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Local weather change might convey again wind as the ability supply for ocean ships

Climate change may bring back wind as the power source for ocean ships

Airseas, the maritime unit of France’s Airbus, has developed a gigantic, automated kite called Seawing, which essentially tows a ship.

Airseas

The shipping industry accounts for nearly 3% of the world’s total greenhouse gas emissions, producing as much manmade carbon dioxide as all the coal-fired power plants in the US combined. Still, it’s a relatively small output within the overall transportation sector, which is responsible for 37% of annual global greenhouse gases.

Yet as international trade continues to grow and heavily rely on oceangoing vessels to move cargo — they currently carry more than 80% of it — some scientists warn that by 2050 shipping could account for 17% of greenhouse gases.

That’s why, after years of lackluster efforts to decarbonize, the industry’s regulatory body is getting on board. In 2018, the International Maritime Organization, or IMO, a London-based United Nations agency comprising 175 member countries — many with delegates directly tied to businesses resistant to curbing emissions — adopted a strategy to reduce greenhouse gases by 50% by 2050 compared to the 2008 levels.

Critics say that goal is too little and too late, insisting the IMO reset its target to 100% decarbonization by mid-century, or preferably sooner.

“The IMO has been rather late to the party, in terms of developing climate measures and coming up with a strategy,” said Lucy Gilliam, shipping policy officer at Seas at Risk and a board member of the Clean Shipping Coalition, both environmental NGOs. She cited the fact that international shipping is not included in the Paris climate accord. Plus, a recent study found that only 33 out of the 94 largest shipping companies have a clearly expressed policy to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050 and/or have committed to the IMO’s goal.

The simplest green shipping solution

Nonetheless, the private sector is undertaking some initiatives to lessen its climate impact. The simplest solution would be for ships to simply slow down, thus using less carbon-emitting fuel. Shipbuilders are also experimenting with hulls coated with air bubbles to reduce drag, as well as sleeker bows, more efficient engines, propellers and thrusters, and AI-assisted navigation systems.

Meanwhile, the industry is beginning to establish green corridors, or specific shipping routes and ports that support zero-emission solutions and policies. The financial world is joining the decarbonization movement as well, with 29 institutions signing onto the Poseidon Principles, an agreement to consider efforts to cut greenhouse gas emissions when lending to shipping companies. The signatories represent more than $185 billion in loans to international shipping — nearly half of the global ship finance portfolio.

But with a global supply chain designed for speedy deliveries, the big breakthrough bets are being made on the development of low-emission or zero-emission fuels — including green methanol, hydrogen, liquid natural gas (LNG) and ammonia — to reduce or replace the molasses-thick, noxious bunker fuel that feeds most ships’ massive diesel engines.

These efforts include electric propulsion, several wind-power technologies and nuclear energy, which has driven naval vessels since the mid-1950s and is getting some attention as it generates zero emissions, though safety and security concerns are major impediments.

Here’s an overview of the biggest bets being placed on low-carbon and no-carbon breakthroughs in ocean shipping.

Green methanol

Denmark’s AP Moller-Maersk, which moves 17% of the world’s shipping containers, has 13 ships on order from South Korea’s Hyundai Heavy Industries that run on green methanol. The first, a small vessel with a capacity to carry 2,000 containers (the largest such ships transport 24,000 containers) will launch next year and operate in the Baltics and northern Europe, said Lee Kindberg, Maersk’s head of environment and sustainability in North America.

“Beginning in 2024, every quarter we are going to launch two 16,000 TEU vessels that will operate on transpacific routes,” she said, using the logistics acronym for twenty-foot equivalent unit, the standard measurement of 20-foot-long containers. “Our current commitment is to go to net-zero carbon shipping by 2040.”

An artist’s rendering of a Maersk 16,000-TEU container ship that will run on green methanol.

AP Moller-Maersk

Most of the methanol produced today is derived from fossil fuels, but Maersk, CMA CGM and other leading shipping companies are testing two different green, carbon-neutral versions. One is made from solid and liquid biomass extracted from agricultural and forest residues and farming and poultry waste. The other is e-methanol, made by combining CO2 with hydrogen produced from water using renewable electricity. Both are liquids that can be safely stored in non-pressurized tanks at ambient temperatures. Although more expensive than bunker fuel and in limited supply, green methanol can be mixed with bunker in dual-fuel engines to effectively lower carbon emissions.

Liquid hydrogen is another fuel option, often touted because it produces almost no carbon emissions when combusted. Yet about 95% of hydrogen is produced by reforming natural gas or other fossil fuels. It can be made renewably, however, by splitting water using energy from solar, wind, nuclear and hydro power. Green hydrogen can be used in a ship’s internal combustion engine or in fuel cells that generate emission-free electricity. And it may become a cheaper and more attractive alternative due to production tax credits included in the Inflation Reduction Act.

The Washington, DC-based International Council on Clean Transportation conducted a study in 2020 on the potential of using renewable hydrogen fuel cells to power container ships servicing the busy corridor between China and the San Pedro Bay near Los Angeles. “Without making any other changes to the vessels, around 43% of the voyages made in 2015 could be made with that technology,” said Xiaoli Mao, a senior marine researcher at the nonprofit organization. “And with minor adjustments to ship design or adding one more refueling stop, 99% could be realized.”

LNG as an alternative fuel source

LNG tops the list of alternative fuels currently used in commercial ships, including some large container vessels, according to Clarksons Research, a shipping analytics firm based in London. Although less than 5% of the current cargo fleet of around 55,000 ships can run on lower-emission fuels, 38% of new builds will have the option, up from 28% a year ago and 12% five years ago. LNG will power nearly a third (741) of those new vessels, while 24 will run on methanol and six on hydrogen.

The knock on LNG for shipping is it’s still a fossil fuel that emits methane and requires considerable capital investment for retrofitting existing engines and fuel tanks. What’s more, it would extend the use of carbon-based fuels for at least another 20 years, which is a typical lifespan for large ships.

Green ammonia

Ammonia is garnering attention, too. It’s in abundant supply and can be used in dual-fuel engines and fuel cells. As with hydrogen, most ammonia is derived from fossil fuels and its production releases considerable CO2, although it is made environmentally friendly by combining green hydrogen with nitrogen from the air. Safety is the biggest concern, because ammonia is dangerously toxic to humans and marine life, which could dissuade ports from storing it.

Last December, LMG Marin, a subsidiary of Singapore’s Sembcorp Marine, agreed to design what it describes as the first green ammonia-fueled tanker for a unit of Norway’s Grieg Maritime Group. Planned for launch in 2024, the MS Green Ammonia will, appropriately, transport green ammonia.

On a larger scale, in June, Mitsubishi Shipbuilding, part of Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, announced the completion of the conceptual design of a very large gas carrier (VLGC) initially powered by liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), but adaptable for future use of ammonia as the main fuel. The Tokyo-based shipbuilder previously built more than 80 VLGCs, and the new design will allow retrofitting of those vessels to run on ammonia.

Electric robo ships

Mitsubishi’s designers are also pioneering electric-powered ships with a vessel called Roboship, which will be built by Honda Heavy Industries and launched next year. The 550-ton ship will replace a conventional diesel engine with a hybrid-electric system, including storage batteries, propellers, motors, switchboards and generators. The digital platform used to control the electric propulsion equipment was developed by e5 Lab, a Tokyo startup promoting electric propulsion and digitization of ships.

e5 is collaborating with another Japanese shipbuilder, Asahi Tanker, to build a pair of all-electric, zero-emissions tankers, powered by large-capacity lithium-ion batteries. The workload of the bunker vessels’ crews will be lightened with automated equipment and digital tools. The first model delivered marine fuel to ships in Tokyo Bay in April, with the second scheduled to begin operating next year.

As with electric cars, travel range and battery charging are issues with e-ships, so they’re being designed for short, local voyages. Electrified ferries, pilot boats and cruise ships are showing up in ports and harbors in Japan, Sweden and Denmark.

The Yara Birkeland, billed as the first fully electric and autonomous container vessel, began transporting small loads of fertilizer in Norway last spring. During its initial two years, the ship will operate with a full crew while gradually transitioning toward full autonomy, including unmanned navigation, loading, unloading and mooring. Electrifying larger TEU-capacity container ships capable of traversing longer regional routes would require lower-cost battery storage and expanding on-shore charging infrastructure.

The return of wind-powered cargo ships

The Flettner rotor system used by shipping industry wind power company Anemoia, was invented by German engineer Anton Flettner in the 1920s. It features smokestack-like cylinders mounted on a ship’s deck that rotate rapidly with the wind, generating thrust.

anemoi

Of course, the earliest cargo ships sailed the seas solely under wind power, a concept being modernized today.

“There are currently 20 large vessels under some wind-assisted technology,” said Gavin Allwright, secretary for the London-based International Windship Association. They include tankers, bulk carriers and vehicle transporters, he said, which have enough deck space to accommodate different systems.

The front runner, Allwright said, is the Flettner rotor system, a concept invented by Anton Flettner in the 1920s. It features tall, smokestack-like cylinders, mounted on a ship’s deck, that rotate rapidly with the wind and thrust the vessel forward. Among recent applications, the Australian mining company BHP is partnering with Pan Pacific Copper and Nippon Marine to test a rotor sail system aboard a bulk carrier.

Cargill, the food and agriculture behemoth that charters more than 600 dry bulk carriers, is set to test a ship outfitted with WindWings, solid sails designed by BAR Technologies. “Through this partnership we will bring bespoke wind solutions to customers who are actively seeking to reduce CO2 emissions from their supply chain,” said Jan Dieleman, president of Cargill’s Ocean Transportation business. The company reportedly plans to charter at least 20 new wind-assisted ships in the coming years.

A ship outfitted with Wind Wings, solid sails designed by BAR Technologies. Cargill reportedly has plans to charter at least 20 ships using the technology in coming years.

BAR Technologies

Airseas, the maritime unit of France’s Airbus, has developed a gigantic, automated kite called Seawing, which essentially tows a ship. The wind-assist technology, Airseas claims, can reduce fuel consumption by an average of 20%. Another French company, Michelin, is testing its inflatable, retractable, automated wing sail mobility prototype on a ferry running between the UK and Spain.

Despite its embrace of these various decarbonization projects, the maritime industry will have a tough time weaning itself off fossil fuels. Indeed, Saudi Arabia, the world’s largest oil exporter, is financing some of the IMO’s green shipping efforts. But as Amazon, Ikea, Unilever and other major movers of cargo seek ways to meet their net-zero goals, shipping is a prime target.

“If they want to reduce their emissions,” said Maersk’s Kindberg, “they need us to reduce ours.”

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Politics

Biden to Go to Northeast Flood Zones as Demand Grows for Local weather Motion

Biden to Visit Northeast Flood Zones as Demand Grows for Climate Action

As residents sought to clean up and assess the damage caused by catastrophic flash floods in the northeast last week, President Biden prepared to visit the hardest-hit areas of New York and New Jersey where he faced political ferment that is about the climate-related disaster.

The deadly flood from the remnants of Hurricane Ida, which killed more than 45 people in New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Connecticut, has fueled the fighting that began with Hurricane Sandy in 2012 to slow climate change and protect the population Communities tightened. The floods are already sharpening the debate about whether city and country leaders are doing enough – even those who, like Mr Biden, are publicly advocating strong action.

Mr Biden’s trip comes as he and the Democratic leaders struggle to get Congress to incorporate measures to curb planet warming emissions into a $ 1 trillion infrastructure bill and funds to protect communities from disasters increase like last week.

Within hours of the downpours in the New York area, Mr. Biden had linked it directly to his climate agenda. In a speech he described the floods as “another reminder that these extreme storms and the climate crisis are here” and called for more spending on modernizing power grids, sewers, water systems, bridges and roads.

But some climate groups are blaming his government for including large new funds for building and upgrading highways in the measure.

In New York and New Jersey, advocates of stricter climate action are hoping the disaster will give new impetus to ambitious state and local climate laws and regulations and help counter opposition to even broader proposals like a city council bill banning gas heaters and stoves in all new buildings.

Kathy Hochul, the governor of New York, and Bill de Blasio, the mayor of New York, pledged to step up the fight on climate change as state and city agencies stepped up to help residents apply for assistance and file insurance claims close. However, some residents still complained that days after the flood there had not been an officer in their block.

Ms. Hochul said on Twitter on Sunday that she got 378 million back. “

Senator Chuck Schumer, a New York Democrat and majority leader, said he would use the moment to add more extreme weather protection to the budget and pledged to support the state’s call for Washington to speed up damage assessments and federal aid. But some New York City residents pressed for more.

Dozens of protesters waved life jackets – each representing a New Yorker killed in the flood – outside Schumer’s Brooklyn home on Saturday, calling on him to come up with a $ 1.43 trillion proposal for a “Green New Deal” for public schools to support.

Climate and environmental justice groups said they would also protest against Mr Biden. Their message: The deaths – at least 13 in New York City and at least 27 in New Jersey – show that government action has been too hesitant to curb both the burning of oil and gas, which is driving climate change, and the Protecting people from the effects of climate change storms, fires and heat waves, which become more frequent and intense as the planet warms up.

Rachel Rivera, a resident of the Brownsville neighborhood of Brooklyn who campaigned against a new gas pipeline there, said she wanted to urge not only Mr. Biden but also local officials to “stop both the pollution that is causing all of this” also to start financing the work ”. to get us to safety. “

Extreme weather

Updated

9/3/2021, 2:38 p.m. ET

“It’s neither one nor the other,” she said. “It’s both. In every storm they talk big, but then they do nothing.”

Ms. Rivera joined New York Communities for Change, a group working on environmental and public housing issues after her roof collapsed during Hurricane Sandy. She said her teenage daughter still suffers from traumatic flashbacks when it rains.

Mr. Biden will visit the New York borough of Queens, home to the majority of New York City residents who were killed in the floods last week. Most of them drowned when rainwater poured into basement apartments that violated housing codes.

The president will also visit Manville, NJ, which recorded 10 inches of rain in the downpour on Wednesday, forcing the city to rescue residents by helicopter and boat.

Both New York and New Jersey were devastated by Hurricane Sandy nearly nine years ago, sparking new policies and grassroots movements to combat climate change. Ambitious infrastructure plans for renewable energy development and coastal protection such as levees and dune restoration have been drawn up. Public pension funds began divesting fossil fuel companies and passed laws drastically reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

But many of these projects remain unfinished, and more far-reaching proposals have not made it into law. Proponents of more ambitious ideas like the city’s bill to ban gas appliances in new homes are now mobilizing for a new boost.

This includes a growing number of local lawmakers, chosen on promises to adopt bold measures to curb carbon emissions and address issues and inequalities that have been allowed – in housing, transport, disaster preparedness and other areas – and the extreme weather conditions cause more deadly.

Small issues that may not have been noticed before the flood are already attracting new attention. A protest against Jenifer Rajkumar, a state lawmaker, was planned for Monday in Queens over a proposed parking space she supports in Forest Park, one of the largest green spaces in the district.

The official response to the recent disaster did not begin until Sunday. The police went door to door looking for people who were still missing. State authorities are setting up command centers in flooded areas to help people get information and assistance. The New York Sanitation Department collected storm debris and said it would reverse a plan for garbage collectors to suspend Labor Day.

On the Rockaway Peninsula in Queens, Linda Bowman, another member of the New York Communities for Change, had to contend with a flood for the second time; her house had also been flooded during Sandy.

“I need help,” she said. “Don’t just talk.”

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Health

IPCC UN local weather report is our ‘remaining wake-up name,’ say consultants

IPCC UN climate report is our 'final wake-up call,' say experts

A devastating new UN report warning of certain devastation caused by climate change has been dubbed humanity’s “last wake-up call” by environmental experts.

Speaking to CNBC on Tuesday, environmentalists outlined the role businesses, countries and individuals can play in containing the crisis. They also shared their hopes for the party’s 26th UN Climate Change Conference, known as COP26, in November.

The United Nations IPCC climate panel released a highly anticipated report on Monday warning that efforts to limit global warming to nearly 1.5 degrees Celsius, or even 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels, are in will be “inaccessible” for the next two decades without an immediate, rapid and comprehensive reduction in greenhouse gas emissions.

Implement “ambitious action now”

Meeting policymakers’ temperature targets for 2050 will be difficult but achievable, said Emily Kreps, global director of capital markets at CDP, a nonprofit that helps companies manage their climate impact.

However, this requires “ambitious action” from companies, governments and capital markets, she told Squawk Box Asia on Tuesday.

This should be considered our final wake-up call.

Emily Kreps

Global Director of Capital Markets, CDP

The threshold of 1.5 degrees Celsius outlined in the report is a crucial global goal, as it also makes so-called tipping points more likely. Tipping points refer to an irreversible change in the climate system that includes further global warming.

“This should be seen as our last wake-up call,” said Kreps, who encouraged companies to set “concrete and concrete goals”.

Ulka Kelkar, director of climate at the World Resources Institute India, agreed that the pace of change must “accelerate quickly”.

For example, the exit from fossil fuels and the introduction of renewable energies must happen at five times the speed. In the meantime, the development of new, more sustainable technologies needs to move forward, she said.

This is particularly urgent in developing countries like India, which have the ability to circumvent practices that are harmful to the environment.

“Over here we have to start thinking a step forward, we have to skip,” she told Street Signs Asia.

“(That means) more renewable energy to produce (a) large-scale hydrogen that can be used in all of our industries” – from fertilizers and chemicals to steel making, she added.

Expectations for COP26

The report comes as a series of extreme weather events that are wreaking havoc around the world.

In the past few weeks alone, Europe, China and India have been hit by floods. Forest fires have also devastated the United States, Canada, Greece, and Turkey.

The UN report makes it “clear that these events are related to climate change and human impact on the climate,” Mans Nilsson, executive director of the Stockholm Environment Institute, told Squawk Box Europe.

Industrialized countries (must) seal the agreement on a long overdue climate finance package.

Ulka Kelkar

Director, World Resources Institute India

World leaders will discuss the issue further when they meet at COP26 in Glasgow, Scotland, in November.

Kreps said she hoped the conference would produce nationally determined contributions and “science-based goals”.

Meanwhile, Kelkar’s expectations were threefold.

“Developed countries (must) make the deal on a long overdue climate finance package,” said Kelkar, especially to adapt to the extreme events of recent times.

“The second major area is clean technology partnerships: something like green hydrogen, something like the circular economy that uses materials more efficiently. The third is the rules of carbon trading, a market-based tool that enables all of this mitigation. ”,“ She added.

– CNBC’s Sam Meredith contributed to this report.

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World News

Air-con and local weather change: Begin-ups making an attempt to assist

Air conditioning and climate change: Start-ups trying to help

This June was the hottest in American history. The 116-degree heat melted power cables in Portland, Oregon, and smashed previous temperature records. Seattle recorded an all-time high of 108 degrees, as did the Canadian province of British Columbia, at a whopping 121 degrees.

As the world warms, more people are installing air conditioning. Global energy demand for cooling has more than tripled since 1990 and could more than double between now and 2040 without stricter efficiency standards.

But air conditioning itself is a major contributor to global warming. Altogether, building operations that include heating, cooling and lighting account for 28% of the world’s total greenhouse gas emissions. That’s more than the entire global transportation sector.

But SkyCool, Gradient and a number of other companies are working on the problem. They’re trying to apply new technologies to the traditionally inflexible heating and cooling industry, finance the upfront costs, communicate the value to property owners and make sure it’s all done equitably. 

Watch the video to learn more.

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Politics

How Senate Democrats’ $3.5 trillion funds tackles local weather change

How Senate Democrats' $3.5 trillion budget tackles climate change

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and President Joe Biden arrive at the U.S. Capitol for a Senate Democratic luncheon on July 14, 2021.

Drew Angerer | Getty Images News | Getty Images

President Joe Biden and Senate Democrats have vowed to push forward a $3.5 trillion budget resolution framework that would fund a clean energy transition and policies to combat climate change.

The blueprint, which contains nearly all the elements of the president’s American Families Plan — including funding for child care, paid leave and education — comes after Biden’s climate proposals were slashed from the bipartisan infrastructure deal during negotiations with Senate Republicans.

The plan involves tax incentives for clean energy and electric vehicles, as well as major investments to transition the economy away from fossil fuels and toward renewable sources such as wind and solar power.

The resolution also proposes a clean energy standard, a mandate that would require a portion of U.S. electricity to come from renewables.

Such a mandate has received widespread support from environmental activists and scientists, who say it’s critical to meet the president’s commitment to slash carbon emissions in half over the next decade and put the U.S. on track to become carbon neutral by 2050.

Democrats are looking to pass the bill later this summer on a party-line vote. If the budget resolution is signed into law, it would be the biggest legislative push in U.S. history to combat climate change.

The last big effort to pass climate legislation was in 2009, when congressional Democrats failed to approve a carbon pricing system under former President Barack Obama.

The resolution includes the creation of a civilian climate corps program for young people, which would produce more jobs that address climate change and help conserve the planet.

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There is also proposed funding for energy-efficient building weatherization and electrification projects, as well as language about methane gas reduction and polluter import fees to raise revenue and increase greenhouse gas emissions reduction efforts.

Progressive Senate Democrats have so far praised the inclusion of climate policy in the resolution. Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., the Budget Committee chairman, earlier this week said the agreement will start “the process of having this great country lead the world in transforming our energy system.”

However, Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.V., the moderate Democrat whose support may be critical in the bill’s passage, told reporters that he’s “very, very disturbed” by climate provisions that he believes could eliminate fossil fuels.

“I know they have the climate portion in here, and I’m concerned about that,” said Manchin, who is chairman of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee. The Democrat did not rule out his support for the resolution.

EPA Administrator Michael Regan on Wednesday said that the inclusion of a clean energy standard in the resolution has received “a very favorable response from many people on both sides of the aisle.”

“There are things in there for the American people that equate to jobs, global competitiveness, a strong infrastructure and preparation for climate change,” Regan said during an interview on NPR.  

Congress is working on the resolution in tandem with the $1.2 trillion bipartisan infrastructure plan, which is still being drafted.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said he wants to have votes on the budget resolution and the infrastructure bill before the Senate goes on recess in August.

— CNBC’s Christina Wilkie contributed to this report.

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Health

Warfare, Covid and local weather change gasoline starvation disaster killing 11 each minute

War, Covid and climate change fuel hunger crisis killing 11 every minute

After a fire in a refugee camp in Ukhia in the southeastern district of Cox’s Bazar on March 24, 2021, children are seen eating food provided by NGOs and social organizations.

Yousuf Tushar | LightRakete | Getty Images

LONDON – According to a new Oxfam report released on Friday, the number of people who died of starvation increased six-fold over the past year to surpass deaths from Covid-19.

Up to 11 people die of starvation and malnutrition every minute as the proportion of people suffering from starvation-like conditions has skyrocketed since the pandemic began, the global charity said in a paper titled “The Hunger Virus Multiplies” .

For comparison: an estimated 7 people die of Covid-19 every minute.

The statistics are overwhelming, but we must remember that these numbers are individual people who are exposed to unimaginable suffering. One person is too much too.

Abby Maxman

President and CEO, Oxfam America

Main causes of extreme hunger

War and conflict remain the leading cause of hunger, accounting for two-thirds of hunger-related deaths worldwide. However, the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic and economic shocks as a result of Covid-19, as well as the worsening climate crisis, have starved tens of millions, the report said.

Global food prices are also up 40%, the highest increase in more than 10 years, the report said.

“The statistics are mind-boggling, but we must remember that these numbers are made up of individuals exposed to unimaginable suffering. Even one person is too much, ”said Abby Maxman, President and CEO of Oxfam America.

A relative prays on a cremation site during the final rites of a Covid-19 victim.

Majority world | Universal picture group | Getty Images

Oxfam named war-torn countries like Afghanistan, Ethiopia, South Sudan, Syria and Yemen among the world’s worst hunger hotspots.

“Hunger continues to be used as a weapon of war to steal food and water from civilians and to hamper humanitarian aid,” said Maxman. “People cannot live safely or find food when their markets are bombed and crops and livestock are destroyed.”

Meanwhile, food insecurity has worsened in what the charity has dubbed “emerging epicentres of hunger” such as India, South Africa and Brazil – some of the countries hardest hit by Covid-19 infections.

But even countries with relatively resilient food systems like the US have been rocked by the pandemic and recent climate shocks, the report said.

Hurt the most vulnerable people

In any case, vulnerable groups like women, displaced people and informal workers are hardest hit, Maxman said.

“Marginalized groups are hardest hit by conflict and hunger. Too often women and girls eat last and least. ” She said.

Governments must prevent conflict from fueling catastrophic hunger.

Abby Maxman

President and CEO, Oxfam America

The spike in hunger-related deaths comes in a year when global military spending rose by $ 51 billion – enough to cover six and a half times what the United Nations believes it needs to stop hunger.

Meanwhile, the world’s 10 richest people have risen by $ 413 billion in net worth over the past year – 11 times the estimated cost of the United Nations for global humanitarian aid.

“Governments must prevent conflict from fueling catastrophic hunger and instead ensure that aid agencies reach those in need,” Maxman said, calling for multilateral support from policymakers.

“We need the US to take a leadership role in ending this hunger crisis by pushing for an end to the conflicts that fuel this famine, providing the vital resources to save lives now, and helping communities achieve a safe one Building the future. “

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Politics

Western warmth wave just about not possible with out local weather change, researchers say

Western heat wave virtually impossible without climate change, researchers say

People sleep at a cooling shelter set up during an unprecedented heat wave in Portland, Oregon, U.S. June 27, 2021.

Maranie Staab | Reuters

SANTA MONICA, Calif. — The deadly heat wave that brought triple-digit temperatures to the Pacific Northwest and western Canada and killed hundreds of people was virtually impossible without human-caused climate change, according to a new analysis by an international team of 27 scientists.

The temperature records were so extreme — 116 degrees Fahrenheit in Portland, Oregon, and 121 degrees Fahrenheit in Canada’s British Columbia — that researchers said it was difficult to quantify just how rare the heat wave was. The team, working under the umbrella of Oxford University-based World Weather Attribution, estimated it was a once-in-a-millennium event.

The scientists, who are based in the U.S., Canada, the U.K., the Netherlands, France, Germany and Switzerland, estimated that human-caused climate change increased the likelihood of such a heat wave by at least 150 times.

“An event such as the Pacific Northwest 2021 heatwave is still rare or extremely rare in today’s climate, yet would be virtually impossible without human-caused climate change,” the team of scientists wrote. “As warming continues, it will become a lot less rare.”

The researchers urged adaptation measures that account for the rising risk of heat waves, including action plans that incorporate early warning systems for high temperatures, as well as more ambitious targets to drastically reduce planet-warming greenhouse gas emissions.

Researchers also found that in a world with 2 degrees Celsius of warming, which could happen this century unless there are significant cuts to greenhouse gas emissions, such a heat event would occur about every five to 10 years.

The Earth has already heated up more than 1 degree Celsius compared with preindustrial levels, according to the World Meteorological Organization.

The analysis by World Weather Attribution, which conducts quick analyses to determine if there is a link between climate change and specific extreme weather events, has not yet been peer-reviewed. However, it uses processes that have been peer-reviewed in the past 10 years.

Scientists used computer simulations that compared a hypothetical world without greenhouse gas emissions to the existing world in order to assess the impact of climate change on weather events. The research will later be published in peer-reviewed journals.

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The study, published on Wednesday, is in line with previous research on the impact climate change has on the frequency and severity of heat waves and drought.

The recent historic heat wave, which started at the end of June, fueled wildfires, threatened water shortages and was linked to hundreds of deaths in Oregon, Washington and British Columbia. The official death count is expected to rise.

More than one-third of global heat-related deaths during warm seasons can be attributed to climate change, experts have said. Heat also kills more people than any other weather-related disaster in the U.S.

“Our results provide a strong warning: our rapidly warming climate is bringing us into uncharted territory that has significant consequences for health, well-being and livelihoods,” the scientists wrote.

North America just recorded its hottest June on record, according to scientists with the Copernicus Climate Change Service, with 2021 virtually certain to be among the 10 hottest years on record.

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Politics

Some Republicans Discover Failure to Grapple With Local weather Change a ‘Political Legal responsibility’

Some Republicans Find Failure to Grapple With Climate Change a ‘Political Liability’

That same week, a group of young Republicans with signs saying “This is what an environmentalist sees” held an initial rally for “conservative” climate action in Miami.

On Capitol Hill, House Republican leader Kevin McCarthy plans to set up a Republican task force on climate change, his staff confirmed. Mr. McCarthy declined an interview request.

And on Wednesday, Mr Curtis plans to announce the formation of the Conservative Climate Committee, which aims to educate his party about global warming and develop policies to counter what the committee calls “radical progressive climate proposals”. So far, 38 members of the Republican House of Representatives have joined, its employees said.

“I hope that any Republican member of this group, when asked about the climate in a community meeting, will be very comfortable talking about it,” said Curtis, adding, “I fear that too often Republicans simply have said “what you don’t like without adding ‘but here are our ideas’.”

These ideas include limited government, market-based policies to curb greenhouse gas emissions as formulated by new conservative think tanks. One of them is C3 Solutions, jointly run by a former advisor to the late Oklahoma Senator Tom Coburn, who called global warming “crap”. The organization also recently recruited an energy policy expert from the Heritage Foundation, a conservative group that until recently promoted vocal critics of climate change.

A package of bills presented by Mr. McCarthy on Earth Day advocated carbon capture, an emerging and expensive technology that captures and stores carbon emissions generated by power plants or factories before they are released into the atmosphere. It also encouraged tree planting and the expansion of nuclear power, a carbon-free energy source that many Republicans prefer to wind or solar power.

These measures would do little to reduce fossil fuel emissions, which raise average global temperatures and cause more extreme heat, drought and forest fires; stronger storms; and rapid extinction of plant and animal species. Republicans have not offered any specific emissions reduction targets.

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Politics

G7 Nations Take Aggressive Local weather Motion however Maintain Again on Coal

G7 Nations Take Aggressive Climate Action but Hold Back on Coal

BRUSSELS – President Biden teamed up with leaders of the world’s richest nations on Sunday to take action to lower global temperatures, but was unable to set a firm end date for burning coal, which is a major contributor to global warming.

Mr Biden and six other leaders of the Group of 7 Nations pledged to cut collective emissions in half by 2030 and try to curb the rapid extinction of animals and plants, calling this an “equally important existential threat”. They agreed that by next year they would cut international funding for any coal project that lacked technology to capture and store carbon emissions, and pledged to achieve an “overwhelmingly decarbonized” power sector by the end of the decade.

It was the first time that the major industrialized countries, most responsible for the pollution that is warming the planet, agreed to collectively reduce their emissions by 2030, despite several nations individually setting the same goals, including the United States and the United States Kingdom.

However, energy experts said the failure of the G7 countries, which collectively cause about a quarter of the world’s climate pollution, to agree on a specific end date for using coal has weakened their ability to rely on China to create its own, Use to stem the coal that is still growing. It could also be more difficult convincing 200 nations to sign a bold climate deal at a United Nations summit in Scotland later this year.

G7 leaders also declined to pledge significant new funds to help developing countries both cope with climate change and move away from burning oil, gas and coal.

“It’s very disappointing,” said Jennifer Morgan, executive director of Greenpeace International. “This was a moment when the G7 could have shown historic leadership and instead left a massive void.”

Scientists have warned that the world must urgently reduce emissions if it has a chance to keep global average temperatures above 1.5 degrees Celsius compared to pre-industrial levels. This is the threshold at which experts say the planet will suffer catastrophic, irreversible damage. The temperature change isn’t even around the globe; some regions have already reached an increase of 2 degrees Celsius.

Mr Biden opened his first overseas tour as President last week by stating that “America is back” on issues such as climate. After four years of President Donald J. Trump mocking the established science of climate change, discouraging clean energy development, favoring fossil fuels and refusing to work with allies on environmental issues, Mr Biden was once again part of a unanimous consensus that the world must take drastic measures to prevent a global catastrophe.

“President Biden is committed to addressing the climate crisis at home and abroad, gathering the rest of the world at the Summit of Heads of State or Government, G7, and beyond to achieve bold goals within the next decade,” said Daleep Singh, Deputy National Security Advisor. “While the previous government ignored science and the consequences of climate change, our government has taken unprecedented steps to prioritize this on the global stage.”

In addition to re-entering the 2015 Paris Agreement, which Trump abandoned, Mr Biden has pledged to cut U.S. greenhouse gas emissions by 50 to 52 percent below 2005 levels by 2030, and to eliminate fossil fuel emissions from the American electricity sector by 2035.

But it was the UK, along with a few other European countries, that during the summit that year had aggressively urged to stop burning coal by a certain date in the 2030s. Burning coal is the largest source of carbon dioxide emissions, and after pulling back in pandemic year, coal demand is expected to grow 4.5 percent this year, according to the International Energy Agency.

Instead, the final language of the heads of state and government’s “communiqué” is a vague request to “rapidly expand” technologies and policies that further accelerate the transition from coal without carbon capture technology.

The debate at the summit about how soon to give up coal came at a particularly sensitive time for Mr Biden, whose push for a major infrastructure package in a tightly-divided Congress could potentially depend on the vote of a Democratic senator: Joe Manchin of the Coal dependent West Virginia.

In a statement to the New York Times, Mr. Manchin noted “projections that show fossil fuels, including coal, will be part of the global energy mix in the coming decades,” praising the Biden administration for recognizing the need for clean energy technologies develop . However, advocates of faster action said concerns about appeasing Mr Manchin appeared to have prevented more aggressive moves.

Updated

June 11, 2021 at 1:24 p.m. ET

“Once again, Joe Manchin casts a heavy shadow,” says Alden Meyer, Senior Associate at E3G, a European think tank for environmental issues.

In this decade, the United States in particular has the chance to use strong words to lead countries to turn away from fossil fuels, said Morgan of Greenpeace. But “it doesn’t look like they were the ambitions for this G7.”

Other leading climate change advocates and diplomats called the entire climate package a mixed bag.

Mr Biden and the other leaders said they would allocate $ 2 billion to help nations move away from fossil fuels. And they agreed to increase their contributions and meet the overdue pledge to mobilize $ 100 billion annually to help poorer countries cut emissions and cope with the effects of climate change, even though fixed dollar numbers were not on the table.

Laurence Tubiana, CEO of the European Climate Foundation, who served as France’s main climate ambassador during the 2015 Paris negotiations, said she was delighted that nations would stop funding new coal projects without technology to capture and store emissions. This will put an end to virtually all new coal funding as carbon capture technology is still emerging and not widely used.

“This means that China can now decide whether it wants to continue to be the supporters of coal worldwide because they will be the only ones,” she said. However, the financing package is missing for developing countries, which are particularly vulnerable to floods, droughts and other effects of a climate crisis caused by the industrialized nations.

The G7 countries this week also backed Mr Biden’s comprehensive infrastructure plan to counter China’s multi-trillion-dollar belt and road initiative. As part of this, countries have pledged to help developing countries rebuild from the Covid-19 pandemic while taking climate change into account.

In 2009, wealthy nations agreed to mobilize $ 100 billion in public and private funds by 2020 to help poorer countries transition to clean energy and adapt to the worst effects of climate change. However, they only delivered about $ 80 billion on that pledge, according to the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development. And most of that money is in the form of loans rather than grants, making it difficult for poor countries to use, experts said.

“The G7’s announcement on climate finance is really peanuts in the face of an existential catastrophe,” said Pakistani Climate Minister Malik Amin Aslam. He called it a “big disappointment” for his country and others who had to spend more to cope with extreme weather conditions, displacement and other effects of global warming.

“At least the countries that are responsible for this inevitable crisis must meet their declared obligations, otherwise the climate negotiations could end in vain,” he warned.

A recent report from the International Energy Agency concluded that major economies must immediately stop approving new coal-fired power plants and oil and gas fields if the world is to stave off the most devastating effects of global warming.

At the summit, the seven countries addressed the loss of biodiversity and described it as a crisis on the same scale as climate change.

They said they would campaign for a global push to conserve at least 30 percent of the planet’s land and water area by 2030 and would put such protections in place in their own countries. Scientists say and the G7 are repeating these measures to help curb extinction, ensure water and food security, store carbon, and reduce the risk of future pandemics.

Today, according to the United Nations, around 17 percent of the earth’s land area and 8 percent of the oceans are protected.

Environmental associations welcomed the acceptance of the 30 percent commitment, but emphasized the need for action, which requires adequate funding. That is the difficult part to be worked out at a separate United Nations biodiversity conference in Kunming, China, in October.

Since the remaining intact ecosystems and biodiversity hotspots of the world are unevenly distributed, scientists emphasize that it is not enough for each country to filter out its own 30 percent. Rather, countries should work together to maximize the protection of the areas that achieve the best results in reversing interdependent biodiversity and climate crises. Researchers have mapped proposals.

The rights of local communities, including indigenous peoples who have done better to promote biodiversity, must be valued, proponents said. Conservation does not mean throwing people out, but making sure that wild areas are used sustainably.

Robert Watson, former chairman of two leading intergovernmental bodies on climate change and biodiversity, praised the agreement to link the two crises. But he said it had to address the factors that drive species loss, including agriculture, logging, and mining.

“I don’t see what action is being taken to stop the causes,” said Dr. Watson.

Categories
Politics

Offshore Wind Farms Present What Biden’s Local weather Plan Is Up Towards

Offshore Wind Farms Show What Biden’s Climate Plan Is Up Against

A constellation of 5,400 offshore wind turbines covers a growing part of Europe’s energy needs. The United States has exactly seven.

With more than 14,000 miles of coastline, the country offers plenty of places to tear down turbines. But legal, environmental, and economic obstacles and even vanity stood in the way.

President Biden wants to catch up quickly – in fact, his goals to reduce greenhouse gas emissions depend on it. Still, there are many problems, including a shortage of boats big enough to take the huge equipment out to sea, fishermen worried for livelihoods, and wealthy people feared that the turbines would take the unspoiled view of theirs Clouding villas by the water. There is even a centuries-old, politically explosive federal law known as the Jones Act that prevents wind farm developers from using American ports to launch foreign construction ships.

Offshore turbines are useful because the winds at sea are stronger and more steady than on land. The turbines can be placed so far that they are not visible from land, but still close enough to cities and suburbs that they do not require hundreds of kilometers of expensive transmission lines.

The Biden administration wants up to 2,000 turbines in the water in the next eight and a half years. Officials recently approved a project near Martha’s Vineyard that languished during the Trump administration and announced support for large wind farms off the California coast in May. The $ 2 trillion infrastructure plan proposed by Mr Biden in March would also increase incentives for renewables.

The cost of offshore wind turbines has fallen by around 80 percent over the past two decades to as low as $ 50 per megawatt hour. Although they are more expensive per unit of energy than onshore solar and wind parks, offshore turbines are often economically viable due to their lower transmission costs.

“Solar in the east is a little trickier than in the desert west,” said Robert M. Blue, chairman and CEO of Dominion Energy, a major utility working on a wind farm with nearly 200 turbines off the coast of Virginia. “We have set ourselves a net zero target for our company by 2050. This project is essential to achieve these goals. “

The slow pace of offshore wind development underscores the trade-offs between urgently tackling climate change and Mr Biden’s other goals of creating well-paying jobs and protecting local habitats. The United States could push through more projects if it were willing, for example, to remove the Jones Act’s protection for domestic shipbuilding, but that would undermine the president’s promises of employment.

These difficult questions cannot be solved simply by federal spending. As a result, it could be difficult or impossible for Mr Biden to eliminate greenhouse gas emissions from the electricity sector by 2035 and achieve net zero emissions across the economy by 2050 as he would like.

“I think the clear fact that other places have jumped on us is important,” said Amanda Lefton, director of the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, the agency that rents federal waters to wind developers. “We won’t be able to build offshore wind power if we don’t have the right investments.”

Europe’s lead means it has built a thriving complex of turbine construction, shipbuilding and skilled labor. Therefore, the USA could be dependent on European components, suppliers and ships for years.

Installing huge offshore wind turbines – General Electric’s largest one is eight feet – is a difficult job. Ships with cranes that can lift more than a thousand tons transport large components out to sea. At their destination, legs are lowered into the water to raise the ships and make them stationary while they work. Few ships can handle the largest components, and that’s a big problem for the United States.

Lloyd Eley, a project manager, helped build nuclear submarines early in his career and has been with Dominion Energy for the past eight years. None of this prepared him properly to oversee the construction of two wind turbines off the Virginia coast.

Mr. Eley’s biggest problem was the Jones Act, which requires that ships sailing from a US port to any location within the country, including its waters, be manufactured and registered in the United States and owned by Americans and need to be occupied.

The largest ships built in the U.S. designed for offshore construction are roughly 185 feet long and can lift around 500 tons, according to a Government Accountability Office report released in December. This is far too small for the huge components that Mr. Eley’s team worked with.

So Dominion rented three European ships and operated them in the port of Halifax, Nova Scotia. One of them, the Vole au Vent from Luxembourg, is 140 meters long and can lift 1,654 tons.

Mr. Eley’s crew waited for weeks for the European ships to travel more than 800 miles each direction to the port. The installations took a year. In Europe it would be ready in a few weeks. “That was definitely a challenge,” he said.

The US shipping industry has not invested in the ships needed to transport large wind turbines because there have been so few projects here. The first five offshore turbines were installed near Block Island in 2016, with RI Dominion’s two turbines installed last year.

Had it not been for the Jones Act – it was passed after World War I to ensure the country had ships and crews that could be mobilized during war and emergencies – Dominion could have run European ships out of Virginia’s ports. The law is sacrosanct in Congress, and unions and other supporters argue that repealing it would cut thousands of jobs in shipyards and boats, and make the United States dependent on foreign companies.

Demand for large ships could increase significantly over the next decade as the US, Europe and China pursue ambitious offshore wind targets. According to Dominion, only eight ships worldwide can transport the largest turbine parts.

Dominion is spending $ 500 million on a ship built in Brownsville, Texas that can haul large wind turbines. Named after a sea monster from Greek mythology, Charybdis, the ship will be 144 meters long and lift 2,200 tons. It will be ready by the end of 2023. The company said the ship, which it will also rent to other developers, will have around 200 more turbines installed at low cost by 2026. Dominion spent $ 300 million on the first two but is hoping the others will cost $ 40 million apiece.

For the past 24 years, Tanger Island resident Tommy Eskridge has made a living catching clams and crabs off the coast of Virginia.

Among other things, he works where Dominion wants to place its turbines. Federal regulators have adjusted the distance between turbines to one nautical mile to create wider lanes for fishermen and other boats, but Mr Eskridge, 54, fears the turbines could harm his catch.

The area has produced up to 7,000 pounds of mussels a day, although Mr Eskridge said a typical day produced about half that amount. A pound can make 2 to 3 dollars, he said.

Mr Eskridge said the company and regulators had not done enough to show that installing turbines would not harm his catch. “We just don’t know what it’s going to do.”

Annie Hawkins, executive director of the Responsible Offshore Development Alliance, which includes hundreds of fishing groups and companies, fears the government will not study the proposals and plan appropriately.

“What they do is say, ‘Take what we’ve really never done here, let’s move all in, the opponents are damned,'” said Ms. Hawkins. “From a fisheries point of view, we know that there will be massive displacement. You can’t just go fishing elsewhere. “

Fishing groups refer to recent problems in Europe to justify their concerns. For example, Orsted, the world’s largest offshore wind developer, has filed for an injunction to keep fishermen and their equipment out of an area of ​​the North Sea designed for new turbines while it is exploring the area.

Orsted said it tried to “work with fishermen” but asked for the contract because its job was made difficult by equipment that a fisherman had left in the area that he could not identify. “In order to conduct the survey work safely and only as a last resort, we had no choice but to secure the right to remove this device,” the company said in a statement.

When developers first applied for approval for Cape Wind, a project between Cape Cod, Martha’s Vineyard and Nantucket, in 2001, opposition was fierce. Opponents included Senator Edward M. Kennedy, the Massachusetts Democrat who died in 2009, and William I. Koch, an industrialist.

Nobody wanted the turbines to block the view of the coast from their resorts. They also argued that the project would block 16 historical sites, disrupt fishermen, and clog waterways used by humpback whales, pilot whales, and other whales.

After years of legal and political disputes, the developer of Cape Wind gave up in 2017. But long before that happened, Cape Wind’s problems terrified energy managers considering offshore wind.

Projects along the east coast are in similar struggles. Residents of the Hamptons, the affluent enclave, opposed two wind development areas and the federal government put the project on hold. On the New Jersey coast, some homeowners and businesses are opposed to offshore wind because they fear it could increase their electricity prices, disrupt whales and affect the area’s leech fisheries.

Energy managers want the Biden government to mediate such conflicts and expedite permit approval.

“It was artificial, incrementally slow because of some inefficiencies on the federal approval side,” said David Hardy, CEO of Orsted North America.

Renewable energy advocates said they were hopeful because the country added many wind turbines onshore – 66,000 in 41 states. They provided more than 8 percent of the country’s electricity last year.

Ms. Lefton, the federal water lease regulator, said future offshore projects would move faster as more people realized the dangers of climate change.

“We have a climate crisis ahead of us,” she said. “We have to switch to clean energy. I think that will be a great motivation. “