Big Bucks Lobbying Brussels

We often hear of the lobbying power of fossil fuel giants and their success in doing so. Now, this article from the Guardian throws some detailed light on what is often a charade of handwaving. Annual expenditure of over 1/3M Euros by the IOPG on lobbying in Brussels puts things into context. Makes you think, doesn't it?

Time to Think Nuclear Again?

Edie reported last week that low carbon generation in the UK edged to 51% in 2019. This is a 2% growth on 2018 so things are moving in the right direction, but oh so slowly. Think 2050!! Is it time to reconsider the nuclear option? The UK has 8 nuclear plants, most of which are due for retirement in the coming decade. There are just Hinkley C and Sizewell C on the stocks for the future. Of course, one of the problems facing nuclear is the falling cost of renewables. The required subsidy for an off-shore wind farm in UK waters is now half that agreed for Hinkley C. While we have an (almost) totally economics-based decision-making framework nuclear is going to struggle. Perhaps we should be reframing the question. Both PV and wind generation are inherently unreliable. Perhaps with good, and large, storage facilities these problems can be overcome but nuclear is available now (or, at least, over an extended build time) and is stable, potentially close to infinite and scalable. Is it time for low-tax government to come to an end and for legislators to properly grasp the zero-carbon nettle?

What Hope For Rome?

Rome, last week, was hosting negotiations on a new global biodiversity agreement. There is, however, much angst that the draft proposals are weak, with little that is mandatory or enforceable, allowance for offsetting in some cases (madness), and near silence on the massively important role if indigenous peoples. Given the World's failure to hit most of the 20 targets in the previous agreement what hope is there for this one?

Climate Change - "A" List Cities

This is a fascinating article from Edie outlining the strategies being used by 5 UK cities that achieved "A" list status in CDP's analysis of 850 cities across the world for their climate change preparedness and actions. The actions being taken, though they have common themes, do vary in many respects. Most notable to my mind are the eye-watering targets of, particularly, Manchester and London. If these cities can achieve what they are aiming for then there is hope for the rest of us, provided that there is near-universal adoption of best practice. I am amazed to actually feel somewhat up-beat!

Environment Bill 2020 - First Reading

There's quite a lot to be applauded in the reintroduced Environment Bill which recently had its first reading. It will be interesting to see which aspects most concern MPs at Committee Stage. The office of Environmental Protection is sure to be one and perhaps the powers to be granted to the Secretary of State to set measurable targets may well be another. I quite like the thought of a 15-year (minimum) environment improvement plan, reportable annually, though in this case the devil will obviously be within the detail.

New Hydrogen Projects

No sooner do I mention hydrogen in my previous post than along comes an announcement of funding for a couple of hydrogen production projects. In themselves they amount to fairly small beer but as an indicator of ongoing thinking in Government they are, none-the-less, to be welcomed.

Rather than EV targeted, as per my previous post, these are aimed at industrial processes, which makes sense if energy intensive industries such as glass and cement manufacture are to be nudged towards lower carbon operation.

EdF Buys Into Pod Point

A move like this was inevitable and probably should be viewed as positive for EV growth in the UK as a whole. It is not clear just what stake EdF has taken in Pod Point but my guess is that it is substantial.

There is a sting in the tail of Edie's post, however, with EV manufacturers clearly avoiding the UK as a production base and some (Ford) arguing for extended life for plug-in hybrids.

I'm still interested in whether this phase in personal transport is, in fact, just an interim one with hydrogen eventually coming to play a major role. A case of "watch this space".