Global dumpsite hazards led to 750 deaths in 7 months

28.09.2016

This week at the 2016 ISWA World Congress in Novi Sad, Serbia ISWA announced the publication of its latest report, A Roadmap for the Closure of Waste Dumpsites. This roadmap will shape a fundamental part of ISWA’s agenda over the coming years as ISWA plans to invest significant energy into helping close some of the most dangerous waste facilities on the planet.

As this article in D-Waste Dive acknowledges, between Dec. 2015 and June 2016, there have been more than 750 deaths globally related to poor waste management in dumpsites and associated health impacts.

The dangers of the these dumpsites is very real and affects significant numbers. Open dumpsites receive approximately 40% of the world’s waste and serve three to four billion people.

Source: source.org

New York City Sets the First Citywide Energy Storage Target

28.09.2016

Only two U.S. states, California and Massachusetts, have set targets for energy storage deployments. Now New York City has joined them.

The city government unveiled a storage goal of 100 megawatt-hours by 2020 last week, along with an expanded solar target of 1,000 megawatts by 2030. Storage, with its capacity to integrate variable wind and solar power sources into the grid, is expected to play a critical role in meeting the city’s plans to cut greenhouse gases by 80 percent by 2050.

Storage experts told GTM that this is the first time a city has set such a target.

The city’s target is not a legally binding requirement like California’s. It’s more of an aspirational target with policies designed to make the process easier.

“With a city-based target, they are also directly responsible for building codes and siting regulations, deployment strategies and even local taxes – and the city can also take steps to adapt all these rules and regulations to accelerate deployment,” wrote Matt Roberts, executive director of the Energy Storage Association, in an email. “The city is able to marshal its forces toward this collective goal, and can more easily adjust the goal based on the observed value delivered in the future.”

The New York City target applies to the full spectrum of storage, including electrochemical and thermal technologies. City officials are targeting storage as a way to reduce demand charges, defer distribution system upgrades, pre-cool buildings and shift solar power consumption.

For all the potential use cases, energy storage is still a bit player in the city’s energy system. A major motivation for the storage target is to make permitting easier, said Daniel Zarrilli, senior director of climate policy and programs with the city.

Currently, getting a storage system approved is “largely a one-off process where it’s pulled out of a queue and dealt with specifically because it’s unique,” he said. “We don’t want people thinking, ‘Oh, I want to put in storage, but it may be too hard.'”

That’s how solar permitting was in the early days, but then the city set a target in 2014 to get 100 megawatts of public solar and 250 megawatts of private solar by 2025. This spurred an increase in deployments and a streamlining of the city’s procedures.

“We’ve been using that target as a way to knock down some of the internal bureaucratic hurdles,” Zarrilli said. The hope is something similar will happen with storage.

Energy storage makes a lot of for New York City, said Daniel Finn-Foley, a senior analyst for energy storage at GTM Research.

“It’s easy to forget that Manhattan is an island, with all the associated complications, but you’d be reminded if you ever tried to plan transmission systems into the city,” he said. “Its capacity prices are quite high — the latest strip auction for the NYISO capacity market cleared at $10.99/kW-month, compared to $3.62 across much of the rest of the state.”

Most recent growth in storage capacity nationwide has been driven by cheaper lithium-ion batteries, but the New York City Fire Department and the Department of Buildings are still figuring out the safety implications of this new technology. Lithium-ion chemistries carry some degree of risk for fires, and the city wants to feel secure before adding them into the highly dense region.

A block on lithium-ion would force developers to focus on other technologies, which might not be the cheapest or most efficient for a particular use case. The city has plenty of other options to work with though. The Metropolitan Transit Authority, for instance, is trying out a 400-kilowatt-hour vanadium redox flow battery in downtown Manhattan. That technology is known for its safe components and long-duration performance.

GTM wasn’t able to find a tally of storage deployments in the city so far, but GTM Research forecasts the state of New York will have an annual market of 273 megawatt-hours in 2020. So if a strong share of the state’s deployments go to its largest city, the 100-megawatt-hour target should be doable.

Source: snip.ly

Annual Implementation Report 2016: Contracting Parties Put into Action Energy Union Objectives

27.09.2016

The Secretariat’s Annual Implementation Report published today outlines the progress achieved by the Energy Community Contracting Parties in implementing the acquis communautaire under the Energy Community Treaty. The current state of implementation is marked by Albania, Kosovo*, Moldova, Montenegro, Serbia and partially Ukraine having transposed the Third Energy Package. Bosnia and Herzegovina and former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia continue to fail in this endeavour, more than one and a half years after the transposition deadline set by the Ministerial Council.

Director of the Energy Community Secretariat, Mr Janez Kopač, said: “I am extremely delighted that six of the eight Contracting Parties have transposed the Third Energy Package, although Ukraine still has to do so in the electricity sector. This confirms their place in the Energy Union and puts them on par with EU Member States. The next step is to ensure effective and efficient implementation. For example, Third Energy Package Network Codes now need to be adopted in the Energy Community Contracting Parties and applied on the interconnection points on the interface between EU Member States and the Energy Community Contracting Parties. This will ensure equal treatment and thus remove one of the biggest obstacles to pan-European energy market integration.”

Dispute Settlement Procedures against Bosnia and Herzegovina and former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia for failure to transpose the Third Energy Package were initiated by the Secretariat in May 2016. “What is extremely worrying is that these two countries continue to persistently infringe also other provisions of the acquis,” underlined Deputy Director Dirk Buschle. “In spite of significant assistance by the Secretariat and the international community, Bosnia and Herzegovina still fails to comply even with the Second Energy Package in the gas sector, while former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia has postponed full electricity market opening by five years to 2020. Without doubt, it is the energy consumers who fall victim to the general political impasse in these two countries”. The dispute settlement cases will be decided by this year’s Energy Community Ministerial Council on 14 October in Sarajevo.

As regards the adoption of the sustainability acquis comprising energy efficiency, environment and renewables, it is Serbia and Montenegro who are the leaders. Montenegro and Bosnia and Herzegovina have already surpassed their 2020 renewable energy targets, while Serbia and Albania are closely following their indicative pathway to reach the final target. Overall, transposition is the weakest in the sphere of energy efficiency, where several Contracting Parties are yet to transpose the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive (Albania, Kosovo* and Ukraine) and Energy Services Directive (Albania and Ukraine).

The Annual Implementation Report covers the period from September 2015 to September 2016. It includes dedicated chapters on electricity, gas, oil, national regulatory authorities, renewable energy, energy efficiency, environment, competition and statistics.

Source: energy-community.org

UNIDO hands out cleaner production certificates in Bosnia and Herzegovina

27.09.2016

JAHORINA, Bosnia and Herzegovina, September 2016 – Twenty national experts and 10 company representatives working in different sectors in Bosnia and Herzegovina last week received certificates of cleaner production from the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO).

They were trained to improve production measures by means of reducing the consumption of resources, reducing the amount of pollution generated, and increasing productivity. The trainees also prepared cleaner production strategies for their companies.

The training course was conducted as a part of UNIDO’s National Cleaner Production Programme (NCPP) in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Funded by the Government of Slovenia, the programme is implemented in partnership with the Ministry of Foreign Trade and Economic Relations.

UNIDO Project Manager, Petra Schwager stressed the significance of sustainable industrial development for the overall economic development of Bosnia and Herzegovina, as well as for the country’s efforts to join the European Union.

Mehmed Cero, Deputy Minister for Environment and Tourism, said: “The project is of high importance for our country. It will help improve resource efficiency and productivity, as well as create jobs in Bosnia and Herzegovina.”

Universities were also involved in the programme. A group of students from the Faculty of Agricultural and Food Sciences of the University of Sarajevo visited one of the participating companies to collect data necessary to analyze water consumption and identify its water balance. Through the cooperation with higher education institutions, the NCPP intends to include resource efficiency and cleaner production in regular academic curricula.

Source: unido.org

Obama power plant rules face key test in U.S. court

27.09.2016

The centerpiece of President Barack Obama’s climate change strategy, federal rules curbing greenhouse gas emissions mainly from coal-fired power plants, faces a key test on Tuesday when opponents try to convince a U.S. appeals court to throw out the regulations.

Twenty-seven states led by coal-producer West Virginia and industry groups are challenging the Environmental Protection Agency’s Clean Power Plan rules before 10 judges of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.

They argue that the EPA overstepped its regulatory authority under the federal Clean Air Act when the agency issued the rules, which the U.S. Supreme Court has put on hold while the case is litigated.

During Tuesday’s arguments, these opponents will face off in court against the EPA, 18 states, corporations including Apple Inc and Alphabet Inc’s Google, and a number of cities that support the regulations.

The Clean Power Plan was designed to lower carbon emissions from U.S. power plants by 2030 to 32 percent below 2005 levels, with each state assigned its own emission reduction target and tasked with designing its own plan to achieve that goal.

Power plants are the largest source of U.S. carbon emissions. Nearly 1,500 coal- and gas-fired power plants together emit nearly two billion tons per year of carbon dioxide.

The Clean Power Plan is the main tool for the United States to meet the emissions reduction target it pledged to reach at U.N. climate talks in Paris last December.

“It’s an invasion, in our estimation, of the state regulatory domain,” Scott Pruitt, the Republican attorney general of Oklahoma, one of the states suing the EPA, said at a Washington event this month.

Richard Revesz, director of the Institute for Policy Integrity at New York University’s law school, said the suing states were exaggerating the regulatory reach of the EPA.

“The Clean Power Plan, while certainly a very important rule, is not the boundary-breaking behemoth that the petitioners make it out to be,” Revesz said.

The Clean Power Plan, if it survives the legal challenge, could prompt a faster shift to renewable energy sources and accelerate the closure of the country’s oldest coal plants.

The fate of the Clean Power Plan was thrown into question on Feb. 9 when the Supreme Court made a surprise 5-4 decision to grant a request by the challengers to put the rule on hold while the appeals court considered the matter.

The eventual appeals court ruling could decide the case, even if it goes to the Supreme Court. The Feb. 13 death of conservative Justice Antonin Scalia left the court ideologically split with four conservatives and four liberals. A 4-4 ruling by the high court would leave in place the appeals court ruling.

Source: reuters.com

Canada to host World Environment Day in 2017

27.09.2016

Canada last week demonstrated its commitment to environmental action as Minister of Environment and Climate Change, Catherine McKenna, and UN Environment chief Erik Solheim announced that Canada will host World Environment Day in 2017.

The UN Environment-led global event, the single largest celebration of our environment each year, takes place on June 5 and is celebrated by thousands of communities worldwide. Canada will use World Environment Day to showcase to the world the beauty of its natural environment on land and water.

“The Canadian spirit of collaboration is only one of the reasons Canada is a natural choice to host World Environment Day,” The Honourable Catherine McKenna said at a launch event during the United Nation General Assembly in New York. “World Environment Day will be an important part of Canada 150 celebrations.

“On June 5, 2017, we will blend Canadians’ pride in our environment with our determination to address climate change challenges. We are looking forward to showing the world the made-in-Canada approaches that will make our country cleaner and more competitive for businesses.”

Canada works with international partners, like UN Environment, to address environmental issues, including climate change at home and abroad. Hosting World Environment Day, along with plans to ratify the Paris Agreement on Climate Change as soon as possible, shows that Canada is fully behind global action to tackle the biggest environmental challenges of our time.

“World Environment Day is the day the planet celebrates our collective love of and reliance on nature,” said Erik Solheim, Head of UN Environment. “It helps encourage action to protect our environment and fosters a deeper appreciation of our connection to the natural world.

“With the major environmental challenges we face, we need environmental leadership more than ever. I’m happy that Canada, which has been demonstrating an emphatic commitment to environmental issues, will host World Environment Day 2017.

“As global host, it is an opportunity for Canada to further demonstrate this commitment and expand its leadership on the international stage.”

Source: unep.org

China Tops WHO List for Deadly Outdoor Air Pollution

27.09.2016

China is the world’s deadliest country for outdoor air pollution, according to analysis by the World Health Organisation (WHO).

The UN agency has previously warned that tiny particulates from cars, power plants and other sources are killing 3 million people worldwide each year.

For the first time the WHO has broken down that figure to a country-by-country level. It reveals that of the worst three nations, more than 1 million people died from dirty air in China in 2012, at least 600,000 in India and more than 140,000 in Russia.

At 25th out of 184 countries with data, the UK ranks worse than France, with 16,355 deaths in 2012 versus 10,954, but not as poorly as Germany at 26,160, which has more industry and 16 million more people. Australia had 94 deaths and 38,043 died in the US that year from particulate pollution.

Maria Neria, director of the WHO’s public health and the environment department, told the Guardian: “Countries are confronted with the reality of better data. Now we have the figures of how many citizens are dying from air pollution. What we are learning is, this is very bad. Now there are no excuses for not taking action.”

Gavin Shaddick, who led the international team that put together the data, said: “Globally, air pollution presents a major risk to public health and a substantial number of lives could be saved if levels of air pollution were reduced.”

Sixteen scientists from eight international institutions worked with WHO on the analysis, which gathered data from 3,000 locations, using pollution monitors on the ground, modelling and satellite readings.

They looked at exposure to tiny particulates 2.5 microns in size, known as PM2.5s, which penetrate the lungs and are the air pollutant most strongly associated with an increased risk of death. “The real driver of ill health is ultra-fine particles, 2.5s – they have the ability to permeate the membrane of the lungs and enter our blood system,” said Shaddick, who is based at the University of Bath. “Increasingly there is an understanding that there are not just respiratory diseases but cardiovascular ones associated with PM2.5s.”

In the UK more than 90% of the population lives in areas with levels of PM2.5s above the WHO’s air-quality limits of 10 micrograms per cubic metre for the annual mean. The government is in the high court on 18 and 19 October facing a legal challenge by environmental law group ClientEarth, which says ministers’ clean-up plans for another pollutant – nitrogen dioxide – are inadequate.

Globally, 92% of the population breathes air that breaches WHO limits but the world map of deaths caused by PM2.5s changes when looked at per capita. When ranked by the number of deaths for every 100,000 people, Ukraine jumps to the top of the list at 120.

It is followed by eastern European and former Soviet states, and Russia itself, probably due to a legacy of heavy industry in the region. China drops down to 10th, at 76 per 100,000, and India falls to 27th, with 49 per 100,000.

Air pollution in the Ukraine caused four times more deaths per capita than than the five cleanest countries combined.

Most of the air pollution comes from cars, coal-fired plants and waste burning but not all of it is created by humans. Dust storms in places close to deserts also contribute to dirty air, explaining partly why Iran is at 16th highest for total deaths, at 26,000 a year.

Most of the total deaths worldwide – two out of three – occur in south-east Asia and the western Pacific, which includes China, Vietnam, Japan, Australia, South Korea and small Pacific island states.

Shaddick said: “We might think of [pollution in] Beijing as being very high, but when you fill in the gaps between the big [Chinese] cities, [air pollution in] regions [is] remarkably high compared to the WHO limits [10 grams per cubic metre for the annual mean], up in the 50s and 60s. That’s something we in the west can’t even comprehend. That was probably a bit of a shock [to me].”

The Pacific states of Brunei Darussalam, Fiji and Vanuatu have the lowest number of deaths from air pollution, the WHO found.

Anne Hidalgo, mayor of Paris and chair-elect of a network of cities combating climate change, said: “Fighting pollution is one of my top priorities as mayor of Paris. It is a vital public health issue and all mayors should take on their responsibility to deliver bold actions.”

The city of Paris voted on Monday to ban cars along a stretch of the river Seine to cut pollution, defeating a minority rightwing opposition.

Hidalgo added: “I have said it before and am saying it again: we cannot negotiate with Parisians’ health.”

Neira said Canada and Scandinavian countries deserved praise for curbing air pollution and singled out France too. “France is taking a lot of action, Paris is taking aggressive measures: aggressive in the good sense. It maybe unpopular because it’s for the health of people but they are putting some restrictions on individuals. We all need to understand this is a matter of public health,” she said.

Source: theguardian.com

ABB Wins $85 Million Orders to Strengthen Power Grid in Canada

27.09.2016

Ultra-high voltage circuit breakers and power transformers to support upgrade of Quebec grid

Zurich, Switzerland, September, 2016 – ABB has won orders worth over $85 million from leading Canadian utility Hydro-Québec (HQ) to upgrade its 800-kilovolt (kV) air-insulated switchgear (AIS) substations and transmission grid with state-of-the-art circuit breakers, power transformers and shunt reactors. The upgrade is driven by the increasing demand for power and the need to integrate new sources of renewable energy.

HQ operates one of the largest 800 kV networks in the world, a large part of which was originally developed in the 1960s and 70s and ABB has been involved in the modernization of its power infrastructure over decades.

“We are pleased to continue supporting Hydro-Québec, in their ongoing efforts to strengthen Canada’s power infrastructure,” said Claudio Facchin, President of ABB’s Power Grids division. “ABB’s leading-edge technologies will help boost the integration of renewables, deliver additional power and enhance transfer of electricity over long distances. Ultra-high voltage transmission is a key focus area within our Next Level strategy and a key differentiator for ABB.”

As part of the project, ABB will design, deliver and commission the state-of-the-art circuit breakers with polymeric insulators, to enhance safety and robustness. It will also design, manufacture and deliver 450 megavolt-ampere (MVA) autotransformers and 735 kV shunt reactors.

Circuit breakers are a vital component of substations, essential for safe, reliable and efficient switching operations. ABB’s live tank breakers are the most widely deployed circuit breakers in operation around the world, providing a cost and eco-efficient, flexible and well-proven solution.

Transformers are integral components of an electrical grid, and essential for the efficient and safe conversion of electricity between different voltage systems. ABB’s transformer portfolio includes power transformers rated up to 1,200 kilovolts, dry- and liquid-distribution transformers, traction and special application transformers as well as related services and components.

ABB (www.abb.com) is a leading global technology company in power and automation that enables utility, industry, and transport and infrastructure customers to improve their performance while lowering environmental impact. The ABB Group of companies operates in more than 100 countries and employs about 135,000 people.

Source: abb.com

EU invests €20 million for expansion of solar film manufacturing facility in Germany

26.09.2016

solar-panels — Foto-ilustracija: Pixabay

The European Investment Bank announced last week a €20 million loan agreement with German-based Heliatek, a world leader in the production of organic photovoltaic devices and solar films. The EU-funded loan, part of an €80 million financial package raised by Heliatek, will help to expand its solar film manufacturing capacity on its site in Dresden by 2018.

Carlos Moedas, EU Commissioner for Research, Innovation and Science said: “Germany is among the world leaders in photovoltaic production, and the research community for photovoltaics in Europe is growing fast across the EU. This €20 million loan supported under Horizon 2020, the EU’s research funding programme, illustrates how the public and the private sector collaborate to keep Europe in a leading role when it comes to energy security and sustainable development.”

This deal falls under the InnovFin MidCap Growth Finance, which is part of the new generation of financial instruments supported under Horizon 2020 (IP/14/670). Under this facility, loans are guaranteed against a proportion of any losses incurred on the debt financing covered under the facility.

Background

InnovFin MidCap Growth Finance is part of “InnovFin – EU Finance for Innovators”, the new generation of EU financial instruments and advisory services that was developed under Horizon 2020 to help innovative firms access finance more easily. It will help inject up to €48 billion in investments in Research and Innovation across Europe. It offers long term loans in order to improve access to finance mainly for innovative larger midcaps (up to 3000 employees), but also SMEs and small midcaps. Loans from €7.5 million to €25 million will be delivered directly by the EIB.

Source: ec.europa.eu

Climate Change Solutions: 65% Want Australia to Be World Leader – Study

26.09.2016

renewable-energy — Photo-illustration: Pixabay

Public support for Australia to be a world leader in climate change solutions has rebounded to its highest since the major political parties agreed on emissions trading, research shows.

About 65% of the nation want to see Australia lead the world in solutions, an increase from 52% in 2010-12 when the “carbon tax” debate was front and centre in politics.

The annual attitudinal study by the Climate Institute shows this year’s jump, up from 59% in 2014-15.

It’s the closest it has been to the 76% support in 2007 when then prime minister John Howard announced an emissions trading scheme.

The institute chief executive, John Connor, said the results show support is recovering from the carbon tax scare campaign.

The study also found 77% of Australians believe climate change is happening, up from 64% four years ago and 70% last year.

Three-quarters of Australians believe governments should plan for the orderly closure of coal plants and replace them with clean energy.

Just 3% say coal is their preferred energy source for Australia.

And 77% believe state governments should bring in incentives for more renewable energy.

The study also found people want climate policy to be bipartisan, with 90% believing the responsibility for action rests with the federal government.

Source: theguardian.com

Planes Need to Stop Existing in a Parallel Universe when it Comes to the Climate Fight

26.09.2016

Curbing flight emissions is essential to meeting the Paris pact, but planes are completely absent from the text, face no legal fuel efficiency requirements or limits on CO2 emissions. But all that is about to change.

In the coming weeks, the Paris climate agreement could be about to enter into force. Action to meet the deal’s targets of holding global warming to 2C is most clearly visible in the energy sector – where a low-carbon transition is underway. There is, however, one sector where, until now, action has been invisible owing to its exemption from contributing to the fight to limit carbon pollution: international aviation.

Aviation is one of the top-10 global carbon polluters. The industry emits more CO2 each year than the 129 countries with the lowest annual emissions. Worryingly, those emissions are expected to balloon by 300% if no concerted action is taken sooner rather than later. In 2010, 2.4 billion passengers travelled by plane, but by 2050 that number is expected to rise to 16 billion.
The global agreement reached in Paris last December committed the world’s governments to fighting climate change. Curbing aviation emissions is absolutely essential to fulfilling those commitments. However, aviation was conspicuous by its absence from the text.

Aviation has, in fact, historically found itself in a parallel universe when it comes to the industry’s contribution to the fight against climate change: it has made none. Airlines have been operating in a world where they pay no fuel taxes, are VAT-exempt, face no legally-binding fuel efficiency requirements, and have no limits placed on their CO2 emissions. But this could all be about to change and not before time.

The UN body responsible for international civil aviation, ICAO, has been charged with creating a global market-based mechanism to offset the industry’s growth in emissions from 2020 onwards. Transport ministers from all around the world are set to meet at the next ICAO Assembly in Montreal, from 27 September to 7 October 2016, and they must live up to their responsibilities. It is essential ministers agree a global market-based mechanism for international aviation that delivers carbon neutral growth from 2020 – with a significant ramping up of that ambition over time.

Such a commitment to carbon neutral growth post-2020 would, itself, not be enough to fulfil the goals of the Paris agreement. And the current state of negotiations suggests that any final agreement will, in any case, fall far short of even that fundamental commitment.

Worryingly, in a blatant attempt to delay vital action, ministers are set to agree that binding limits should not come into force before 2027. Until then, two ‘voluntary phases’ of the scheme are expected, allowing continued and limitless growth in aviation emissions. Furthermore, the current proposals are plagued by a large number of unacceptable exemptions that are pegging back ambition.
EU Transport Ministers attending the ICAO Assembly have a duty to make sure the global market-based mechanism is robust enough to deliver on the commitments made in Paris.

This means, firstly, ensuring the ambitions of the scheme remain dynamic, and under constant review. It is essential that the scheme includes guarantees on the environmental integrity of offsets, and that it prohibits double-counting and provides transparency on the offsets used. Secondly, the scope of participation must be sufficiently wide-ranging, and the wealthiest countries must take responsibility for their historical burden and pledge to do more to reduce emissions.

Finally, allowing regional blocs such as the EU to take further measures to curb aviation emissions is an essential part of enabling them to honour the commitments they made in Paris, especially if ICAO fails to deliver. Under EU law, international flights to and from the European Union will once again fall under the block’s emissions trading scheme from 2017. It is vital, therefore, that there are no attempts to water down this mechanism.
While the ICAO compromise is too weak to deliver what is necessary to keep temperature increases below dangerous levels, it does have the potential to deliver significant action if certain clauses are strengthened and the widest possible political engagement is secured.

This is why we must all increase the pressure on our governments to make sure they reach an agreement in Montreal that is as ambitious as possible and finally shakes aviation from its parallel universe, forcing it to take a stake in efforts to tackle our common challenges. With a Paris deal coming into action, the world cannot afford a failure in its first global attempt to put words into action.

Source: theguardian.com

Climate change and migration vote on the Agenda This Week

26.09.2016

Defence, climate change and migration are the three issues topping the EU’s agenda this week, with discussions and a vote that could shape EU policies in the long run.

On Monday and Tuesday (26-27 September), EU defence ministers are in Bratislava for an informal meeting with plans to deepen the EU’s common defence policy on the table.

The issue has been set as a priority for the post-Brexit EU at the summit of 27 leaders on 16 September, but there are differences on how to make it in reality.   France and Germany have proposed an EU HQ as well as joint EU defence budgets, shared military satellite surveillance, and joint procurement of high-tech equipment. European Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker has proposed a European Defence Fund to finance research and development.

But some EU countries are opposed to the HQ idea, for fear that an EU command would weaken Nato. The UK itself has warned it would veto any such plans as long as it remains an EU member.

The issue will probably be discussed in Berlin on Wednesday (28 September), when German chancellor Angela Merkel meets French president Francois Hollande and Juncker.

Paris agreement

On Friday (30 September), EU countries will try not to be left behind in the global fight against climate change.

Environment ministers will meet in Brussels to hammer out a joint statement with the European Commission in which they would commit to ratify the Paris Agreement as soon as possible.   After approval by the European Parliament early October the statement would allow the EU to be among the agreement’s signatories when they start discussions about how to implement the text.

The aim of the text, agreed at the Paris climate conference last year, is to limit “the increase in the global average temperature to well below 2C above pre-industrial levels and to pursue efforts to limit the temperature increase to 1.5C above pre-industrial levels”.

Some 60 countries have signed the text so far. And after the US and China, the world’s two main producers of greenhouse emissions, did it too earlier this month, the double threshold of 55 countries representing 55 percent of global emissions could be reached soon and the first meeting of signatories could take place as soon as November.

What is at stake for the EU is to be at the table.

Only four EU countries have ratified the agreement – France, Austria, Hungary and Slovakia. The joint statement that ministers will discuss in Friday is aimed at bypassing the national procedures to allow the EU as a bloc to be a party to the Paris Agreement before the remaining 24 national ratifications are completed.

Source: euobserver.com

U.S. Start-up SunCulture Solar Reveals Integrated Solar-Plus-Storage Devices

26.09.2016

SunCulture Solar Inc. (Mountain View, CA, U.S.) on September 22nd, 2016 announced the launch of “SolPad”, a new series of integrated energy products for solar homes or off-grid photovoltaic (PV) applications.

According to the company, SolPad’s integrated solar PV panel combines battery storage, an inverter system and intelligent software into a single device.

“SolPad revolutionizes personal energy by bringing together the sustainable smart home, solar and energy storage into a simple, gorgeous and integrated device,” said Christopher Estes, CEO and Chief Product Architect at SunCulture Solar, Inc., designer and manufacturer of SolPad.

“More than just a solar panel”

SolPad Home offers homeowners control over their electricity generation, energy storage and usage. While SolPad Home is designed to be a gorgeous rooftop solar solution, it is much more than just a solar panel, SunCulture Solar emphasizes.

According to the company, each SolPad Home panel is like a smart-energy computer, with each device being its own energy powerhouse that is completely self-sufficient. Homeowners can start with one SolPad and easily add more with minimal installation time.

Battery storage at the panel level

SolPad Home panels store both solar and grid energy with solid-state battery technology. This battery technology is inherently safer than standard lithium-ion-based batteries, SunCulture Solar says.

Each SolPad device is equipped with its own “solar micro-storage,” or built-in battery storage at the panel level, and the solid-state low-voltage battery design is optimized for safe rooftop operation.

SolPad’s Home’s “flexgrid” inverter is designed to seamlessly integrate with built-in solid-state “solar micro-storage,” and this innovative combination allows SolPad to operate with electrically optimized power efficiency.

A personal solar micro-grid

Flexgrid can automatically detect when to charge from the sun or charge from the local utility grid, adjusting for cloudy or rainy days, as well as changing local electricity rates.

During the most expensive daytime hours, SolPad Home will switch to stored battery power, then switch back to grid power when rates are low. Flexgrid will also detect when there’s a power outage or blackout and safely disconnect itself from the grid.

Once off the grid, SolPad automatically forms a personal solar micro-grid that will keep delivering power to specific lights and appliances.

“Connect” is a wireless system that links two or more SolPad Home panels on the roof, completely eliminating the need for any complicated cabling or wiring, simplifying the installation and greatly reducing cost and installation time.

According to the producer, SolPad’s fully integrated product design approach reduces the total cost of installed solar and energy storage by up to 50% when compared with other existing product offerings.

SolControl’s interactive user interface (UI) makes homeowners aware of when and how they are consuming energy. It puts cost-saving control into a gamified and easy-to-use smartphone application. SolControl also helps conserve electricity by autonomously learning usage habits and intuitively providing suggestions to further optimize power consumption.

SolPad also acts as an internet hot spot

One of the most revolutionary features of SolPad is that it also acts as a powerful internet hot spot. Thus, consumers can have power and the web in one place. This feature is especially valuable in developing countries where both power and the internet are not readily available.

For the developing world, SolPad can bring power to those in need where a grid infrastructure is nonexistent.

SunCulture Solar is selecting its manufacturing partners for SolPad and SolPad Home, and will bring SolPad to market in the second half of 2017.

Source: solarserver.com

Methane Progress Should Guide Regulatory Approach

26.09.2016

API Upstream Group Director Erik Milito discussed ongoing industry efforts to reduce methane emissions and the risk to emissions reductions progress posed by adding new layers of regulation during testimony this week before the environment subcommittee of the U.S. House Science, Space and Technology Committee. Highlights from Milito’s submitted remarks:

The dramatic resurgence of the United States as an energy superpower over the past decade has provided tremendous benefits for the country, with significant savings in energy costs for everyday Americans, critical national security improvement, and environmental benefits from the application of advanced technologies and the increased use of clean-burning, abundant natural gas.

The U.S. oil and natural gas industry has proven that we can develop the energy that our economy relies upon here at home, while ensuring that those resources are developed safely and responsibly. This includes developing and applying technologies and best practices that effectively reduce emissions of methane, which is the key component of natural gas and thus a vital product for our industry to bring to the U.S. market.

Nationwide, as well as globally, there is an increasing reliance on the usage of natural gas. This has been made possible in the United States as a result of the application of the advanced engineering technologies of hydraulic fracturing and horizontal drilling. Furthermore, due to industry’s leadership in the deployment of mitigation measures and investment in new technologies, petroleum and natural gas companies are reducing their releases of all greenhouse gases (GHGs), and in particular methane. North American investments in GHG mitigating technologies are estimated to have totaled $431.6 billion between 2000 and 2014. U.S.-based petroleum and natural gas companies invested an estimated $217.5 billion in GHG mitigating technologies, significantly more than other U.S. based private industries. The industry clearly is a leader in reducing emissions, without the imposition of additional regulations.

Natural gas is an extremely clean burning fuel. According to the Energy Information Administration (EIA), use of natural gas has surpassed coal in generating electricity, and carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from the power sector are at 20-year lows, primarily due to the increased use of natural gas for electricity generation. Increased use of natural gas has also led to lower emissions of criteria pollutants such as sulfur dioxide (SO2), nitrogen dioxide (NO2) and fine particulate matter (PM).

Additionally, it is expected that natural gas will remain important to many sectors of the U.S. economy, including electricity generation, industrial heating, chemical feedstocks, and residential and commercial water and space heating. In its 2016 Annual Energy Outlook (AEO), the EIA projects that U.S. natural gas consumption will rise, an average of about 1 percent annually to 2040. The industrial and electric power sectors make up 49 percent and 34 percent of this expected growth, respectively, while consumption growth in the residential, commercial, and transportation sectors is projected to be much lower.

The EPA’s U.S. greenhouse gas inventory is comprised of emission estimates for seven GHG compounds or groups of compounds. When examining emissions from 1990-2014, methane emissions from natural gas systems – associated with the operation of natural gas systems for exploration, production, processing, transmission and distribution – declined from a high of 206.6 million metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent (MMT CO2e) in 1990 to the current estimate of 176.1 MMT CO2e for 2014, a decline of 14.8 percent. Over the same period of time, U.S. natural gas production increased by 47 percent. In other words, U.S emissions of methane from the natural gas sector decreased noticeably during one of the largest increases in natural gas production in the nation’s history.

Industry innovation and a continuous commitment to emission reductions have contributed to methane emission reductions from oil and natural gas sources. Some of the emission reduction technologies implemented by industry include installation of vapor recovery units, development of techniques for reduced emissions during well completions, increased use of lower-emitting pneumatic controllers and pumps, among other things.

Despite the success of the industry in reducing methane emissions, the industry is under threat of various regulations that will impose significant costs without commensurate benefits. The Environmental Protection Agency recently finalized a suite of new regulations targeting our industry. Each of the EPA rules will likely significantly impact on our industry’s operations and, collectively, they have the potential to hinder our ability to continue providing the energy our nation demands. These cumulative impacts must be considered in conjunction with the impacts of the lowered ozone standards and the pending Bureau of Land Management (BLM) methane rule, which will likely require costly methane controls for some of the very same emission sources being regulated by EPA. All of this comes on top of state regulation of our industry as well.

More specifically, API has raised numerous concerns with EPA’s New Source Performance Standards (NSPS) for the oil and natural gas sector. Many of API’s concerns stem from the broad applicability of the final rule and the one-size-fits-all approach to regulating an industry that varies greatly in the type, size and complexity of operations. EPA has justified the regulation using economic studies on “average model facilities” without determining whether the resulting control requirements are appropriate for the entire range of sources included in the source category. The rule applies NSPS in unique and unprecedented ways to categories and equipment not previously listed, while relying on unsound legal justification. The notification, monitoring, recordkeeping, performance testing and reporting requirements are significantly more burdensome than justified for the small and/or temporarily affected facilities.

EPA’s cost benefit analysis for the rule is unsound. EPA estimates a net $150 million annual benefit from the rule. In order to achieve this net benefit, EPA applied a social cost of methane (SC-CH4) estimate on the benefit side that is highly speculative, not sufficiently peer-reviewed, and ultimately not suitable for policy applications. Independent review by NERA found that the benefits provided by the rule, after compensating for flaws in EPA’s calculation, could be as much as 94 percent lower. When combined with the revised cost estimates and reduced emission benefits found in API’s analysis, the rule could result in net costs of more than $1 billion in 2025.

EPA is also now collecting data through an Information Collection Request (ICR) to determine whether or how to regulate existing sources in the oil and natural gas sector. Rather than directly moving to the regulation of existing sources, API supports the ICR as an appropriate step to better understand existing sources.

API urges EPA to simplify and streamline the information gathering in the ICR, so that the effort reduces the burden to industry while adequately identifying the appropriate data required for understanding existing sources of methane emissions in our industry.

In addition, the proposed scope and timelines of the draft ICR are aggressive and unrealistic for the amount of information the EPA is seeking. As drafted, EPA has significantly underestimated the burden associated with responding to the ICR and has not provided realistic response deadlines for operators. API suggests a streamlined scope that provides EPA with relevant data and provides realistic reporting timeframes.

Methane emission reduction trends by the industry are now observable despite major increases in the production and use of natural gas. Improved policy measures, removal of bureaucratic barriers, and regulatory certainty are imperative to allow these trends to accelerate and lead to even greater GHG emission reductions, as well as the benefits of reduced air pollutants such as SO2, NO2 and PM. Innovation and technological advancement through the free-market, rather than command and control regulations, have proven to be the solution to environmental questions and should be embraced by regulators and policy makers moving forward.

Source: breakingenergy.com

Paris Climate Agreement Moves Closer to Entry into Force in 2016 as 60 Countries Accounting for 48% of Emissions Have Joined

23.09.2016

High-level Event on the Entry into Force of the Paris Agreement — Photo: un.org

The Paris Agreement on climate change moved closer towards entering into force in 2016 as 31 more countries joined the agreement today at a special event hosted by United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.

Several large emitting countries, which had not yet completed their domestic approval processes in time for the event, also announced they were committed to joining the agreement this year.

The Paris Agreement will enter into force 30 days after 55 countries, representing 55 per cent of global emissions, deposit their instruments of ratification, acceptance or accession with the Secretary-General.

One of the two thresholds for entry into force has now been met. There are now 60 countries that have joined the Agreement — five more than the required 55 needed. These countries represent 48 per cent of global emissions, just shy of the 55 per cent needed for entry into force.

In addition, 14 countries, representing 12.58 per cent of emissions, committed to joining the Agreement in 2016, virtually assuring that it will enter into force this year.

“This momentum is remarkable,” Mr. Ban said. “It can sometimes take years or even decades for a treaty to enter into force. It is just nine months since the Paris climate conference. This is testament to the urgency of the crisis we all face.”

In early September, the world’s two largest emitters, China and the United States, joined the Agreement, providing considerable impetus for other countries to quickly complete their domestic ratification or approval processes.

The Paris Agreement marked a watershed moment in taking action on climate change. Adopted by 195 parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change last December in Paris, the Agreement calls on countries to combat climate change and to accelerate and intensify the actions and investments needed for a sustainable low carbon future, and to adapt to the increasing impacts of climate change.

The early entry into force of the Paris Agreement would trigger the operational provisions of the Agreement and accelerate efforts to limit global temperature rise to well below 2°C, and to build climate resilience.

Even as the Agreement was adopted, countries recognized that present pledges to reduce emissions were still insufficient to reach these goals. The Paris Agreement mandates regular meetings every five years, starting in 2018, to review progress and to consider how to strengthen the level of ambition.

Countries depositing their instruments of ratification at today’s event (31) included: Albania, Antigua and Barbuda, Argentina, Bangladesh, Belarus, Brazil, Brunei Darussalam, Dominica, Ghana, Guinea, Honduras, Iceland, Kiribati, Madagascar, Mexico, Mongolia, Morocco, Namibia, Niger, Panama, Papua New Guinea, Senegal, Singapore, Solomon Islands, Sri Lanka, Swaziland, Thailand, Tonga, Uganda, United Arab Emirates and Vanuatu.

Countries announcing their commitment to join the Agreement in 2016 included (14): Austria, Australia, Bulgaria, Cambodia, Canada, Costa Rica, Côte d’Ivoire, France, Germany, Hungary, Kazakhstan, New Zealand, Poland and the Republic of Korea, as well as the European Union.

On 22 April this year, 175 world leaders signed the Paris Agreement, the most to ever sign a treaty on a single day. By the end of this week, 190 will have signed the Agreement, including Armenia, Chile, Kyrgyzstan, Malawi, Republic of Moldova, Nigeria, Togo, Turkmenistan, Yemen and Zambia.

Source: un.org

100 Countries Push to Phase out Potentially Disastrous Greenhouse Gas

23.09.2016

A loose coalition of more than 100 countries, including the US and European nations, is pushing for an early phase-out of hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), a powerful greenhouse gas that if left unchecked is set to add a potentially disastrous 0.5C to global temperatures by the end of the century.

At a meeting in New York on Thursday, world leaders called for an “ambitious phase-down schedule” for HFCs, which are commonly used in refrigerators and air conditioning systems, and pledged adaptation money for developing nations where HFC use is rapidly increasing.

“The growth in some HFCs is extraordinarily fast right now so it’s critical that we have an ambitious agreement,” a White House official told the Guardian. “This is an extraordinarily important opportunity.”

Concerns over the gaping ozone hole over Antarctica spurred countries to agree to phase out chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), an ozone-depleting gas found in fridges and aerosols, in the 1987 Montreal Protocol.

While this proved successful – scientists recently forecast the ozone layer may well be completely healed by the middle of the century – CFCs have been routinely replaced by HFCs, which trap thousands of times more heat in the Earth’s atmosphere than carbon dioxide.

Their growing use in developing countries could mean they account for nearly 20% of all emissions by 2050. The replacement of HFCs could prove crucial if the world is to avoid dangerous runaway climate change, driven by a temperature rise of 2C or more.

The new coalition of nations, which will push for an early phase-out of HFCs at a gathering in Rwanda next month, includes the US, all 28 European Union nations, all 54 countries in Africa and South American nations including Argentina and Colombia.

The US is proposing that growth in HFC use be “frozen” at 2021 levels and then scaled down so that it is largely eliminated by 2050. China wants a later peaking date, at 2025, but is still considered part of an early drawdown group when compared to other Asian nations. India is the most reluctant, having pushed for a 2031 date.

A group of 16 countries, including the US, UK, Japan, Germany and Australia, has agreed to provide $27m next year to help support an early end to HFCs. Private philanthropists have pitched in even more, pledging $53m to efforts to promote energy efficient alternatives.

“This effort to reduce potent greenhouse gases known as hydrofluorocarbons while cutting energy waste and costs is a great example of the critical role innovation can play in addressing climate change while prioritizing international development,” said the Microsoft billionaire Bill Gates, one of the donors via his foundation.

“This initiative is a great opportunity for the public and private sectors to work together to solve a critical problem.”

Jamshyd Godrej, chairman of Indian multinational form Godrej & Boyce, said a phase-out of HFCs would provide India with “significant energy and financial savings for consumers, industry and government”.

The growing use of air conditioning and refrigeration risks undermining international efforts to cut emissions to avoid dangerous heatwaves, extreme weather and sea level rise.

Worldwide power consumption for air conditioning alone is forecast to surge 33-fold by 2100 as developing world incomes rise and urbanization advances. By mid-century people will use more energy for cooling than heating.

“Most people tend to think of energy in terms of heat and light and transport,” said Toby Peters, visiting professor of power and the cold economy at the University of Birmingham, last October.

“But more and more, it’s going to be about cold. Demand for cold is already huge, it’s growing fast, and we’re meeting it in basically the same way we’ve been doing for a century.

“Cold is the Cinderella of the energy debate. If we don’t change the way we do it, the consequences are going to be dramatic.”

Source: theguardian.com

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