Energy

• [New] The UK is cutting out coal from power generation, investing heavily in renewables and mandating that no more petrol or diesel cars should be sold after 2030.
• [New] The Department of Energy could increase its spending on basic grid tech R&D, and increase its provision of grants and loans to power companies making climate-savvy investments.
• [New] Fleets transitioning to renewable fuels are playing a key role in helping to meet the target of reducing greenhouse gas emissions from heavy goods vehicles by 15% by 2025.
• [New] Floating offshore wind, despite the currently low installed capacity, could be the next frontier in wind power development in the Asia Pacific with almost limitless potential.
• [New] If the world is ever going to get to net-zero emissions, it will happen by increasing the supply of carbon-free energy and finding ways to reduce energy demand.
• [New] The American Petroleum Institute, an industry trade group, released a report last year finding that switching to U.S.-produced gas could reduce emissions from coal-fired power plants by about 50% in China, Germany and India.
• [New] Japan will strengthen efforts to support Asian countries' shift from coal to liquefied natural gas for use in power generation to reduce carbon emissions, in the hope of lowering procurement costs for the energy source.
• [New] O&M jobs, meanwhile, driven by the installed capacity of wind farms, have contributed about 7% of the total job count in 2020 and will make up about 12% in 2025.
• [New] There is an energy segment that will be the new hiring haven for energy jobs, a Rystad Energy analysis shows - offshore wind.
• [New] With the International Energy Agency predicting that renewable energy will account for 18% of the world's primary energy by 2035, there's little doubt that the age of renewables has finally arrived.
• [New] We expect to see oil prices soften at the beginning of the year and then come back strongly toward OPEC's $50 price goal toward the end of 2021, with an average price of about $46.50 over the course of the year.
• [New] Last year, just as the coronavirus impacts were being felt in the UK, the REA claimed that the UK Government could deliver an 85% increase in renewable and clean technology jobs in a decade by implementing better taxation systems and outlining a roadmap for net-zero emissions.
• [New] To keep the rise in temperature below 1.5 degrees Celsius, the European Union has pledged to cut its carbon emissions by at least 55% by 2030, compared to 1990 levels, and aims to become climate neutral by mid-century.
• [New] Getting low-carbon hydrogen usage to the level of oil or gas requires building large-scale production, storage and transport networks - investments expected to range from €200 to €500 billion by 2030.
• [New] The projected deployment of hydrogen would create an estimated EUR 820 billion industry for the fuel and associated equipment for EU companies by 2050.
• [New] Hydrogen provides Europe with the chance to re-design its energy partnerships and to promote actively new opportunities for cooperation based on the production of clean hydrogen with both neighbouring countries and regions, but also on an international level.
• [New] Knowledge gaps remain regarding longer-term wind resources and the conditions under which wind turbines located in the east - coast OCS will operate.
• [New] French renewable energy and battery storage developer Neoen has landed $160 million in finance from the Clean Energy Finance Corporation to built what will be - at least for a short while - the biggest lithium ion battery in Australia.
• [New] As Texas faces unprecedented, extreme weather events, Sunrun's expansion will help more Texans harness solar energy and power critical needs during outages.
• [New] Failing to mitigate climate change will bring major new risks, disrupt ecosystems across the world, and hit the most vulnerable regions particularly hard.
• [New] A moratorium on federal oil and gas leasing could result in a 5.5% increase in emissions by 2030 by raising the price of natural gas, prompting power plants to return to coal.

Last updated: 28 February 2021