Climatico » Energy

A Surprise Ending for Durban (Almost)

Durban Team — Sun, 11 Dec 2011 18:28:11 +0000

The Durban conference on climate change ended on a much better note than many expected, but continued to delay the toughest questions for at least three years. The final outcome of the conference, COP-17, is a two-page, breakthrough document called the “Durban Platform for Enhanced Action” [...]

India Rejects EU Plan for New Treaty After Kyoto

Durban Team — Sun, 04 Dec 2011 21:49:24 +0000

With the Durban climate change negotiations barely a week old, key countries are drawing their “red line” positions in the sand. On one side of the line, where the Group of 77 (G77) + China and other developing countries firmly sit, is a second commitment period under the Kyoto Protocol that continues binding targets for current country signatories after the first period expires at the end of 2012 (excluding Canada, which has announced that it is pulling out of the treaty altogether). On the other is a European Union plan for a new global agreement with binding targets for all countries beginning in 2015 and in force by 2020. [...]

Is China on the Path to Equal Parts Environmental Protection and Economic Growth?

Shira Honig — Mon, 31 Oct 2011 13:59:41 +0000

It has taken a long time in China, but official policies finally aim to achieve a sustainable balance between environmental protection and economic growth in significant ways. Developments over the last several weeks and months include a draft proposal for new rules on fines for pollution, discussions of an environmental tax and increased environmental spending, [...]

A carbon price floor – tax or trade?

Sabina Manea — Mon, 19 Sep 2011 09:52:55 +0000

As part of the latest budget the UK government announced its intention to introduce a price floor for the emissions market. It is hoped that this move will encourage low carbon investment by disincentivising regulated entities from emitting at current levels. How this proposed unilateral measure will interact with the EU ETS remains to be [...]

Environment, Climate Change Views of Republican Candidates for 2012

Shira Honig — Mon, 12 Sep 2011 19:52:33 +0000

Debates are underway in the United States as contenders seek the Republican party nomination to challenge Barack Obama in the 2012 U.S. presidential election. Last week’s debate was the first for Texas Governor Rick Perry, whose front-runner status appeared to take a slip to former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney following controversial remarks on social security. [...]

Japan Renewable Feed-in-Tariff Passes, While Ontario Faces Battles

Shira Honig — Wed, 07 Sep 2011 12:19:21 +0000

While Ontario’s ambitious feed-in-tariff (FIT) policy is being put to the test by domestic and international opposition, including a challenge from Japan, Japan has just achieved a major breakthrough for its own FIT policy as it continues to recover from the tsunami and nuclear disaster this past March. Both examples will have implications for renewable [...]

Nuclear is Drying out in France – Nuclear faces an extreme drought

Jennifer Helgeson — Mon, 20 Jun 2011 12:44:29 +0000

Since the March 2011 Fukushima nuclear reactor disaster in Japan, things have continued to get worse for nuclear world-wide. In the past months, Germany and Switzerland decided to phase-out their nuclear power infrastructure by 2022. Just this past week, Italy passed a referendum outlawing the return of nuclear power. Yet, France continues to hold strong [...]

Germany to close all of its nuclear plants

Paige Andrews — Thu, 09 Jun 2011 18:57:00 +0000

Coauthored by Paige Andrews and Marie Karaisl. In a drastic reversal of policy, Germany has announced that it will shut down all of its nuclear reactors by 2022 in the wake of the Fukushima plant disaster in Japan. After the initial announcement, the government last week discussed the detailed drafts for the laws with the heads [...]

Kan’s ’10,000 solar panel installation’ proposition off-hand

Takashi Sagara — Wed, 08 Jun 2011 04:10:42 +0000

My previous article mentioned that it is now very difficult to pursue the current Japan’s energy strategies highly depending on nuclear energy because its ‘safety myth’ collapsed as a result of Chernobyl-level radioactive leak from the Fukushima nuclear plant. Further, reducing GHG emissions by 25% by 2020 seems infeasible because its global warming strategies are [...]

Japan likely to abandon its mid-term GHG reduction target

Takashi Sagara — Tue, 07 Jun 2011 16:44:08 +0000

On June 6th, according to Jiji press, Japan is likely to abandon its mid-term GHG reduction target. On March 12th, the earthquake and Tsunami attacked the Fukushima nuclear power plant and serious radioactive leak has been taking place since then in Japan. Both electric power companies and the Japanese Government eloquently insisted on the ‘perfect [...]