Plus: moves in the Finance sector, Carbon capture and hydrogen
Hi Everyone,
How hard is ‘Net Zero’ emissions by 2050? Find out below. In short, extremely hard. See my comments section below for more insights. As always please continue to share this around with colleagues, friends and neighbors and encourage them to subscribe.
Watch for the next issue on November 1st.
Thanks,
Peter
Observations, Comments & Questions
- In a “follow the money” move, I moved the “Consumers” section to the top and draw your attention to the stories there – its worth familiarizing yourself with the way in which the finance sector is embracing the challenge to address climate change. Banks, fund managers and insurance companies are all under increasing pressure to show how money is being put to work in service of addressing climate change. I personally believe what happens in this arena is perhaps the most important to follow. If you have recommendations for news feeds targeting this, let me know please. Among the challenges remaining in the sector is how best to compare investment options, suggesting improved transparency and disclosure of emissions and carbon risk will be a key focus going forward. There is no shortage of initiatives aimed at improved benchmarking of companies and portfolios. I’m watching to see the impact on where money is shifted.
- Carbon Capture, Hydrogen and Circular economy are also among the areas I devoting more attention for my reading. Check out the stories there. Among them, H&M has installed equipment in a store that disassembles other clothes and creates textiles to make new clothes. I thought that was pretty cool for a sector that has lots of waste challenges.
The EIA’s World Energy Outook was all over the news feeds where it aimed to address the criticism for underplaying the role of renewables, pointing to solar as the cheapest form of electricity and including a “net zero” case. Here are a few pieces to highlight:
- BNN Bloomberg notes: “The net-zero case, which activists and climate-minded investors have been demanding for years, would require aggressive—and increasingly personal—short-term decision-making. By 2030, 75% of global electricity must come from low-carbon sources, up from 40% in 2019. Just 2.5% of new cars sold last year were electric, a figure that would have to rise to more than 50% by 2030. The developing world would need to perform energy retrofits on a third of its existing building stock in less than 10 years—a fraction that rises to half for richer nations.
- Akshat Rathi from Bloomberg Green continues: “Reaching net-zero emissions on time requires unprecedented behavioral changes by the 7 billion people who enjoy at least partial access to modern energy. It means lower-CO₂ trains or vehicles must replace short flights. Local car trips of 3 kilometers (about 1.9 miles) or shorter would give way to walking or cycling, and everyone would have to keep their air conditioners at least 3°C warmer in the summer heat.”
- Carbon Brief offers some in-depth insights here. Click the image below and scroll to the 4th image in the twitter feed to see the animations that show the significance of the ‘net zero’ case and just how hard it will be to achieve.
Consumers
JPMorgan Pledges to Push Clients to Align With Paris Climate Agreement | WSJ
JPMorgan Chase & Co. is pledging to use its financing weight to push clients to align with the Paris agreement and work toward global net zero-emissions by 2050. The bank said it would invest in technologies that help reduce carbon emissions and will work with clients to cut their own carbon footprints.
Exclusive: HSBC targets net zero emissions by 2050, earmarks $1 trillion green financing | Reuters
HSBC will target net zero carbon emissions across its entire customer base by 2050 at the latest, and provide between $750 billion and $1 trillion in financing to help clients make the transition, Chief Executive Noel Quinn told Reuters.
Global investors kickstart 1.5C decarbonisation process for portfolios | edie
Some of the world’s largest investors accounting for $5trn in assets under management have agreed to set time-bound decarbonisation targets that will see the organisations work with companies in their portfolios to align to climate action.
A Steel Giant Joins a Growing List of Companies Aiming for Net-Zero by 2050 | Inside Clean News
ArcelorMittal produces more steel than any other company. It is also taking a leading role in developing technologies to reduce CO2 emissions from steel-making.
Technology
Carbon Capture
Company plans largest U.S. CO2 storage project | GW&SEC
Gulf Coast Sequestration is planning to build the world’s largest carbon sequestration project near farmland and wetlands in southwest Louisiana.
Hydrogen
Liebreich: Separating Hype from Hydrogen – Part One: The Supply Side | BloombergNEF
When Ahmed Sheikh Yamani, Saudi oil minister during the oil shocks of the 1970s and 80s, famously said that “the Stone Age did not end for lack of stone, and the oil age will end long before the world runs out of oil”, he was not thinking of renewable energy and electric vehicles, he was thinking of hydrogen.
[Policy] Spain approves hydrogen strategy to spur low-carbon economy | Reuters
Spain approved on Tuesday a plan to boost clean hydrogen production, aiming to build enough infrastructure to give it a major role in Europe’s market for a fuel seen as key to meeting international carbon emissions targets.
New alliance targets deployment of heavy-duty hydrogen vehicles | Fuel Cell Works
Western States Hydrogen Alliance to focus on speeding rollout of hydrogen fuel cell electric technologies.
Circular Economy
H&M brings ‘garment-to-garment’ recycling machines in-store | edie
H&M has installed a machine which disassembles old clothing and re-assembles the material into new textiles in one of its stores, in what it claims is a first for the fashion industry.
Ikea unveils national buy-back scheme for used furniture in drive to become ‘fully circular’ | edie
Ikea will start buying back customers’ used furniture at stores across the UK and Ireland next month, in an effort to discourage “excessive consumption” and become a “fully circular” business by 2030.
Energy Storage
Europe’s residential market installed 745MWh of battery storage in 2019: SolarPower Europe | Energy Storage News
Europe’s residential battery energy storage systems (BESS) market is expected to continue its upward trajectory in the coming years after 745MWh of additional capacity was installed in 2019, representing a 57% increase year-on-year.
N. Y. utility to consider swapping gas peakers for batteries in novel deal with environmental justice groups | Utility Dive
The New York Power Authority (NYPA) on Tuesday announced that it will consider utilizing battery storage and other advanced energy technologies to replace 461 MW of gas peaking generation operating at six sites in New York City.
New Mexico utility to replace coal plant with four solar and battery projects | RenewEconomy
Another major US public electricity utility, in this case in New Mexico, has unveiled plans to replace an ageing coal power plant with solar and storage, via four projects totalling nearly 1GW of new renewable energy capacity.
Solar and Wind
Total adds new floating wind project to growing green portfolio | JWN
Total SE took a stake in a French floating wind farm project, its third investment in the nascent industry this year as the oil and gas giant reshapes itself for a low-carbon future.
Google and Total join forces to map rooftop solar potential | RenewEconomy
French oil and gas supermajor Total has teamed up with Google Cloud to develop ‘Solar Mapper’, a new digital tool which uses satellite imagery and artificial intelligence to provide an estimate of the solar energy potential of houses.
Transportation
Tesla to release ‘Full Self-Driving Beta’ to some customers next week | Electrek
Tesla is going to release its ‘Full Self-Driving Beta’ to some customers who are “expert and careful drivers” next week, says CEO Elon Musk.
Tesla is in talks with top miner BHP over nickel-supply pact | BNNBloomberg
Tesla Inc. is in talks with BHP Group on a nickel deal as the electric-car maker targets higher production and seeks to avoid a supply crunch, according to people familiar with the matter.
Policy
The World’s Top Energy Agency Is Pressing for Aggressive Carbon Cuts | BNN Bloomberg
The world’s most authoritative body of energy analysts, the International Energy Agency, has found in its annual flagship report that the world is headed toward global warming higher than the Paris Agreement’s most aggressive limit of 1.5°C. The agency, long known for its expertise in fossil fuels, lays out a path for countries to move toward using more renewable energy on an aggressive timeline. Getting fossil fuels substantially out of the energy system, it says, would cost 25% more than the $54 trillion the world is already expected to invest by 2040.
Boris Johnson pledges to power all UK homes with wind by 2030 | Electrek
British prime minister Boris Johnson declared today at the Conservative Party conference that the UK would become “the world leader in clean wind energy.” He committed £160 million ($207 million) to upgrade ports and factories in northern England, Scotland, and Wales in order to build wind turbines.
Global fuel standards are pushing the dirtiest fuel out of the market | Quartz
Not all oil is equal. We think of petroleum as equivalent whether it comes from the ground in Saudi Arabia or Texas. But that’s not quite right. There are hundreds of grades of fuels out there, each with different carbon footprints—and different impacts on the climate.
E.U. to tackle methane gases, boost energy efficiency | AP
The European Union unveiled Wednesday new plans to help slow down global warming, including a strategy to tackle highly polluting methane gas emissions and a plan to renovate millions of old buildings around the 27-nation bloc to make them more energy efficient.