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Two thirds of onshore windfarms blocked following
Pickles' lead
Councils have refused more than two thirds of onshore
windfarm applications in 2014, trade magazine Utility Week reports.
It says that in contrast around two thirds were approved between
2010 and 2013.
Utility Week
Climate and energy news
Could engines running on thin air be the answer to
the UK's air pollution problem?
Vehicles running on compressed air could save the UK millions and
curb emissions by more than one million tonnes by 2025, according
to a new study reported in Business Green.
BusinessGreen
Britain must join our combined front against
'unhealthy' action on climate change, says Australia
PM
Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott is calling for a
"conservative alliance" between Britain, Australia, Canada and
India to limit "unwise" climate change action and resist carbon
pricing, reports the Daily Telegraph.
Daily Telegraph
Energy Department: US gas exports unlikely to help
cut emissions
The climate effects of exported US shale gas are being debated. A
US government-backed report says exported shale gas could cut
Chinese power emissions by a quarter over 20 years if it replaces
coal. But methane leakage during compression and transportation of
the liquified natural gas could change that.
BusinessGreen
Scotland misses carbon targets for third year in a
row
The Scottish government failed to meet its legally binding
emissions targets for the third year in a row in 2012, reports the
Guardian. It is not expected to have met the target for 2013
either. Ministers blamed a change it the way emissions are counted
and a cold winter. Opposition politicians said more ambitious
action was needed to tackle emissions from heating and
transport.
The Guardian
Wind farm expansion will see more factories paid
to switch off
Paying businesses to cut their energy usage will become
increasingly common to help deal with times when power supplies are
short because the wind isn't blowing, the Telegraph reports. The
Financial Times finds some firms are struggling to get
power connections for new factories in what is being seen by some
as an indirect effort by National Grid to limit demand. National
Grid has launched a scheme to pay firms to reduce energy use during
peaks in demand on cold winter evenings, reports Business Green. A study by
consultants Pöyry
looks at how best to deal with the variable output from
renewables.
The Telegraph
Climate change heats up 'quants' v old school
forecast battle
Former Wall Street computer scientist 'quants' say they can predict
the weather more accurately and further into the future than
traditional meteorologists, reports Reuters. Instead of relying on
current weather readings and computer models they use patterns from
historical data to predict the future. Meteorologists are
sceptical.
Reuters
Coal Company CEO Threatens To Sue EPA For 'Lying'
About Climate Change
A US coal firm says it will sue the Environmental Protection Agency
for "lying" about climate change, reports Climate Progress. Murray
Energy says the EPA's statements on climate are in breach of the
federal Data Quality Act that requires agencies to rely on
objective information.
Climate Progress
Climate and energy comment
Energy efficient homes could help Treasury balance
the books
Reducing energy demand cuts the bill for expensive energy
imports and helps the economy, says University of Sheffield
academic Grant Wilson. He estimates that the mild winter of 2013-14
cost £1.2 billion less in coal and gas imports than the previous
year. The figure would have wiped 3.5 per cent off the UK's trade
deficit he says.
The Conversation
Why the cultural response to global warming makes
for a heated debate
The Met Office thinks that we need to communicate climate
change in a more creative way says Dr Sam Solnick. The arts are not
going to tell us what to think about climate change, but they may
help us discover ways to think and care about it, he
writes.
The Independent
Why is climate communication so
hard?
The recent debate about "climate change" versus "global
warming" highlights why climate communication is so difficult, says
Alexander White. But the shift from one phrase to another without
also shifting the context is unlikely to change attitudes, he
argues.
The Guardian
Tax carbon consumers to see real action on climate
change
A tax on high carbon products would lead to more effective
action on climate change, argue two University of Copenhagen law
professors. It would affect global emissions even if applied
unilaterally in Europe or the US, they say.
The Conversation
The coalition's attitude to renewables and
Scotland is a risk to national security
The government's "rubbishing" of the case for Scottish
independence and its interference in renewable energy support is a
threat to national security and could lead to blackouts, according
to two Scottish academics.
The Conversation
New climate science
How robust is the recent strengthening of the
Tropical Pacific trade winds?
Scientists recently proposed a strengthening of the Pacific
trade winds in the past 20 years as the driver of the hiatus in
surface global warming, by boosting the amount of heat taken up by
the oceans. And now a new study of wind patterns suggests
observations and modelling studies back up that theory.
Geophysical Research Letters
Future snowfall in western and central Europe
projected with a high-resolution regional climate
model
Snowfall frequency and intensity are influenced strongly by
climate change. A new study projects western and central Europe
will see snowfall intensity drop by up to 30 per cent per degree of
warming, except for the high Alps and parts of
Scandinavia.
Geophysical Research Letters
Spatially Mapped Reductions in the Length of the
Arctic Sea Ice Season
The length of the Arctic sea ice season has reduced by at
least five days per decade since 1979, according to a new analysis
of satellite data. In some place it's considerably more than that -
up to 65 days per decade in a small area of the Barents Sea. Only
a very small part of the Bering Sea has seen an increase, of about
five days per decade.
Geophysical Research Letters