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newsclips -- ARB Newsclips for November 25, 2015
Posted: 25 Nov 2015 14:14:05
This is a service of the California Air Resources Board’s Office of Communications. You may need to sign in or register with individual websites to view some of the following news articles. UN CLIMATE TALKS Next Monday: a busy and symbolic day for Paris and the world. President Obama will meet with the leaders of China and India when he arrives in Paris on Monday to spur momentum for a global warming accord that has become a top priority for the French government in the wake of deadly terrorist attacks. http://www.eenews.net/stories/1060028568 India opposes deal to phase out fossil fuels by 2100 at climate summit. India would reject a deal to combat climate change that includes a pledge for the world to wean itself off fossil fuels this century, a senior official said, underlying the difficulties countries face in agreeing how to slow global warming. Almost 200 nations will meet in the French capital on Nov. 30 to try and seal a deal to prevent the planet from warming more than the 2 degrees Celsius that scientists say is vital if the world is to avoid the most devastating effects of climate change. http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/11/24/us-climatechange-summit-india-idUSKBN0TD1I220151124#PK2Y4ZRwAxZz6R3t.97 U.N. warns "business as usual" will cause huge temperature rise. A "business as usual" approach to climate change could lead to a rise in global temperatures of 6 degrees or more, the head of the U.N. weather agency said on Wednesday. However, decisions taken at a meeting of world leaders in Paris next week could still mean temperatures stay within 2 degrees Celsius of pre-industrial averages. http://af.reuters.com/article/energyOilNews/idAFL8N13K24K20151125 Other related articles: http://www.sfchronicle.com/news/science/article/UN-weather-agency-It-s-record-hot-out-there-this-6656191.php http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-34915448 http://fortune.com/2015/11/25/united-nations-record-hot/ Expect climate change plan details in new year. Premier Kathleen Wynne said Ontario's long-term plans to combat climate change are "optimistic and entirely realistic" on Tuesday. The province wants to achieve an 80-per-cent reduction in emissions over 1990 levels by 2050. Wynne said to do that, the province will work on a range of projects, from getting more electric cars on the roads to changing the building codes to create more environmentally-friendly buildings. http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/ontario-climate-change-1.3332478 Have questions about next week's climate talks? Here are 8 answers that might help. Diplomats from more than 190 countries will gather on an airfield in Le Bourget, just outside the French capital, to negotiate a new international agreement on climate change through the United Nations. About 20,000 people, including business leaders, environmental activists and journalists, have been accredited to attend the proceedings, and the talks will draw an estimated 20,000 more to Paris for a series of clean energy and other events happening on the sidelines. http://www.eenews.net/stories/1060028564 CLIMATE CHANGE Renewable NatGas Benefits From California Low Carbon Fuels Standard. California officials are encouraging alternative fuel fleets, including those switching to renewable natural gas (RNG), to take advantage of the low carbon fuel standard (LCFS) and cap-and-trade program created under the state's 2006 climate change law (AB 32). A state greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions reduction fund administered by the California Air Resources Board (CARB) has $230 million available for low carbon transportation. The money comes from proceeds of CARB cap-and-trade auctions selling emission credits. http://www.naturalgasintel.com/articles/104472-renewable-natgas-benefits-from-california-low-carbon-fuels-standard FUELS Fossil fuel companies risk wasting $2tn of investors' money, study says. Fossil fuel companies risk wasting up to $2tn (£1.3tn) of investors’ money in the next decade on projects left worthless by global action on climate change and the surge in clean energy, according to a new report. The world’s nations aim to seal a UN deal in Paris in December to keep global warming below the danger limit of 2C. The heavy cuts in carbon emissions needed to achieve this would mean no new coal mines at all are needed and oil demand peaking in 2020, according to the influential thinktank Carbon Tracker. It found $2.2tn of projects at risk of stranding, ie being left valueless as the market for fossil fuels shrinks. http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2015/nov/25/fossil-fuel-companies-risk-wasting-2tn-paris-climate-deal ARPA-E awards $2.1M to Marine BioEnergy for open ocean farming of kelp for hydrocarbon biofuels. Marine BioEnergy, Inc. was awarded $2.1 million in funding from the US Department of Energy’s Advanced Research Projects Agency – Energy (ARPA-E) under the agency’s OPEN 2015 solicitation (earlier post). The funding will be used to research and develop open ocean farming of kelp as a biomass feedstock. The kelp will be processed into biocrude and further to hydrocarbons ready for commercial refineries. http://www.greencarcongress.com/2015/11/20151125-marinebio.html VEHICLES A Car Dealers Won’t Sell: It’s Electric. More than seven years ago, President Obama called for one million electric cars to be on the road by this year, and the vehicles have gained a large fan club. Environmentalists promote them as a smart way to cut dangerous emissions. Owners love their pep and the gas money they save. Apple and Google have jumped into the race to build next-generation battery-powered cars. http://www.nytimes.com/2015/12/01/science/electric-car-auto-dealers.html?hp&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&clickSource=story-heading&module=second-column-region®ion=top-news&WT.nav=top-news&_r=1 Electric cars and the coal that runs them. In this traffic-packed Dutch city, electric cars jostle for space at charging ¬stations. The oldest exhaust-spewing vehicles will soon be banned from the city center. Thanks to generous tax incentives, the share of electric vehicles has grown faster in the Netherlands than in nearly any other country in the world. But behind the green growth is a filthy secret: In a nation famous for its windmills, electricity is coming from a far dirtier source. Three new coal-fired power plants, including two here on the Rotterdam harbor, are supplying much of the power to fuel the Netherlands’ electric-car boom. https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/electric-cars-and-the-coal-that-runs-them/2015/11/23/74869240-734b-11e5-ba14-318f8e87a2fc_story.html U.S. delays 'quiet car' rules for hybrids, electric cars. U.S. regulators are delaying rules that would require electric and hybrid cars to alert sight-impaired pedestrians and bicyclists until at least mid-March, according to a recent government filing. The decision is the latest setback for a government plan that has been in the works since 2013 to require "quiet cars" - vehicles that operate at low speeds without an internal combustion engine running - to add new audio alerts at low speeds. http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/11/24/usa-autos-regulations-idUSL1N1372SN20151124?feedType=RSS&feedName=industrialsSector Nissan Electric Cars Will Be For Mass Market: CEO Ghosn. The Renault Nissan Alliance will concentrate on mass-market electric cars, rather than luxury models, CEO Carlos Ghosn told reporters at the recent Tokyo Motor Show. Renault and Nissan will not produce a rival to the Model S or Model X, Ghosn said during a roundtable discussion (via Charged EVs). "Frankly we are concentrated on the mass market, the core market," he remarked. He said the small sales increases that would result from "going niche" by competing with Tesla aren't what Renault-Nissan is aiming for. http://www.greencarreports.com/news/1101140_nissan-electric-cars-will-be-for-mass-market-ceo-ghosn VW RECALL VW will stick to 6.7 bln eur provisions despite simple technical fix. Volkswagen will not reduce planned provisions of 6.7 billion euros ($7.1 billion) for costs of its diesel emissions scandal although technical fixes for affected vehicles have turned out less complex. As long as VW does not know how much it will incur in total costs for the manipulations, there is no reason to alter planned provisions, a spokesman told reporters at the carmaker's base in Wolfsburg. http://af.reuters.com/article/commoditiesNews/idAFL8N13K2BR20151125 GREEN ENERGY California’s energy goals collide with the desert tortoise. Federal officials announced earlier this month that 400,000 acres of public land in California’s Mojave Desert would be designated for possible renewable energy development as part of theDesert Renewable Energy Conservation Plan. The plan represents a laudable effort to balance California’s long-standing commitment to the preservation of its natural heritage with its more recent commitments to address climate change. But it also reveals some hard truths about the environmental trade-offs inherent in the state’s commitment embodied in SB350 to generate 50 percent of its electricity with renewable energy by 2030. http://www.sfchronicle.com/opinion/article/California-s-energy-goals-collide-with-the-6654981.php Better batteries could beat global warming. One of the key technologies that could help wean the globe off fossil fuel is probably at your fingertips or in your pocket right now: the battery. If batteries can get better, cheaper and store more power safely, then electric cars and solar- or wind-powered homes become more viable — even on cloudy days or when the wind isn’t blowing. These types of technological solutions will be one of the more hopeful aspects of United Nations climate talks that begin next week in Paris. http://www.detroitnews.com/story/business/2015/11/25/better-batteries/76359784/ OPINIONS L.A.'s turf rebates aren't just a gimmick. City Controller Ron Galperin took aim last week at Los Angeles' popular "Cash in Your Lawn" rebate program, calling the program a "gimmick" that helped get people to pay attention to the drought but didn't generate much immediate water savings. His audit of Department of Water and Power conservation programs found that Angelenos voluntarily cut their daily water use by 22 gallons per person over the course of the last year, while the turf removal saved only about half a gallon — or, as the controller said, a "drop in the bucket." http://www.latimes.com/opinion/editorials/la-ed-1125-turf-rebates-20151125-story.html BLOGS Setting the Mood for a Strong Global Climate Agreement. Twenty-three years ago, I was in the room when leaders signed the original convention on climate change. The occasion had a tone of strong moral purpose and promise. In Paris next week, we have the opportunity to fulfill that promise. If wisdom prevails, world leaders will agree to a historic agreement in Paris. The brutal attacks appear not to have dampened resolve, but rather to have increased the sense of solidarity. The number of heads of state and government coming to Paris has risen since the attacks to around 120. On the first day of the meeting, almost all of these are expected to pledge their support for a strong outcome. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dr-andrew-steer/setting-the-mood-for-a-st_b_8643566.html California is in a drought emergency. Visit www.SaveOurH2O.org for water conservation tips.