How heat pumps became a Nordic success story
Policymakers in countries where heat pumps are still in their infancy do not have to start from scratch, but can learn from – and build on – the heat-pump success story in Norway, Finland and Sweden.
Energy featured
The clean energy economy turns out to be the metals energy economy
The fossil fuel era led to widespread dependence on greenhouse gas producing nonrenewable energy sources. The emerging clean energy era is leading to widespread dependence on vast new supplies of nonrenewable metals
The Global Energy Transition: Critical Minerals & Water Scarcity
The water issues surrounding copper and lithium are daunting and may seem shocking (and dangerous) to tolerate. New mines will exacerbate existing water scarcity. Yet at some point (not yet) every EV battery that hits the road will not only reduce our reliance on oil but will save substantial amounts of water. The question is, do we have sufficient supply to complete this transition at all?
To Boldly NOT Go into Space
Time to prioritize solving critical problems again, before destruction of the Earth systems we depend on triggers civilizational collapse, and humanity’s brief jaunts into space become a barely-remembered memory or even just a myth.
In-depth Q&A: What do Rishi Sunak’s U-turns mean for UK climate policy?
In a shock announcement, UK prime minister Rishi Sunak revealed earlier this week plans to abandon or delay core parts of his government’s climate strategy.
It seems like the next big fight
Just a single proposed terminal that I talk about in the New Yorker piece—the so-called CP2 LNG plant proposed for Cameron Parish, Louisiana—would over its lifetime be associated with twenty times the greenhouse gas emissions of the huge Willow oil complex that Biden controversially approved earlier this year.
Breaking the law in response to climate change
I do think it’s necessary to control Big Oil, and to stop governments subsidising fossil fuels, and given the sheer scale and influence of the oil companies I’m not sure what we’re going to have to do make that happen.
How to Take out a Pipeline
The speed of economic growth hinges to a large extent on the supply of fossil fuel, especially of oil and gas, which depends in turn on pipeline capacity. Thus, if we are to turn the tide against economic growth, pipelines are a good strategic place to start.
Welcome to the New Green Colonialism
It’s time to flip the game upside down and end that very green colonialism by requiring a southernization of the north — forcing the latter to reduce its consumption of energy and other resources to meet that of the Global South.
The South China Sea’s Resource Wars
It’s difficult to believe that devastating the ocean’s depths in search of minerals for electric batteries and other technologies could offer a sustainable way to fend off climate change.
A Global Maui Moment
And sadly enough, in that war of nature, we humans are the terrorists and those fossil-fuel company CEOs are our very own Osama bin Ladens.
UK renewables still cheaper than gas, despite auction setback for offshore wind
A UK government auction has secured just 3.7 gigawatts (GW) of new renewable capacity – only a third of the total last year – and failed to contract any new offshore wind.