Summary
In today’s edition, President Obama earmarks 500 million dollars for the Green Climate Fund, while we are reminded of another president’s warning, LBJ on the climate. Still in the new budget unveiled last night, another proposal: a permanent extension of the ITC (Investment Tax Credit) for solar energy projects.
Quote of the day
“This generation has altered the composition of the atmosphere on a global scale through radioactive materials and a steady increase in carbon dioxide from the burning of fossil fuels.”
President Lyndon B. Johnson (1965) in the Daily Climate’s story A 50th anniversary few remember: LNJ’s warning on carbon dioxide
Lead stories
Obama pledges $500m for Green Climate Fund in 2016 budget
By Sophie Yeo – RTCC (Responding to Climate Change)
Barack Obama’s 2016 budget requests US$500 million for the UN’s Green Climate Fund, which will help poor countries to prepare for climate change and reduce their emissions.
http://jlne.ws/1LI3IpY
***LB: Also in this story “This will be the first installment of the $3 billion the US president pledged to the fund last year.”
Investment Tax Credit for Solar Companies?
By Lisa Ray – Invest Correctly
President Barack Obama proposed a permanent extension of the ITC (Investment Tax Credit) for solar energy projects in the 2016 budget.
http://jlne.ws/1D9wuvQ
A 50th anniversary few remember: LNJ’s warning on carbon dioxide
By Marianne Lavelle – The Daily Climate
It is a key moment in climate change history that few remember: This week marks the 50th anniversary of the first presidential mention of the environmental risk of carbon dioxide pollution from fossil fuels.
http://jlne.ws/1vpUwlg
Green Investment Bank launches £50m recycling fund
BusinessGreen
The Green Investment Bank is targeting a £50m fund at smaller-scale, innovative, recycling and waste projects across the UK.
http://jlne.ws/1x4q0Hs
Events
2015 Climate Leadership Conference
ACCO, EPA, The Climate Registry, C2ES
February 23-25, 2015
Ritz-Carlton Pentagon City (Arlington, VA)
http://jlne.ws/AAf4bu
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
Carbon
China carbon offset prices diverge on regional bans
Reuters
The lack of a unified regulatory system for China’s fledgling carbon offset market has led to wild variations in prices in different regions, causing uncertainty among both buyers and project developers, traders said.
http://jlne.ws/1DB0T4g
MIT smokestack scrubber promises lower costs
By Martin LaMonica – The Boston Globe
Ask people how to deal with climate change, and they often will talk about alternative energy options like solar, wind, and nuclear power.
http://jlne.ws/1BRD8m4
Natural gas / coal
Fracking set to be banned from 40% of England’s shale areas
By Damian Carrington and Xaquín GV – The Guardian
Fracking is set to be banned on two-fifths of the land in England being offered for shale gas exploration by the government, according to a Guardian analysis.
http://jlne.ws/1zCdNQl
Federal fracking rules due out soon
By Timothy Cama – The Hill
Rules for hydraulic fracturing on federal land will be made final within weeks, Interior Secretary Sally Jewell said.
http://jlne.ws/1AnXIiu
Power
Apple unveils plans for giant solar-powered data hub in Arizona
By Jessica Shankleman – BusinessGreen
Apple has announced plans to invest $2bn in a data centre in Arizona that will be powered entirely by solar panels.
http://jlne.ws/16dswFj
***LB: Also in this story “The tech giant revealed yesterday that it is to convert the existing Mesa, Arizona facility into a command centre for its global network of data centres and include a 70MW solar farm in the plans.”
Smart Sensors for Power Grid Could Ease Disruptions
By Diane Cardwell – The New York Times
For decades, utility companies have often relied on customers telling them when their lights have gone off as a sign that there may be a broader power disruption.
http://jlne.ws/1K7z7QU
Could floating lasers hold the key to offshore wind cost savings?
BusinessGreen
The ‘world’s largest and most challenging’ trials of a new generation of floating wind measurement technologies that could slash the cost of developing offshore wind farms in deep water were announced today.
http://jlne.ws/1DsimLV
(UK’s) Public opposition to onshore wind farms falls to record low
By Jessica Shankleman – BusinessGreen
Public opposition to onshore wind farms has fallen to a three year low of just 10 per cent, according to new government survey today that casts doubt over David Cameron’s claim that people are “fed up” with the technology.
http://jlne.ws/1KnOKSj
Cleantech
Driven to distraction by China electric cars
By Patti Waldmeir – Financial Times
The great Chinese road trip is about to begin. In the next fortnight, tens of millions of motorists will shortly join at least 1bn others heading home for that mother of all Chinese holidays: lunar new year.
http://jlne.ws/1CsDRiZ
Formula E all-electric racing series motors to Moscow
By Will Nichols – BusinessGreen
Moscow is to become the latest city to host an electric grand prix, after today being added to the inaugural Formula E calendar.
http://jlne.ws/1uTVqR5
Water
A Fresh Look at the Watery Side of Earth’s Climate Shows ‘Unabated Planetary Warming’
By Andrew C. Revkin – The New York Times
A fresh analysis of thousands of temperature measurements from deep-diving Argo ocean probes shows (yet again) that Earth is experiencing “unabated planetary warming” when you factor in the vast amount of greenhouse-trapped heat that ends up in the sea.
http://jlne.ws/1ED6Ils
Miscellaneous
Primark owner takes hit from biofuels plant
By John Aglionby – Financial Times
Associated British Foods has blamed falling oil and bioethanol prices, and the weakening euro for its decision to take a £98m impairment charge on its investment in Vivergo Fuels, which runs a £350m biofuels plant in northeast England.
http://jlne.ws/1HSODCq