[GWSG] IEA forecast; US biodiversity fink; Gambian fetuses; why CCS and H power?; CCS a failure; H a shuck; fusion now a possibility

[Tilley, Al]

1. The International Energy Agency has increased its forecast of growth in renewable energy by 76% in the next two years. New energy policies and the increasing competitiveness of renewables account for the change. Zero emissions by 2050 would entail some further policy and regulatory changes. The slope of the line representing growth in renewables is increasingly steep.  https://www.carbonbrief.org/analysis-ieas-renewables-forecast-grows-76-in-two-years-after-largest-ever-revision/?utm_campaign=Carbon%20Brief%20Daily%20Briefing&utm_content=20221207&utm_medium=email&utm_source=Revue%20Daily

2. The US and the Vatican are not parties to the treaty on biodiversity. The other 196 governments of the world are. I can only guess at the senate’s reasons for balking but I believe they must be shameful. https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2022/dec/09/us-world-climate-collapse-nations

3. Mothers in Gambia who are farming small holdings work in the fields through pregnancy. A study by the Lancet found their fetuses increasingly heat stressed. https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/dec/08/rising-temperatures-distress-foetuses-climate-crisis-pregnancy-farmers-africa-study

4. Why are we still putting serious money into developing carbon capture and sequestration from the exhaust of fossil fuel combustion when we have spent billions in futile attempts to make it work? Where did all this interest in developing hydrogen as a fuel come from, when except for a few niche applications H is expensive, inefficient, and dangerous to handle? This WA Post story traces the interests to billionaires who are influencing our climate policy. The billionaires (among them Bill Gates) are also making some earnest and fruitful efforts, but the general policy development is being warped through, at best, ignorance. (The WA Post is behind a paywall now, I think—I hope they still let nonsubscribers get a few freebies. They have greatly increased their climate coverage recently.) https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/2022/12/12/billionaires-climate/?pwapi_token=eyJ0eXAiOiJKV1QiLCJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.eyJzdWJpZCI6IjQ4NDYwNDEwIiwicmVhc29uIjoiZ2lmdCIsIm5iZiI6MTY3MDg4MzYxMSwiaXNzIjoic3Vic2NyaXB0aW9ucyIsImV4cCI6MTY3MjA5MzIxMSwiaWF0IjoxNjcwODgzNjExLCJqdGkiOiJjNTllYzc0My0zZThmLTRkMzYtOGQ5OC04ODQwOTM4MjU3MzUiLCJ1cmwiOiJodHRwczovL3d3dy53YXNoaW5ndG9ucG9zdC5jb20vY2xpbWF0ZS1lbnZpcm9ubWVudC8yMDIyLzEyLzEyL2JpbGxpb25haXJlcy1jbGltYXRlLyJ9.7i1wv8FMpu4_sPcpAzpV1CZ88GvFJoZHqEWkdxsUV1

5. The CLECO CCS project in Louisiana illustrates some of the problems of the technology. Also, it is so expensive and inefficient that even if the carbon does not leak the technology has little practical use. https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/oct/15/emissions-capture-carbon-cost-water-electricity

6. Hydrogen has its attractions as a fuel, but the downsides outweigh them. It is commonly observed that we would be far better off to just use the energy directly which is used to produced hydrogen. Gas merchants see in H a way to prolong the life of their industry, as its production is commonly from methane and the gas infrastructure can, with serious difficulties, be repurposed.  https://www.conserve-energy-future.com/advantages_disadvantages_hydrogenenergy.php

7. A significant advance in fusion power is being overstated. At the Lawrence Livermore Lab, a fusion reaction produced more power that was supplied by the lasers which produced it. Fusion power has become much more possible. Still, I just watched an NBC report claiming that the new source could replace fossil fuels (but was still “a decade away”). That expectation can only serve to delay the development of renewables and slow the energy transition. We are still quite far from a practical fusion generator. https://climatecrocks.com/2022/12/12/breakthrough-or-more-con-fusion/

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