Technology breakthroughs will enable scaling Geothermal from a niche solution to available everywhere.

What yardstick for net-zero? How WTO TBT disciplines can contribute to effective policies on carbon emission standards and climate change mitigation.

The IRA is a landmark United States law enacted in August 2022, which aims to curb inflation by reducing the deficit, lowering prescription drug prices, and investing in domestic energy production while promoting clean energy. The law is expected to raise USD 738 billion and authorize USD 391 billion in spending on energy and climate change. It is estimated that the IRA would contribute to reducing U.S. greenhouse gas emissions by ~40% by 2030 from 2005 levels. The main thrust of the energy-related measures focuses on reducing the cost of renewables and carbon-free electricity, promoting the adoption of electric vehicles, deploying emerging clean technologies, and providing tax credit incentives for domestic production and manufacturing.

DNV, a Norway-based independent expert in assurance and risk management, has released its annual Energy Transition Outlook. A plunge in renewable costs, a rise in carbon prices, and a steady shift to electrification will continue to drive the transition, according to the report. A lot must be done to reach net zero, however. Carbon emissions are still at record levels. They must fall by 8% per year to achieve net zero by 2050. This is an opportunity for new and existing players in energy to invest in green hydrogen, rewilding, and carbon capture and removal. If the world is to hold global warming to relatively safe levels, then global cooperation, billions of dollars, and big changes are needed urgently because the window to act is closing.

COP26 ended without settling a clear path to meet the goals of the Paris Agreement. The final document signed by nearly 200 countries show commitments to phase-down the use of unabated coal power. It also implements a new framework that allows countries to partially meet their climate targets by buying offsets credits from emission cut by others. There was also progress in efforts to cut methane emissions, to end and reverse deforestation, a carbon-based arrangement on the steel industry between the US and the EU, among others. Still, more needs to be done, as the world is not yet on the path to keep temperature rise “well below” 2°C, preferably to a safer limit of less than 1.5°C. Climate analysts estimate the world is on track for about 2.4°C of warming versus pre-industrial times, based on current targets and policies.

McKinsey recently published a document with a net zero emissions scenario for the energy sector and industry. In this abstract we present the main conclusions and also compare this scenario with the IEA´s last publication (November 2021). Find attached the full document.

The steel industry is currently among the three biggest producers of carbon dioxide, with emissions being produced by a limited number of locations; steel plants are therefore a good candidate for decarbonization. While the industry must adapt to these new circumstances, it can also use them as a chance to safeguard its license to continue operating in the long term.

The IEA prepared a roadmap at the request of the UK government, who is presiding the 26th Conference of the Parties (COP26) of the UN’s Framework Convention on Climate Change, taking place in Glasgow during November 2021. The roadmap laid by the IEA is “one of many”, as the report likes to remind us now and then, and although it mentions “there’s no one-size-fits-all approach to clean energy transitions”, it does little to show how the solutions proposed affect different economies, how assumptions on technologies vary between regions or who would pay for the changes implied.