Shale bust brings huge debt to drill towns. Williston owes $300 million. This comes on top of the crime wave that the boom spawned.
13.6.15.
US conservative climate deniers launch pre-emptive attacks on the Pope. They fear mass conversion of currently climate-denier Catholics who have been core to political conservatism.
Climate-change activists occupy Tate all night protesting against BP sponsorship. They scrawl charcoal messages over the floor of the turbine hall.
12.6.15.
Drought-ravaged California orders the largest water cuts on record. Thousands of farmers holding some of the state’s strongest water rights are affected.
11.6.15.
Bonn talks close with mandate for co-chairs to shorten text. “What is being managed here is no longer resistance to an agreement but complexity, enthusiasm…” says Christiana Figueres.
“Trust high but progress slow” in Bonn. So concludes a Carbon Brief summary analysis. This session only cut 5 pages from the 90. The Paris Treaty is expected to be 15.
Christiana Figueres interview: the ultimate objective has to be lower than 2C. It has to be in the range 1.5 to 1.9, she says.
Will we even be using oil when Petrobras’ bonds mature in 2115? Pension funds and insurers desperate for yield are ignoring some obvious pitfalls, Carbon Tracker’s Rob Schuwerk argues.
10.6.15.
80 UK companies call on Cameron for a strong Paris deal. And policies consistent home and abroad. They include 2 of the Big 6 (E.ON, SSE) , Tesco, John Lewis.
More than 224,000 people are calling on “big polluters” to be barred from COP21. Their participation in climate negotiations is harmful and illogical, multiple NGO groups say.
Non-state-actor groundswell can cut emissions = to India’s by 2020. So a UNEP report concludes. Jacob Scherr of NRDC surveys the action.
Australia has been overstating emissions for years. In this way, it makes its targets easier to meet, with little action, so a new report alleges.
Climate change is undermining military security, say US experts. This includes the USA’s own security, in the Arctic, say retired senior military officers.
BP talks of a fossil-fuel watershed. “In years to come it is possible that 2014 may come to be seen as something of a watershed for the energy industry,” says Spencer Dale, launching SRWE.
BP backs Paris deal: Bob Dudley: “Something substantial needs to be done. We are conscious of that … we encourage policymakers to move forward on this when they meet in December.”
Saudi Arabia oil output hits record in May: 10.33 mbd. Opec says demand this year is 92.5mbd. Opec production is 31 mbd, according to traders. Brent is now at $66.
Renewables targets up fourfold since 2005. IRENA reports 164 countries around the world have adopted at least one type of renewable energy target as of mid-2015, up from 43 in 2005.
Two American solar giants combine to target $430m in IPO. SunPower and First Solar are launching a yieldco, 8point3 Energy Partners, effectively backed by French oil giant Total.
EDF nuclear power sales sinking in France. Wholesale prices of non-nuclear are becoming more competitive. Yet new CEO says rate hike is needed for maintenance of existing stations.
BoE to impose tough new rules for market abuse. Mark Carney announces an end to “the age of irresponsibility” and ethical drift, and tougher criminal sanctions across more sectors.
9.6.15.
Small debt-laden oil groups vulnerable to takeover by majors. Deals are likely to focus on US shale driller, the FT reports.
Collapse in oil price to curb Canada’s long-term output growth. Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers estimates 5.3m b/d by 2030, down from 6.4m b/d forecast a year ago.
A record amount of solar power, 40 GW, added to the world’s grids in 2014. This means total cumulative capacity 100 times the level it was in 2000, at 178 GB.
8.6.15.
G7: UK, Germany, Italy, Japan and France burned more coal in 2013 than 2009. Meanwhile demanding poor countries slash carbon emissions. Embarrassing report as G7 meets.
US leads in % or population wanting no climate deal at all. A new YouGov poll finds 17% in the US, 7% in the UK. In China and Indonesia 1%.
Chinese greenhouse gas emissions may peak by 2025. An LSE study shows peak 5 years earlier than current target, on recent trends. Warming >2C can be avoided, the researchers conclude.
“G7 in historic accord to phase out fossil-fuel emissions this century.” So reads the FT front page headline. Leaders also back 40-70% cuts by 2050. Merkel says “40% is not enough”.
G7 fossil fuel pledge seen as a diplomatic coup for Germany’s ‘climate chancellor’. Experts are pleasantly surprised she majored on the issue, and enfolded laggards Canada and Japan.
Do ‘whatever it takes’ for a 2C deal, says majority in global climate survey. Nearly two thirds of a poll of 10,000 from 79 countries.
First US state goes 100% renewables in electricity: Hawaii, by 2045. Governor signs a bill with a 100% renewables portfolio standard.
Percent viewing fossil-fuels as risky investment soars. Poll shows that whereas in 2014, 21% in UK thought fossil-fuel investment risky, a year on 66% do. 80% among 18-34 year olds.
Oil companies bet the house on gas as the fuel of the future. At the World Gas Conference in Paris, CEOs set out their gas-based vision of the future. Karel Beckmen suspects a flawed bet.
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