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Get Britain fracking or be held hostage by Russia,
says policy think tank
Britain risks being held economic hostage by Russia unless
the country embraces fracking, a leading London-based think tank
has warned. The Centre for Policy Studies claims that Britain's
growing dependence on foreign imports for almost every form of
fossil fuel, from coal to natural gas, means that developing new
sources of indigenous energy are vital for future
prosperity.
Telegraph
Climate and energy news
Finland becomes latest country to pass national
Climate Change Act
Finland has this week formally adopted the country's first
Climate Change Act, setting a legally binding target to cut
greenhouse gas emissions by at least 80 per cent by 2050. The
legislation, which appears to be broadly modelled on the UK's
Climate Change Act, extends the country's existing emissions
reduction target for 2020 and requires successive governments to
produce mid-term climate protection plans.
BusinessGreen
Centrica holds off 'betting' on
fracking
Centrica has said it is unlikely to bid for more UK fracking
rights when they are offered in coming weeks, underlining the
uncertainty over whether shale gas extraction will prove to be
viable. It said it does not want to bet further resources on the
technology before it is shown to be viable in the UK.
Telegraph
Coal: Environmentalists predict 'last gasp' for a
traditional industry
Coal exports, a lifeline for the besieged US mining sector,
are faltering. After hitting a record high in 2012, they declined
last year. Some analysts see further weakness to come due to
factors like Europe's tepid economy and growing renewable energy
sector.
Financial Times
Smart meter delay means promised green gains lower
than expected, National Audit Office warns
The government insists it is making "good progress" on its
smart meter rollout, despite a report claiming a delay to the
programme has reduced the projected benefits by over £2
billion.
BusinessGreen
Upset at UN climate talks as ministers go
missing
Negotiators and campaigners have reacted angrily to the
failure of many environment ministers to attend UN talks in Bonn.
They say governments gave an undertaking last year to come here and
update plans to cut emissions. But so far, around 50 ministers have
turned up, with ministers from the UK, France and Brazil notably
absent.
BBC
Climate change: Scotland fails for third time in a
row to meet carbon targets | Herald
Scotland
The Scottish Government is coming under mounting pressure to
make new cuts in pollution as it faces failing to meet its
statutory targets for reducing carbon emissions for the third year
running. An alliance of all the opposition parties in Holyrood is
privately urging SNP ministers to agree moves that would cut carbon
pollution from vehicles, farms, houses and government.
Herald Scotland
Climate and energy comment
The beginnings of a common European energy
policy
The European Commission has released a 220-page document,
which lays the foundations for a series of proposals that could
create a common energy policy for Europe. Nick Butler says it's
wrong to doubt that such a policy could succeed following apparent
success in elections for Eurosceptics. "Far from disintegrating,
the European institutions in Brussels remain a driver of ever
greater union. Energy policy is just the latest focus for that
effort", he says.
Financial Times
Brazil Leads World in Reducing Carbon Emissions by
Slashing Deforestation
Since 2004, farmers and ranchers in Brazil have saved over
33,000 square miles (86,000 square kilometers) of rain forest from
clear-cutting a team of scientists and economists from the US and
South America report in the journal Science. At the same time,
production of beef and soy from Brazil's Amazon region
rose.
National Geographic
Interactive Map Shows Details of EPA CO2 Emissions
Plan
The new Clean Power Plan the U.S. Environmental Protection
Agency unveiled this week will affect about 1,000 fossil fuel-fired
power plants across the US, and now the EPA has a new interactive
map that shows exactly where those power plants are and which
states could be most affected by the proposed new rule.
Climate Central
Simon Reeve: the media has to show the reality of
climate change
TV presenter Simon Reeve speaks about his new programme,
Wildfires 2014, which tracks the development of fires in Australia.
Reeve says it's imperative programme-makers convey the reality of
climate change to viewers when it is already having a profound
effect on places like Australia.
Telegraph
The claim of a 97% consensus on global warming
does not stand up
Economist Richard Tol writes in the Guardian about his recent
examination of a paper that claims 97 per cent of climate research
papers agree climate change is caused by humans. Tol says the paper
is incorrect because it uses too small a sample size and includes
papers that automatically assume climate change is
happening.
Guardian
Is fracking legal underneath your
property?
Dr Ellen Stokes, property law lecturer at Cardiff University,
explains in this video why residents may not be able to stop
companies laying fracking pipes under their land.
BBC
How Solar Will Destroy The Power
Companies
The rise of solar power has put the US's electric utilities
under strain. The grid is increasingly unable to cope with the new
power sources being attached to it, and the companies are
unprepared for dealing with their new competitors.
Business Insider
New climate science
Dust in the Wind Could Speed Greenland's Ice
Melt
New research in the journal Nature Geoscience indicates that
Greenland's white expanse may be starting to fade and in fact
darken, though, thanks to a widespread increase of dust across the
ice sheets. That darkening could speed up surface melt, and with
it, sea level rise around the globe.
Climate Central
Convert waste CO2 and chicken feathers into
fertiliser
'Cooking' chicken feathers in sequestered carbon dioxide can
create fertiliser, scientists have found. So the process can help
carbon dioxide from entering the atmosphere and use waste feathers,
which take decades to break down, to improve soil.
New Scientist
