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This Week In Climate

This Week In Climate

Written by: Climatebase
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Welcome to This Week in Climate, a podcast by Climatebase.org.

Each week, we'll provide you with an overview of the top climate news stories of the week — summarized for you in 10 min or less.

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Episodes
  • This Week In Climate | September 16th, 2021

    This Week In Climate | September 16th, 2021
    Sep 15 2021
    👍🏾 Like this newsletter? Join Climatebase to subscribe! Wind Power Comeback Wind power capacity is predicted to explode globally after a lull during the first year of the pandemic, according to a report by the Global Wind Energy Council. The international group foresees more than 12 gigawatts (GW) coming online in 2021, doubling the 6.1GW added to global supply last year in the midst of the pandemic. That number would easily beat the record for annual wind installation set in 2019, but still represents a drop in the bucket compared to the 2,000 GW that the International Energy Agency estimates we need by 2050 to keep warming in check. Acting on the trend, this week the state of California passed a bill. It directs state regulators to chart a course for meeting the Biden Administration’s stated goal of 30 gigawatts of offshore wind nationally by 2030, and to establish goals for 2045. The bill’s language is still light on specifics, but represents a response to one of the report’s key conclusions: that governments must cut the red tape currently tying up new turbines. Nuclear Breakthrough Scientists are one step closer to recreating the sun’s power on Earth, according to an announcement made by MIT this week. Unlike fission nuclear reactions, which power nuclear reactors today, fusion power generates electricity by combining two atomic nuclei and capturing the resulting energy in a reactor. Such a reactor would be virtually carbon-free, and as MIT’s vice president for research Maria Zuber put it, “in a lot of ways it’s the ultimate clean energy source.” Researchers measured a field strength of 20 teslas from their prototype high-temperature electromagnet, long seen as a crucial goal for the viability of fusion reactions as an energy source. With a working magnet in hand, the researchers will now move their experiment into a lab where they believe they can capture the power of the sun, unlike the many similarly-minded projects that have failed before. AI for the Climate If the robots don’t conquer us, they may just help us solve the climate crisis. That is the conclusion of a study published by the World Economic Forumthis week, which outlines recommendations for how artificial intelligence can contribute to making the renewable energy sector drastically more efficient, between now and 2050. It’s a comprehensive breakdown that recommends employing AI along the lines of nine principles, organized by three categories: designing, enabling and governing. The end result of these changes would be more than a trillion dollars of added value for every 1% of additional efficiency in the energy sector alone. But for all the savings, the report states clearly that these systems will be complex and that above all, the “future power system looks highly decentralized.”  Gravity for Sale California-based Energy Vault became the world’s first gravity storage startup to go public this week, after it was acquired through a merger with the special purpose acquisition company (better known as a SPAC) Novus Capital Corporation. The company offers a long-sought after alternative to the lithium-ion batteries that have so far dominated the large-scale energy storage market. Gravity storage takes a variety of forms, but each approach uses excess renewable energy to lift heavy objects, either uphill or in the air, that produce electricity on their way down with the help of gravity. Energy Vault’s first installation in Switzerland is a six-armed tower that directs a delicate choreography of specialized bricks that can store 10-35MWh of electricity, with an output of roughly 5MWh when they’re brought back to earth. The company has yet to build its biggest model, but if successful it could give the world an option for energy storage that takes energy off the ground rather than from it.  Circle of Battery Life Sometimes energy storage solutions aren’t all big business and breakthrough innovations, as one California startup has set out to prove in the Mojave Desert. This week, Canary Media produced a video tour of B2U Energy Solutions’ pilot facility, where the company has connected stacks of used Nissan Leaf batteries to a modest one mega-watt solar plant. The company hopes to contribute a solution to the infamous duck curve by storing solar power when the sun is out, and releasing it at night when users go home and energy demand spikes. At the same time, the project offers an answer to the thorny issue of where electric vehicle batteries end up when they have to be replaced. Up to as much as 95% of all electric vehicle car batteries go unrecycled at the end of their life powering cars, throwing a wrench into the sustainability goals of fully electric vehicles - when their batteries end up in landfills. The company is currently bidding to enter California’s power market, and believes it will only become more profitable as the supply of used batteries increases. 
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    7 mins
  • This Week In Climate | September 9th, 2021

    This Week In Climate | September 9th, 2021
    Sep 8 2021
    👍🏾 Like this newsletter? Join Climatebase to subscribe! News Corp Comes Around Executives at News Corp, the parent company of Fox News, said on Monday that they would begin publishing editorial content promoting carbon neutrality. Describing the effort in general terms, News Corp officials told the Sydney Morning Herald that its Australian Sky News channel would advocate for Australia achieving net-zero emissions by 2050. The announcement comes on the same day the conservative-led Australian government said it would continue to export coal “well beyond 2030,” in stark defiance of demands made by climate scientists for decades. The timing of News Corp’s announcement has led critics to suggest the focus on 2050 emissions goals could be a ploy to give the Australian government long-term cover for their decision on coal exports. Climate researchers who have found themselves the focus of News Corp’s decades-long disinformation campaign on climate science are skeptical. Climatologist and IPCC co-author Michael Mann put it this way: “Until Rupert Murdoch and News Corp call off their attack dogs at Fox News and The Wall Street Journal, who continue to promote climate change disinformation on a daily basis, these are hollow promises that should be viewed as a desperate ploy to rehabilitate the public image of a leading climate villain.” Blockchain Keeps Us Together An international collaboration operating under the name Project Edge announced this week that it has launched a first-of-its kind blockchain network to increase the scale and efficiency of solar power in Australia. The project’s aim is to use blockchain to securely share generation and storage data from Australia’s solar panel-clad roofs to the power grids and utilities that will purchase and distribute their outputs. While similar projects have previously been launched elsewhere, Project Edge leaders point out that their project is the first to create an ecosystem between power producers at the local level and distributors of large and small-scale grids. Australia is uniquely well-positioned to deploy the suite of technologies put to use by the project. Roughly a quarter of Australian households are equipped with solar panels, and in some areas that number rises to two-fifths. Project Edge’s system will issue “passports” to users who can securely sell their electricity to utilities. The utilities can in turn use contributors’ data to optimize their operations and order batteries and appliances to avoid overused substations, allowing for savings on maintenance costs.  Call A Doctor Last Sunday, researchers from more than 230 medical journals sounded a clarion call for world leaders to pay attention to the looming health effects of climate change that have so far gone overlooked. Heat-related deaths have leapt by 50% for people over 65 in the past 20 years, but higher temperatures are linked to a litany of other complications. Increased rates of skin cancer, kidney malfunction, tropical disease and mental issues, just to name a few, have all been linked to climate change. But the report does offer a sliver lining: the daunting health care costs associated a hotter planet make the business case for transitioning to renewable energy all the more obvious. The editorial cites one figure that puts the savings for air quality improvements alone in the trillions for countries such as India and China. Beyond the funding, research and coordination the authors stress is necessary, the world must realize that “No temperature rise is ‘safe.” Evolution Hits Fast Forward Data gathered from all corners of the globe suggests that warm-blooded animals are “shapeshifting” to adapt to a rapidly warming planet. The research published in the journal Trends in Ecology & Evolution focused on changes to appendages in birds, such as larger beaks and legs, from North America to Australia. The uninsulated body parts of many animals serve as outlets for excess bodily heat, and their growth correlates with rising temperatures over recent decades. But as the authors point out, “adapting” is a tricky term to ascribe to the changes. Just because birds are developing bigger beaks to deal with more heat, this “does not mean that animals are coping with climate change and that all is fine,” according Sara Ryding, the study’s author. Whether or not the shapeshifting will continue as time goes on is unclear, but the findings are yet another data point that humans are far from the only species struggling to get by in the Anthropocene. Music Festival Footprint  The music festival industry, like so many others around the world, had its first public reckoning with climate change this week. English electronic band Massive Attack partnered with researchers at the Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research in England to share data from their most recent tour in the hopes of bringing attention to the carbon footprint of the music industry. The...
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    7 mins
  • This Week In Climate | September 2nd, 2021

    This Week In Climate | September 2nd, 2021
    Sep 2 2021
    This Week In Climate - August 26th, 2021 👍🏾 Like this newsletter? Join Climatebase to subscribe! Climate Tech Makes it Rain Funding for clean tech is taking off, with investors more than doubling their investments in decarbonizing industries compared to a decade ago, according to an extensive report published by The Economist this week. Investors committed more than $500 million dollars to clean technology startups in 2020, the vast majority of which went to renewable energy innovations and electrified transport. The shift has come from institutional capital in all its forms. While venture capital firms have led the charge, funds ranging from family foundations to private equity firms to government innovation programs have all pitched into the trend. The boom comes on the heels of the successful IPOs of Tesla and Beyond Meat, both of which have returned billions to their investors. The latest wave of investments are a welcome trend in an industry where the Economist points out that “nearly 95% of founders have failed to secure follow-on funding.”  Countdown to COP26 The climate tech spending spree couldn’t come at a better time, as financing will be at the top of the agenda for the COP26 climate negotiations set to take place this November in Glasgow, Scotland. Scotland’s Net Zero Secretary Michael Matheson said the quiet part out loud earlier this month when he told the Scottish press that, “COP26 in Glasgow represents the world's best chance – perhaps one of our last chances – to avert the worst impacts of climate change.” To that end, U.S. Climate Envoy John Kerry landed in Tokyo this week to discuss the main priority of the conference: securing agreements from countries like Japan and China to draw down their use of coal. But how and who should pay for that transition will also be on the table. Earlier this year The Biden Administration pledged $5.7 billion annually to the UN’s Green Climate Fund, which was established to help vulnerable nations bear the costs of a sustainable transition. While the figure represents an increase of pledges from the Obama Administration, the United States is still well behind pace on its overall commitments to the fund.  Climate Goes to the Polls Mounting climate catastrophes are leading up to a moment of truth for political leaders on disparate continents this week. Polls in Norway indicate that the Labour Party and its Green Party allies will replace Conservative Prime Minister Erna Solberg in upcoming elections— this in a country that currently holds the title of Western Europe’s most prolific oil producer. Meanwhile in Canada, relentless heat waves that have shattered records have led to climate change taking top priority among voters, according to pre-election polls. Roughly 18% of likely voters in Canada said climate was the most important issue in this election. The traditional political parties in both countries have so far walked a tightrope between promoting economic interests tied to fossil fuels and complying with ambitious climate commitments. In Norway, this will mean a coalition of pro-environment parties with differing approaches to oil exploration. In Canada, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau will have to square his pro-climate rhetoric with a 1% increase in Canada’s greenhouse gas emissions during his tenure.  Out of Thin Air  Swiss carbon removal startup Climeworks AG raised $10 million dollars over ten years from reinsurance firm Swiss Re this week, marking the biggest investment to date in direct air capture technologies. The deal represents an effort by Swiss Re to fulfill its own carbon neutrality commitments, but the company also hopes it can serve as a beacon to other actors in an industry already paying for the impacts of climate change. Climeworks uses geothermal energy and excess steam from industrial processes to power fans that suck CO2 directly from the air, and inject it into rock formations for permanent storage. The deal does not specify how much carbon Climeworks will capture at the end of 10 years, but the startup’s newest facility in Iceland will reportedly be able to capture and store 4,000 tons of CO2 each year. According to the latest IPCC report, carbon capture technologies will play a vital role in removing the estimated 100 billion to 1 trillion tons of carbon necessary to maintain a livable planet.  Sweet Survival Rumors of chocolate’s demise in future climate scenarios may have been greatly exaggerated. That is one of the conclusions of research published by Biodiversity International in Peru this week, which projects that more resilient wild cacao trees may thrive where cultivated cacao declines. The forecast for cacao as it is produced today still looks grim: about 10% of the land currently dedicated to farming cacao will be inhospitable to the small tree in coming decades. The researchers caution that this doesn’t mean chocolate and coffee lovers aren’t out of the woods yet. ...
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    7 mins
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