1. UK’s greenest energy year ever Carbon Brief For the first time in 2017, more than half of the electricity generated in the UK came from low-carbon sources, Carbon Brief analysis shows.
The milestone means that, between them, nuclear and renewables generated more electricity in 2017 than all fossil fuels combined. Within this total, wind alone generated more than twice as much electricity as coal, supplying more power in every month except January. The UK electricity sector passed a string of other symbolic markers in 2017, from its first coal-free day since 1882 to new records for wind and solar generation. This lead NGO WWF to dub the year the “greenest ever” for electricity – with prime minister Theresa May tweeting her support.
2. Batteries Tesla Australian Battery installed in record time and already stopping electricity outages
The backup power system recently installed by Tesla in Australia — the world’s largest lithium-ion battery — has already responded to two major power outages after just weeks in use, an encouraging sign for the future of renewable energy. The Hornsdale Power Reserve, constructed by Tesla in South Australia, kicked in just 0.14 seconds after a major plant, the Loy Yang station in the neighbouring state of Victoria, suffered a sudden drop in output, the International Business Times reports.
3. Divestment: New York City plans to divest $5bn from fossil fuels and sue oil companies New York City is seeking to lead the assault on climate change and the Trump administration with a plan to divest $5bn from fossil fuels and sue the world’s most powerful oil companies over their contribution to dangerous global warming. City officials have set a goal of divesting New York’s $189bn pension funds from fossil fuel companies within five years in what they say would be “among the most significant divestment efforts in the world to date”. Currently, New York City’s five pension funds have about $5bn in fossil fuel investments. New York state has already announced it is exploring how to divest from fossil fuels.
4. Regional measures towards clean growth The Institute for Public Policy Research has urged government to demonstrate its commitment to clean growth by targeting net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. It also says that carbon budgets should be devolved to UK regions to unlock the economic potential of the north of England. It recommends local authorities be given fiscal powers to offer low-interest loans for energy-efficiency measures as part of “local energy devolution deals”. Other proposals include a Hydrogen Catapult in the Tees Valley and Local Enterprise Partnerships to establish the first commercial power-to-gas hydrogen storage project in the UK in either the Tees Valley or Cheshire and Warrington by 2025.
5. Wales will struggle to meet UK emissions reduction targets according to the Climate Change Committee, The Committee recommends that Wales’ first carbon budget, covering 2016 to 2020, should limit emissions to 27 per cent below 1990 levels, compared to a UK-wide figure of 37 per cent. The slower pace of decarbonisation stems from the Welsh economy’s greater reliance on carbon intensive industries, such as steel production. It says energy efficiency and low-carbon heating systems should be a “high priority” for the Welsh government.
6. European Commission publishes its response to Paris agreement Two years after 196 countries signed up to the Paris Agreement, the European Commission published its contribution to this month’s Climate Summit in Paris. The modestly titled “Action Plan for the Planet” lists ten “transformative initiatives” in which the Commission is providing support: from financing research in clean energy, to leveraging private capital for the green transition, to advising coal and carbon-intensive regions.
7. Climate Watch – Comprehensive data for climate change Launched at COP23 in Bonn, Climate Watch is a “powerful new platform offering comprehensive data for climate action”. It combines dozens of open datasets for the first time in a searchable platform, allowing users to access historical emissions information and map low-carbon pathways, analyze and compare national contributions, create and share custom data visualizations and discover how countries can leverage their climate goals to achieve sustainable development objectives.
8. New Energy capacity The European Environment Agency reports that renewables accounted for vast majority of new EU power capacity in 2016. Transition to renewable energy continues in the EU but has lost some pace in the past two years. According to the new estimates, renewables accounted for 86% of the EU’s new capacity for electricity generation installed in 2016. Overall, Member States also continue to cut more capacity from conventional sources than they install.
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