Fossil Fuels

The “hidden cost” of our largely fossil fuel-based energy and transport systems could add up to around $25 trillion (£18 trillion) – the equivalent of more than a quarter of the world’s entire economic output. That’s according to new research, which estimates the hidden environmental, social and health costs associated with different forms of transport and electricity generation. There are many “hidden costs” associated with these systems, which occur from production to end use by humans, the researchers say. For example, the burning of fossil fuels for electricity generation not only drives damaging climate impacts such as more frequent and severe extreme weather events, but also deadly air pollution.

Independent 27th Feb 2021 read more »

Mark Carney has responded to mounting criticism of his recent claim that Brookfield – the Canadian investment giant for which he is a board member – is “net zero today”, despite the fact it holds billions of dollars of fossil fuel infrastructure assets including coal and tar sands projects.

Business Green 26th Feb 2021 read more »

The world’s big oil and mining companies emit vast amounts of climate-changing greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. By extension, the actions of these corporate giants stand accused of contributing to floods and droughts and other climate-related disasters around the globe, extremely costly in both human and financial terms. Our suggestion, which we describe as “a hypothetical climate liability regime”, is for the companies to become at least partially liable to pay for their destructive, climate-changing activities. Investors should also be made aware of the risks involved in putting money into such enterprises. Only then will a realistic market valuation of these companies be calculated. We examined nine top-emitting publicly-owned companies – all fossil fuel giants: Chevron, ExxonMobil, BP, Royal Dutch Shell, ConocoPhillips and Total are all primarily involved in oil. Whilst Peabody Energy is one of the world’s biggest coal conglomerates, BHP Billiton is a mining behemoth and CNX Resources is a large gas company.

Climate News Network 25th Feb 2021 read more »

A Cumbrian campaign group has given notice to the communities secretary that it intends to seek a legal challenge of his controversial decision to allow a new deep coalmine in the west of the county to go ahead. Legal representatives acting on behalf of the South Lakeland Action on Climate Change (SLACC) group have written to Robert Jenrick’s office to notify him of the group’s intention to contest his “ongoing refusal” to call in the mining plans. The pre-action protocol letter states that, if the secretary of state does not respond to the group’s arguments by 4 March, the campaigners will file for judicial review proceedings.

Guardian 25th Feb 2021 read more »

H2 Green Steel to build large scale fossil-free steel plant in Northern Sweden.

Fuel Cell Works 23rd Feb 2021 read more »

GTM 24th Feb 2021 read more »

Drax drops plan to build Europe’s biggest gas plant. Drax has abandoned a plan to build a large gas-fired power plant at its main site in North Yorkshire after opposition from environmental groups

FT 25th Feb 2021 read more »

Independent 25th Feb 2021 read more »

Since it was first announced in 2017, there have been continued protests against the company’s plans for a 3.6GW plant in north Yorkshire, including a legal challenge from ClientEarth. Sam Hunter Jones, a lawyer with the company, said the decision to scrap the development was a “massive win for the UK and the climate”.

Current 25th Feb 2021 read more »

Business Green 25th Feb 2021 read more »

Plans to build a new generation of gas power plants in the UK could derail the country’s climate targets and waste up to £9bn of investment, financial think tank Carbon Tracker has warned in a new report.

Business Green 25th Feb 2021 read more »

Edinburgh University calls a halt to all investments in fossil fuel companies.

Scotsman 25th Feb 2021 read more »

The National 25th Feb 2021 read more »

A Canadian company that employs UN climate finance envoy Mark Carney as vice-chair has invested billions of dollars in fossil fuel projects, including a coal port and an oil sands pipeline. Mark Carney, the former governor of the Bank of England, is now Boris Johnson’s finance adviser for the COP26 climate summit in addition to his high-profile role for the UN. He joined Brookfield Asset Management last August with special responsibility for environmental, social and governance issues. Earlier this month, Carney told Bloomberg TV that Brookfield is “net zero across its $575 billion asset portfolio”. He said that although Brookfield owns companies “across the spectrum”, it has achieved net-zero status because “we have this enormous renewables business that we’ve built up and all of the avoided emissions that come with that.” But an Unearthed analysis has identified five major fossil fuel infrastructure projects in which Brookfield is a leading shareholder, including significant projects in the highly polluting coal and oil sands sectors. Bill Hare, director at Climate Analytics, an NGO, warned that offsetting fossil fuel projects against “avoided emissions”, as Carney appeared to do, was “not a reasonable definition of net zero”.

Unearthed 26th Feb 2021 read more »

Global market forces and the impending shift towards greener forms of steel manufacturing will likely render plans for a new coal mine in Cumbria redundant, writes Andrew Warren.

Business Green 25th Feb 2021 read more »

Drax has scrapped its controversial plans to build Europe’s largest gas power plant at its site in North Yorkshire following fierce opposition from climate groups. The electricity generator confirmed that it would drop plans to build two combined cycle gas turbines (CCGTs) in place of two old coal burning units at the Drax site, weeks after completing the sale of four other gas plants to a subsidiary of Vitol last month. The decision to cancel the plans draws a line under three years of opposition from green groups who argued they were inconsistent with the UK’s ambitions to lead the world in reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

Guardian 25th Feb 2021 read more »

Plans to build dozens of new gas power plants would derail UK climate targets and push up the cost of power for bill payers, experts warned today. Building new clean energy plants like offshore wind farms, combined with new energy storage technologies, would be a cheaper, greener way to develop the national grid, according to the think-tank Carbon Tracker. Over the coming decade the UK will need to build out new electricity supply to fill the gap left as ageing coal and nuclear plants close. Some of the demand will be met from new renewable plants, but 14GW of new gas power is also in the pipeline.

iNews 25th Feb 2021 read more »

Petrol prices will rise for thousands of motorists as the Government rolls out a new greener fuel that is incompatible with older cars. All petrol stations will sell E10, which is 10 per cent bioethanol, as the standard from September, the Government will announce on Thursday. The older E5 petrol will be sold as the more expensive super grade and available at the majority of petrol stations. The switch will add around 1.6 per cent to all drivers’ fuel costs because E10 is less efficient, meaning drivers will have to buy more per mile, the AA said.

Telegraph 25th Feb 2021 read more »

Times 25th Feb 2021 read more »

Freedom of information requests by environmental campaigners have revealed that UK local government pensions held almost £10bn in fossil fuel companies last year, despite the trend towards climate emergency declarations.

Edie 23rd Feb 2021 read more »

Guardian 23rd Feb 2021 read more »

Independent 23rd Feb 2021 read more »

Times 23rd Feb 2021 read more »

Canadian teachers in the pension plan that owns Bristol Airport say they stand in solidarity with the thousands of residents who oppose its expansion. In an open letter the six current and former teachers said they do not want their money used in such a “financially risky and unethical way”, and would not want a foreign investor paving over their green spaces.

Bristol Post 19th Feb 2021 read more »

HSBC is being targeted by climate campaigners, backed by fifteen pension and investment funds, who want to force the bank to slash its exposure to fossil fuels – starting with coal – within a timeline consistent with Paris climate goals. They a have filed the second-ever climate vote at a major UK bank, following a similar resolution tabled at Barclays’ AGM last year. While HSBC has pledged to shrink its carbon footprint to net zero by 2050, the current climate plan stops short of a blanket ban on financing coal power, and does not allow it to turn away clients or cancel contracts based on their fossil fuel exposure. HSBC is Europe’s second-largest financier of fossil fuels after Barclays, according to the Rainforest Action Network (RAN). The vote isn’t until May, so investors will have to wait to see whether HSBC will support the resolution, or follow Barclays’ lead and table an alternative proposal.

Observer 21st Feb 2021 read more »

One of the UK’s most eminent environmental scientists has called the government’s failure to block a new coalmine in Cumbria “absolutely ridiculous”. Prof Sir Robert Watson said the UK’s commitment to net zero emissions by 2050 to tackle the climate crisis was “wonderful”, but that there had to be a focus on immediate actions. The UK is hosting a UN climate summit, Cop26, in November and Boris Johnson has pledged to lead a green industrial revolution.

Guardian 20th Feb 2021 read more »

Conservative MPs from the so-called “red wall” seats won from Labour at the last election have declared their support for a controversial new coal mine in Cumbria. The Northern Research Group MPs accused Labour of turning its back on northern communities by opposing the development at Whitehaven. In a letter to Cumbria County Council’s Labour leader, the 31 NRG MPs – joined by civic leaders from the north of England and a further 12 Tory MPs from elsewhere in the country – warned that threats to block the mine represent a “serious risk” to the area’s economy and jobs. But Labour’s business spokesperson Lucy Powell accused them of “ trying to con people with a false promise”, insisting the mine was not the answer to provide a long-term future for industry.

Independent 18th Feb 2021 read more »

The greatest threat to Saudi Arabia and Russia over the next five years is a roaring bull market for crude oil, worse yet if prices spike to all-time highs of $150. Such an outcome is probably baked into the pie already. There is not enough supply coming on stream to replace the structural decline in old oil wells. The crunch will come before electric vehicles eat seriously into global fuel demand. The Saudis need to hold oil prices in the sweet spot of $60 to $70 – roughly where they are today. That is just high enough to keep the Kingdom afloat, but low enough to extend the oil era into the 2040s (they hope). But such calibration is beyond their power.

Telegraph 17th Feb 2021 read more »

‘I wouldn’t want my son to have to go underground like I had to’: The ex-mining families seeking a greener future. Plans for a new coal mine in Cumbria have reignited conversations about the need for economic development in the UK’s former mining strongholds. Daisy Dunne speaks to ex-miners and their families who would favour green opportunities over new coal

Independent 15th Feb 2021 read more »

Deirdre Michie chief executive of Oil and Gas UK. The UK offshore oil and gas industry has been world-leading in its sustainability commitments and its willingness to tackle climate change head-on. As an industry which supports some 270,000 jobs based across the UK, provides secure and affordable energy to millions, and contributes billions to the economy, the transition to a lower carbon future is one we must get right. We will only get one chance. As the UK became the first major economy in the world to pass laws to tackle climate change by 2050, our industry published Roadmap 2035, one of the first comprehensive plans by a major industrial sector that sets out how we can make a positive contribution to both reduce our carbon footprint and put our skills to good work to help others to do so too.

Times 16th Feb 2021 read more »

New gas power projects are a headache for the UK’s COP26 team. Drax is reportedly considering dropping its plans for an enormous new gas plant – but many other developers are still hunting for government subsidies to build theirs.

Business Green 15th Feb 2021 read more »