India and China were widely criticised at COP26 in 2021 when they pushed to tone down the language on coal consumption that emerged from the climate summit. As a result of this intervention from two highly coal-dependent nations, with the covert support of other key players, the final version of the Glasgow Climate Pact only called on nations to “phase down” rather than “phase […]
The U.S. coal industry chalked up a rare win this summer when the Supreme Court issued a ruling limiting the government’s ability to regulate greenhouse gas emissions from power plants. But that doesn’t mean coal-fired power plants will make a comeback. Rebecca J. Davis, Stephen F. Austin State University The Conversation As an economist, I […]
A flurry of newspaper articles has speculated that Michael Gove, the UK minister responsible for planning, will shortly approve the long-debated proposal for a new deep coal mine in Cumbria, northern England. Look closer, and this speculation is based on one unnamed source who told The Sunday Telegraph: “I don’t know for certain, but I […]
A campaign to push Bitcoin to change its software code to use far less energy was launched this week by the Environmental Working Group, Greenpeace USA, and several groups battling Bitcoin mining facilities in their communities. Decrying Bitcoin’s growing greenhouse gas pollution, the campaign asks Bitcoin to change its code – not the climate. The […]
Electrification is gaining popularity, power plants need replacing, and there is a growing demand for clean energy resources. For those reasons, there is a constant buildout of shiny new electricity producers: wind turbines, solar panels, and gas plants. Also, more than ever before, electric customers are choosing to generate their own electricity with on-site solar […]
Bitcoin mining companies have set their sights on New York and Texas, but locals are concerned about the environmental harm in their communities. By Alexandra Martinez Prism From the outside, the Greenidge power plant in Seneca Lake, New York, looks like a 1950s-era relic of New York’s coal-fired past. But behind the facade of the […]
Following two months of negotiations, three political parties have agreed to form a new government in Germany, after hammering out a deal that includes plans to rapidly scale up renewables and “ideally” phase out coal power by 2030. By Josh Gabbatiss Carbon Brief Climate change was seen as an important issue in a federal election that […]
More than 40 countries have signed an agreement at COP26, the latest UN climate change summit in Glasgow, to phase out coal in electricity generation. The signatories include some of the world’s biggest coal burners: Canada, Poland, Vietnam, South Korea, Ukraine and Indonesia. The larger of these economies pledge to cease using coal in their […]
As the world prepares to discuss more aggressive cuts to carbon emissions at the UN’s COP26 climate conference in Glasgow, China has just sent out the worst possible advance signal. It is going to loosen restrictions on coal mining in the final three months of the year in response to an energy crisis which has […]
This year’s UN General Assembly (UNGA) and Climate Week NYC saw several major announcements that injected a much-needed jolt of energy into international climate action. As extreme weather events including devastating wildfires, floods and droughts escalate across the globe, these developments must usher in a new wave of climate commitments between now and the COP26 climate conference […]
There is now a broad consensus that unabated coal power generation must be rapidly phased out if the goals of the 2015 Paris Agreement are to be met. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) sees coal use falling by around four-fifths this decade on a 1.5C pathway. The International Energy Agency roadmap for 1.5C says unabated coal power should end by 2030 in advanced economies and […]
For generations, hundreds of thousands of West Virginia coal miners earned a good living. The money they made supported local economies in towns across Appalachia. And their labor down in deep mines brought light to the rest of the world. But this prosperity came at a high price. Mountains were blown to pieces, rivers ran […]
This week marked the 1-year anniversary of the revelation of the $61 million bribery and racketeering scandal surrounding House Bill 6 (HB 6). This law removed all energy efficiency standards, slashed renewable energy standards, and continues to provide a bailout for two coal plants built in the 1950s (one of which is out of state). […]
Huge concrete data centres, permanently plugged into power plants and telephone exchanges, maintain much of online life. But the infrastructure behind internet-based cryptocurrencies such as bitcoin, dogecoin and ethereum is more like a rusty travelling circus. And right now, that circus is on the road. By Peter Howson, Northumbria University, Newcastle The Conversation Bitcoin relies […]
After a decade of preparation, China’s national emissions trading scheme (ETS) officially enters the operational phase in 2021, with trading due to start by the end of this month. By Hongqiao Liu CarbonBrief Despite only including the power sector in its initial phase this year, it is already the world’s largest ETS, overtaking the European Union’s […]