Arizona’s Navajo generating station, closed at the end of 2019. Image: By Myrabella, via Wikimedia Commons This article first appeared on the www/climatenewsnetwork.net website By Kieran Cooke US coal economics? They’re odd. The dirtiest fossil fuel generates ever less American electricity, yet energy policy is unchanged. If you want a simple and satisfying job, you’d probably [...]
Heavy industry on the lower Mississippi helps to create dead zones. Image: By AJ Wallace on Unsplash This article first appeared on the www.climatenewsnetwork.net website by Paul Brown Air pollution from burning fossil fuels is adding to fertiliser run-off and sewage to kill marine life in global dead zones. Cutting out coal-burning and other sources of nitrogen oxides (NOx) [...]
Too few passengers, too many aircraft: End of the flight in Arizona. Image: By AlanWilson, via Wikimedia Commons This article first appeared on the www.climatenewsnetwork.net website by Kieran Cooke In the midst of the coronavirus epidemic, Covid-19’s viral lessons offer a warning of what may lie ahead. There are some glimmers of hope discernible in the [...]
By Oliver Nelson-Dummett As wind and solar power becomes a larger proportion of the world’s energy supply, methods for smoothing their unreliable output become more important. Long-term energy storage is key; buying cheap electricity during peaks in supply to then sell back to the grid when demand is higher. Hydrogen has the potential fill this [...]
Fast pandemic response could tackle climate change The AIDS memorial quilt in Washington DC: Attitude change was key. Image: By Carol M Highsmith (public domain), via Wikimedia Commons This article first appeared on the www.climatenewsnetwork.net website by Alex Kirby Societies worldwide are changing overnight to meet the coronavirus threat. – If you want to know how fast [...]
LED lighting is a key part of the way energy efficiency is helping to cut carbon. Image: By Emmanuel on Unsplash This article first appeared on the www.climatenewsnetwork.net website By Paul Brown The United Kingdom leads the way in cutting carbon output from electricity production, to the surprise of its political leaders. Carbon output from the power [...]
South Korea’s Saemangeum sea wall, (so far) the world’s longest artificial dike at 33 kms. Image: By Kussy, via Wikimedia Commons This article first appeared on the www.climatenewsnetwork.net website By Tim Radford There is a way to stop Europe’s coastal cities from vanishing below the waves – enclose the North Sea. But there’s a simpler solution. [...]
By Barney Smith It is now very fashionable to decry the use of single use plastic and to insist that its’ use must be reduced. It is the more surprising that this emphasis has apparently emerged not slowly but all of a sudden. After the Blue Planet/David Attenborough broadcast, everything changed: reduction in the use [...]
By Barney Smith On Tuesday 3 March the more serious newspapers carried the story that the Government had decided that on-shore wind farms would be eligible to participate in future auctions for “contracts for difference” (CFDs). What does that mean? Why is it news? CFDs are a market-based system that relies on auctions to deliver [...]
Still afloat, but at risk: Storm surge flooding caused by Hurricane Isabel in Maryland. Image: Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons This article first appeared on the www.climatenewsnetwork.net website By Paul Brown The US state of Maryland is proposing a fossil fuel tax to pay for pre-school education and to promote electric cars. Maryland, an eastern US [...]