EBRD, EU and Partners Support Energy Efficiency Investments in Western Balkans

14.02.2017

European Commission provides €30 million grant to regional programme.

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) and the European Commission (EC) are stepping up their joint efforts to promote energy efficiency across the Western Balkans.

In the latest push, the EC is providing a €30 million grant to implement the next phase of the Regional Energy Efficiency Programme (REEP) which aims to unleash the energy efficiency and renewable energy potential of Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, FYR Macedonia, Kosovo, Montenegro and Serbia, also known as the Western Balkans Six.

Energy efficiency is an important component of the EBRD’s work to make the countries where it invests greener. This is an integral part of the six transition qualities which the Bank has defined in its updated transition concept as key to a well-functioning market economy – resilience, competitiveness, sustainability, inclusion, integration and governance.

The REEP programme was launched in 2013 as a joint initiative of the EC, bilateral donors and beneficiary countries cooperating under the Western Balkans Investment Framework (WBIF), and implemented by the EBRD in close collaboration with the Energy Community Secretariat. REEP combines crucial medium- to long-term financing with tailor-made technical assistance and support for key policies to boost energy efficiency and renewable energy investments in both the private and public sectors in these countries.

Under the next phase of REEP, the EBRD joins efforts with the German development bank KfW to continue providing direct and intermediated financing in commercial and public sectors while also launching the first dedicated regional residential sector credit line facility to help unlock the tremendous untapped energy efficiency potential of buildings in the Western Balkans.

The contribution agreement was signed in the Macedonian capital Skopje today by Genoveva Ruiz Calavera, Director, Western Balkans, Directorate-General for Neighbourhood and Enlargement Negotiations (DG NEAR) of the European Commission; the Head of the EBRD’s office in Skopje, Anca Ioana Ionescu; the European Investment Bank’s (EIB) Head for the Western Balkans, Matteo Rivellini; and member of the KfW Management Committee, Roland Siller.

The programme will also benefit from €1.8 million contributed by donors to the European Western Balkans Joint Fund, a multi-donor fund and the main source of financing under the WBIF, as well as €2.7 million from the government of Austria.

Anca Ioana Ionescu, Head of the EBRD office in Skopje, added: “Energy efficiency projects typically entail significant up-front spending, subsequently recovered through energy savings achieved over a long period, particularly in the construction sector. Availability of long-term financing to financial intermediaries who appreciate the economics of energy efficiency investments is therefore necessary to support the sector. Donors and development institutions have been essential in opening up the market over the past few years through the provision of long-term funding, technical assistance and incentives.”

Violeta Kogalniceanu, Head of Infrastructure and Energy Efficiency Unit at the Energy Community Secretariat, said: “REEP is the Western Balkans Six flagship programme for energy efficiency and small renewables and represents a unique set-up of tailored technical support, investment incentives and the Green Economy Financing Facility, a dedicated lending facility established by the EBRD. The Secretariat is proud to be the trusted partner of both the Western Balkans Six countries and the international financial institutions as the REEP programme further expands its scope.”

The REEP programme encourages the private and public sectors to take a leading role in promoting energy efficiency as envisaged in countries’ national energy efficiency action plans, developed as part of the Energy Community process. The programme builds on the success of the EBRD’s integrated approach to developing green economy markets and financing.

Over the past 10 years the EBRD has provided over €2 billion for the implementation of green investments in the six Western Balkans countries, which have enormous potential to benefit from the greater use of renewable energy and energy efficiency measures.

Source: ebrd.com

Medium-Term Coal Market Report 2016

14.02.2017

Analysis on coal often tends to be one-sided. But to truly understand the important role that coal plays, for better or worse, in the global energy system, it is critical that we examine both sides of the coin. This means understanding the implications of climate agreements on the future for coal while at the same time coming to terms with what coal is doing – and will continue to do – for energy security and energy access in developing and emerging economies.

Meanwhile, despite an increase in the price of natural gas price in the United States, coal consumption continues to drop. Is this decline inevitable? The last coal plants closed in Belgium and Scotland in 2016 while other European nations have announced the end of coal generation. Is coal going to disappear forever from Europe? At the same time, banks and funds are turning away from coal financing. Will this bring a halt to construction of new coal power plants?

The Medium-Term Coal Market Report 2016 addresses these questions and more, providing insight into the drivers of coal demand, supply and trade through 2021.

Please find summary here.

Source: iea.org

Rosatom Has Approved Aartnership with the Dutch Lagerwey for Perspective Wind Energy Projects

14.02.2017

Rosatom has approved partnership of its daughter company Otek with the Dutch Lagerwey in wind energy projects. On studying the feasibility of partnership with a number of wind turbines manufacturers Jsc Otek had proposed Rosatom to approve a deal, basing on a number of criteria: innovative design, experience, easy logistics of parts and components in Russia, readiness of a foreign partner for localization and maximum technologies’ transfer. The goal of the partnership is to develop the production of the wind turbines in Russia. In 2017 the partners will create a joint venture to ensure maximum commitment of the both partners to the implementation of the projects in Russia.

“Here we speak of the formation of the entirely new industry in Russia”, – stated the first deputy director general of Rosatom Kirill Komarov, – Rosatom sees its goal not only in building of wind farms, but in development of regulatory system, personnel training system, production localization, certification, R&D system for the wind energy. We have the second to none experience and knowledge in creation of new industries from the scratch, as we solve such tasks daily in our nuclear energy segment both in Russia and worldwide”.

“The basis of the future energy balance is based on low-carbon technologies like nuclear power and renewables combined. The decision to diversify our market proposal in low-carbon energy is a reasoanble follow-up to the overall business development of Rosatom. Moreover, it corresponds to the government 2017-2025 strategy aimed at shifting to the sustainable “green” development model”, – noted Kirill Komarov.

Rosatom has evaluated the capacity of the domestic wind energy market. By 2024 wind power generation capacity will amount up to 3.6 GWh with annual turnover of approximately 1.6 bln USD. The estimated volume of potential market for wind energy equipment, facilities and maintenance and aftersales services is about 6.3 bln USD. Rosatom plans to build 610 MW of wind farms during 2018-2020 and localize the production of parts and components of wind turbines including blades for 250MW a year. The localization will involve Rosatom’s production facilities of Atomenergomash and Umatex Group.

Source: Press Service of Rusatom International Network

Floods, Food Security and Wildlife Loss Top Public’s Climate Change Concerns

14.02.2017

Nearly two thirds of British adults accept climate change is happening and is primarily due to human activity, according to a major new poll that detects a “discernible shift” in the public’s engagement with climate-related risks.

The ComRes survey of 2,045 British adults found 64 per cent say climate change is happening, and is primarily due to human activity, representing a sizeable increase on the 57 per cent who accepted man-made climate change was occurring in a 2014 survey.

“Over just three years there has been a discernible shift in public opinion towards acceptance that climate change is both happening and mainly caused by human activity,” said Andrew Hawkins, chairman of ComRes.

“Seven in 10 now believe that almost all, or a majority, of climate scientists believe the same.”

He added that the acceptance of climate change science was feeding in to the public’s stance on a number of environmental policy issues. “The significance of this is that the public are becoming increasingly willing to see polluting energy sources phased out, to adopt alternative technologies and accept public policy changes to shift behaviour,” he said.

A raft of recent polling has revealed overwhelming majority support for renewables and a desire to see UK environmental policies protected post-Brexit.

The latest poll, which was commissioned by the Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit think tank, also revealed the climate-related risks which spark the most concern amongst the public.

Eight out of 10 respondents said they were concerned about the impact of climate change on wildlife and nature, while 73 per cent said they were concerned about increases flood risks. Meanwhile, 60 per cent said they were concerned about more volatility in the availability and price of some foods.

Professor Joanna Haigh, co-director of the Grantham Institute at Imperial College London, welcomed the evidence that understanding of climate change is growing. “For people who have worked on climate change for decades, the finding that people recognise the sheer weight of scientific evidence is extremely heartening,” she said.

“But as the climate system sends increasingly urgent signals of the stress it is coming under, this understanding must be turned into action to address to the problem. We have the means to avoid the very worst impacts of climate change, and create a cleaner, healthier society – all it takes is the will.”

Source: businessgreen.com

India Has 10-Year Window to Shift Completely to Renewable Energy: TERI

13.02.2017

Excess power generation capacity provides India an opportunity to shift completely to green energy. If the country can halve storage technology prices in 10 years it can do without the need for new coal based plants, a study by The Energy and Resource Institute (TERI) said.

The TERI report indicated that current installed capacity and the capacity under construction would be able to meet demand till about 2026, keeping India power sufficient. The report estimates that no new investments are likely to be made in coal-based power generation in the years prior to that.

The TERI report also estimates that beyond 2023-24, new power generation capacity could be all renewables, based on cost competitiveness of renewables as well as the ability of the grid to absorb large amounts of renewable energy together with battery-based balancing power. It also said that all new investments in power generation are likely to develop new storage technologies.

Source: energy.economictimes.indiatimes.com

Sustainable Flight with Biofuels

13.02.2017

If the aviation sector were a country, it would be the eighth-largest emitter of greenhouse gases in the world — using planes and helicopters to move people and cargo around the world produces around two percent of the world’s planet warming gases. In 2010, carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions, the primary contributor of human-caused climate change, from international aviation amounted to 448 gigatonnes (Gt). The International Civil Aviation Organization has forecasted that CO2 emissions from the aviation sector will increase to the range of 682 Gt to 755 Gt by 2020, and could even be as high as 2,700 Gt by 2050, a six-fold increase from 2010 levels, if nothing is done about it.

So what can be done? What’s the environmentally responsible solution for aviation, and how can emissions be reduced, short of removing planes from the skies?

Bio-flying

Technology development has meant that plane designs are improving and engines are getting more efficient. There’s a host of ongoing efficiency changes in all aspects of air travel (improved fuel efficiency in new aircraft, aircraft modifications, airport restructuring, and optimised navigational systems) that are helping to reduce CO2 emissions by about 1.5% annually. But because aircraft have a long life span and are very expensive, airlines typically want to use them as long as possible before replacing them, so rolling out these changes and meeting 2020 and 2050 emission reduction goals requires more drastic changes.

“To achieve significant reduction and go beyond carbon neutral growth, the aviation sector will have to shift to the use of renewable and sustainable fuels, such as biofuels developed for jet aircraft,” says Dolf Gielen, Director of the IRENA Innovation and Technology Centre.

“In the industry, biofuels for jet aircraft are known as ‘biojet’ or ‘biojet fuels’. They’re the only real option for achieving significant reductions in aviation emissions by 2050. They won’t even require plane engine modification,” explains Deger Saygin an IRENA Programme Officer.

Biojet fuels exists today, but current production is limited, comprising less than than 0.1% of global total jet fuel consumption. Today’s biojet fuels, ‘conventional biojet’, are derived from crops, and ‘advanced bio-jet’ — advanced liquid biofuels based on lignocellulosic biomass or algal feedstocks — will open the market to a larger variety of feedstock options and economic opportunities in the supply chain.

The aviation sector is already anticipating this transition and projects are underway to develop the next generation of advanced bio-jet. Though creating bio-jet biomass through gasification and subsequently hrough the Fischer-Tropsch (FT) conversion (a method that uses municipal solid waste or woody biomass as feedstock) is not yet commercial, two facilities have been planned. FT is but one of the four pathways certified for production of biofuels, the others being: alcohol to jet, based on isobutanol; synthesised iso-paraffinic fuels; and hydroprocessing esters and fatty acids.

What’s holding biofuels back?

While biojet is already in use, it only makes up a fraction of a plane’s fuel and only on a tiny percentage of flights. The high cost of production is one of the main barriers to stopping greater biojet adoption, as fuel can account for as much as 30% of an airline’s total operating expense.

“Bridging the price gap between biojet and conventional fossil-based jet fuels can be achieved with the support of specific policies,” Francisco Boshell, an IRENA analyst, explains. “Considering implementing mandates to foster biojet demand, and supply-chain policies to support its commercialization, could see costs drops and uptake increase. We’re already seeing it happen.”

The Netherlands and the U.S. have implemented policies that promote biojet production and use, and Indonesia has announced a bio-jet mandate to grow biojet demand but runs a risk if its supply can’t match it. “No single policy will be able to create the perfect conditions for biojet to be commercially competitive. We need to address its competitiveness in all areas possible, if we’re serious about fully switching to biojet fuels and meeting the aviation sector’s emission reduction goals,” Boshell says.

To learn more about the aviation sector’s low-carbon potential through biofuels, check out IRENA’s newly released technology brief, Biofuels for Aviation, the first installment of a transportation series that includes Electric Vehicles, and Biogas for Road Vehicles.

Source: irenanewsroom.org

Vestas Overtakes General Electric in Climb to Top of US Wind Market

13.02.2017

Danish wind turbine maker Vestas Wind Systems supplied 43% of the 8.2 GW of wind power capacity connected to the U.S. power grid last year, overtaking General Electric as the number one provider of wind energy infrastructure.

Vestas also reported record global revenues for 2016, just four years after teetering on the brink of bankruptcy.

However, the renewable energy specialist did warn that demand for wind energy is likely to reduce over the next year as the industry enters a new phase.

Doubts have also arisen regarding the level of political support the wind power industry will receive, as President Donald Trump pursues a return to carbon-based energy.

“It is definitely our ambition to at least keep our market share,” said Vestas chief executive Anders Runevad.

Following support in the shape of tax credits under the Obama’s administration, wind energy has become the biggest source of renewable energy in the US.

However, as installations for new wind operations begin to steady across North America, producers such as Vestas are set to re-focus on servicing and replacement work on existing wind farms.

Source: resourceglobalnetwork.com

NTR Snags 25MW Castlecraig

13.02.2017

NTR has acquired the 25MW Castlecraig wind farm in Northern Ireland from RES for its NTR Wind 1 fund. The deal, which was first revealed in the subscriber-only newsletter reNEWs, is the third between the two companies.

The £50m project, which will comprise 10 turbines, is expected to be operating by summer 2018. Once operational, Castlecraig will invest in a local benefit fund including the provision of a local electricity discount scheme, which will be operated by RES on behalf of NTR.

NTR chief investment officer Manus O’Donnell said: “We are delighted to announce our third transaction with RES in just over 18 months. “To date, we have sourced 58MW of onshore wind projects through RES.

“They are an outstanding developer and an important partner for us both in project pipeline and in constructing projects on our behalf.” RES head of projects – Ireland Lucy Whitford said: “Castlecraig marks the third collaboration between RES and NTR.

“We are very pleased to be continuing our relationship with NTR, who have a clear focus on investing on renewable energy projects. “We look forward to starting construction and supporting NTR in the management of the wind farm once it becomes operational.”

Castlecraig is the 11th acquisition of onshore wind assets in the UK and Ireland by the NTR Wind 1 fund, bringing total capacity under the fund’s management to just under 200MW. NTR is currently putting together plans for its second sustainable infrastructure fund, which it expects to launch in 2017.

Source: renews.biz

European Smog Could Be 27 Times More Toxic than Air Pollution in China

13.02.2017

london, pollution, zagađenje, — Photo: Pixabay

Much of the air pollution in China comes from natural sources, rather than the burning of fossil fuels that makes up most of the problem in the West.

Smog in Europe and North America could be more than 25 times more lethal than the average air pollution found in Chinese cities, a new study suggests.

In the largest ever study of its kind in the developing world, researchers tested the effects of air pollution on the health of people in 272 cities in China.

They found average annual exposure to fine particles, known as PM2.5, in those cities was more than five times higher than the level recommended by the World Health Organisation (WHO), according to a paper in the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine.

However they also discovered that it was much less likely to increase the death rate than PM2.5 in Europe and North America.

The researchers, led by Dr Maigeng Zhou, of the Chinese Centre for Disease Control and Prevention, suggested this was because China is affected by large amounts of natural dust blown by the wind from arid areas, while most pollution in the West comes from industry.

They found that for every increase of 10 micrograms of air pollution in a cubic metre of air, the mortality rate increased by 0.22 per cent, discounting deaths from accidents.

Professor Frank Kelly, an expert in environmental health at King’s College London, who was not involved in the study but has studied air pollution in China, told The Independent: “Those relative risks are considerably less than those seen in Europe and the US.

“For premature mortality [in Europe] we are working on a six per cent increase per 10 micrograms.”

That suggests air pollution in Europe is about 27 times more toxic than average air pollution in China.

However Professor Kelly said cities like Beijing, Shanghai and Hong Kong were likely to suffer from Western-style air pollution.

“The natural dust component there is not of the magnitude that it would dwarf the coal, biomass and fossil fuel signals,” he said.

“That [the lower mortality rate] may be true in certain cities whose pollution is not dominated by local power generation or major traffic congestion.”

Natural dust particles can cause physical damage to the lungs and trigger an asthma attack. Particles of carbon produced when fossil fuels are burned can lead to similar problems but they are also coated with toxic heavy metals, chemicals and volatile organic compounds.

These are able to pass from the lungs into the blood stream where it is thought they cause further damage to the body.

Areeba Hamid, an air pollution campaigner with environmental group Greenpeace, said: “Toxic air causes havoc to people’s health wherever in the world they live.

“We now know fumes from diesel vehicles are a lot more toxic than car companies claimed and this is a big cause of air pollution in Europe and North America.

“These companies have a lot to answer for, but so far they’ve managed to avoid any real accountability.”

The study of cities in China found the average annual expose to PM2.5 was 56 micrograms per cubic metre, compared to the WHO guideline limit for safe air quality of 10 micrograms.

People who were older than 75, had less education or who lived in hotter places were more likely to die.

It is thought people in warmer cities were more likely to spend time outside or leave their windows open, thereby breathing more polluted air, the researchers said.

They also speculated that less well educated people might have poorer access to health care or experience poorer environmental health conditions.

Source: independent.co.uk

IEA Executive Director Meets with Greek Minister for Environment and Energy

13.02.2017

IEA Executive Director Dr Fatih Birol met today in Athens with the Greek Minister for Environment and Energy, George Stathakis, to discuss the energy sector transition and the outlook of global energy markets.

Minister Stathakis shared the good progress Greece has made in increasing the share of renewables in the power sector and highlighted the importance accorded to energy efficiency and the positive impact it can have on overall economic development.

Dr Birol agreed with minister Stathakis that the IEA will conduct its regular 5-year in-depth review of the energy policy of Greece in 2017. The review will assess all of the energy policies of Greece, including those that are relevant for energy security of the country, and its ambition to reduce the carbon footprint of its energy sector. It will therefore have a special focus on renewable energy and energy efficiency. The report is scheduled to be published in the fall of 2017.

Dr Birol confirmed that the IEA stands ready to offer its expertise and international best practice to support ongoing energy sector reforms and was pleased to receive Minister’s Stathakis confirmation of his participation in the November 2017 IEA Ministerial Meeting in Paris.

Source: iea.org

OPEC Secretary General Meets with TOTAL Chairman and CEO Patrick Pouyanné

13.02.2017

OPEC Secretary General, HE Mohammad Sanusi Barkindo, met with Patrick Pouyanné, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of French oil and gas company TOTAL SA, during a high-level meeting Tuesday at the company’s headquarters.

Mr. Barkindo exchanged information with Mr. Pouyanné on the recent landmark decision of 30 November 2016, and the subsequent Declaration of Cooperation between OPEC and participating non-OPEC producers reached on 10 December 2016. He also described the extensive bilateral consultations that had taken place in the lead-up to these historic decisions – the first of their kind in decades – which aimed at restoring balance in the oil market.

In his comments, Mr. Pouyanné, who has been CEO of TOTAL SA since 2014, provided a synopsis of the company’s strategies and view of the oil market. He commended OPEC’s achievements, together with other producing countries, and reiterated the necessity of these accomplishments for sustainable market stability in the medium- to long-term.

Mr. Pouyanné also expressed appreciation for OPEC’s initiative to visit TOTAL SA following their recent bilateral meetings in various international policy platforms, and efforts to engage in closer cooperation with international oil companies, in the interest of the global oil industry.

Senior officials and analysts from both TOTAL SA and OPEC held discussions on the prospects for energy and oil, with a focus on supply and demand, refining, gas and renewables, and climate change. They also addressed future challenges in the energy sector under various scenarios.

Both parties agreed to continue such interactions regularly at both expert- and high-levels, with a view towards enhancing ongoing energy dialogue and cooperation.

Source: opec.org

Sona Boost for Renewable Energy Body

13.02.2017

South Africa’s main renewable energy industry body said on Sunday it was confident the country’s renewable power programme would soon be back up to speed after President Jacob Zuma showed support for the sector in his State of the Nation speech.

“Eskom will sign the outstanding power purchase agreements for renewable energy in line with the procured rounds,” Zuma told Parliament in his speech on Thursday.

The South African Renewable Energy Council (Sarec) said the president’s statement was a clear sign of support for the renewable energy programme.

“We now look forward to the identification of PPA (power purchase agreement) signature dates, so South Africa’s well-oiled independent power procurement programme process can continue, and so that construction of the next set of renewable power plants can begin,” Sarec’s chairperson, Brenda Martin, said.

Eskom spokesperson Khulu Phasiwe said: “What the president said last night is not different from what Eskom has been saying all along.”

Source: iol.co.za

UK Offshore Wind ‘Will Lower Energy Bills’ More than Nuclear

13.02.2017

Offshore windfarms could provide cheaper power than Britain’s new wave of nuclear power stations, a leading figure in the wind industry has claimed.

Speaking to the the Guardian, Hugh McNeal, the chief executive of trade body RenewableUK, said he expected that offshore windfarms would secure a deal with the government lower than the £92.50 per megawatt hour agreed with EDF for £18bn Hinkley Point C.

“I wouldn’t be surprised if it [offshore wind] cleared Hinkley prices,” he said of the bidding for a £290m-a-year government subsidy pot in April. The auction is under a scheme known as contracts for difference, which offer generators a guaranteed price for their electricity above the wholesale price. A 35-year deal with EDF was agreed last year.

McNeal, a career civil servant who joined RenewableUK from the now abolished Department of Energy and Climate Change last year, was upbeat about the future of offshore wind.

“I don’t think there’s any doubt about the political commitment of any party, apart from perhaps Ukip, to offshore wind. I think it’s got an incredibly healthy future,” he said.

Construction of offshore and onshore windfarms in the UK was responsible for €12.7bn (£11bn) of investment in 2016, or nearly half the year’s financial activity for new wind power in the EU.

The industry has also been buoyed by recent figures showing the price of offshore wind power had fallen by nearly one-third since 2012 to £100/MWh, a crucial milestone as the government will only continue to subsidise the technology if costs go down.

But McNeal said the decision by ministers to end onshore windfarm subsidies had been hard for the industry. The building of new turbines on land is expected to largely grind to a halt after next year.

Green energy subsidies are paid through energy bills, but MPs said last week that government efforts to communicate the impact on consumers had been “shambolic”. McNeal said he found the focus solely on the cost of new low-carbon power “a little bit odd” given the other factors driving energy price rises.

Three of the UK’s big six energy suppliers have announced price increases as their costs have risen, the bulk of which are higher wholesale prices. “We are perhaps a little bit overexposed to global markets over which we have no control, which fluctuate over time,” McNeal said.

Government officials should do more to spell out all the costs of energy to consumers, he added. The impact of renewable energy subsidies on bills has previously been broken down, but the effect on bills from subsidies to coal power stations for providing backup power, for example, are not.

However, McNeal defended the Conservative party, arguing it was unfairly derided as anti-renewables. “We have to actually just look at what’s been achieved,” he said.

“I’m not saying to you that there isn’t a challenge around the [Conservative] onshore wind manifesto commitment; of course there is. But the record is still a pretty remarkable one.”

Renewable energy supplies one-quarter of Britain’s electricity, he said, compared with a marginal amount before the 2010 general election, when the first of three Conservative-led governments came to power.

McNeal would not be drawn on whether Labour’s energy policy, which is pro-renewables and pro-nuclear, but would ban fracking for shale gas, was credible. But he said questions of energy supply should be depoliticised.

“I don’t think it’s my job to tell any party what its energy policy should be. Let’s just take the heat out of all this,” he said. “I just don’t think it does anyone any good to be in public fighting between different forms of technologies.”

Despite saying last year that new onshore windfarms in England were “very unlikely”, McNeal suggested the technology would come back because it was so cheap. “I don’t think onshore is done at all. I think onshore wind has a terrific future in our country,” he said.

McNeal said he was confident that wind power in the UK would thrive after Brexit, even though the industry’s growth had so far been driven in part by binding EU renewable targets for 2020.

“The idea that we need a separate European package [of support] – that would be the crucial thing that would drive our industry – we don’t need that now,” he said, adding that the sector would win on market terms.

Source: businessgreen.com

Humans Causing Climate to Change 170 Times Faster than Natural Forces

13.02.2017

Researchers behind ‘Anthropocene equation’ say impact of people’s intense activity on Earth far exceeds that of natural events spread across millennia.

For the first time, researchers have developed a mathematical equation to describe the impact of human activity on the earth, finding people are causing the climate to change 170 times faster than natural forces.

The equation was developed in conjunction with Professor Will Steffen, a climate change expert and researcher at the Australian National University, and was published in the journal The Anthropocene Review.

The authors of the paper wrote that for the past 4.5bn years astronomical and geophysical factors have been the dominating influences on the Earth system. The Earth system is defined by the researchers as the biosphere, including interactions and feedbacks with the atmosphere, hydrosphere, cryosphere and upper lithosphere.

But over the past six decades human forces “have driven exceptionally rapid rates of change in the Earth system,” the authors wrote, giving rise to a period known as the Anthropocene.

“Human activities now rival the great forces of nature in driving changes to the Earth system,” the paper said.

Steffen and his co-researcher, Owen Gaffney, from the Stockholm Resilience Centre, came up with an “Anthropocene Equation” to determine the impact of this period of intense human activity on the earth.

Explaining the equation in New Scientist, Gaffney said they developed it “by homing in on the rate of change of Earth’s life support system: the atmosphere, oceans, forests and wetlands, waterways and ice sheets and fabulous diversity of life”.

“For four billion years the rate of change of the Earth system has been a complex function of astronomical and geophysical forces plus internal dynamics: Earth’s orbit around the sun, gravitational interactions with other planets, the sun’s heat output, colliding continents, volcanoes and evolution, among others,” he wrote.

“In the equation, astronomical and geophysical forces tend to zero because of their slow nature or rarity, as do internal dynamics, for now. All these forces still exert pressure, but currently on orders of magnitude less than human impact.”

According to Steffen these forces have driven a rate of change of 0.01 degrees Celsius per century.

Greenhouse gas emissions caused by humans over the past 45 years, on the other hand, “have increased the rate of temperature rise to 1.7 degrees Celsius per century, dwarfing the natural background rate,” he said.

This represented a change to the climate that was 170 times faster than natural forces.

“We are not saying the astronomical forces of our solar system or geological processes have disappeared, but in terms of their impact in such a short period of time they are now negligible compared with our own influence,” Steffen said.

“Crystallising this evidence in the form of a simple equation gives the current situation a clarity that the wealth of data often dilutes.

“What we do is give a very specific number to show how humans are affecting the earth over a short timeframe. It shows that while other forces operate over millions of years, we as humans are having an impact at the same strength as the many of these other forces, but in the timeframe of just a couple of centuries.

“The human magnitude of climate change looks more like a meteorite strike than a gradual change.”

Gaffney and Steffen wrote that while the Earth system had proven resilient, achieving millions of years of relative stability due to the complex interactions between the Earth’s core and the biosphere, human societies would be unlikely to fare so well.

Failure to reduce anthropological climate change could “trigger societal collapse”, their research concluded.

Source: theguardian.com

Photo: ISS/NASA

Caffè Nero Teams Up with Bio-Bean and First Mile to Turn Waste Coffee Into Fuel

13.02.2017

coffee-beans — Photo-illustration: Pixabay

Caffè Nero has revealed details of a scheme to recycle coffee grounds from 122 of its London stores to make low-carbon fuel.

The scheme, which was formally announced late last week but which has been running since July 2016, sees recycling specialists First Mile pick up coffee waste from Caffè Nero stores and take it directly to coffee recyclers bio-bean’s Cambridgeshire factory to be turned into biomass fuel for boilers and woodburners.

By July 2017 – when the scheme will have been in operation for a full year – Caffè Nero calculates it will have helped repurpose 218 tonnes of used coffee grounds, producing enough fuel to heat 435 homes for a year.

“We are always looking at ways to improve our recycling so we are very excited to be working with First Mile and bio-bean on this initiative and will seek to extend it beyond Greater London,” Matt Spencer, commercial director at Caffè Nero, said in a statement. “We are committed to doing our bit to help address the recycling issues we all face today.”

The coffee giant said its partnership with First Mile allows the waste to be transported directly to bio-bean, rather than via an intermediary depot, helping to avoid 125,000 road miles in the first year of the scheme.

The news of the partnership follows an announcement from Costa in December that bio-bean now receives coffee waste from 850 of its cafes nationwide, amounting to 3,000 tonnes of waste coffee grounds annually.

Alongside the production of ‘coffee logs’ for woodburners and biomass pellets for biomass boilers, bio-bean is also working on a system to turn the oils from coffee waste in to biodiesel for vehicles. Experiments suggest one tonne of coffee waste could produce enough renewable fuel to fill four cars.

Source: businessgreen.com

European Wind Energy Investment Breezes Past Record-Breaking €27bn Milestone

10.02.2017

The growing dominance of renewables in the European power industry was underlined yesterday with the release of a new report showing how renewable energy accounted for 86 per cent of all new EU power installations in 2016.

Trade body WindEurope’s annual report revealed how wind commanded the largest share of the clean energy market, accounting for 51 per cent of all new power installations last year as 12.5GW of new capacity was added across 28 EU member states.

The industry also set a new record for investment in wind energy projects, with €27.5bn invested as a 39 per cent increase in offshore wind investment more than offset a 29 per cent decline in investment in onshore wind farms.

Overall European wind capacity reached 153.7GW, with wind energy meeting 10.4 per cent of Europe’s electricity needs last year.

Germany topped the league table for the most new capacity, securing 44 per cent of the EU total, while France, the Netherlands, Finland, Ireland and Lithuania all enjoyed record years.

Giles Dickson, chief executive at WindEurope, said the impressive performance underscored wind energy’s position as “a mainstream and essential part of Europe’s electricity supply”.

“It is also a mature and significant industry in its own right, now providing 330,000 jobs and billions of Euros of European exports,” he added.

However, he warned the outlook for an industry that is increasingly cost-competitive with fossil fuels was being complicated by a lack of policy clarity for the sector beyond 2020.

“With all the talk about the transition to low-carbon, things should be looking good long-term for the wind industry in Europe – but they’re not,” he argued. “Government policy on energy across Europe is less clear and ambitious than it was a few years ago. Only seven out of 28 EU Member States have targets and policies in place for renewables beyond 2020. The transition from feed-in tariffs to auctions has been less smooth than we hoped. We still have dysfunctional electricity markets that are not fit for renewables. And we’re lacking long-term price signals to support investment.”

Source: businessgreen.com

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