Government ministers from around the world are in Glasgow for more talks.
They will discuss how to support poorer countries and if reparations for damage from natural disasters should be paid.
Poorer nations have called for $100bn of financial help, arguing they are already suffering and will be worst affected by climate change.
Developing countries have historically contributed a very small proportion of the damaging emissions driving climate change – while currently the wealthiest 1% of the global population account for more than double the combined emissions of the poorest 50%.
The majority of the money from the UK will go to help Asian and Pacific nations plan and invest in climate action, improve conservation and promote low-carbon development, the government said.
The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office described the £290m as “new funding” from the foreign aid budget. The government said last month that cuts to the UK’s foreign aid spending, to 0.5% of national income, will stay in place until at least 2024-25.
Senior government climate change advisers previously warned the cuts showed the UK was “neither committed to nor serious about” helping countries vulnerable to climate change ahead of COP26.
The UN summit will continue until Sunday, with much of the focus of the talks over how to limit global warming to the target of 1.5C.
Monday will see negotiators discuss how best to mitigate the impact of a warming planet, particularly for poorer countries.
Developing countries are asking for $100bn (around £73bn at current exchange rates) annually to help reduce emissions and adapt to climate change and reaching net-zero targets on emissions well before 2050.
A pledge for $100bn from wealthier nations was made as long ago as 2009, but the plans to have it in place by 2020 have not been realised and current targets aim to reach it by 2023 – an offer which has been described as “extremely disappointing”.
International trade minister Anne-Marie Trevelyan said the world “must act now” to prevent more people being pushed into poverty by climate change.
Where will the money be spent?
The government said its £290m in new funding to tackle the impact of climate change will be split between:
£274m to assist Asian and the Pacific nations to plan and invest in climate action, improve conservation and ensure low-carbon development
£15m to a fund designed to support developing countries focus their response where they most need it
£1 million to support delivery of faster and more effective global humanitarian action, including in response to climate-related disasters
But there is also the question of whether rich nations should pay reparations to vulnerable countries for damage already caused by climate change.
Wealthy nations have never acknowledged legal liability for the impact of their emissions – because the bill could run into trillions.
So far, Scotland is the only country promising to donate to a compensation fund for countries whose economies have been damaged by climate change with a £1m pledge.
Saleemul Huq, director of the International Centre for Climate Change and Development in Bangladesh, said Scotland’s pledge is the first time any developed nation has tacitly admitted responsibility for contributing to global warming – and he believed it will not be the last.
Tough week ahead
The Glasgow COP isn’t really one conference – in effect it’s two processes in parallel.
One is a series of daily events organised by the British presidency of the COP. This innovation has already conjured welcome initiatives on forests, finance, methane and technology. This week it’ll unveil pledges on transport, cities and science. They’ll be significant if they’re carried through.
Meanwhile in parallel the tangled talks of the formal UN process labour on.
There are disagreements over the rules governing climate deals, whether rich countries will offer more cash to poorer countries already suffering from dangerous heating – and whether given the urgency of climate disruption, nations should raise their carbon-cutting ambitions in two years instead of five.
There’s also a question of reparations for nations harmed by emissions they didn’t cause. So far the only contribution to the fund is £1m from Scotland.
It’ll be a tough week.
Charity Christian Aid said some of the world’s poorest countries could suffer an average 64% hit to their economy by the end of the century under current climate policies.
Mohamed Adow, director of Kenyan climate and energy think tank Power Shift Africa, described the “scale of the economic disaster” as “deeply unjust”.
“The fact rich countries have consistently blocked efforts to set up a loss and damage fund to deal with this injustice is shameful”, he added.
The first week of the climate talks have led to a variety of pledges, including a major deal to end and reverse deforestation by 2030, and to cut methane emissions.
President of COP26, Alok Sharma, said the pledges made “must be delivered on and accounted for” by all nations.
Former US President Barack Obama is expected to speak in Glasgow later about the progress made in the five years since the Paris Agreement took effect.
Electric cars are becoming an increasingly popular option for drivers who’re conscious about the impact they’re having on the environment. And while critics of the past might have cited a lack of range in their batteries, things are quite different in 2021.
Cars are now built with distance in mind – without compromising on their overall performance and environmental impact. But just how far can some of the best electric cars travel on a single charge?
To find the answer to that question, check out our comparison tool. We’ve taken data from some of the best electric cars on the market to find out which can take you furthest on just one battery recharge.
For those of you who want to learn a little more about electric cars in general, read on to get a better understanding of just how this exciting new way to travel is slowly becoming the norm for British roads. The future is well and truly here.
Chapter 1.
What you need to know about electric cars
It may be that you’re interested in trying out an electric car yourself, but just haven’t found the courage to take that leap of faith. If that’s you – or even if you’re just interested to find out more about this unique breed of vehicle – here are some of the most important things you should know.
Electric car statistics – How the world is adapting
While electric cars may have once seemed like an unrealistic and impractical way to travel, the technological advancements made throughout the 21st Century have meant that the prevalence of this type of vehicle on the road has soared.
The drivers of the world have seen the merits of electric alternatives, with more people seeming to place a focus on sustainable and environmentally friendly alternatives.
The numbers strongly support that, with exponential growth demonstrated on a consistent basis on electric vehicle sales since 2013. Figures from Virta show that, with the exception of 2019, the global electric market saw a rise of at least 43% in growth every year until 2020.
The full numbers showed:
The drop in growth to just 9% in 2019 may have initially implied a declining interest in electric vehicles. In reality, it was the combination of the industry’s hugely successful 2018 and the first throws of the COVID-19 pandemic in China, which triggered this sudden slide. As we enter 2021 and beyond, the numbers appear to be back on track.
The total number of electric cars on the road sailed to as high as 10 million, which was itself a 41% rise on the figure at the end of the previous year (and up significantly from just 1.2 million at the end of 2015).
Across the globe, powerhouses like China, the US and most of Europe have all begun to adopt this new and more sustainable form of transport. IEA highlighted in their 2021 Global EV Outlook how each of these regions has readily adopted electric, with the numbers showing:
Within Europe, Germany and the United Kingdom are amongst the leading names in terms of the pure number of vehicles being registered. The Germans saw an increase of 395,000, while UK numbers increased by 176,000.
But it is in Scandinavia where the concept of electric transport has been most readily adopted. The three leading countries for the percentage of new car sales being electric across the globe were:
Perhaps most encouragingly of all for the market is the news that both plug-in and pure electric battery options have seen significant and continued growth. Numbers of registrations for both across the past five years show:
Right now, everything is pointing towards an electric takeover at some point in the next decade..
The future of electric cars and the road
With the 2030 ban on selling petrol and diesel cars set to come into effect in the not-too-distant future, electric cars currently stand as the most viable alternative. But just how is this shift to a more sustainable form of transport going to translate on British roads?
Some of the most impactful changes we could see include:
Widescale electric vehicle (EV) adoption
One of the most common features of a largely electric future will be a steady and continued rise in the number of battery and plug-in powered cars we see on roads. In truth, as our figures have shown, this is something that is happening as we speak.
Charging points
The need to regularly stop and charge a car might seem like a hassle, but, with a higher percentage of EVs on the road, accommodations will be made to ensure there is an ample supply of charging points. Once again, this is something which has seen a rapid rise in recent years. Between just 2016 and June of 2021, numbers have increased from roughly 6,000 to just under 25,000 in the UK.
Synergy with other technology
This continued popularity and growth is sure to open up new avenues of opportunity for tech industries. Driverless cars are perhaps the most intriguing prospect – with this technology relying heavily on the need for electrical automation.
Smart motorways
While this is still something of a pipe dream right now, provisions have been put in place to start thinking about a self-charging smart motorway. This would eliminate the need to constantly stop and recharge a car, with vehicles being constantly topped up as they travel.
Sustainability rates of electric cars
Even the most staunch supporter of traditional internal combustion engines (ICE) can’t deny the environmental advantages an electric car offers. In fact, the numbers show that just one electric car can save as much as 1.5 metric tonnes of CO2 across a year when compared to a combustion engine. To put that in perspective, that’s as many as four return flights from London to Barcelona.
But what other environmental benefits does driving an electric car offer?
Recycled products
Some (although not all) electric cars have parts and fittings which are made from exclusively recycled materials. This is more commonly the case with their internal features (like seats, trims and dashboards).
Health benefits
With fewer exhaust emissions to the surrounding air that you breath and contribute to climate change, you and those around you are bound to naturally benefit from a cleaner, healthier environment.
Efficiency
An electric car can use as much as 90% of energy generated to become motion energy. By comparison, a combustion engine will average roughly 20-30%. This efficiency means less goes to waste.
Heightened vehicle safety
While it’s often overlooked, the nature of an electric car’s construction means it is inherently safer. They benefit from a number of design features which makes the car less of a risk. Those include:
A lower centre of gravity (reducing the chances of rolling over)
A much lower risk of fires and explosions
A tougher body structure, to make them more durable in a collision
Chapter 2.
How far can you go on a single charge?
It used to be that electric vehicles were criticised because of their battery life. In the 2020s, things are very different – with some cars even able to go as far on one charge as an average-sized fuel tank.
But just how far can they go? Use our interactive tool to work out how far each of the electric cars we’ve focused on can travel after just one full charge.
The future of electric cars and the road
As you can see, you’ll get quite far on just the one charge these days. But there are ways to ensure you really get the maximum out of your car. Try these handy tips:
Make sure to keep all of these in mind if you want to go as far as possible on just one charge.
Chapter 3.
Planning for a long distance journey
Now that you better appreciate the range of your electric car, it’s time to put that battery to use. Heading away on a road trip is always rewarding – and an increasingly popular option in the age of COVID-19. Let’s explore everything you need to keep in mind when hitting the open road.
Charging your electric car
While this is a lot easier to manage than in the past, some consideration still needs to be made when planning out the battery management of your car. Follow this handy advice to ensure you aren’t caught out when you travel:
Packing essential items
No matter where you’re going, there are a handful of essential items which make any road trip much easier. Whether it’s to keep you on course, or just to provide some home comforts, these are amongst the most important to keep in mind for your trip:
Staying awake and alert
Safety on the road is paramount, whether you’re driving for five minutes or five hours. The key to lowering your chances of causing an accident is to make sure you’re as alert as possible every time you get behind the wheel. Here are some of the most important and effective ways of doing just that:
A good night’s sleep
Nothing beats getting a full night of rest when it comes to feeling awake and alert. Having the chance to refresh and recharge is why we sleep in the first place – so make sure to always get enough by going to bed at a reasonable time the night before a long journey.
Shifts
If you’re lucky enough to be on the journey with another driver, make sure to take it in turns behind the wheel. This will give you both the much-needed time to relax and not have to worry about concentrating on the task at hand.
Take breaks
Whether you’re sharing shifts or not, it’s also wise to take regular breaks. The Highway Code recommends stopping for at least 15 minutes every two hours as a guideline. Your body will know when it’s time to take a little break.
Top tips for a long trip with a young family
Keeping little ones entertained can be a challenge at the best of times, let alone on long car trips. Thankfully, you’re not the first to experience this hurdle. Here are some of the most tried-and-tested methods to keep the kids satisfied while you drive:
The climate emergency is the biggest threat to civilisation we have ever faced. But there is good news: we already have every tool we need to beat it. The challenge is not identifying the solutions, but rolling them out with great speed.
Some key sectors are already racing ahead, such as electric cars. They are already cheaper to own and run in many places – and when the purchase prices equal those of fossil-fueled vehicles in the next few years, a runaway tipping point will be reached.
Electricity from renewables is now the cheapest form of power in most places, sometimes even cheaper than continuing to run existing coal plants. There’s a long way to go to meet the world’s huge energy demand, but the plummeting costs of batteries and other storage technologies bodes well.
And many big companies are realising that a failure to invest will be far more expensive as the impacts of global heating destroy economies. Even some of the biggest polluters, such as cement and steel, have seen the green writing on the wall.
Buildings are big emitters but the solution – improved energy efficiency – is simple to achieve and saves the occupants money, particularly with the cost of installing technology such as heat pumps expected to fall.
Stopping the razing of forests requires no technology at all, but it does require government action. While progress is poor – and Bolsonaro’s Brazil is going backwards – countries such as Indonesia have shown regulatory action can be effective. Protecting and restoring forests, particularly by empowering indigenous people, is a potent tool.
Recognition of the role food and farming play in driving global heating is high, and the solutions, from alternatives to meat to regenerative farming, are starting to grow. As with fossil fuels, ending vast and harmful subsidies is key, and there are glimmers of hope here, too.
In the climate crisis, every fraction of a degree matters and so every action reduces people’s suffering. Every action makes the world a cleaner and better place to live – by, for example, cutting the air pollution that ends millions of lives a year.
The real fuel for the green transition is a combination of those most valuable and intangible of commodities: political will and skill. The supply is being increased by demands for action from youth strikers to chief executives, and must be used to face down powerful vested interests, such as the fossil fuel, aviation and cattle industries. The race for a sustainable, low-carbon future is on, and the upcoming Cop26 climate talks in Glasgow will show how much faster we need to go.
Transport
Responsible for 14-28% of global greenhouse gas emissions, transport has been slow to decarbonise, and faces particular challenges in areas such as long-haul flight.
But technical solutions are available, if the will, public policy and spending are there, too. Electric cars are the most obvious: petrol and diesel vehicles will barely be produced in Europe within the decade. EV sales are accelerating everywhere, with the likes of Norway well past the tipping point, and cheaper electric vehicles coming from China have cut the fumes from buses. Meanwhile, combustion engines are ever more efficient and less polluting.
Employees on the assembly line for electric buses in Xi an, Shaanxi province, China. Photograph: Visual China Group/Getty Images
Bike and scooter schemes are growing rapidly as cities around the world embrace electric micromobility. Far cleaner ships for global freight are coming. The potential of hydrogen is growing, for cleaner trains where electrification is impractical, to be followed by ships and even, one day, planes. Manufacturers expect short-haul electric aircraft much sooner. Most of all, the pandemic has shown that a world without hypermobility is possible – and that many people will accept, or even embrace, a life where they commute and travel less. Gwyn Topham
Deforestation
Deforestation and land use change are the second-largest source of human-caused greenhouse gas emissions. The destruction of the world’s forests has continued at a relentless pace during the pandemic, with millions of hectares lost, driven by land-clearing in the Brazilian Amazon.
Volunteers plant mangrove tree seedlings in a conservation area on Dupa beach, Indonesia. Photograph: Basri Marzuki/NurPhoto/REX/Shutterstock
But there are reasons for hope. The UK has put nature at the heart of its Cop26 presidency and behind the scenes, the government is pushing hard for finance and new commitments from forested nations to protect the world’s remaining carbon banks. Indonesia and Malaysia, once global hotspots of deforestation, have experienced significant falls in recent years, the result of increased restrictions on palm oil plantations. However, the 2000s soy moratorium in Brazil shows these trends are reversible. Finally, there is a growing recognition of the importance of indigenous communities to protecting the world’s forests and biodiversity. In the face of racism and targeted violence, a growing number of studies and reports show they are the best guardians of the forest. Empowering those communities will be vital to ending deforestation. Patrick Greenfield
Technology
Emissions from technology companies, including direct emissions, emissions from electricity use and other operations such as manufacturing, account for 0.3% of global carbon emissions, while emissions from cryptocurrencies is a huge emerging issue.
Mining – the process in which a bitcoin is awarded to a computer that solves a complex series of algorithms – is a deeply energy-intensive process and only gets more energy-intensive as the algorithms grow more complex. But new mining methods are lighter, environmentally. A system called “proof of stake” has a 99% lower carbon footprint.
Researchers pose for a group photo at the International Research Center of Big Data for Sustainable Development Goals in Beijing, China. The centre was inaugurated to support the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Photograph: Xinhua/REX/Shutterstock
Scrutiny of the whole sector is increasing, spearheaded by tech workers who walked out in their hundreds to join climate change marches in 2019. The companies have pledged to do better: Amazon aims to be net zero carbon by 2040 and powered with 100% renewable energy by 2025. Facebook has a target of net zero emissions for its entire supply chain by 2030 and Microsoft has pledged to become carbon negative by 2030. Apple has committed to become carbon-neutral across its whole supply chain by 2030.
They’re still falling short when it comes to delivering, but employee groups continue to push. Kari Paul
Business
For decades Exxon Mobil has arguably been corporate America’s biggest climate change denier. But this year, the activist investor Engine No 1 won three seats on the company’s board with an agenda to force the company to finally acknowledge and confront the climate crisis.
Across corporate America and all around the world there are signs of change. The Federal Reserve, the world’s most powerful central bank, is beefing up its climate team. BlackRock, the world’s biggest investor, has made environmental sustainability a core goal for the company.
This isn’t about ideology: it’s about “common sense.” According to BlackRock, failure to tackle climate change is simply bad for business. The investor calculates that 58% of the US will suffer economic decline by 2060-2080 if nothing is done.
Much more needs to be done, and some question whether corporate America can really solve this crisis without government action. But the days of denial are over – what matters now is action. Dom Rushe
Electricity
The rocketing global market price for gas has ripped through world economies, forcing factories to close, triggering blackouts in China, and threatening to cool the global economic recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic.
But it has also spelled out a clear economic case for governments to redouble their efforts in developing homegrown, low-carbon electricity systems.
The good news is that renewable energy is ready to step up and play a greater role in electricity systems across the globe.
A woman completes paperwork by the light of solar-powered lamps in a village shop for solar products. Photograph: Kunal Gupta/Climate Visuals Countdown
The precipitous fall in the price of wind and solar energy has helped to incentivise fresh investments in electricity vehicles and energy storage technologies, such as batteries, where costs are plummeting too. Soon, wind and solar power will help to produce green hydrogen, which can be stored over long periods of time to generate electricity during days that are a little less bright or breezy.
All of these advances are made possible by cheap renewables, and will help countries to use more renewable energy too. There has never been a better time to step back from gas and go green. Jillian Ambrose
Buildings
The built environment is one of our biggest polluters, responsible for about 40% of global carbon emissions.
Over the past two decades, the carbon footprint of buildings “in use” has been greatly reduced by energy-saving technologies – better insulation, triple-glazing, and on-site renewables such as solar panels and ground-source heat pumps. Onheat pumps, the UK lags far behind: Norway, through a mixture of grants and high electricity prices, has installed more than 600 heat pumps for every 1,000 households.
As national energy grids are decarbonising, the focus is shifting to reducing the “embodied energy” of materials – which can account for up to three-quarters of a building’s emissions over its lifespan – for example by reducing the amount of concrete and steel in favour of timber.
The Vertical Forest in the Porta Nuova district in Milan. Photograph: Miguel Medina/AFP/Getty
There is also a growing movement to prioritise refurbishment and reuse over demolition, driven by the realisation that the most sustainable buildings are the ones that already exist. Oliver Wainwright
Food and farming
The hoofprint of the global livestock industry is a significant one, accounting for about 14% of total annual greenhouse gas emissions. But it is increasingly recognised and accepted by national governments.
New Zealand now has a legal commitment to reduce methane emissions from agriculture by 10% by 2030, while Denmark has passed a legally binding target to reduce climate emissions from the agricultural sector by 55% by 2030.
While global meat production is increasing, there is a growing shift towards fish and poultry, which have a comparatively lower emissions footprint than red meats. The food industry is also developing a range of lower-carbon products using plant-based proteins such as soy and pea, and insect and lab-grown meat alternatives. Tom Levitt
Manufacturing
Decarbonising the manufacturing of every product needed by a modern economy is a vast and varied task. Some sectors are well on their way. For instance, Apple, the world’s third-largest maker of mobile phones by volume, has pledged to produce net zero carbon throughout its supply chain by 2030.
For many others, advances in efficiency of factories and their products will be accelerated by machine learning and other artificial intelligence technologies that are still in their infancy. There are even hopeful signs in some of the hardest sectors to decarbonise, such as plans by Volvo to replace coal with hydrogen in the steel it uses in cars.
One of the greatest reasons for optimism is manufacturers’ increasing awareness of circular design principles. Making products easier to recycle from the start will help to cut emissions from fresh resource extraction– although a bigger question remains as to whether rich societies can reduce consumption, the most obvious way to cut emissions. Jasper Jolly
Now, with 70 percent of carbon dioxide emissions emanating from cities, a new initiative promoting integrated approaches to urban development aims to reduce their ecological footprint. And pioneers of the project hope to see it adopted by cities worldwide.
UrbanShift, led by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), will support 23 cities to develop a range of strategies, such as green infrastructure, low-carbon transport systems and schemes to reduce or recycle waste. The initiative is being run in partnership with the Global Environment Facility (GEF), World Resources Institute (WRI), World Bank, Asian Development Bank, C40 Cities and others.
You don’t solve just a transport problem and then an urban planning problem and then an energy problem; you find solutions that actually help you do all these things together.”
Aniruddha Dasgupta, president and CEO, World Resources Institute
The programme is being rolled out in Argentina, Brazil, China, Costa Rica, India, Indonesia, Morocco, Rwanda and Sierra Leone, with the hope that it will create conversations about sustainable cities across the world.
“The noise around what these cities are accomplishing can very much lead to other cities adopting it on their own – and that’s obviously what we want, shifting that global discourse and actions towards a more sustainable future,” said Inger Andersen, executive director at UNEP, speaking at an event to launch UrbanShift in late September.
“We will advocate for sustainable investments to ensure that the cities we build in the future […] are aligned not only with key sustainable infrastructure but also with critical investments in nature-based solutions and ecosystem restoration.”
Population explosion
The proportion of people living in urban areas worldwide is predicted to increase from 55 percent in 2018 to 68 percent by 2050, according to UN figures, with close to 90 percent of the growth forecast to occur in Asia and Africa.
Speaking at the launch event, Carlos Manuel Rodríguez, chief executive and chair of the GEF, said rapid rural to urban migration in recent years meant environmental policies had often not been geared towards sustainability in cities. “In just a matter of a decade and a half, many of the countries in the global South have gone from these rural-based economies into an urban life,” he said.
As a city leader now, it is necessary to solve multiple problems at the same time, said Aniruddha Dasgupta, president and chief executive of WRI — for example, creating jobs in the wake of the pandemic while also protecting nature and decarbonising practices.
“You don’t solve just a transport problem and then an urban planning problem and then an energy problem; you find solutions that actually help you do all these things together,” he said.
Among its aims, UrbanShift will seek to avoid more than 130 million tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions and restore 1 million hectares of land, while impacting the lives of over 58 million people in the target cities.
Building momentum
Speaking to SciDev.Net, Tobias Kühner, an international consultant and researcher in urban planning at the University of Brasilia in Brazil, said UrbanShift recognised the need to solve the challenges facing cities. However, he questioned whether it seemed different enough from previous initiatives to have a much broader impact.
“Most [urban initiatives] are developed in the global North, which I think is a big disadvantage,” said Kühner. It would be interesting, he said, to see initiatives driven by South-South collaborations and in smaller-sized cities that often get less attention.
Sheela Patel, founder and director of the India-based Society for the Promotion of Area Resource Centers, raised concerns that informal settlements were cited in UrbanShift’s brochure as a specific focus area in only one country — Rwanda — and often remain outside the focus of investments. “All these organisations champion adaptation and resilience-building, but a social justice lens is not obvious as a critical central element of this process,” she added.
The brochure does, however, highlight that 25 percent of city dwellers live in informal settlements, most of whom are women.
Luan Santos, a professor and researcher in sustainable finance and investment at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, believes the project could be helpful in stimulating dialogue and resources for dealing with environmental impacts. “The environmental and climate agenda in Brazil has not been prioritised in the current government, which is why the issue of financing becomes even more critical,” he said.
This piece was produced by SciDev.Net’s Global desk.
The world is poised to make a big leap forward at the UN Cop26 climate summit, with world leaders “sharpening their pencils” to make fresh commitments that could put the goals of the 2015 Paris agreement within reach, John Kerry has said.
Kerry, special envoy for climate to Joe Biden, gave an upbeat assessment of the prospects for Cop26, which begins in Glasgow at the end of this month, saying he anticipated “surprising announcements” from key countries.
“The measure of success at Glasgow is we will have the largest, most significant increase in ambition [on cutting emissions] by more countries than everyone ever imagined possible. A much larger group of people are stepping up,” he said in an interview with the Guardian. “I know certain countries are working hard right now on what they can achieve.”
Kerry cautioned that there was “still a lot of distance to travel in the next four weeks” and that the progress he anticipated was not yet “signed, sealed and delivered”. That view echoes private soundings the Guardian has taken from the UK hosts, the UN and other key figures.
But he said Cop26 could set the scene for further progress to follow swiftly. “There is not a wall that comes down after Glasgow,” said Kerry. “It is the starting line for the rest of the decade.”
But Kerry, one of the pivotal figures at the talks, also acknowledged the outcome would fall short of a fully fledged deal meeting the aims of the Paris accord, which binds nations to hold global heating to “well below” 2C, with an aspirational limit of 1.5C.
Kerry delivers a speech at Cop25 in Madrid in 2019. Photograph: Fernando Villar/EPA
“Will it be that every country has signed on and locked in? The answer is no, that will not happen,” he said. “But it is possible to reach that if [Cop26 creates] enough momentum.”
He said: “Glasgow has to show strong commitment to keeping 1.5C in reach, but that does not mean every country will get there. We acknowledge that there will be a gap [between the emissions cuts countries offer and those needed for a 1.5C limit]. The question is, will we have created a critical mass? We are close to that. If we have some more countries stepping up in the next weeks, we have something to build on.”
Under the 2015 Paris agreement, 197 parties – every government bar a few failed states – agreed to hold global temperature rises to “well below” 2C above pre-industrial levels, while “pursuing efforts” to stay within 1.5C. But the commitments governments made on cutting emissions at Paris, called nationally determined contributions (NDCs), were too weak, and would lead to more than 3C of heating, so countries also agreed to return every five years to ratchet up their ambitions.
Those commitments should be made at the two-week Glasgow summit, which begins on 31 October, having been postponed for a year because of Covid-19, to be attended by more than 120 world leaders. In the six years since Paris, scientists have presented a clearer warning of the dangers of allowing temperatures to rise beyond the tougher 1.5C limit, so the declared aim of the UK hosts is to “keep 1.5C alive” by gathering enough NDCs, climate finance and pledges to phase out coal and preserve forests, to make that possible.
Staying within the 1.5C threshold would require carbon emissions to fall by 45% this decade, but apart from a brief plunge owing to Covid-19 lockdowns, emissions are still rising and are forecast to show their second-strongest leap on record this year. Despite new NDCs from the US, the UK, the EU and others, in total the commitments so far would lead to a 16% rise in emissions.
China, the world’s biggest emitter, will be key to any hopes of a strong outcome at Cop26, but has yet to submit a new NDC. The president, Xi Jinping, who has not left China since the start of the pandemic, has not said whether he will come to Glasgow.
Kerry said Cop26 could still be a success if Xi did not attend. “I am hopeful that President Xi is very much engaged and is personally making decisions, and personally committed,” he said, pointing to a long phone call between Xi and Biden recently in which the climate was discussed. “There was a very clear commitment to work with the US to achieve our goals. We are very hopeful.”
Another positive sign, he said, was that rich nations were close to fulfilling a longstanding pledge that developing countries would receive $100bn (£73bn) a year in financial assistance to help them cut emissions and cope with the effects of extreme weather, which has so far been missed. Biden recently vowed to double the US pledge of climate finance to $11bn a year by 2024, and other countries have stepped up their efforts, leading the climate economist Nicholas Stern to predict that the $100bn target would be met next year.
Xi Jinping remotely attends the Leaders Summit on Climate in April. Photograph: Xinhua/Rex/Shutterstock
“We need to get $100bn locked in, whether that is this year or next year. I believe we are going to be there with the money President Biden offered,” Kerry said.
He said countries must also agree to reform fossil fuel subsidies, which amount to hundreds of billions a year. “If you want a definition of insanity, it’s subsidising the very problem you are trying to solve,” he said.
Kerry, a longstanding US senator who challenged George W Bush for the presidency and served as US secretary of state under Barack Obama when the Paris agreement was signed, is embarking on a final hectic round of diplomacy in the next few weeks, with meetings planned with Russia, China, Mexico and Saudi Arabia. World leaders will also meet for the G20 summit in the days before they arrive in Glasgow.
In those meetings, Kerry will point to the commitments Biden has made domestically, including phasing out fossil fuels from electricity generation and reducing emissions from cars. “The US is heading to a post-2035 future where our power sector will be carbon-free. That is not a small step. I hope that can encourage other countries too, with regard to what they might be trying to achieve.”
He will also emphasise the technological advances that could help countries to move faster. “There is a massive amount of money and energy going to bringing these [clean technologies] up to scale,” he said.
Kerry was also confident the US’s post-pandemic infrastructure bill, which Biden hopes to be the engine of a “green recovery”, but which may be scaled back from the $3.5tn envisaged amid opposition and delays, would be passed.
Asked if he was worried about there being any upsets at the Cop26 conference, Kerry said: “I’m not succumbing to any fear at this point. Keep going, straight ahead.”
Alok Sharma, the UK cabinet minister and president-designate of Cop26, travelled to the French capital on Tuesday to call for world leaders to reprise the spirit of the Paris agreement, and come forward urgently with fresh commitments. He said: “Cop26 is not a photo op or a talking shop. It must be the forum where we put the world on track to deliver on climate. And that is down to leaders … Responsibility rests with each and every country, and we must all play our part. Because on climate, the world will succeed or fail as one.”
Google announced a suite of new features that it says will help people who use their platforms make more sustainable choices. The new services focus on reducing planet-heating greenhouse gas emissions and are primarily found on Search, Maps, Travel, and Nest.
But before we get into the details of how their new tools work, a quick note of context; some environmental advocates have called out companies for shifting responsibility for the climate crisis onto individual consumers. Holding big corporate polluters accountable for their emissions far outweighs any one consumers’ individual impact. And Wednesday’s announcements from Google aren’t really designed to reduce the company’s own carbon footprint.
That being said, there’s no time to lose to the prevent the climate crisis from getting worse, and every bit of emissions-savings helps. For those who might want some new tools to rein in their own emissions, here’s a breakdown of what Google just announced.
HOLDING BIG CORPORATE POLLUTERS ACCOUNTABLE FOR THEIR EMISSIONS FAR OUTWEIGHS ANY ONE CONSUMERS’ INDIVIDUAL IMPACT.
SEARCH
Sometime this month, Google plans to switch up the way results for “climate change” appear in its Search platform. Users will be led to a dedicated results page with “high quality climate-related information,” according to Google. It plans to source content from reputable authorities on the subject, including the United Nations.
The company also says it wants to make it easier for consumers to see more eco-friendly options when shopping on Google. By “early next year,” when users based in the US search for car models and manufacturers, Google will also show results for hybrid and electric vehicles. When searching for a particular electric vehicle, users will also find nearby charging stations that are compatible with the model.
Similarly, Google users in the US should begin to see suggestions Wednesday for more energy efficient home appliances when shopping online. That applies to searches for furnaces, dishwashers, water heaters, stoves, and dryers.
Google, however, did not announce any changes to searches on YouTube, which is a big platform for misinformation and lies about climate change. Of the top 100 videos that pop up when searching for “global warming,” 20 percent of views are for videos rife with misinformation, according to one recent analysis by nonprofit Avaaz. Google has also not met its own employees’ demands that it cancel contracts with fossil fuel companies or stop funding and lobbying for candidates that derail climate action.
MAPS
Starting Wednesday, people in the US can see which driving routes are the most fuel-efficient when using Google Maps. (The company originally announced in March that this feature was on the way.) Fuel efficiency cuts down on both gas costs and tailpipe pollution. When the most fuel-efficient route is also the fastest, Google Maps will default to that option. If the fuel-efficient route is slower, the app will show users their options so that they can make an educated decision on which to choose. Users in Europe will be able to do the same starting in 2022, according to Google.
That will, in theory, help individual Google Maps users reduce their CO2 emissions. A passenger vehicle typically releases just under five metric tons of CO2 a year. And a person in the US, which has one of the highest rates of per capita emissions in the world, might be responsible for about 18 metric tons a year. Google, on the other hand, unleashed 12,529,953 metric tons of CO2 into the atmosphere in 2019. That’s roughly equivalent to more than 2.73 million passenger vehicles’ pollution in a year.
Google’s new Lite Navigation for cyclists. GIF: Google
TRAVEL
When searching for flights through Google, starting Wednesday, users will now be able to see the carbon dioxide emissions associated with each flight. They’ll even be able to see how their seat choice affects their individual carbon footprint. Taking a seat in business or first class increases the amount of pollution you’re responsible for, since they take up more space and therefore a larger share of the plane’s emissions. Choosing a more fuel efficient itinerary can actually cut CO2 pollution from a given route by as much as 63 percent, recent research found.
Christchurch leaders are considering joining a United Nations-linked climate change initiative that could lead to parts of the city becoming “zero emission zones”, meaning no petrol-guzzling cars, by 2025.
Christchurch City Council staff have recommended signing up to the Race to Zero climate initiative, following an invitation from Auckland mayor Phil Goff. Auckland and Wellington are both part of the initiative, which encompasses more than 730 cities worldwide.
The initiative encourages cities to pledge to reduce carbon emissions, come up with interim and long-term targets, take action on those targets, and produce annual reports showing their progress.
Councillor Sara Templeton backed the initiative, saying cities needed to work together while Cr Aaron Keown said it was just more virtue signalling.
Council staff say joining the initiative would reinforce the council’s commitment to “strong climate action” – but also admit that joining would be a “largely a symbolic move” and it would not require any significant additional council resources.
Keown said the initiative “was another group-think on how we’re going to change the planet without changing the planet”.
“Action leads to action,” he said. “You saying to me ‘I’m going to be an All Black’ – but you aren’t even playing rugby at the moment – isn’t going to get you to be an All Black.”
Cr Aaron Keown says joining the Race to Zero climate initiative will be more virtue-signalling. “Action leads to action,” he says. JOE JOHNSON/STUFF
“The actions are way more important than words on a piece of paper, but joining with others and working together is also really important, and we can’t do it alone,” she said.
“Being able to share resources, having those contacts, and reaffirming our commitment are really important.”
Cr Sara Templeton says while actions are more important than words, working with other cities is also really important. CHRIS SKELTON/STUFF
Council staff noted the practical benefit of the initiative would be accessing information and lessons from other cities involved.
If councilors decided to join the initiative, they must also select at least one action from a list of 23 to undertake before the end of the year.
Council staff recommended selecting a single action, one that called for the expansion of access to walking, cycling, and other transport methods as well as identifying areas suitable for becoming “zero emission zones” by 2025.
Staff said this action was “a direction the council already supports”, but noted identifying the zero emission zones would be a new piece of work. Identifying potential zones did not necessarily mean they would be implemented.
The council’s head of strategic policy, Emma Davis, said the zones would be areas promoting zero emission transport, such as walking, cycling, public transport or electric vehicles.
Residents and businesses in the zone would benefit from cleaner, healthier air and quieter streets, she said.
“The size and location of any potential future zero emission zones have not yet been identified”. Davis said the staff recommendation presently was only to explore the merits of these zones.
Nelson and Wellington residents tied for first in the regional battle for the lowest carbon footprint. But while Nelson’s total emissions had the largest decrease between 2018 and 2019, according to Statistics NZ data, the capital’s headed in the opposite direction.
Both regions produced 6.6 tonnes of carbon dioxide for every resident in 2019. Auckland came in third place, with a per-person total of 6.7 tonnes.
At the other end of the spectrum, Southland produces nearly nine times as much greenhouse gas for every resident, courtesy of its dairy farms and the Tiwai Point aluminium smelter. Taranaki and Waikato had the second and third highest figures.
In 2019, experts advised the world to cut greenhouse gas output by about 8 per cent a year, to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius. Data released Wednesday suggests Nelson residents took that call to heart.
Households slashed their footprints by 19 per cent, according to the Statistics NZ report. Personal travel pollution fell from 110 tonnes in 2018 to 88 tonnes. Emissions from primary industries in the region also plummeted by 12 per cent. Some of these gains were offset by slight rises in pollution from manufacturing, electricity generation and waste.
Nelson residents’ annual footprint of 6.6 tonnes is even more impressive considering it does not have as many jobs in government departments, head offices and financial services as Wellington or Auckland.
Although small, the Nelson region recorded the largest emissions decrease, as total emissions fell 8 per cent in 2019. MARTIN DE RUYTER/STUFF
Nelson City councillor Kate Fulton has worked for 11 years to achieve emissions cuts in the region.
“It’s very exciting to see stats like that, because you think we’re heading in the right direction,” she added.
“People really started to pay attention when we had a couple of years of heavy rainfall events – and in 2018, Cyclone Gita and Fehi really impacted our region – and then we had a very dry summer and some intense fires. It was around the same time fires were happening in Australia and Brazil. Perhaps people are seeing the effects of climate change now in their immediate environment plus in parts of the world that they love, and that makes them want to do more individually.”
On the transport front, the council has encouraged people to minimise car journeys, and walk and cycle where they can. But with neighbouring Tasman’s transport emissions rising, there’s more work to do, she added.
“We’ve really supporting things like minimising and diverting food waste from landfill and increased the planting of trees.”
Cities rely on other regions for food and power, and must help ease that burden, Fulton said. To help reduce emissions in Nelson and at Waikato’s Huntly power plant, the council is encouraging new houses that are central, connected, high performing and installed with solar panels.
“We need to really think about how our personal choices benefit the country, plus the planet.”
All up, Nelson cut 8 per cent off its footprint – the best result in the country. Close neighbour Tasman also had a reasonable drop: 3.9 per cent.
Solar panels on homes around the country could help Waikato to produce fewer emissions, a Nelson councillor suggests. SUPPLIED
Gases also fell 1.5 per cent in Canterbury, as animal numbers declined. Since the province’s total is so large, this translated into an emissions reduction equivalent to 180,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide, Statistics NZ found.
But these efforts failed to counteract the large increases in other areas. Altogether, national emissions rose 2.1 per cent.
Emissions are allocated to the region where they are created. So all the emissions from the Huntly power plant are added into Waikato’s tally, even though many regions rely on its electricity.
The data also doesn’t count regions’ carbon sinks, for example the carbon sucked up by native forests.
Wellington had a mixed year. Households contribute the bulk of the capital’s pollution, and emissions from personal travel had a 1.9 percent bump in 2019. The region includes farms on the Kāpiti Coast and the Wairarapa, where agricultural gases rose by 5.2 percent. Transport and logistics had a small rise.
But in 2019, 6700 new residents shifted to the capital. So while the city’s total pollution rose, it was still able to tie with Nelson for the smallest per-person footprint.
Due to its service industries and high population, Wellington had the lowest per-capita carbon footprint (tied with Nelson). 123RF
Greater Wellington Regional councillor Thomas Nash said the rise was still disappointing. “Really it’s the total amount that matters for the climate,” he added. “We need to be able to welcome more people into our towns and cities in this region without increasing emissions and in fact, while decreasing emissions.”
That would mean funding public transport, allowing high-density and connected housing and supporting farmers to produce lower-emissions food and drink, Nash said. “There should be a national and regional focus on natural infrastructure… healthy soil, native wetlands, native forest, coastal environments.”
The capital relies on economic activity elsewhere to power its service-based economy. Exports from agriculture and heavy industries keep the economy humming (particularly during the pandemic).
Because of farms and metal-making, Southland’s per-resident carbon footprint remained the highest in the country for the second year in a row. The data shows the dollars these industries bring come at a high carbon cost.
For every million dollars of GDP, Southland produces more than 900 tonnes of carbon dioxide – also the highest in the country. Wellington has the lowest: under 90 tonnes for every million in GDP.
However, Southland’s emissions fell a smidgen – 0.5 percent – in 2019, even as 1000 people shifted to the province.
Of all the regions, Waikato had the biggest emissions blow out, with a 7.5 percent rise. Low rainfall in 2019 meant generation by the hydro dams fell. Power plants, including Huntly, picked up the slack.
Waikato could record similar increases in 2020 and 2021, as record amounts of coal have been imported in the last two years, due to low hydro generation and gas shortages.
The region’s household emissions also had a significant rise, mostly from a large increase in personal travel. This could be explained by the nearly 10,000 people that moved to the area in 2019, with some continuing to commute to Auckland.
Waikato’s emissions added to Auckland’s and Canterbury’s figures contribute nearly 50 percent of the country’s greenhouse pollution, said Statistics NZ’s Stephen Oakley.
That’s expected, given the high concentration of agriculture and industry, plus higher populations, in these areas.
Compared to national emission data, the regional breakdown helps central and local governments understand how best to start reducing gases, he added. “When you look across all of the 16 regions, you can see that different regions have different things that are driving it.”
Here are the highs and lows for each region:
NORTHLAND
Share of emissions: 6 percent
The bad news: Emissions rose 2.3 percent between 2018 and 2019, higher than the national average. This was mostly from manufacturing.
The good news: Agricultural emissions fell by 4.8 percent, though this could be due to farmers reacting to drought conditions, which have plagued the region.
AUCKLAND
Share of emissions: 13.7 percent
The bad news: Greenhouse pollution from manufacturing and agriculture increased. In total, emissions rose by 1.4 percent.
The good news: Emissions from households fell, as people drove less. The region has one of the lowest per-capita carbon footprints, at 6.7 tonnes per resident.
Like many regions, the City of Sails recorded a rise in total emissions between 2018 and 2019, though people drove less. ABIGAIL DOUGHERTY/STUFF
WAIKATO
Share of emissions: 19.1 percent
The bad news: Emissions rose by 7.5 percent in 2019. Waikato is the home of the Huntly power plant, which picks up the slack in drier conditions. Its largest source of emissions is agriculture, and this tally increased by 1.5 percent. Waikato’s personal travel emissions also shot up.
The good news: There isn’t much. Even though nearly 10,000 people moved to Waikato, it’s per-capita footprint ballooned in 2019 to 32.2 tonnes per resident.
BAY OF PLENTY
Share of emissions: 4.2 percent
The bad news: The region’s emissions rose 4.4 percent – higher than the national average. Both agricultural and manufacturing greenhouse gases rose.
The good news: Residents have the fourth-lowest per-person carbon footprint in the country.
GISBORNE
Share of emissions: 1.6 percent
The bad news: The area has the fifth-highest per-capita carbon footprint.
The good news: There’s plenty: Gisborne’s emissions fell 3.5 percent, even as its population grew in 2019. Greenhouse pollution from agriculture, forestry and fishing fell, as did household emissions.
HAWKE’S BAY
Share of emissions: 4 percent
The bad news: The region’s emissions rose 1.2 per cent from 2018 to 2019.
The good news: Household emissions fell by 3.3 per cent.
Home to the gas industry and fossil fuel-linked manufacturing, the Taranaki region has a relatively high per-capita footprint. ANDY JACKSON/TARANAKI-DAILY-NEWS
TARANAKI
Share of emissions: 7.4 percent
The bad news: Taranaki’s emissions tally rose 4 percent. Residents have the second-highest carbon footprint, at 49.5 tonnes each.
The good news: Emissions from electricity generation in the region fell.
MANAWATŪ-WHANGANUI
Share of emissions: 7.4 percent
The bad news: Manufacturing emissions jumped up 12 percent.
The good news: The region’s largest contributor to emissions, agriculture, had a 1.7 percent drop. Across all sectors, greenhouse gas output fell by 0.5 percent.
WELLINGTON
Share of emissions: 4.3 percent
The bad news: Farms and households contributed more emissions in 2019 than in 2018. All up, the capital’s tally was 2.6 percent larger (a figure above the national average).
The good news: Wellington’s population increased, so the per-person carbon footprint fell to 6.6 tonnes – the smallest in the country (tied with Nelson).
TASMAN
Share of emissions: 1 percent
The bad news: In 2019, manufacturing and construction pollution rose by 6.9 percent.
The good news: Since emissions from households and the primary industries fell, the region’s total footprint fell by 3.9 percent.
The Tasman region’s carbon tally achieved the second-largest decrease between 2018 and 2019, falling by 3.9 per cent. ALDEN WILLIAMS/STUFF
NELSON
Share of emissions: 0.4 percent
The bad news: There were small increases in manufacturing, electricity and waste emissions.
The good news: With big drops in emissions from primary industries and households, the region has earned the acclaim of the lowest per-person carbon footprint (6.6 tonnes), tied with the capital.
MARLBOROUGH
Share of emissions: 0.9 percent
The bad news: Agricultural gases rose, leading to the region’s emissions increasing by 3.4 per cent – more than the national average.
The good news: Household pollution fell by 4.9 per cent. Emissions from forestry and fishing also fell slightly.
WEST COAST
Share of emissions: 1.7 percent
The bad news: Agricultural and mining emissions both rose, causing the region’s tally to increase by 3.1 per cent. At 43.1 tonnes, the West Coast has the third-highest per-person carbon footprint.
The good news: Pollution from personal travel fell 6 per cent.
The number of dairy cows in Canterbury fell between 2018 and 2019, which contributed to the region’s emissions falling. CHRIS SKELTON/STUFF
CANTERBURY (including Chatham Islands)
Share of emissions: 14.2 percent
The bad news: Manufacturing emissions rose 6 per cent.
The good news: Agricultural gases – by far the largest share of the pie – fell by 2.6 per cent. This, along with a reduction in household pollution even as more people arrived, meant the region’s tally fell by 1.5 per cent.
OTAGO
Share of emissions: 6.4 per cent
The bad news: Agriculture also leads the pack in Otago’s emissions tally. After this sector had a 3 percent increase in emissions, the region’s total rose by 2.6 percent.
The good news: Emissions from electricity dropped slightly.
SOUTHLAND
Share of emissions: 7.4 percent
The bad news: Agriculture and manufacturing (think the aluminum smelter) are the area’s biggest contributors. With a per-capital tally of 59.9 tonnes in 2019, Southland remains an emissions-intensive region.
The good news: A drop in farming gases more than made up for an increase in manufacturing emissions, so the region’s total fell 0.5 per cent in 2019.
The maritime sector is prepared to pay extra for using clean fuel to transport its cargo over one that emits more greenhouse gases, said Søren Skou, chief executive of Danish shipping giant AP Moller-Maersk.
Speaking at a virtual session at the Ecosperity sustainability conference on Tuesday, Skou said that more than half of its 200 largest customers have met – or are in the process of setting – signed science-based or zero-carbon targets that will force them to cut emissions that directly and indirectly impact their value chains. Its major customers include German car manufacturer BMW Group and clothing multinationals H&M Group, Levi Strauss & Co. and Marks & Spencer, among others.
“We are today selling a biofuels-based carbon neutral transportation product which is growing quite nicely from a very small base. But nevertheless, there are customers out there in container shipping that are willing to pay a [green] premium [for low-carbon fuel],” Skou told panellists in the event hosted by Singapore investment firm Temasek.
Maersk signed a contract in August to secure green methanol—produced by using renewable sources such as biomass and solar energy—as the world’s largest shipping firm gears up to operate its first carbon-neutral ship in 2023. With about 90 per cent of world trade transported by sea, global shipping accounts for nearly three per cent of the world’s carbon emissions. Maersk needs to have a carbon neutral fleet by 2030 to meet its target of net-zero emissions by 2050.
While those who can afford to pay the green premium are big global brands which comprise only 10 to up to 20 per cent of the business, Skou noted that customers in other transport sectors like aviation are likewise able to pay for it.
“I think the world can actually pay for decarbonisation. We can afford this if we want to, [like adding] US$50 to the cost of an international airlines flight. For me the issue is more [about] scaling,” he said.
The scale-up of the production of new fuels will require getting global and regional regulations in place, raising efficiency standards, and gettinggovernments to cut bureaucratic red-tape and slash the time for the approval of permits for low carbon technologies, he shared.
Juliet Teo, head of transportation and logistics at Temasek, said that the only mechanism that would work would be to shift the cost of the premium to all the customers along the value chain. This could mean more expensive products for consumers.
“Unfortunately, the transportation industry has the poorest record of getting its customers to help with paying any additional fuel cost. Whether it’s extra fuel surcharge that you have to pay when you fly, or charging additional bunker costs to customers for shipping, it’s very hard. It hasn’t been very successful,” she told the panel.
Peter Vanacker, president and chief executive of Neste Corporation, a Finland-based refining company concentrating on low-emission fuels, called for regulations to be in place to adopt pricier sustainable aviation fuel (SAF), but emphasised the urgency.
SAF, made using biofuel, hydrogen or carbon, is currently more costly than traditional fossil jet fuel due to a lower availability of sustainable feedstocks – compared to widely available fossil oil – and the continuing development of new technologies. It has been used in a blend with conventional fuel since 2011, with the hope it will make up the majority as the technology matures.
“The clock is ticking and the climate crisis is here,” he said. “Do not wait until governments all over the world have agreed upon one measure of how to decarbonise the aviation industry.”
Neste has been in discussions with Temasek, the Singapore government, the national airline and Changi airport about using sustainable aviation fuels for flights departing the nation state. Its plant in Singapore will be the firm’s largest once completed in 2023.
Gates: the green premium may exclude poorer countries
Bill Gates, American tech magnate and co-chair of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, echoed how there was “no chance” for consumers, especially those from middle income countries to pay for pricier products that emit less carbon over cheaper alternatives.
“Unless that green premium is very low or is being subsidised, middle income countries will say that the rich countries did most of the emissions, so they’ll have to go solve this thing. And with [the price of] today’s premiums, there’s no chance [they would pay for it],” Gates said in a separate virtual session.
The philanthropist describes the green premium as thedifference in cost between a product that involves emitting carbon and an alternative that does not.
“I think the climate movement got very focused on near-term reductions…what can be done by 2020, and then 2030. The hard areas like how we make steel, cement, beef; how jets make long trips or cross-ocean shipping takes place – I think we are grossly under-invested in the research and new approaches in the hard [to abate] areas,” Gates said on Tuesday.
Over US$5 trillion a year in global subsidies was needed to pay for green premiums to support innovations such as carbon capture technologies and green hydrogen, according to Gates. Investment and government involvement to help increase the scale of projects beyond pilot stage could help to drive the cost down by over 90 per cent.
The cost of new technologies, innovations to curb the climate crisis will have to be reduced dramatically for middle-income countries to adopt them at scale. “The skills of the private sector, the policy and involvement of the government is very critical,” Gates said.
Green hydrogen could revolutionise energy production, helping utilities run more flexible power grids while reducing fossil fuel emissions.
Beyond plans to sell electricity transmitted to energy-hungry Asian nations, Australia is looking to become a leading producer and exporter of green hydrogen by 2030. In addition to meeting the rising demand for clean fuel domestically and overseas, this vision will also bring benefits to the Australian community and nation’s economic prosperity.
While it has been touted as the fuel of the future for the past fifty years, the wider adoption of hydrogen has had several false starts. Nevertheless, a growing number of scientists and investors believe that the falling costs of renewables, electrolysers and fuel cell technology, could help see green hydrogen become commercially viable.
“While countries committed to substantially reducing their emissions by 2030, they realised that they did not have enough tools in the toolbox,” said Alan Finkel, who served as Australia’s chief scientist until last year.
“Many people do not appreciate just how difficult it will be to decarbonise the global energy supply. It is an enormous task, and we have to use all available means to do so,” Finkel said.
Australia’s big bet
Pressure crunching on countries to drive down their greenhouse gas emissions and meet their commitments to clean-up, is driving investment in hydrogen.
Developing hydrogen for export is part of Australia’s wider efforts to wean its economy off its dependency on fossil fuels which raked in A$103 billion (US$73 billion) in export earnings in 2019.
Investment in hydrogen-related projects in Australia started to take off around 2018 with the government committing A$146 million towards developing hydrogen resources along the supply chain to “enhance Australia’s energy security, create Australian jobs and build an export industry valued in the billions”.
HyResource, a knowledge sharing-platform on Australia’s hydrogen industry, estimates that around A$1.5 billion has been funnelled into clean hydrogen projects by Australian governments, industry, and research institutions over the past three years.
There are five operating projects, 14 under construction or in advanced development and 38 projects under development as of May, according to HyResource.
Green hydrogen for homes and industry
Hydrogen Park South Australia (HyP SA), located in the Tonsley Innovation District about 20 km south of Adelaide, is the first project operating in this state, with three others under development.
HyP SA is an Australian-first facility to produce a blend of 5 per cent green hydrogen in natural gas for supply using the existing gas network.
The A$11.4 million project was delivered by Australian Gas Networks (AGN), part of the Australian Gas Infrastructure Group (AGIG), with funding of A$4.9 million from the South Australian Government.
The five-year demonstration plant commenced renewable blended gas supply to over 700 properties near the facility in May this year. It is also providing direct hydrogen supply to industry, and aims to supply hydrogen for transport in the future.
The introduction of green hydrogen reduces the amount of carbon in the gas supply network, without any changes to infrastructure or receiving household appliances, and lays the foundations for scaling-up green hydrogen projects elsewhere.
The success of this demonstration plant will be pivotal for South Australia, which has a reliable renewable energy supply and is working towards net zero carbon emissions by 2050.
Enabling technology – electrolysers
At the heart of the HyP SA facility, is a 1.25 megawatt (MW) Siemens Energy Proton Exchange Membrane (PEM) electrolyser that splits water into hydrogen and oxygen using renewable electricity, capable of producing up to 20 kg of hydrogen an hour.
This is the largest single electrolyser unit in operation in Australia today, although new projects in the development stage include electrolyser units or facilities at 10 MW or more.
PEM electrolysers are a potential solution to tackle the variable conditions by renewable energy generation, according to Siemens Energy. Electrolysers can ramp up when renewable electricity is abundant and switch off when demand is high. Integrating electrolysers into the electricity networks could also support energy stability.
The Siemens Energy electrolysis solution for making green hydrogen is based on the PEM concept. Image: Siemens Energy
There are water resource considerations to take into account, particularly in areas where there is scarcity. The PEM electrolyser uses about 15 litres of water to produce one kg of hydrogen. For future developments, there may be potential use for the oxygen by-product – such as in wastewater treatment.
“It is imperative for hydrogen producers to carefully consider water availability, especially for larger plants in remote areas. We see the potential for wastewater recycling and desalination which would add a surprisingly small amount to overall project costs,” according to Michael Bielinski, managing director of Siemens Energy Australasia.
Nevertheless, cheap renewable energy needs to be rolled out fast enough for this technology to work. This might be difficult when demand from other sectors for wind, solar and other alternative power sources is expected to rise.
Scaling up for decarbonisation
The South Australia demonstration plant is paving the way for other states to decarbonise their gas consumption and has helped to build confidence in the industry that up to 10 per cent green hydrogen natural gas blend is suitable for current use in Australia without disruption to supply.
Two projects with a higher blend rate of 10 per cent green hydrogen are in progress at Hydrogen Park (HyP) Murray Valley in Wodonga, Victoria and Hydrogen Park (HyP) Gladstone in Queensland. HyP SA is also helping to establish a domestic market for renewable hydrogen.
However, the long-term goal is to transition domestic gas supply to 100 per cent renewable by gas by 2050, with a 2040 stretch target. Research by the Australian Hydrogen Centreis underway to understand the feasibility of100 per cent hydrogen replacement of natural gas in Victoria and South Australia would look like. This also provides a strong signal to electrolyser manufacturers for the potential deployment of large-scale electrolysis.
Expanding green hydrogen potential
Natural gas replacement in people’s homes is only one example of green hydrogen use. Part of its appeal is that it could reach parts of the economy other green fuels cannot.
“The electrons in electricity are incredibly versatile, almost magical, but nevertheless, there are limits. By using zero emissions electricity to crack water, we can produce a supply of molecules that can take over where the electrons fall short,” Finkel told Eco-Business.
Finkel believes that hydrogen is the obvious solution for replacing the metallurgical coal in steelmaking that is responsible for 7 per cent or more of global greenhouse gas emissions.
“A large fraction of that metallurgical coal works as a chemical, to reduce the iron oxide to elemental iron, with carbon dioxide as a by-product. Hydrogen can replace coal in that role, acting as a chemical, to reduce the iron oxide to elemental iron, with dihydrogen oxide (water) as the by-product.”
“Ammonia made from clean hydrogen can be used as the chemical feedstock to make zero emissions fertiliser. It is also the leading contender to replace the bunker fuel that powers the world’s maritime fleet,” Finkel said.
Many of the slated export-oriented projects include electrolyser capacities that are equal to or exceed 100 MW. In addition, other hydrogen-related developmental projects have sought environmental approvals for wind and solar generation capacities over 10 GW. Timelines are under development but experts expect few will be operational in the first half of this decade.
For applications that cannot be easily electrified, green hydrogen forms the bridge between renewable electricity and carbon neutral fuels. We have no doubt that clean hydrogen will be essential to power our world in the future.
Michael Bielinski, managing director, Siemens Energy Australasia
The path to economically sustainable hydrogen
Despite being the most abundant element in the universe, hydrogen has faced its fair share of challenges.Risk management firm, DNV, identifies infrastructure and cost as two of biggest hurdles facing a transition to a global hydrogen economy.
The Australian government has set a stretch goal of ‘H2 under $2’, an ambition to reach price parity with fossil hydrogen. Including typical capital investments needed to prepare sites for electrolysis, green hydrogen can be produced for about A$6-9 per kg compared to “grey” hydrogen produced from traditional carbon intensive methods at A$1.40 per kg.
To achieve the price point of under A$2, electrolyser costs will need to fall from between A$2 and A$3 million per MW to A$500,000 per MW with the cost of electricity from solar and wind to half, according to Darren Miller, chief executive of the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA).
There is hope. Analysis by the IEA in 2019 found that the cost of producing hydrogen from renewable electricity could fall 30 per cent by 2030 as a result of the declining costs of renewables and the scaling up of hydrogen production. The cost of electrolysis equipment has fallen by around 40 per cent in the past five years while the price of solar alone has fallen by 85 per cent in the past decade.
“As more industries adopt green hydrogen energy, the total costs will continue to come down. The key to this is in scaling up production, efficient deployment methodologies and of course the ongoing reduction in renewable energy costs,” Bielinski said.
It is likely that full-scale plants will be powered by dedicated solar and wind resources depending on renewable energy requirements of all Australian hydrogen projects combined, including export.
“The key to cost savings could be hydrogen production facilities built jointly with wind/solar farms, so producers could generate power without incurring grid fees, taxes and levies,” according to analysis by Carolina Dores, co-head of the investment bank, Morgan Stanley European Utility team. While recognising that green hydrogen today is “uneconomical”, Morgan Stanley believes price parity is possible.
Developers and investors also need to factor in policy, regulatory approvals and practical issues that span construction, production, transport and storage and use, export, and demand-side regimes, according to a note by Allens, a law firm. Proving the safety case in both the workplace and for transport and storage remains key to scaling and widespread industry and community acceptance.
The Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO), who provides forecasting and planning publications for the National Electricity Market (NEM) has developed the Hydrogen Superpower Scenario – placing the hydrogen economy within the realm of possibility.
“Clean hydrogen will be crucial in the global energy transition. For applications that cannot be easily electrified, green hydrogen forms the bridge between renewable electricity and carbon neutral fuels. We have no doubt that clean hydrogen will be essential to power our world in the future,” said Bielinski.
“As a company with a strong portfolio along the energy value chain, Siemens Energy can provide the expertise and innovative technologies that will advance Australia’s hydrogen future and lead the nation’s status as a major energy leader.”
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