A really interestng article was published by the BBC this morning (and relevant to this blog of course).
According to a new report by the PBL Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency and the European Commission's Joint Research Centre, emissions in 2012 increased at less than half the average over the past decade.
Key factors for this included the shift to shale gas for energy in the US, while China increased its use of hydropower by 23%. However the use of cheap coal continues to be an issue, with UK consumption up by almost a quarter.
This has in absolute terms meant that emissions of carbon dioxide reached a new record in 2012 of 34.5bn tonnes. Although as stated the rate of increase in CO2 was 1.4%, despite the global economy growing by 3.5%. This 1.4% growth in emissions was half the average annual increase of 2.9% over the last decade. In general this development signals a shift towards less fossil-fuel intensive activities, more use of renewable energy and increased energy saving.
Looking ahead, the report suggests that if the push for shale continues in the US, if China sticks to its published plans and if renewables continue to grow - particularly in Europe - global emissions might slow down permanently. However we are still currently having increases every year which are cumulative. Since CO2 lives for 100 years in the atmosphere, thus we must act decisively soon or face dangerous climate change. Thus it is important not to get carried away, as although it is great news, an increase is still increase, slowing or not.
Also in the news today a possible superior alternative to Uranium for nuclear reactors. The radioactive element is 'Thorium', billed to be safer in reactors and significantly harder to make, if not impossible, nuclear weapons from. Given these advantageous qualities it may signal the beginning of a more widespread move towards nuclear?
Secondly, continuing on from my climate alarmism and energy prices blog, some good news for us consumers today. Energy Secretary Ed Davey has promised to cut the time it takes to switch energy supplier to improve competition and drive down prices. His "ambition" was to reduce it from the current five weeks to 24 hours, but of course added that the change would not "happen overnight". In addition Mr Davey also promised "criminal sanctions" for companies found to have manipulated the energy market i.e. if a cartel is found.
You can find the BBC summary of the PBL report here:-
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-24742770You can find the BBC summary of the PBL report here:-
And the report itself here:-
http://www.pbl.nl/en/publications/trends-in-global-co2-emissions-2013-report
Finally the other two mentioned stories (Thorium and the Energy review) are covered in much greater detail here:-
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-24638816
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-24747183
Spookiest image of a fossil fuelled smoke i could find...
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