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☆ A shift to renewable energy is 'hopeless' without efficiencies, environmentalist says
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-17 | by ( Vicky Mckeever | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Daniel Bosma | Moment | Getty ImagesExplorer and environmentalist Bertrand Piccard has called for a renewed focus on cutting energy waste, saying it's "hopeless" to shift to renewables without improving efficiency. "So if we try to replace fossil [fuel] energy with renewables without being efficient, without reducing the consumption, it's hopeless," he said. Another issue Piccard highlighted was that some countries only consider wind and solar as alternative renewable energy sources. Geothermal energy accounted for just 2.7% of renewable energy consumption, while wind power was 13.2% and solar energy was 7.2%. 'Paradox' of China's solar panel oversupplyPiccard also discussed the ongoing concerns about the potential oversupply of solar panels from China to the European market.

Persons: Daniel Bosma, Bertrand Piccard, Piccard, CNBC's Silvia Amaro, bioenergy, Janet Yellen Organizations: CNBC, Solar Impulse, European Commission, Treasury Locations: Netherlands, Europe, China, U.S

☆ Activist Bluebell believes BP is 50% undervalued compared to peers
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-03 | by ( Kenneth Squire | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +11 min

The company's segments include gas & low-carbon energy, oil production & operations and customers & products. Its gas business includes upstream activities that produce natural gas, integrated gas and power, and gas trading. Its oil production & operations segment comprises upstream activities that produce crude oil, including Bpx Energy. As of Bluebell's October 4, 2023, letter to BP, BP traded on a price-earnings ratio of 6.7 times, a 44% discount to Chevron and ExxonMobil, which on average traded at 12 times. To make it even clearer how the market views BP's strategy, on February 7, 2023, when BP announced its partial retracement from this strategy, BP's share price rose 8% on the day and 17% on the week.

Persons: Giuseppe Bivona, Marco Taricco, Bivona, –, Helge Lund, Bluebell, BP's, Bernard Looney, Shell, Looney's, Looney, Pamela Daley, Solvay, Glencore, Ken Squire Organizations: BP Bunge, Bpx Energy, Castrol, Bluebell Capital Partners, Bluebell Partners, BP, ExxonMobil, Chevron, Bluebell, International Energy Agency, EV, Exxon, Shell, Mr, Renewables, Power, BP's Board, BlackRock, 13D Locations: bioenergy, Europe, Bluebell, Paris, Bioenergy, United States, U.S

☆ Drax project for controversial ‘carbon negative’ power plant gets UK government green light
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-16 | by ( Laura Paddison | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

CNN —The UK government approved a £2 billion (around $2.5 billion) project on Tuesday to create a “carbon negative” wood-burning power plant. Energy secretary Claire Coutinho’s decision greenlights a plan to bolt carbon capture units onto two generators at a power station in Yorkshire, northern England, run by Drax. Once the most polluting power station in western Europe, Drax switched from burning coal to burning biomass — mostly wood pellets — in 2019. The power station in Yorkshire, which produces around 4% of the UK’s power, mostly burns wood imported from North America. Some scientists have cast doubt on the climate credentials of burning biomass.

Persons: Claire Coutinho’s, Drax, “, ”, Tomos Harrison, Ofgem, ” Drax, Laith Whitwham, Ember, BECCS “, ” Will Gardiner, Gardiner Organizations: CNN, Energy, European Academies Science Advisory, Drax Group Locations: Yorkshire, England, Europe, North America, Canada

☆ A rapid clean-energy transition could save 181 million years of healthy human life annually by 2050, report finds
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-08 | by ( Morgan Mcfall-Johnsen | Maiya Focht | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

A rapid transition to green energy sources would prevent a lot of disability and early death, researchers say. In the year 2050 alone, the transition's impact amounts to 181 million future years of healthy human life, a new report found. Add to that list 181 million years of healthy human life — annually. Mohammad Ponir Hossain/ReutersDisability-adjusted life years, or DALYs, capture years of life affected by disability and years lost to premature death. If the world rapidly transitions to renewables, they found, the energy system will still hurt human health enough in 2050 to lead to early death and disability that affects 30 million years of human life.

Persons: Martin Meissner, it's, Stephanie Roe, WWF's, Mohammad Ponir Hossain, Nick Oxford, Dylan Martinez, Jonathan Buonocore, Buonocore, Lyu, Roe Organizations: Service, Wildlife Fund, Boston Consulting, Reuters, American Lung Association . Mines, Harvard, Boston University School of Public Health, WWF, China News Service, Getty, International Energy Agency, Stanford Locations: Haltern, Germany, Dhaka, Bangladesh, Texas, Fujian Province, China

A liquefied natural gas (LNG) tanker is tugged towards a thermal power station in Futtsu, east of Tokyo, Japan November 13, 2017. GAS HEAVY GENERATIONThe main driver of Thailand's LNG imports - which have jumped by 127% since 2019 - is its gas-heavy electricity generation system. Since 2015, natural gas capacity expansions have accounted for 72% of Thailand's total increases in electricity generation capacity, Ember data shows. TRACKING PROGRESSA key solace for transition advocates is that the development of new electricity generation capacity may be more important than historical capacity development trends. For the near term, however, the strong growth pace of Thailand's LNG imports suggests fossil fuels have most of the expansion momentum in Thailand's energy system.

Persons: Issei Kato, Ember, Gavin Maguire, Robert Birsel Organizations: REUTERS, Energy Institute, Singapore Coal, LNG, Reuters, Thomson Locations: Futtsu, Tokyo, Japan, LITTLETON , Colorado, Thailand, LNG, Qatar, Australia, Malaysia, Southeast Asia, Asia, Indonesia, Gulf, Vietnam, South East Asia

☆ Goldman Sachs names 6 global stocks to play the energy transition — giving one over 90% upside
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-02 | by ( Amala Balakrishner | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Goldman Sachs is bullish on the bioenergy sector, calling it the "largest source of renewable energy in the world." Specifically, the bank's analysts, led by Michele Della Vigna, foresee growth in the areas of renewable diesel, sustainable aviation fuel, and renewable natural gas. Stock picks Several global stocks are slated to benefit from this push toward sustainability and the transition to renewable energy, Goldman said. Among its top picks is Neste , which it describes as the "biggest renewable diesel and sustainable aviation fuel producer in the world." The company turns edible by-products and food waste into sustainable products and is the largest renewable diesel producer in North America.

Persons: Goldman Sachs, bioenergy, Michele Della Vigna, Goldman, —, — CNBC's Katrina Bishop Organizations: Renewable, Stock, ENI, U.S Locations: U.S, Italy, North America

☆ Brilliant Planet: Growing and burying algae in the Sahara is the latest solution for the climate crisis
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-18 | by ( Tom Page | Thomas Page | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

Algae absorbs atmospheric carbon dioxide and emits oxygen via photosynthesis, and has been doing so since before the first land plants ever existed. “Nature-based solutions are a great way of removing carbon,” Taylor told CNN, arguing that deserts are an under-utilized environment. Many carbon capture solutions have been proposed, the most headline-grabbing being direct air capture. “There are enormous desert regions in the country that might be converted for carbon capture and storage projects,” she added. courtesy Brilliant PlanetTaylor hopes the tangible, weighable algae flakes will make Brilliant Planet’s model attractive.

Persons: Adam Taylor, Taylor, “, ” Taylor, ”, You’re, Halldor Kolbeins, Fatna Ikrame El Fanne, El Fanne, Robert Höglund, Höglund, ” Höglund Organizations: CNN, US Department of Energy, Getty, Climate, “ Locations: London, Akhfenir, Morocco, Sahara, Reykjavik, Iceland, AFP, Climate Morocco, Namibia, Manhattan

☆ Smoke will keep pouring into the US as long as fires are burning in Canada
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-01 | by ( Alaa Elassar | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +17 min

Massive fires burning in remote areas – like some of those currently burning in northwestern Quebec – are often too out of control to do anything about. Ed Jones/AFP/Getty Images Smoke from wildfires in Canada shrouds the view of the Statue of Liberty on Friday in New York. Jim Watson/AFP/Getty Images Smoke and haze is seen from the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, DC, on Tuesday, June 27. Matt McClain/The Washington Post/Getty Images Smoke from Canadian wildfires obscures the visibility in Pittsburgh on June 8. Another issue is the increase in the wildfires are caused by climate change, and are simultaneously making climate change worse.

Persons: ” Robert Gray, you’ve, they’re, “ There’s, don’t, ”, Daniel Perrakis, ” Gray, Shiraaz Mohamed, Gray, “, ” Perrakis, Ed Jones, David Dee Delgado, Gary Hershorn, Haze, Gene J, Jim Watson, Megan Smith, Kamil Krzaczynski, Cpl Marc, Andre Leclerc, Drew Angerer, Shannon Stapleton, Ronald Reagan, Saul Loeb, Matt McClain, Emmalee Reed, Hannah Beier, Mandel Ngan, New York City, Timothy A, Clary, Mike Segar, John Minchillo, Shanita Hancle, Seth Wenig, Matt Rourke, Ting Shen, Matt Slocum, Amr Alfiky, John Meore, Leah Millis, George Washington, Peter Carr, Yuki Iwamura, Kareem Elgazzar, Carlos Osorio, Frank Franklin II, Merrily Cassidy, Spencer Colby, Jason Rock, BJ Fuchs, Anne, Sophie Thill, we’ve, it’s Organizations: CNN, Canadian Forest Service, Firefighters, Getty, ” “, Nature Conservancy, Rockefeller Center, North, Corbis, PNC Park, Major League Baseball, Pittsburgh Pirates, San Diego Padres, Traffic, Chesapeake, Lincoln Memorial, USA, People, Canadian Forces, Reuters, BC, Service, Xinhua, Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, Washington Post, Bloomberg, Capitol, Trade, AP Transit, T, Alberta Wildfire, New, New York City, Getty Images Workers, Citizens Bank, Philadelphia Phillies, New York Yankees, Empire, George Washington Bridge, New York State Thruway, Cincinnati Enquirer, Cape Cod Times, Anadolu Agency, Canadian Press, AP, Wildfire Service, Communications, Space, NASA, Reuters Firefighters, Kamloops Fire Rescue, Shining Bank Locations: Wisconsin, Vermont, North Carolina, Canada, Quebec, Canadian, British Columbia, Alberta, Ontario, Mexico, Costa Rica, Chile, Spain, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, South Korea, France, AFP, New Jersey, Manhattan, New York, North America, New, Pittsburgh, Stevensville , Maryland, Washington ,, Chicago, Lake Michigan, Mistissini, Ronald Reagan Washington, Arlington , Virginia, Washington, Philadelphia, Elmont , New York, Baltimore, Evansburg , Alberta, Brooklyn , New York, Piermont , New York, Fort Lee , New Jersey, George, West Nyack, New York's, New York City, Cincinnati, Rock Harbor, Massachusetts, Cape Cod, Ottawa, Fort Nelson, Shelburne County , Nova Scotia, Communications Nova Scotia, Shelburne , Nova Scotia, Fort St, John, Kamloops, Shining Bank , Alberta, Lytton

☆ California’s Green-Fuel Program Gets Too Popular for Its Own Good
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-16 | by ( Bob Henderson | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Anaergia’s Rialto bioenergy facility in California captures the methane emissions of up to 1,000 tons a day of food waste and turns it into fuel. Photo: AnaergiaA boom in the production of green trucking fuel is punishing renewable-energy producers across the country, thanks to the shifting market for California’s low-carbon fuel credits. U.S. production of so-called renewable diesel, which is made from feedstocks such as beef tallow and soybean oil, has tripled over the past three years. Truckers and fuel producers say the gains are driven by federal incentives and the state’s Low Carbon Fuel Standard program, which issues resellable credits to firms that sell low-carbon fuels such as ethanol in California.

☆ Opinion: No, nuclear power isn’t the ‘big bazooka’ climate fix you might think
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-20 | by ( Opinion Paul Hockenos | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

Berlin CNN —Germany’s exit from nuclear power on April 15 doesn’t single it out as a quirky anomaly or black sheep in a world otherwise enthusiastically embracing nuclear energy. Since a highpoint in the early 2000s, the number of operational nuclear reactors worldwide has fallen – from 438 to 411, according to this year’s World Nuclear Industry Status Report. While at the same time, renewable energy generation – clean tech like solar, wind, bioenergy and geothermal – has expanded by more than 30-fold. In fact, when matched up against renewables as a source of energy that doesn’t emit carbon, nuclear power falls egregiously short. Nuclear power may look like an attractive, big bazooka fix to rising emissions.

☆ Drax shares tumble after Britain rejects carbon-capture project
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-30 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

March 30 (Reuters) - Shares of British power generator Drax (DRX.L) fell 10% on Thursday after the government turned down its carbon-capture project for the country's Track-1 programme. The project was not selected for Track-1, but the government will engage further with the project following an assessment outcome, the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero said. Britain laid out plans on Thursday to boost its energy security and independence through investment in efforts to move towards cleaner, more affordable energy sources. Last week, Drax said it was pausing its planned UK investment of 2 billion pounds ($2.45 billion) in bioenergy with carbon capture and storage (BECCS) as it awaited clarity on UK funding. Reporting by Nora Buli in Oslo and Radhika Anilkumar in Bengaluru; Editing by Subhranshu Sahu and Clarence FernandezOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ UK sets out energy plans, critics bemoan lack of clean tech boost
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-29 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

[1/2] A survey vessel sails past wind turbines at the Burbo Bank offshore wind farm near New Brighton, Britain, January 23, 2023. REUTERS/Phil NobleLONDON, March 30 (Reuters) - Britain set out plans to boost energy security and tackle emissions on Thursday, but critics said a lack of new investment and incentives meant it failed to provide any new boost for the country's green energy sector. Energy security minister Grant Shapps said the 1,000 pages of documents published on Thursday were focused on energy security, a major focus since the war in Ukraine. There were also further details on a raft of previously announced schemes such as funding for offshore wind, carbon capture, speeding up planning processes for solar and offshore wind projects, rolling out more electric vehicle charging points and encouraging heat pumps in homes. Environmental campaign group Greenpeace said the government's energy plans were not going far or fast enough to tackle climate change.

Last month he applied the brakes, slowing BP's planned cuts in oil and gas and scaling back planned renewables spending in the wake of the war in Ukraine. The oil major isn't backing away from renewables though, its green chief Anja-Isabel Dotzenrath stresses, it's simply changing the terms of the relationship. "I'm (now) just reviewing the onshore renewables part - so the onshore wind and solar part." BP's head of renewables and gas didn't elaborate on the nature of the latest review. The green stakes are high, though, given solar alone comprises more than half of BP's 43-gigawatt renewables project pipeline.

☆ BP to buy TravelCenters for $1.3 bln in U.S. fuel retail drive
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-16 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Feb 16 (Reuters) - BP Plc (BP.L) will buy truck fueling provider TravelCenters of America Inc (TA.O) for about $1.3 billion in cash, the companies said on Thursday, as the British energy giant seeks to expand its travel convenience and fuel supply footprint in the country. Shares of the U.S. truck stop operator surged about 71% to $84.3 in morning trading, hovering near BP's per share offer of $86. TravelCenters owns a network of about 281 highway sites across 44 states and offers services including diesel and gasoline fuel, truck maintenance and repair, restaurants, travel stores, and parking. BP has been pushing to boost its investments in convenience, bioenergy and EV charging. By 2030, the London-listed company aims for around half its annual investment to go into these transition growth engines.

As a result, BP reduced its ambitions to cut emissions from fuels sold to customers to 20-30% by 2030, from 35-40%. BP's $4.8 billion fourth-quarter underlying replacement cost profit, its definition of net income, narrowly missed a $5 billion company-provided analyst forecast. The results were impacted by weaker gas trading activity after an "exceptional" third quarter, higher refinery maintenance and lower oil and gas prices. But for the year, BP's $27.6 billion profit exceeded its 2008 record of $26 billion despite a $25 billion writedown of its Russian assets. BP, whose trading operations further boost renewables returns, maintained plans to have 50 gigawatts (GW) of renewable projects under development and 10 GW operating by 2030.

The bumper earnings have prompted new calls to further tax the sector as households struggle to pay their energy bills. In a strategy update, BP said it will increase annual spending by $1 billion for both renewables and oil and gas with a sharper focus on developing low-carbon biofuels and hydrogen. That compared with $4 billion a year earlier and $8.2 billion in the third quarter of 2022. The results were impacted by weaker gas trading activity after an "exceptional" third quarter, higher refinery maintenance and lower oil and gas prices. But for the year, BP's $27.6 billion profit exceeded its previous record of $26 billion in 2008.

☆ BP strategy is still caught between two stools
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-07 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

LONDON, Feb 7 (Reuters Breakingviews) - BP (BP.L) is trying to stop the rot. The $108 billion UK oil group’s bumper 2022 results on Tuesday recorded a stellar 30.5% return on average capital employed. But fresh investment in oil and gas means he only plans to cut oil production by 25% by 2030, rather than 40%. The reason that probably won’t happen any time soon is that BP is still planning to cut oil production and hike non-fossil fuel investment more than American rivals. Otherwise, BP may remain too dirty for sustainable investors, and too clean for the rest.

☆ Goldman Sachs to invest over $1 bln in Europe biomethane venture
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-06 | by ( Virginia Furness | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Biomethane, a lower carbon alternative to fossil-based natural gas, is produced from the decomposition of organic waste and is seen as a key plank in efforts to lower carbon emissions in the European Union. Verdalia Bioenergy will invest in both early-stage biomethane development projects as well as existing assets with the aim of contributing to Europe's decarbonisation and energy security agenda, the asset manager said on Monday. It has already signed an agreement to purchase a portfolio of biomethane projects with a total capacity of around 150 gigawatt hours per year (GWh/year) in mid-stage development in Spain. Biomethane can be used in the same way as natural gas and delivered using the same infrastructure, yet comes without the same high level of climate-damaging emissions. Biogas and biomethane production has already created 210,000 green jobs in Europe and is saving 60 million tons of greenhouse gas emissions per year, according to the European Biogas Association.

Companies U.S. Department of Energy FollowNEW YORK, Jan 26 (Reuters) - The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) on Thursday will announce over $100 million in funding to expand U.S. biofuels production, as the Biden administration works to cut greenhouse gas emissions from transportation and meet climate goals, the department told Reuters. The department plans to award $118 million to 17 projects designed to accelerate the production of biofuels, which can be made from biomass including agricultural waste, soybean oil and animal fats. The DOE's funding includes awards to universities and private companies ranging from $500,000 to $80 million for various pre-pilot, pilot and demonstration projects, the department said. About 16.8 billion gallons of biofuels were consumed in the United States in 2021, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. The Biden administration has said biofuels will be needed to lower emissions, including in the aircraft industry with lower-carbon sustainable aviation fuel.

☆ New technique from U.S. national lab promises to strip carbon dioxide emissions from power plants and factories at record-low cost
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-24 | by ( Catherine Clifford | In Catclifford | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +12 min

Just as importantly, industrial processes such as making iron, steel, cement, fertilizer, pulp and paper, and bioenergy could all reduce their carbon dioxide emissions this new technique. "We have the technology to be able to capture carbon dioxide from those industrial point sources. PNNL's technique removes carbon dioxide at the source, rather than sucking it out of the air. The technique of vacuuming up existing CO2 out of the air is known as direct carbon capture, and is exemplified by the Swiss company Climeworks. Graphic courtesy Nathan Johnson at Pacific Northwest National LabWhat happens with the rest of the carbon dioxide?

Dec 15 (Reuters) - Californian regulators voted Thursday to approve a plan to reduce the state's carbon-dioxide emissions by 85% by 2045, reaching carbon neutrality then, including by cutting petroleum usage to one-tenth of the current level. The state has also angered its fuelmakers, which argue its policies hurt fuel consumers. Policy updates approved on Thursday were in the 2022 edition of a document called the Scoping Plan, which is revised every five years. Many California residents and lobbyists from oil and transportation companies said in public comments on Thursday that they welcomed the changes in the plan. CARB will continue evaluating how refiners can continue to operate to export fuel, said CARB spokesperson Dave Cleghern.

☆ Porsche will join Germany's blue-chip index - Deutsche Boerse
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-05 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

BERLIN, Dec 5 (Reuters) - German sportscar maker Porsche AG (P911_p.DE) will join the blue-chip index, just over two months after its market debut, exchange operator Deutsche Boerse (DB1Gn.DE) said on Monday. Porsche AG will replace sportswear maker Puma (PUMG.DE) on the DAX stock index (.GDAXI) on Dec. 19 while Puma will move down to the MDAX index (.MDAXI), it said. Both Volkswagen and its majority owner Porsche SE are on the DAX index as well. Deutsche Boerse periodically reassesses the composition of the index using trading data to measure market value and trading volume as a basis for deciding which companies to include. Bioenergy company Verbio (VBKG.DE) will also join the mid-cap MDAX index, while real estate firm Deutsche Wohnen (DWNG.DE) and battery maker Varta (VAR1.DE) will be demoted to the small-cap SDAX (.SDAXI).

☆ Shares of this bioenergy play could rally more than 50%, Raymond James says
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-18 | by ( Alex Harring | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Wood pellet producer Enviva' s environmental attributes are being misunderstood – and that's unfairly harming its share value, Raymond James said. The company makes wood pellets that can be burned for energy instead of coal. That has made the entry point even more attractive as it stands to gain value with the value of wood pellets becoming increasingly understood. He also clarified wood pellets are cleaner-burning than coal, thus making their use better for air quality compared to coal. Molchanov pointed to wood pellets' role in Europe's clean energy transition, while calling Enviva "the world's largest player in this space."

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