystone XL pipeline could produce four times more global warming pollution than the State Department calculated earlier this year, a new study concludes.
http://jlne.ws/1kvX6jN
Events
EMA’s 18th Annual Meeting
Join the Environmental Markets Association and environmental industry professional for two days of dynamic sessions, two nights of networking receptions, and countless opportunities to increase your business contacts.
October 22 – 24, 2014
Santa Monica, CA
http:
FT European Gas Summit
The FT European Gas Summit brings together leading and aspiring gas suppliers from around the globe, as well as energy industry experts, commentators and government decision makers to review the potential barriers to new gas supplies for Europe, and the impact on the region’s economic competitiveness. The summit will be chaired by Guy Chazan, Energy Editor, Financial Times.
23 October 2014
London, UK
http://jlne.ws/1n34Gif
Carbon
Forests for the future: Kenya’s carbon credit scheme
Reuben Kyama, AFP
When 61-year old Mercy Joshua was young, the vast forests of southeastern Kenya teemed with wildlife, but decades of unchecked deforestation by locals have devastated the land.
http://jlne.ws/1ootFkG
CO2 capture from air could ripen into a global warming solution, researcher predicts
Niina Heikkinen, E&E reporter
Technologies for capturing carbon dioxide directly from the ambient air will play a key role in reversing the buildup of greenhouse gases if the process can gain wider acceptance, according to a Columbia University scientist.
http://jlne.ws/VeMfib
UC Davis scientists search for ways to turn carbon dioxide into fuel
Rachel Reddick, Sacramento Bee
Carbon dioxide is a waste product of fuel burned in cars, but some UC Davis scientists are working to turn it back into fuel.
http://jlne.ws/1lO4fqZ
(UK’s) Camelot hits jackpot with carbon savings
BusinessGreen
National Lottery operator Camelot has secured The Carbon Trust Standard, after curbing its greenhouse gas emissions through a wide range of energy efficiency and low carbon transport programmes.
http://jlne.ws/1uEXVYh
Natural gas / coal
Obama opens rift with greens
Laura Barron-Lopez, The Hill
President Obama is moving toward opening the Atlantic Ocean to drilling, a major shift in U.S. policy that cuts against the administration’s efforts to reduce global warming.
http://jlne.ws/1nI7VKT
EEX New Participant Gas Spot Market: Macquarie Bank Limited (London Branch)
Press Release
Macquarie Bank Limited (London Branch) has additionally been admitted to trading on the Gas Spot Market in the products NCG H-Gas, Gaspool H-Gas and TTF.
http://jlne.ws/1oWFzkH
Blackstone nears $1.2bn deal for Shell gas stake
Arash Massoudi and Anjli Raval, Financial Times
Royal Dutch Shell is preparing to dispose of its 50 per cent stake in a Louisiana gasfield to Blackstone for $1.2bn, as the oil and gas group retreats from one of its souring investments in North America.
http://jlne.ws/XVyo2j
Stalled Gazprom Antitrust Case May Suggest Unease for Energy Sanctions
James Kanter, The New York Times
Even as Russia and the West keep raising the stakes in their economic sanctions battle, the one commodity that could matter most — Russian natural gas — seems still to be off limits.
http://jlne.ws/1sFyZ1H
Hedge Funds Snub Natural Gas Rally as Supply Gains Loom
Naureen S. Malik, Bloomberg
Hedge funds are betting that the rally in U.S. natural-gas prices won’t last.
http://jlne.ws/1kvY2og
Power
$18 Million To Awaken The Sleeping Geothermal Energy Giant
Tina Casey, Clean Technica
The US Department of Energy just added $18 million worth of new projects to its geothermal energy portfolio.
http://jlne.ws/1vwCXip
Farmer powers irrigation system with solar energy
Dave Dreeszen, Sioux City Journal
Dolf Ivener turned to sunshine to water his cornfield this growing season. Ivener powered a center-pivot irrigation system with solar energy. It’s among the first of its kind nationally.
http://jlne.ws/1nHuf7p
UK may offer green subsidies to overseas companies
Valerie Flynn, The Irish Times
The UK government is considering opening its renewable energy subsidy scheme to power producers in Ireland and other countries.
http://jlne.ws/1kVEj1Q
***LB: Also in this story “Overseas projects supplying the UK grid may be able to compete for subsidies as early as 2018, according to a government consultation paper. Projects awarded subsidies in 2018 would come online a few years later. “
EDF Energy shuts down four UK nuclear reactors
Guy Chazan, Financial Times
EDF Energy said on Monday that it had shut down four of its UK nuclear reactors for eight weeks, or roughly a quarter of its total nuclear generating capacity, after discovering a fault in a boiler unit during a routine inspection.
http://jlne.ws/1q4Tyll
Wind power surge sees renewables outstrip coal
James Murray, BusinessGreen
The remnants of Hurricane Bertha may have brought summer flooding and travel disruption to parts of the country, but they have also delivered a boost to the electricity grid as wind power output hit near record highs.
http://jlne.ws/1lOAqGT
Local utilities, funds line up bids for E.ON’s assets in Italy – sources
Reuters
Several Italian utilities and private equity groups are expected to hand in tentative offers worth about 2 billion euros ($2.7 billion) for E.ON’s Italian unit early next week, people familiar with the matter told Reuters.
http://jlne.ws/1B866AN
Clean tech
Electric-vehicle charging stations sprouting all over California
Mark Glover, Sacramento Bee
Gas pumps still rule the roadways, but electric-vehicle chargers are moving up fast, being added by the dozens in California, the world’s No. 1 electric-vehicle market.
http://jlne.ws/1oot2HY
Water
California Drought Transforms Global Food Market
Alan Bjerga, Bloomberg Businessweek
For more than 70 years, Fred Starrh’s family was among the most prominent cotton growers in California’s San Joaquin Valley. Then shifting global markets and rising water prices told him that wouldn’t work anymore.
http://jlne.ws/1sOZFxW
***LB: Also in this story “Another dry year in 2015 is a strong possibility, according to a study by the University of California at Davis released last month. The same study pegs drought-related farm losses at $1.5 billion, with 17,100 jobs lost statewide.”
In dry California, water goes to those who drill the deepest
Haya El Nasser, AlJazeera America
The only sign of life sprouting out of a vast expanse of land in this unincorporated corner of Tulare County is a large drilling rig and two trucks laden with 1,000-foot-long drill pipes.
http://jlne.ws/1oCQMSM
Latino groups flex muscle on EPA water reg
Benjamin Goad, The Hill
Latino groups are rallying behind the Environmental Protection Agency’s proposed Waters of the United States regulation as they begin flexing their political muscle on issues other than immigration ahead of November’s midterms.
http://jlne.ws/VeLlT0
Miscellaneous
AkzoNobel toasts world’s first fully compostable and recyclable paper cup
BusinessGreen
The world’s first fully compostable and recyclable paper cup will soon be appearing in fast food restaurants, after a breakthrough by Dutch company AkzoNobel.
http://jlne.ws/1sOOWn4
What Climate Change Means for your Coffee
Todd Reubold, Ensia
Cuppa Joe. Java. Caffeine Infusion. Liquid Lightning. Morning Mud. Rocket Fuel.
http://jlne.ws/1pKnHsN