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Energy

Farmer In Peru Takes Major Germany Energy Firm To Court

March 19, 2025 Cristen Hemingway Jaynes, EcoWatch. , , , , , ,
A lawsuit filed by a Peruvian farmer against major German energy company RWE began on Monday. The claim, which argues that global heating fueled by the firm’s greenhouse gas emissions poses a risk to the farmer’s home, could set a new precedent for climate litigation, reported The Associated Press. “We have waited 10 years for this day, this decisive day,” said Saúl Luciano Lliuya, as supporters cheered outside the courthouse. “I’m very excited; I hope that everything goes well.” The lawsuit, filed in the Higher Regional Court in Hamm, western Germany, makes the case that RWE’s historical emissions have contributed to the global warming that has accelerated glacial melt near Lliuya’s hometown of Huaraz.

Energy Secretary Wants To ‘Play A Role In Reversing’ Climate Policies

March 12, 2025 Cristen Hemingway Jaynes, EcoWatch. , , , , , ,
United States Energy Secretary Chris Wright on Monday delivered a blunt critique of the energy and climate policies of the Biden administration to a group of oil and gas executives, promising a “180 degree pivot.” The former fracking executive is fully behind President Donald Trump’s plan to expand fossil fuel production in the U.S. while doing away with federal policies to mitigate global heating. “I wanted to play a role in reversing what I believe has been a very poor direction in energy policy,” Wright said during the kickoff to the CERAWeek by S&P Global energy conference in Houston, as The New York Times reported.

Fossil Fuel Industry Wants To Keep New Buildings Dependent On Gas

February 27, 2025 Sharon Kelly, DeSmog. , , , ,
A new report from InfluenceMap reveals the fossil fuel industry has been waging an international lobbying war to prevent cities and towns from requiring newly built homes and businesses to install climate-friendly heating and other appliances. So far, 26 U.S. states have passed laws designed to prevent towns, cities, and other local governments from crafting new “natural gas bans” or enforcing those laws, according to the report. The analysis shows how utilities and their trade associations have pushed to take away local government’s power to phase out fossil fuel appliances or to limit new buildings’ connections to natural gas pipelines.

Energy East Pipeline Revival: Why Canada Shouldn’t Waste Billions

February 25, 2025 Mitch Anderson, DeSmog. , , , , , ,
Like zombies rising from the grave, many long-rejected oil pipeline projects like Energy East are suddenly being promoted as national necessities in response to U.S. President Donald Trump’s musings about annexing Canada. To be clear, most Canadians agree that Canada needs to take Trump’s threats seriously and accelerate long-overdue efforts to make our country less economically dependent on our newly menacing neighbour. Previous political impediments to building interprovincial infrastructure are melting away as Canadians realize protecting our national sovereignty is more important than the priorities of any given region or industry. But before the country considers writing another blank cheque for an oil industry mega-project that may take a decade to complete, let’s make sure to “skate to where the puck is going, not where it has been.”

US Energy Secretary Backs Coal And Attacks ‘Sinister’ Climate Targets

February 18, 2025 Adam Barnett, DeSmog. , , , , ,
Donald Trump’s new energy secretary has today vowed to “get out of the way” of coal, oil and gas, and called the UK’s 2050 net zero target “a sinister goal” that would “impoverish” people. Chris Wright, an oil and gas industry executive appointed by U.S. President Trump, was speaking via video link at the Alliance for Responsible Citizenship (ARC) conference in London, a right-wing forum run by fierce opponents of climate policies. He also downplayed the threat from extreme weather, and suggested that climate action is part of a plot to “grow government power” and “shrink human freedom”.

Renewable Energy Is Less Costly, More Efficient Than Carbon Capture

February 18, 2025 Paige Bennett, EcoWatch. , , , ,
The benefits of investing in clean energy, including solar, wind, geothermal and hydropower, make renewables a more cost-effective option compared to carbon capture technology, according to a new study. The study, published in the journal Environmental Science and Technology, examined two scenarios across 149 countries through 2050: one in which the countries transition 100% of their business-as-usual energies into renewables, or wind-water-solar (WWS) sources, and another scenario in which policies invest in carbon capture (CC) and synthetic direct air carbon capture (SDACC).

Finger-Pointing Over Funding Freeze May Lead Trump To Drop DOGE Lawyer

February 4, 2025 Sharon Kelly, DeSmog. , , , , , ,
The recent federal funding freeze spurred immediate finger-pointing inside the Trump administration, with anonymous sources telling major news outlets that attorney Mark Paoletta was responsible for drafting the infamous memo that briefly paused trillions in federal funds. Paoletta, newly returned as the White House Office of Management and Budget’s (OMB) general counsel, is connected to a wide range of powerful figures on the right, including multiple conservative Supreme Court justices, the organizers of Project 2025, and Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).

Alberta’s ‘Zero Tolerance’ Enforcement Strategy Doesn’t Apply To Polluters

January 26, 2025 Mitch Anderson, DeSmog. , , , , ,
“Alberta is taking a zero-tolerance approach to crime,” bragged Alberta Premier Danielle Smith in 2023 on social media after her government announced more enforcement, greater emphasis on public safety, and limited discretion of prosecutors to let offenders off the hook. “ “There is an increasing sense that the system is not holding criminals properly accountable and letting the public suffer the consequences,” chimed in Alberta Minister of Justice Mickey Amery during the announcement. “This is simply unacceptable.” If only the governing United Conservative Party applied those laudable principles to oil sands companies that repeatedly flout legal requirements not to pollute waterways, air and land.

Mapped: Donald Trump’s Transatlantic Anti-Green Network

January 22, 2025 Adam Barnett, DeSmog. , , , , ,
As Donald Trump takes his oath of office to become the 47th president of the United States, his second term comes at an ever-more critical time for climate change. Climate scientists have warned that 2024 was the hottest year on record, and without dramatic action to cut greenhouse gas emissions, global pledges to limit warming to 1.5C and curb the worst effects of climate change are doomed. At the start of 2025, Trump’s “government efficiency” chief Elon Musk (who donated $250 million to Trump’s campaign), pushed grooming gangs to the top of the UK political agenda – with the help of Conservative and Reform UK politicians, and their allies in the media.

Native Organizations Fill Gaps In Federal Support For Renewable Energy

January 22, 2025 Corrie Grosse, Dawn D. Davis, Robert Blake and Cheri Smith, Resilience. , ,
Native-led renewable energy organizations and projects are blossoming across the United States with the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) serving as the game changing catalyst. The IRA provides Tribes with renewable energy tax credits for the first time (covering up to 70% of project cost) and increases funding for Tribal energy loans from $2 to $20 billion! Accessing this money, however, is a different story. “The funding is like a fire hose for Tribal communities. It’s great for Tribes that can harness the money with 30% down, but feels like a huge gaslight for the many Tribes who lack development resources, capital funding, or adequate transmission lines to access it,” said Joseph McNeil Jr., Standing Rock Sioux member and Manager of SAGE, the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe’s energy organization.

Norway’s Equinor Forced To Withdraw Key Carbon Capture Claim

January 14, 2025 Edward Donnelly, DeSmog. , , , ,
Equinor has retracted a claim that it stores about a million tonnes of carbon dioxide annually at its flagship carbon capture project after DeSmog obtained data showing the real figure was as little as a tenth of that amount. The Norwegian oil company scrubbed the estimate from its website in November, when presented with official figures showing that it captured 106,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide (CO2) at its Sleipner carbon capture and storage (CCS) facility in 2023. Equinor has not captured 1 million tonnes of CO2 per year at the site since 2001, according to the data, provided by the Norwegian Environment Agency.

Midwest Wins Funding For A New Hydrogen Hub

January 3, 2025 Juanpablo Ramirez-Franco, DeSmog. , , , ,
The U.S. Department of Energy is rolling out the first installment of its $1 billion commitment to ramp up clean hydrogen production in the Midwest, part of a bid by the Biden administration to lock in a nationwide roadmap for decarbonization. The Midwest Hydrogen Hub, which is set to span Illinois, Iowa, Indiana, and Michigan, was awarded $22.2 million late last month as part of a billion-dollar federal cost-share grant through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. The hub “aims to decarbonize a variety of industries such as manufacturing, steel and glass production, power generation, refining, and heavy-duty transportation through the use of clean hydrogen,” according to a Department of Energy factsheet.

A Reality Check On Our ‘Energy Transition’

January 2, 2025 Andrew Nikiforuk, The Tyee. , , ,
The much-vaunted “energy transition” that promised a great leap forward from fossil fuels to renewables along with a cornucopia of technologies is now struggling with history and complexity. A few facts tell the story. Despite all the talk of “decarbonization,” global coal production reached a record high in 2023. The dirtiest of fuels accounts for 26 per cent of the world’s total energy consumption. And despite all the promises of a green revolution, oil, gas and coal still account for 82 per cent of the global energy mix. Meanwhile greenhouse gas emissions galloped to a new high in 2023. The concentration of carbon dioxide gases in the atmosphere has increased 11.4 per cent in just 20 years.

Developers Eye Louisiana, Texas For Offshore Carbon Storage

December 30, 2024 Pam Radtke, DeSmog. , , , , ,
The fishers in Gulf of Mexico waters off Cameron Parish, Louisiana, estimate their catch has fallen catastrophically from 1 million tons a season to 150,000 tons since the first liquefied natural gas terminal in the parish began operating eight years ago. Now, a new industry is being developed in the waters that were once the most productive grounds in the nation for fish, shrimp and oysters. A company called OnStream CO2 is developing the GeoDura hub, which it says could hold millions of tons of carbon dioxide captured from fossil fuel industries, including LNG terminals, a mile or more below the waters off Cameron Parish’s shores.

MetroCHARGE Powers EVs With Energy Recovered From Subway Train Brakes

December 27, 2024 Paige Bennett, EcoWatch. , , , ,
In Barcelona, energy from train brakes that could otherwise be wasted is now being harvested to charge electric vehicles. As part of Spain’s MetroCHARGE project, 16 subway stations in Barcelona use brake energy recuperators to redirect energy from the train brakes to EV charging stations on the streets, The Associated Press reported. Regenerative braking is not a new concept, especially for trains. But the move to transport the energy from the brakes through cables to electric vehicle chargers is an innovative way to supply power to charging stations.
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