Least surprising news of the week: Hinkley Point C nuclear project is behind schedule and over budget. Whilst UK tax payers won’t be on the hook for the cost over run, the delays do put a dent in the idea that nuclear is going to be a viable route to hitting climate targets. BlackRock commits … Read More
Well, well, it looks like the Democrats have managed to get the Tax and Spend Bill through Congress! It took some nifty manoeuvring, which I don’t pretend to understand but this is highly significant in that it includes the biggest incentive programme for clean energy ever in the USA. With the US leading rather than … Read More
As if the world wasn’t divided enough the arguments rage now between those who think fracking is the answer to the energy crisis and those who want more renewables to reduce dependency on unreliable sources. I don’t need to suggest which side of that chasm Titbits sits on but there is a good summary of … Read More
We have all heard that the recovery from the pandemic will be a great opportunity to “build back greener”. Governments all over the world have proclaimed this as a silver lining to the misery of the last 18 months, but which countries are actually delivering on this promise? This chart from the Oxford Global Recovery … Read More
The week where two of the world’s richest men throw their pocket money at their favourite causes. Not sure either has completely thought through the ramifications. Although the announcement by Jeff Bezos to give $10bn to fighting climate change is welcome, as Politico says (HERE) is he part of the solution or part of the … Read More
Emissions trading “compliance markets” create a market based solution to drive reductions in CO2 and other nasty gasses. Ursula von der Leyen is quite right to require all polluting countries to adopt schemes. The evidence from all the markets so for operative is that if properly set up they do encourage polluters to drive emissions … Read More
From now on every year counts if we are to hit zero-carbon targets. The number highlighted in our “focus on” below show a mixed picture for 2019. It is clear that there is still a need for the deployment of renewables to step up a gear, so it is encouraging to see announcements of subsidy-free … Read More
This will be the last Titbits of the year, which is my excuse for a short wish list that might help drive the energy transition. Here in the UK we need the new government to show proper commitment to “Getting te transition done”. Spending a few pennies supporting new, and in some cases improbable technologies … Read More
This week I focus on those august documents that are Energy Outlook reports. Two of the best known are the IEA report and the BP report. Most leading environmental experts find it hard to control their exasperation at way that these so consistently underestimate the impact of renewables. It is hard to ignore the suspicion … Read More
