Summary
We already knew that smartphones were built out of minerals extracted through an environmentally risky process and with a high human cost. In today’s edition, we learn that nearly 13 tons of water are also required to produce just one smartphone, according to a new report. Also, in the Carbon section, a coalition of Midwest power stakeholders asks the federal government to assist in creating a voluntary carbon market.
Quote of the day
“Choices made today can lock in emissions trajectories for years to come and leave communities vulnerable to climate impacts. We will help support robust decisions when we can.”
Rachel Kyte, the World Bank Group’s special envoy for climate change, in the Thomson Reuters Foundation’s story Start now for cheaper carbon-free growth – World Bank
Lead stories
How your smartphone needs 13 tonnes of water
By Jessica Shankleman – BusinessGreen
Nearly 13 tonnes of water and 18 square meters of land are required to produce just one smartphone according to a new report that aims to help businesses calculate their demand for natural resources.
http://jlne.ws/1JDWlwZ
***LB: Also in this story “Entitled Mind Your Step, the study examines the water “footprints” of a range of products, including coffee, ready meals, t-shirts and chocolate. It also shows how water use can decline or fall depending on how much environmental regulation countries have and enforce.”
Climate change: we must look to international agencies to save the world
The Observer
In the Observer Tech Monthly climate change special, people were asked: “Which of the following should take the most responsibility for tackling global warming?” Surely, both the 45% who answered “governments” and the 13% who answered “households/individuals” are simply wrong.
http://jlne.ws/1G20vjc
World Bank sets out three-step plan to help countries decarbonise
By Jessica Shankleman – BusinessGreen
The cost of decarbonisation could grow by 50 per cent if governments delay action to 2030, according to a new World Bank report published today that aims to help countries tackle climate change.
http://jlne.ws/1cM1bhr
Start now for cheaper carbon-free growth – World Bank
By Megan Rowling – Thomson Reuters Foundation
Countries around the world can move their economies onto a path that cuts net emissions of climate-changing gases to zero at an affordable cost but they should start now, the World Bank said.
http://jlne.ws/1Ez7fQl
Huckabee: Lift oil export ban, use renewables
By Devin Henry – The Hill
Republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee says the United States needs to lift its ban on crude oil exports, encourage more energy production on federal lands and embrace renewable energy in order to “completely transform the balance of world power.”
http://jlne.ws/1IvoMjD
A Climate-Modeling Strategy That Won’t Hurt the Climate
By John Markoff – The New York Times
It is perhaps the most daunting challenge facing experts in both the fields of climate and computer science — creating a supercomputer that can accurately model the future of the planet in a set of equations and how the forces of climate change will affect it.
http://jlne.ws/1Ry7ghn
Two Guys In Paris Aim To Charm The World Into Climate Action
By Nell Greenfield – Boyce – NPR (Audio)
Here’s a job that sounds perfect for either a superhero or a glutton for punishment: Get nearly 200 countries to finally agree to take serious action on climate change.
http://jlne.ws/1K3GqLX
Events
World Green Economy Summit 2015
22 April 2015 – 23 April 2015
Dubai, United Arab Emirates
http://jlne.ws/1By0E6J
Navigating the American Carbon World (NACW) 2015
North America’s premier conference on climate policy and carbon markets
Presented by the Climate Action Reserve
April 28-30, 2015
Los Angeles, California
http://jlne.ws/1F1ycOT
The National Fuel Cell Symposium 2015
Industry, government, and academia will convene to discuss the current state of the Stationary Fuel Cell development and deployment in the U.S.
May 7, 2015
Sacramento, California
http://jlne.ws/1Pmqo0N
Nearing the Finish Line: Perspectives and Updates on EPA’s Clean Power Plan (webinar)
April 23, 2015; 11 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. EDT
http://emahq.org/node/86
Northeast RECs Regional Thought Leader Round Table
May 19, 2015; 12 p.m. – 5 p.m. EST
Dentons: 1221 Avenue of the Americas, NY
http://emahq.org/node/85
EMA Annual Meeting
October 28-30, 2015
Omni Parker House Hotel
Boston, MA
Carbon
Midwest coalition asks EPA to help it develop voluntary carbon market
By Robert Walton – Utility Dive
A coalition of Midwest power stakeholders has asked the federal government to assist in creating a voluntary carbon market they believe would be the most cost-effective way to meet pollution mandates included in the Clean Power Plan (CPP).
http://jlne.ws/1yXDes7
Is the clean energy sector facing a subsidy budget crisis?
By James Murray – BusinessGreen
Influential think tank Policy Exchange is preparing to publish a major new report detailing how the new government’s clean energy plans are at serious risk of being derailed by a lack of funding.
http://jlne.ws/1G21D6F
Natural gas / coal
Noble Energy to buy Rosetta Resources in $3.7bn shale deal
By Ed Crooks – Financial Times
Noble Energy, the US oil and gas group, is to buy Rosetta Resources for about $3.7bn including debt, in the first acquisition of a significant US shale oil producer since the fall in crude prices in the second half of last year.
http://jlne.ws/1Iy6nRK
Billionaire coal executive launches bid for West Virginia governor
By Kara Van Pelt – Reuters
Billionaire coal mining executive Jim Justice, owner of West Virginia’s famed Greenbrier luxury resort, announced on Monday he will seek the Democratic nomination for governor next year in his first bid for public office.
http://jlne.ws/1KZ0koQ
U.S. offers over $35 million for hard-hit coal communities
By Valerie Volcovici – Reuters
The United States has released $35.5 million to help communities hit hard by the decline in coal mining to diversify their economies and retrain displaced miners, U.S. Labor Secretary Thomas Perez said on Monday.
http://jlne.ws/1KZ0qNf
China’s state firms cool on new derivatives power
Reuters
Chastened by several high-profile calamities in the recent past, many of the state companies China has freed to trade overseas derivatives will be sitting on their hands, put off by the risks or a lack of expertise.
http://jlne.ws/1F3QWhS
***LB: Also in this story “Last week China’s State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of the State Council (SASAC) said roughly 100 more companies could trade in overseas futures, swaps and options markets without prior approval, on top of the 31 state-owned firms previously authorised. That will allow such companies to be more efficient by hedging their exposure to changing commodity prices and will also give China more clout in global markets, particularly in oil, gas, coal and metals.
Power
Schneider Electric launches Android smart meter app in response to ‘booming market’
By Jessica Shankleman – BusinessGreen
Schneider Electric’s Wiser Home Control system that allows users to switch off lights, heating, and other electric devices remotely, has been launched to Android users.
http://jlne.ws/1EvMPIV
Forget Desert Solar Farms: We Can Get More Than Enough Solar Energy From Cities
Fast Company
Solar plants keep getting bigger: The new Topaz Solar Farm, in a remote part of southern California, sprawls over an area about a third of the size of Manhattan.
http://jlne.ws/1H0i4wn
Clean tech
How Tesla Can Create Model 3 Quickly
By Patrick Roth – Huffington Post (blog)
On a recent investor call, Tesla Motors CEO Elon Musk announced that the company is tentatively planning to show their much anticipated and less expensive Model 3 in March of 2016, with production starting by late 2017.
http://jlne.ws/1Hbi6nF
Water
Drought-busting car wash cleans with less than 1 cup of water
By Benny Evangelista – San Francisco Chronicle
Even during a severe drought, Don Nathe keeps his Tesla sparkling clean by washing it every other week.
http://jlne.ws/1KYYZP0
Chesapeake Bay Algae Blooms Become More Common
Circle of Blue
Blooms of harmful algae in Chesapeake Bay increased significantly over the past two decades, researchers found.
http://jlne.ws/1J8cYCU
Sea level rise accelerating faster than thought
By Julia Rosen – Science
If you’re still thinking about buying that beach house, think again. A new study suggests that sea levels aren’t just rising; they’re gaining ground faster than ever.
http://jlne.ws/1IvpUUu
Miscellaneous
El Niño on its way to Australia, says Bureau of Meteorology
By Oliver Milman – The Guardian
Australia will be hit by a “substantial” El Niño event for the first time in five years, heightening the chances of widespread drought and warmer temperatures, the Bureau of Meteorology has confirmed.
http://jlne.ws/1QEwM2V