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Fossil fuel sector seen risking $2.2 trillion on stranded assets

* Projects may be uneconomic with climate goals * Half of the supply in new LNG projects ‘unneeded’ Fossil fuel companies risk wasting up to $2.2 trillion in the next decade by pursuing projects that could be uneconomic in the face of international action to limit climate change, UK-based financial think-tank Carbon Tracker Initiative said Tuesday. Two-thirds of the total financial risks are currently earmarked for new and existing oil projects, the biggest fossil fuel sector at risk behind natural gas, according to the report. It said that around 20-25% of oil and gas majors’ potential investment is on projects that would not be needed in a scenario where the world agrees to limit climate change to 2 degrees. Due to the higher cost of developing oil shale and oil sands and Arctic oil, the total relates to only 11% of potential production, according to the report. Article continues […]

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Energy Companies Risk $2.2 Trillion as Climate Goals Cut Demand

Oil, natural gas and coal producers are risking $2.2 trillion by investing in projects for which there will be no demand if the world meets a United Nations target of limiting the rise in temperature to less than 2 degrees Celsius, a non-profit think tank said. No new coal mines are needed, oil demand will peak around 2020 and growth in gas will disappoint industry expectations, Carbon Tracker Initiative said Wednesday in a report. The U.S. has the greatest exposure with $412 billion of projects at risk up to 2025, followed by Canada with $220 billion, China $179 billion, Russia $147 billion and Australia $103 billion, according to the think tank. “Too few energy companies recognize that they will need to reduce supply of their carbon-intensive products to avoid pushing us beyond the internationally recognized carbon budget,” James Leaton, head of research and co-author of the report, said in […]

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States warn US climate plan is illegal

Sign up for quick access to a wealth of global business news, including: States warn US climate plan is illegal Newspaper + Premium online Newspaper + Premium online Premium Full FT.com subscription Premium Full FT.com subscription Standard Full news & archive Standard Full news & archive Trial Try Premium online Trial Try Premium online Price Monthly Annual $66.30 $11.77 per week $53.00 $9.25 per week $36.00 $6.45 per week $1.00 for 4 weeks $1.00 for 4 weeks FT Alphaville plus selected FT blogs yes yes yes yes Unlimited FT.com article access yes yes yes yes Unlimited mobile and tablet access yes yes yes yes Unlimited fast FT yes yes yes yes 5 year company financials archive yes yes yes yes The LEX column yes yes no yes ePaper access yes yes no yes Three exclusive weekly emails yes yes no yes Daily newspaper delivery yes no no For 4 […]

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Standoff over government climate study provokes national uproar by scientists

A top House lawmaker’s confrontation with government researchers over a groundbreaking climate change study is provoking a national backlash from scientists, who say his campaign represents the most serious threat Congress has posed to scientific freedom. Rep. Lamar Smith (R-Tex.), chairman of the House Committee on Science, Space and Technology, has subpoenaed scientists at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and demanded that they turn over internal e-mails related to their research. Their findings contradicted earlier work showing that global warming had paused, and Smith, a climate change skeptic, has accused them of altering global temperature data and rushing to publish their research in the June issue of the journal Science. [ NOAA chief tells lawmaker: No one will ‘coerce the scientists who work for me’ ] So far, NOAA officials have resisted Smith’s demands, and the showdown has escalated. The lawmaker has threatened to subpoena Commerce Secretary Penny […]

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Extreme Weather Tied to Over 600,000 Deaths Over 2 Decades

Photo Destroyed houses after a mudslide caused by Tropical Storm Erika in Montrouis, Haiti, in August. Credit Hector Retamal/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images GENEVA — Weather-related disasters in the past two decades have killed more than 600,000 people and inflicted economic losses estimated at trillions of dollars, the United Nations said on Monday, warning that the frequency and impact of such events was set to rise. The figures were released before a United Nations-backed climate meeting, starting next Monday in Paris, at which more than 120 national leaders will try to rein in greenhouse gas emissions and slow the rise in global temperatures. According to the report from the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction, the United States has had the highest number of weather-related disasters in the past two decades, but China and India have been the most severely affected, enduring floods that had an effect on […]

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Norwegian energy giant addresses climate concerns

Norwegian energy company Statoil sees change coming in energy industry, with renewables meeting most of the future demand. File Photo by Stephen Shaver/UPI OSLO, Norway, Nov. 23 (UPI) — Oil and gas will continue playing a strong role in the global energy sector, but climate issues are sparking an industry sea change, the head of Statoil said. Most major economies have offered climate proposals ahead of the late November meetings in Paris. The U.S. government has plans to cut emissions by about 25 percent of their 2005 levels by 2025, and similar commitments have come from Europe, Russian and Scandinavian countries. Eldar Saetre, the chief executive officer at Norwegian energy company Statoil, said those commitments are not enough to keep climate change in check . "But there are weak signals that give cause for optimism," he said. "On the political side there is stronger willingness and commitment from some […]

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EU Climate Head Warns International Agreement Far From Certain

European Union representative Miguel Arias Cañete speaks during a news conference in Quito, Ecuador. BRUSSELS—Days before negotiations for a global deal to fight climate change kick off in Paris, the European Union’s climate and energy czar warned that an agreement is far from certain. Next Monday, world leaders will open two weeks of talks in the French capital on how to protect the planet from the potentially catastrophic consequences of global warming. If successful, the Paris climate conference, also known as COP 21, could, for the first time, bind developed and developing countries into cutting greenhouse-gas emissions. But after four years of preparations, big gaps remain among the 195 governments that have to agree unanimously on any deal. At a summit of the Group of 20 industrialized and developing nations this month, some governments questioned central elements of the deal—including the overall target of keeping global temperatures from rising […]

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Proof-of-principle of cost-effective methane cracking technology for H2 production without CO2; 50% cleaner than SMR, comparable to electrolysis

« ROEV Association forms to promote public EV charging interoperability | Main | Renault-Nissan Alliance installing 90 new charge spots for COP21 summit in Paris » Researchers of the Institute for Advanced Sustainability Studies ( IASS ) in Potsdam and the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) have achieved the proof-of-principle for a innovative technique to extract hydrogen (H 2 ) from methane (CH 4 ) without the formation of CO 2 as a byproduct. At this stage, cost estimates are uncertain, since methane cracking is not yet a fully mature technology. However, preliminary calculations show that it could achieve costs of €1.9 to €3.3 per kilogram of hydrogen at German natural gas prices—without taking the market value of the solid black carbon byproduct of the process into consideration. Most of the world’s hydrogen production is currently based on conventional technologies such as steam methane forming (SMR), which also uses […]

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Global Witness: Exxon’s climate issues tip of the iceberg

Exxon isn’t the only big energy company suspected of violating basic transparency measures, advocacy group Global Witness says . Photo by Katherine Welles/Shutterstock LONDON, Nov. 19 (UPI) — Exxon Mobil is just one bad apple among a bunch of companies in the extractive industry suspected of holding back on investors, Global Witness said. The New York Attorney General’s office issued a subpoena to Exxon Mobile following a series of reports claiming the company was misleading investors decades ago about the potential impact its sector had on the global climate. Accusations made against the oil company are similar to those made against the tobacco industry, in that it downplayed the threats of its products despite research acknowledging the risks. Global Witness, an advocacy group working for more corporate transparency, said Exxon’s issues are part of a broader issue on concerns about public disclosure. "The attorney general is right to investigate […]

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United States and China advance policies to limit CO2 emissions

Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration, International Energy Statistics China and the United States are the two countries with the most energy-related carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions, together accounting for about 40% of global emissions in 2012. Late last year, China and the United States each announced intended nationally determined contributions (INDCs) to mitigate their respective greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, but there is still uncertainty in each country’s ability to meet those targets. Further efforts to reduce GHG emissions will be discussed at the upcoming United Nations Climate Change Conference in Paris. The United States, which had previously set a goal of reducing GHG emissions by 17% from 2005 levels by 2020, has proposed in its INDC to bring emissions 26% to 28% below the 2005 level by 2025. China’s INDC proposes to achieve the peaking of its CO2 emissions around 2030, making best efforts to peak early. China’s INDC also […]

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