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Optimism Faces Grave Realities at Climate Talks

WASHINGTON — After more than two decades of trying but failing to forge a global pact to halt climate change, United Nations negotiators gathering in South America this week are expressing a new optimism that they may finally achieve the elusive deal. Even with a deal to stop the current rate of greenhouse gas emissions, scientists warn, the world will become increasingly unpleasant. Without a deal, they say, the world could eventually become uninhabitable for humans. For the next two weeks, thousands of diplomats from around the globe will gather in Lima, Peru, for a United Nations summit meeting to draft an agreement intended to stop the global rise of planet-warming greenhouse gases. The meeting comes just weeks after a landmark announcement by President Obama and President Xi Jinping of China committing the world’s two largest carbon polluters to cuts in their emissions. United Nations negotiators say they believe […]

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Coal conversion plants sap China’s emissions targets

A dump truck carries coal at the open pit in the Tsankhi section of the Tavan Tolgoi coal deposit, developed by Erdenes Tavan Tolgoi LLC, in South Gobi, Mongolia, on Wednesday, June 5, 2013 Chinese negotiators attending this week’s climate change talks in Lima have come armed with a long and detailed list of measures to rein in the coal use that creates smog at home and climate change worries abroad. Early this month President Xi Jinping unveiled an estimate that China’s greenhouse gases would stop climbing in about 2030, thanks to policies restricting coal use around big cities in the east. More On this story On this topic IN China But there’s a wild card in the carefully tabulated spreadsheets of boilers to be shut and pipes to be laid. Emissions from an industry that transforms coal into gas or liquid fuel are proving difficult to measure and […]

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London: Climate change a “great risk”

"The science is clear" about climate change, British minister says. (UPI/Shutterstock/ ChinellatoPhoto) LONDON, Nov. 24 (UPI) — The international community is at a turning point in terms of sentiments in favor of addressing climate change now, the British energy secretary said Monday. "The science is clear," Energy and Climate Change Secretary Ed Davey said in a statement. "Climate change poses great risks to health, global food security and economic development – and unchecked will change every part of our lives." This year’s report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change found emissions of carbon dioxide, a potent greenhouse gas, from the combustion of fossil fuels accounted for 78 percent of the total emissions increase from 1970 to 2010. A British government report said there was an increasing body of evidence to suggest changes in global weather patterns are "consistent with what is expected from the fundamental physics of a […]

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Cold sets new November record in PJM, real-time prices top $100

Houston (Platts)–19Nov2014/436 pm EST/2136 GMT This week’s cold snap has caused peak demand in November in the PJM Interconnection to blow by its previous record, set last November, the independent system organization announced Wednesday. The new record so far for this November, 121,987 MW, occurred at 7 pm EST Tuesday, a media advisory states. The previous November record was 114,699 MW, set November 26. PJM’s overall peak demand record is 165,492 MW, which occurred in July 2011. The record non-summer peak occurred during last winter’s "polar vortex," when demand in PJM peaked at 141,846 MW on January 7, said PJM spokeswoman Paula Dupont-Kid in an email. Article continues below… Sign up to Electricity Alert today. Platts Electricity Alert provides real-time news and market coverage of the North American electric power industry, including spot market transaction reports, end-of-day price assessments, weather reports and production figures. Real-time prices for Baltimore Gas […]

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Emissions Pledges From U.S., EU, China Probably Not Enough, UN Scientists Say

ByWilliam Mauldin President Barack Obama and Chinese President Xi Jinping surprised the green community and fossil-fuel industry by unveiling their targets together at a Beijing summit last week. Bloomberg News Nice try, but we’ll probably ask you to cut more carbon next year. That’s the early message of United Nations scientists taking their first look at the brand-new greenhouse-gas targets of the U.S., China and the European Union, billed as a historic step for the leading emitters to cut back carbon dioxide through 2030 in order to limit climate change. The EU announced its emissions targets last month, and President Barack Obama and Chinese President Xi Jinping surprised the green community and fossil-fuel industry by unveiling their targets together at a Beijing summit last week. Environmental groups and policy makers worried about warming applauded the apparent political momentum to cut back on gases blamed for climate change, especially the […]

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Proposed US EPA rule to have significant impact on power grid: ERCOT analysis

Houston (Platts)–17Nov2014/457 pm EST/2157 GMT The Electric Reliability Council of Texas anticipates that implementation of the US Environmental Protection Agency’s proposed rule for reducing greenhouse gas emissions will result in the retirement of up half of ERCOT’s coal generation capacity, raise retail energy bills up to 20% and lead to a greater likelihood of rotating outages. ERCOT Monday released its analysis of the impact of the Clean Power Plan, saying it "is evident that implementation … will have a significant impact on the planning and operation of the ERCOT grid." "ERCOT’s primary concern with the Clean Power Plan is that, given the ERCOT region’s market design and existing transmission infrastructure, the timing and scale of the expected changes needed to reach the CO2 emission goals could have a harmful impact on reliability," according to the report. " … it is unknown, based on the information currently available, whether compliance […]

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China and US in deal to curb emissions

(FILES) – This photo taken on July 18, 2006 shows cyclists passing through thick pollution from a factory in Yutian, 100km east of Beijing in China’s northwest Hebei province. Surging levels of carbon dioxide sent greenhouse gases in the atmosphere to a new record in 2013, while oceans, which absorb the emissions, have become more acidic than ever, the UN said on September 9, 2014. AFP PHOTO / PETER PARKS ©AFP China and the US have set aside nearly 20 years of discord over how to combat climate change and laid out their respective plans to curb greenhouse gas emissions. The unexpected joint announcement by US President Barack Obama and China’s President Xi Jinping in Beijing promises to galvanise efforts to seal a global climate pact at the end of next year in Paris. More On this story Martin Wolf An unethical bet in the climate casino Bill for […]

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