Legislation that would create jobs and save money

From the Letter by Eric Engle, Charleston Gazette, February 20, 2021

The West Virginia Legislature’s 2021 session is off to a ferocious start. Bills are being introduced and considered rapidly, with very little time given for public input and very limited public access to committee proceedings or other activities at the Capitol building.

Those of us trying to keep track of legislation have to do all we can to keep the public informed and keep constituents in contact with their delegates and senators. To that end, there are very important pieces of legislation for West Virginia’s economic, energy, public health and environmental future that I’d like to bring to your attention, and I encourage you to contact your representatives about them quickly.

Senate Bill 30, titled “Permitting third-party ownership of renewable and alternative energy generating facilities,” and the similar House Bill 2249, titled “Permitting customers and developers to enter into solar power purchase agreements,” have been introduced to the Senate Economic Development Committee and the House Energy and Manufacturing Committee, respectively.

These bills would legalize power-purchasing agreements (PPAs) in West Virginia and have bipartisan backing, with SB 30 introduced by Sen. Charles Trump, R-Morgan, and HB 2249 introduced by Delegate Barbara Fleischauer, D-Monongalia.

The coalition West Virginians for Energy Freedom, longtime advocates for PPAs in West Virginia, defines PPAs as “a widely available method to finance distributed energy generation projects such as rooftop solar panels or landfill bio-gas.” West Virginians for Energy Freedom explains: “These third-party agreements are legal in at least 28 states, Washington, D.C., and Puerto Rico. States such as Virginia, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Maryland and Georgia offer PPAs, but they are not available in West Virginia.”

PPAs can bring renewable energy to West Virginia, while creating jobs, saving West Virginia’s energy consumers money and improving public health and environmental protection as we inevitably move away from fossil fuels. They also help foster the kind of energy independence that both major parties and people along the entire political ideological spectrum can get behind.

Another crucial piece of legislation, introduced by Delegate Evan Hansen, D-Monongalia, HB 2287, titled “Providing for solar energy production on formerly mined land,” would “encourage solar energy development on lands formerly used for mining and certain third-party co-generation projects, to provide electricity for commercial, industrial and manufacturing businesses or institutions of higher education or nonprofit organizations that are located in or will locate in West Virginia,” according to the summary

Many businesses and corporations are pledging to reduce, and eventually eliminate, their greenhouse gas emissions in the coming years and decades. If we want those entities to locate in West Virginia and bring their jobs with them, we have to be able to accommodate their energy and other infrastructural needs and goals.

HB 2287 gives us a leg up on attracting and retaining these investments, while also providing cheaper energy for our existing commercial, industrial and nonprofit entities. There’s no reason why partisan politics or political ideology should get in the way of all the potential in this bill.

The House Energy and Manufacturing Committee is chaired by Delegate Bill Anderson, R-Wood. The Senate Economic Development Committee is chaired by Sen. Chandler Swope, R-Mercer. Please contact these chairmen and let them know you want to see House Bills 2249 and 2287 and Senate Bill 30 on the committee agendas and see them passed. The legislative session ends April 10.

West Virginia deserves a more diversified economy, with more and better jobs, cheaper energy and better protection of our health and natural resources. These bills can help us get there.

>> Eric Engle is chairman of Mid-Ohio Valley Climate Action, most active in the Parkersburg — Marietta area in the Ohio River valley.

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See also: What West Virginia’s Changing Climate Means for Its Farmers | USDA Climate Hubs — By Evan Kutta, West Virginia University, Institute of Water Security and Science and Jason A. Hubbart, West Virginia University, Davis College of Agriculture, Natural Resources and Design

Small scale production of egg plants in Bangladesh

By Blaine Friedlander, Cornell Chronicle, October 12, 2020

The world’s small-scale farmers now can see a path to solving global hunger over the next decade, with solutions – such as adopting climate-resilient crops through improving extension services – all culled rapidly via artificial intelligence from more than 500,000 scientific research articles.

The results are synthesized in 10 new research papers – authored by 77 scientists, researchers and librarians in 23 countries – as part of Ceres2030: Sustainable Solutions to End Hunger. The project is headquartered at Cornell, with partners from the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) and the International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD).

The papers were published concurrently on Oct. 12 in four journals – Nature Plants, Nature Sustainability, Nature Machine Intelligence and Nature Food – and assembled in a comprehensive package online: Sustainable Solutions to End Hunger.

Ceres2030 employed machine learning, librarian savvy and research synthesis methods to quickly scan a trove of thousands of scientific journals for ideas and websites from more than 60 agencies that can help eradicate world hunger.

Principal Investigator Jaron Porciello of Cornell University

“Moreover,” Porciello said, “we are synthesizing this scientific information to make it useful for an audience – like policymakers – that needs science to make decisions.”

The United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goal No. 2, known as SDG2, calls for ridding the world of hunger by 2030. Currently, more than 690 million people – about 8.9% of the world’s population – are food-insecure, according to the United Nation’s Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, that global statistic could easily rise by 10 million people a year from now, and by nearly 60 million people in five years.

If recent trends continue, the number of people around the world affected by hunger would surpass 840 million by 2030, according to the FAO.

Ideas from the array of papers published in the respective Nature publications can be implemented instantly. Around the world, for example, small-scale farmers are rooted in their agricultural ways, often holding on to traditional farming methods that may impair their own food security and livelihoods.

In an evidence-synthesis study about small-scale producers in low-and middle-income countries in Nature Plants, Cornell researchers found that a key to adopting drought-tolerant crops was people – extension experts teaching farmers ways to move forward.

Researchers and librarians reviewed more than 200 journal articles that revealed how extension and education helped small-scale farmers adopt climate resilient crops to achieve steady production, even in the face of climate change, said Maricelis Acevedo, senior research associate in the Department of Global Development.

“How do we make sure that technologies that we develop based on science can have a positive impact on a farmer’s livelihood?” Acevedo said. “We can do all the science, but if we don’t communicate effectively with farmers, they won’t get the right information.”

Acevedo worked on the study with Cornell colleagues Hale Tufan, senior extension associate in global development; Kate Ghezzi-Kopel, evidence synthesis librarian at Mann Library; and Porciello.

Reviewing scientific literature can reveal knowledge gaps. In the evidence-synthesis paper about feed interventions and the livelihoods of small-scale livestock keepers in Africa, Asia and Latin America, in Nature Plants, nearly 23,000 papers were identified by human expertise and artificial intelligence. Only 73 of them were included in the final analysis, and just six reported evidence of adopting new livestock feed methods.

The authors, including Debbie Cherney, professor of animal science, and Erin Eldermire, head of Cornell’s Flower-Sprecher Veterinary Library, at Cornell’s College of Veterinary Medicine, found that while many papers examined the technical aspects of a livestock feed supply, they rarely accounted for nutrition.

Cornell researchers’ work on accelerating evidence-informed decision-making for the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals using machine learning in Nature Machine Intelligence, describes how Porciello group developed Persephone, the machine-learning model they used for the gargantuan task of reviewing research. Joining Porciello on the paper were graduate student Maidul Islam ‘21; Stefan Einarson, director of information technology in the Department of Global Development; and Haym Hirsh, professor of computer science.

In a review of the contributions of farmers’ organizations to smallholder agriculture, in Nature Food, Ghezzi-Kopel and other authors said formal farmer groups not only provided needed structure to market produce, but encouraged natural resource management, improved food security and helped the environment.

Magdalena Skipper, editor-in-chief of Nature, will present the entire package of Ceres2030 papers to Gerd Müller, Germany’s Federal Minister of Economic Cooperation and Development, at the online event, “A World Without Hunger is Possible – What Must Be Done,” Oct. 13 at 4 a.m. EDT. The program will include remarks by billionaire philanthropist Bill Gates, chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

The prospects for the reaching the United Nations’ anti-hunger goal is promising, Porciello said. “We’re trying something new that hasn’t been done before,” she said. “We know the tools weren’t there, the methods weren’t there and the teams weren’t in place. Now, we’ve created some staircases to make science and world reality connect a little bit more. This approach could be replicated to build a scientific evidence base for many of the world’s most complex policy problems”

Acevedo, Porciello and Tufan are faculty fellows at the Cornell Atkinson Center for a Sustainable Future.

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The 17 United Nations sustainable development goals (SDGs) to transform our world:

GOAL 1: No Poverty, GOAL 2: Zero Hunger, GOAL 3: Good Health and Well-being, GOAL 4: Quality Education, GOAL 5: Gender Equality, GOAL 6: Clean Water and Sanitation, GOAL 7: Affordable and Clean Energy, GOAL 8: Decent Work and Economic Growth, GOAL 9: Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure, GOAL 10: Reduced Inequality, GOAL 11: Sustainable Cities and Communities, GOAL 12: Responsible Consumption and Production, GOAL 13: Climate Action, GOAL 14: Life Below Water, GOAL 15: Life on Land GOAL 16: Peace & Justice Strong Institutions, GOAL 17: Partnerships to achieve Goals

... more companies are coming around ...

From the Trade Arabia News Service, February 12, 2020

Honeywell has unveiled a new “Refinery of the Future” concept, which will be showcased at the annual Middle East Technology Forum for Refining & Petrochemicals (ME-TECH), taking place from February 18-20 in Abu Dhabi.

The concept demonstrates how carefully planned investments in refining operations — including integration with petrochemicals production — can help refiners improve profit margins.

At ME-TECH, Honeywell UOP, a leader in the oil and gas industry, will explain how its “Refinery of the Future” concept can help refiners unlock new value from crude oil, potentially improving net cash margin by almost $30 per barrel.

Honeywell will also showcase the impact of integration between refining and petrochemicals on the oil and gas sector in the Middle East and explain how new production technology is enabling economies of scale that lower the cost of petrochemical production.

“The history of refining crude oil is rooted in the production of fuels, but forward-looking refiners are branching out into petrochemicals to stay competitive and ensure continued profitable growth,” said Hesham Tashkandi, vice president and general manager, Honeywell Performance Materials and Technologies, Middle East.

“Changes in market dynamics, combined with advanced technologies in the efficient management of hydrocarbon molecules, are opening up alternative paths to profitability for refiners. With the right retrofit technology and domain expertise, the ‘refinery of the future’ is now within reach.”

Recent projections show that by 2022, the top quartile of refineries by margin will be integrated with petrochemicals. World-scale refineries employing new technologies are being built in regions with growing fuels demand. These new, global, integrated plants will be considerably more resilient to shrinking gasoline and diesel margins and will remain more competitive than much of the current installed base.

A new Honeywell white paper titled ‘Refinery of the Future’ will also debut at ME-TECH, detailing how petrochemical integration requires a strategy that is designed to maximize value at each step and Honeywell UOP technologies provide the right solutions.

Honeywell’s case studies show potential diversification pathways to petrochemicals, which can be completed through a series of economically viable investments in bottom-of-barrel conversion, hydrocracking to naphtha technologies, and an aromatics complex integrated with a Toluene Methylation unit. These technologies enable production of enough heavy naphtha to support profitable world-scale paraxylene production from the same crude rate.

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Ineos, UPM Biofuels reach raw material supply deal, Plastics Today, February 11, 2020

UPM Biofuels has agreed to supply Ineos with UPM BioVerno naphtha, a renewable raw material made in pulp production, to produce bio-attributed polymers in Germany. Ineos will use the feedstocks to produce plastics for various applications, including Ineos business Inovyn’s Biovyn bio-attributed polyvinyl chloride.

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Sustainability, innovation go hand in hand at Covestro, Ethical Corp., February 11, 2020

Sustainability has always been a pillar of Covestro’s operations and is intertwined with every aspect of its innovation, including research and development and business decisions, says executive Rebecca Lucore. Covestro has reduced its carbon dioxide emissions 40% below 2005 levels, is working toward 50% by 2025, and uses events such as the annual Intern Sustainability Challenge to find new solutions that support its sustainability goals.

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Company produces 100% renewable nylon, Forbes, February 11, 2020

Bioengineering company Genomatica has advanced the world’s march away from fossil fuels on a new front, producing a key component of nylon from plant sugars. The key was the use of engineered micro-organisms and a thoroughly renewable fermentation process to turn the sugars into caprolactam, the basic nylon ingredient that’s normally refined from crude oil.

Heavy sustained rains bring down boulders onto the roads in WV and elsewhere

From Prof. David Lodge, Cornell University, February 5, 2020

Can this planet be saved? Yes, we think so !!

In this timely program, David Lodge, director of Cornell’s Atkinson Center for Sustainability, will challenge us with bold ideas that may help us and our planet survive our current environmental challenges.

We’ll weigh the costs and benefits of changing the ways we produce human necessities such as food, shelter, clothing, transportation, and water—to conserve energy and finite natural resources.

Join us in figuring out how to minimize environmental impact without diminishing economic growth and our quality of life.

Details: July 5 to 11, 2020 on Campus in Ithaca, NY

Course highlights — 1. Explore the controversies surrounding efforts to reduce and respond to climate change.

2. Discuss the urgent need for more sustainable practices and policies. Become acquainted with the Cornell Atkinson Center for Sustainability, the hub of collaborative sustainability research at Cornell University.

3. Learn about the work of the passionate experts and innovators, theorists, practitioners, business leaders, and philanthropists who are developing strategies and shaping policy to protect our planet.

4. Discover how you can participate in sustainability efforts.

Faculty for This Course Professor David Lodge

David Lodge serves as Cornell University’s first Francis J. DiSalvo Director of the Cornell Atkinson Center for Sustainability. His academic home is Cornell’s Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, with a joint appointment in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences and the College of Arts and Sciences..

David has led research on freshwater biodiversity as part of the United Nations’ Millennium Ecosystem Assessment and led an expert subcommittee providing advice to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on reducing biological invasions from the ballast water of ships. He recently served as a Jefferson Science Fellow in the U.S. Department of State.

Under David’s leadership, Cornell Atkinson Center is focused on working with NGO, corporate, foundation, and government collaborators to move knowledge to action in reducing climate risks, accelerating energy transitions, increasing food security, and advancing the One Health Initiative.

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See also: CLEARWAY Signs Power Contracts for WV Wind Farm, WV News, February 6, 2020

CHARLESTON, WV — Clearway Energy Group announced Thursday that it signed power purchase agreements with AEP Energy and Toyota for Clearway’s 110-megawatt Black Rock wind farm, in Grant and Mineral counties, West Virginia.

The power contracts will enable both AEP Energy, a wholly owned subsidiary of American Electric Power, and Toyota to meet their energy management objectives while helping each company achieve their respective clean energy goals.

“We’re thrilled that Black Rock will provide economic benefits to AEP Energy and Toyota while helping meet their sustainability goals,” said Craig Cornelius, CEO of Clearway Energy Group. “Black Rock, along with our nearby Pinnacle wind farm, reaffirms Clearway’s commitment to West Virginia and wind energy’s growing role in the state’s economy and environment.”

Shale-fueled US plastics boom puts spotlight on sustainability

From S & P Global Platts News Service, October 22, 2019

Virgin plastic production is thriving in the US, fueled by the North American shale boom. But the reversal of fortune for the US chemical industry has highlighted a bigger challenge amid widespread concern about plastic waste and sustainability.

The growth of shale activity across the US unearthed ethane feedstock so cheap that a region that had been facing naphtha-fed plant shutdowns and petrochemical imports saw the cost advantage of home-fracked gas shaping its future as a global petrochemical supplier.

As such, the focus has overwhelmingly been on ethane-fed crackers and derivative polyethylene (PE), the resin used to make the most-used plastics in the world, and less on how to deal with the plastics they produce after use.

Companies are stepping up their efforts in recycled plastics, most notably with the Alliance to End Plastic Waste, to which dozens of companies have committed more than $1 billion to find solutions to the plastic waste problem.

While petrochemical giants like Dow, BASF, LyondellBasell, Sabic, Braskem, Sinopec, Sasol and Reliance Industries are among the alliance’s members, most efforts in the US focus on research and funding.

Production is still mainly virgin plastics, with inclusion of recycled resin in new plastic products being pushed by resin buyers. And resin producers face the same key challenge as their counterparts in other regions, of sourcing enough high-quality plastic waste as a feedstock.

New ethylene and polyethylene (PE) capacity growth

Fourteen new ethane crackers that are operational, under construction or planned from 2017 beyond 2020 will add nearly 18.5 million mt/year, or 52%, more US ethylene capacity. In addition, 28 new PE plants starting up or planned in the same span will increase capacity by nearly 60%, or 13.67 million mt/year.

Other derivatives are accompanying some of the new crackers, such as monoethylene glycol or alcohols units, and a new polypropylene plant under construction. The companies that went all in on these projects include the biggest global names in petrochemicals: Dow, ExxonMobil, Chevron Phillips Chemical, LyondellBasell, Formosa Plastics USA, Sasol and Ineos.

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Massive cranes, some over 700 ft. tall dominate “Cracker” construction site

Article by Gerry Ricciutti, WKBN News, September 24, 2019

“Work could take another year and a half to complete”

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ExxonMobil Scouting Property For 2nd Cracker Plant In Beaver County

From an Article by Reid Frazer, StateImpact Penna., October 17, 2019

ExxonMobil is reportedly looking for land to build a large chemical plant in Beaver County. If built, it would be the second major chemical plant in Beaver County built to take advantage of cheap natural gas from the region’s fracking industry.

Shell is already buidling a six-billion dollar plant in Monaca that will make plastic out of ethane, a common byproduct of natural gas. Other companies are looking at locations in Ohio and West Virginia.

“Certainly there is a a large supply of (natural gas liquids) which could potentially be converted into plastics for industrial use,” said Jennifer Van Dinter, an analyst at S&P Global Platts.

“By the early 2020s, we’re (projecting) between about 500,000 and 600,000 barrels a day of ethane being produced, and that would be capable of supporting four to five petrochemical facilities,” Van Dinter said.

Prof. Mahowald speaks up on urgency

From an Article by Christian Elliott, Cornell Chronicle, February 25, 2019

Natalie Mahowald, a lead author on the recent United Nations’ special report on global warming, will deliver the keynote address at the 2019 Polson Institute Future of Development symposium, March 8 from 2-5:30 p.m. in B25 Warren Hall. This is the main campus of Cornell University in Ithaca, NY. The symposium is free and open to the public.

Mahowald, the Irving Porter Church Professor of Engineering in the Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, and four other speakers will discuss carbon dioxide removal from the atmosphere. Mahowald is a faculty director for Cornell’s Atkinson Center for a Sustainable Future.

This is the first in a series of symposiums on climate change hosted by the Polson Institute.

“What’s particularly exciting about these symposia is how they address questions of equity, justice and the distribution of risks in relation to some of the proposed climate solutions,” said Lori Leonard, professor of development sociology and director of the Polson Institute.

Also speaking will be:

>>> Robin Chazdon, a professor at the University of the Sunshine Coast and executive director of the Association for Tropical Biology and Conservation, who will discuss the global potential of natural forest regeneration to conserve biodiversity and maintain indigenous cultural practices in tropical forest regions;

>>> Erin Burns, associate policy director at Carbon 180, a Washington think tank that champions global warming mitigation efforts, who will speak on developing federal policy to address carbon removal technology and practices;

>>> Wil Burns, co-executive director of the Institute for Carbon Removal Law and Policy at American University, will address the transnational challenges of carbon removal and the limitations of existing international law and treaties; and

>>> Ben Cashore, professor of environmental governance and political science at Yale University’s School of Forestry and Environmental Studies, who will discuss ways to decarbonize the atmosphere and the social implications of those choices.

The event is co-sponsored by the Atkinson Center and the Cornell Institute for Climate Smart Solutions.

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Dire levels of CO2 will decimate oceans | Cornell Chronicle

Prof. Mahowald to Congress: Act now to arrest climate change | Cornell Chronicle

Public Meeting, Tuesday, January 8, 2019, Charleston, WV

Public Advisory from the Ohio Valley Environmental Coalition (OVEC), January 3, 2019

Contacts: Robin Blakeman, OVEC, 304-522-0246, robin@ohvec.org
Angie Rosser, WVRC, 304-437-1274, arosser@wvrivers.org
Janet Keating, CCM, 304-360-4201, keatingjanet49@gmail.com

What: On the eve on the fifth anniversary of the 2014 water crisis, community members are invited to gather for “WATER: A sacred gift, a human right, and our stewardship role”

When: 6 – 8 p.m. Tuesday, January 8, 2019

Where: Trinity Evangelical Lutheran Church, 1600 Kanawha Blvd E, Charleston, WV 25311

More what: Community leaders will:
– Examine West Virginia water justice issues through a moral and faith-based lens
– Discuss current and legacy water pollution issues our community faces and ways West Virginia residents can be proactive in protecting safe drinking water
– Hold a candlelight vigil on the banks of the Kanawha River to mark the fifth anniversary of the West Virginia water crisis.

This event is free and open to the public. Light refreshments served.

Who: Invited speakers include: Delegates Barbara Fleischauer and Mike Pushkin

Confirmed speakers include: Angie Rosser (West Virginia Rivers Coalition), Genevieve and Karan Ireland, Robin Blakeman, (OVEC–Ohio Valley Environmental Coalition), Janet Keating (Creation Justice Ministries), Fr. Brian O-Donnell (West Virginia Council of Churches), Rev. Rose Edington (West Virginia Interfaith Power and Light), Gary Zuckett (West Virginia Citizen Action Group)

Co-sponsoring groups: OVEC–Ohio Valley Environmental Coalition / West Virginia Rivers Coalition / Creation Justice Ministries / West Virginia Citizen Action Group / West Virginia Council of Churches / West Virginia Interfaith Power and Light / Christians for the Mountains / CARE–Call to Action for Racial Equality

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SOURCE: The Ohio Valley Environmental Coalition, PO Box 6753, Huntington, WV 25773-6753. Email: info@ohvec.org Phone: 304-522-0246

Burbo Bank wind farm off the UK Liverpool coast

From an Essay by Rebecca Long-Bailey, The Guardian, Dec. 11, 2017

The climate crisis is the most significant issue facing humanity. Natural disasters are already displacing entire communities. More intense droughts are leading to unprecedented levels of food insecurity and hunger across the globe. This summer saw hurricanes, floods and fires affect hundreds of millions of people from India to Niger, Haiti to Houston. The UK is also vulnerable to climate impacts, with more destructive storms, prolonged floods, and heatwaves becoming the norm.

Our climate reality is increasingly unpredictable and daunting. However, it is also opening the space to collectively reimagine a different future for the UK. Fossil fuels helped ignite the first industrial revolution, but we now know that their continued use will threaten our very existence. Within the UK we have the skills, ingenuity and people to drive the next energy revolution, powered by renewables. For us to make this change a success, our politics must have environmental sustainability and social justice at its core.

This is why climate change is at the heart of Labour’s industrial strategy. At the last election, Labour pledged that 60% of the UK’s energy will come from low carbon or renewable sources by 2030 to help us meet the challenge of tackling climate change. Labour plans to achieve this mission by transforming our energy system by taking parts back into public control and exploring how we can ensure greater local control of energy generation and supply. We want to cultivate strengths in growing markets for green tech, invest in renewable energy infrastructure, reduce demand for heat, and maintain Britain’s climate commitments.

Two years ago, representatives from 196 countries met in Paris and committed to limiting global temperature rises to “well below” 2C above pre-industrial levels, with the aspirational target below 1.5C. The UK ratified the landmark Paris agreement the following year, promising to “continue our leadership on climate action”.

Despite its green rhetoric, the government’s record is not good. Its Clean Growth Strategy even admitted that the measures it recommended would not fulfil either the fourth or fifth carbon budgets. These budgets are restrictions on the total amount of greenhouse gases than can be emitted in a five-year period by the UK and are legally binding; for example the fourth carbon budget covers the period 2023-27, and the fifth covers 2028-2032.

We should be over-performing on our carbon budgets, not underperforming. The most recent autumn budget even threatened the future of new renewable generation by not admitting any more new low carbon electricity levies until 2025, on current forecasts, while at the same time giving tax breaks to oil and gas firms. The implications of the new levy regime could be catastrophic. Without alternative funding, it may spell the end of much low carbon development in the UK. With the success offshore, this is the moment to be seizing the opportunity to develop other forms of renewable energy. The Tories continue to push fracking despite its unpopularity across the country. The result of Tory policy not only undermines our climate change obligations but means many suffer from the effects of air pollution and fuel poverty.

I’m joining 100 other MPs, across parties, to call on our pension fund to remove its investments in fossil fuels.

That’s why I’m joining 100 other MPs, across parties, to call on our pension fund to remove its investments in fossil fuels. Our words in Paris must be matched by our actions in parliament – our constituents expect nothing less. This starts, but by no means finishes, with where we invest millions of pounds through our pensions. But we need to open up this conversation beyond parliament to ensure a just transition to a green economy.

This campaign is the fastest growing divestment movement of all time, which has seen more than $5tn of assets divested across more than 800 institutions. Campaigning for our universities, workplaces, unions, and pension funds to divest is one important way we can help to build a more sustainable society. Parliament must play its part.

>>> Rebecca Long-Bailey is shadow secretary for business, energy and industrial strategy and MP for Salford and Eccles

We need to make the transition now to sustainable systems

From an Article by the University of Sussex (UK), Science Daily, 9/21/17

Rapid changes in electricity, heat, buildings, industry and mobility are needed!

Changes in electricity, heat, buildings, industry and transport are needed rapidly and must happen all together, according to researchers at the universities of Sussex, Manchester and Oxford in a new study published in the journal Science. (See reference).

To provide a reasonable (66%) chance of limiting global temperature increases to below 2 Centigrade degrees the International Energy Agency and International Renewable Energy Agency suggest that global energy-related carbon emissions must peak by 2020 and fall by more than 70% in the next 35 years. This implies a tripling of the annual rate of energy efficiency improvement, retrofitting the entire building stock, generating 95% of electricity from low-carbon sources by 2050 and shifting almost entirely towards electric cars.

This elemental challenge necessitates “deep decarbonisation” of electricity, transport, heat, industrial, forestry and agricultural systems across the world. But despite the recent rapid growth in renewable electricity generation, the rate of progress towards this wider goal remains slow.

Moreover, many energy and climate researchers remain wedded to disciplinary approaches that focus on a single piece of the low-carbon transition puzzle. A case in point is a recent Science Policy Forum proposing a ‘carbon law’ that will guarantee that zero-emissions are reached. This model-based prescription emphasizes a single policy instrument, but neglects the wider political, cultural, business, and social drivers of low carbon transitions.

A new, interdisciplinary study published in Science presents a ‘sociotechnical’ framework that explains how these different drivers can interlink and mutually reinforce one another and how the pace of the low carbon transition can be accelerated.

Professor Frank Geels from the University of Manchester, lead author of the study, explains: “Our ‘big picture’ socio-technical framework shows how interactions between various social groups can increase the momentum of low-carbon transitions.”

Professor Nick Eyre from the University of Oxford, End Use Energy Demand Champion for the UK Research Councils’ Energy Programme, adds: “Accelerating transitions is critical if we are to achieve the goals of decarbonizing and saving energy faster, further, and more flexibly. This international quality study shows the importance of whole systems thinking in energy demand research.”

Professor Benjamin K. Sovacool from the University of Sussex, a co-author on the study, says: “Current rates of change are simply not enough. We need to accelerate transitions, deepen their speed and broaden their reach. Otherwise there can be no hope of reaching a 2 degree target, let alone 1.5 degrees. This piece reveals that the acceleration of transitions across the sociotechnical systems of electricity, heat, buildings, manufacturing, and transport requires new conceptual approaches, analytical foci, and research methods.”

The Policy Forum provides four key lessons for how to accelerate sustainability transitions.

Lesson 1: Focus on socio-technical systems rather than individual elements

Rapid and deep decarbonization requires a transformation of ‘sociotechnical systems’ — the interlinked mix of technologies, infrastructures, organizations, markets, regulations and user practices that together deliver societal functions such as personal mobility. Previous systems have developed over many decades, and the alignment and co-evolution of their elements makes them resistant to change.

Accelerated low-carbon transitions therefore depend on both techno-economic improvements, and social, political and cultural processes, including the development of positive or negative discourses. Professor Steve Sorrell from the University of Sussex, a coauthor of the study, states: “In this policy forum we describe how transformational changes in energy and transport systems occur, and how they may be accelerated. Traditional policy approaches emphasizing a single technology will not be enough.”

Lesson 2: Align multiple innovations and systems

Socio-technical transitions gain momentum when multiple innovations are linked together, improving the functionality of each and acting in combination to reconfigure systems. The shale gas revolution, for instance, accelerated when seismic imaging, horizontal drilling, and hydraulic fracturing were combined. Likewise, accelerated low-carbon transitions in electricity depend not only on the momentum of renewable energy innovations like wind, solar-PV and bio-energy, but also on complementary innovations including energy storage and demand response. These need aligned and then linked so that innovations are harmonized.

Prof. Paul Ekins, Director of the UCL Institute for Sustainable Resources, University College London, and project leader to the EU INNOPATHS consortium researching low-carbon transitions for Europe, comments: “One of the great strengths of this study is the equal emphasis it accords to technological, social, business and policy innovation, in all of which governments as well as the private sector have a key role to play.

“European countries will become low-carbon societies not only when the required low-carbon technologies have been developed but when new business models and more sustainable consumer aspirations are driving their deployment at scale. Public policy has an enormous role to play at every step in the creation of these changed conditions.”

Lesson 3: Offer societal and business support

Public support is crucial for effective transition policies. Low-carbon transitions in mobility, agro-food, heat and buildings will also involve millions of citizens who need to modify their purchase decisions, user practices, beliefs, cultural conventions and skills. To motivate citizens, financial incentives and information about climate change threats need to be complemented by positive discourses about the economic, social and cultural benefits of low-carbon innovations.

Furthermore, business support is essential because the development and deployment of low-carbon innovations depends upon the technical skills, organizational capabilities and financial resources of the private sector. Green industries and supply chains can solidify political coalitions supporting ambitious climate policies and provide a counterweight to incumbents. Technological progress can drive climate policy by providing solutions or altering economic interests. Shale gas and solar-PV developments, for instance, altered the US and Chinese positions in the international climate negotiations.

Lesson 4: Phase out existing systems

Socio-technical transitions can be accelerated by actively phasing out existing technologies, supply chains, and systems that lock-in emissions for decades. Professor Sovacool comments that: “All too often, analysists and even policymakers focus on new incentives, on the phasing in of low-carbon technologies. This study reminds us that phasing out existing systems can be just as important as stimulating novel innovations.”

For instance, the UK transition to smokeless solid fuels and gas was accelerated by the 1956 Clean Air Act, which allowed cities to create smokeless zones where coal use was banned. Another example is the 2009 European Commission decision to phase-out incandescent light bulbs, which accelerated the shift to compact fluorescents and LEDs. French and UK governments have announced plans to phase-out petrol and diesel cars by 2040. Moreover, the UK intends to phase out unabated coal-fired power generation by 2025 (if feasible alternatives are available).

Phasing out existing systems accelerates transitions by creating space for niche-innovations and removing barriers to their diffusion. The phase-out of carbon-intensive systems is also essential to prevent the bulk of fossil fuel reserves from being burned, which would obliterate the 2oC target. This phase-out will be challenging since it threatens the largest and most powerful global industries (e.g. oil, automobiles, electric utilities, agro-food, steel), which will fight to protect their vested economic and political interests.

Conclusion

Deep decarbonization requires complementing model-based analysis with socio-technical research. While the former analyzes technically feasible least-cost pathways, the latter addresses innovation processes, business strategies, social acceptance, cultural discourses and political struggles, which are difficult to model but crucial in real-world transitions. As Professor Geels notes, an enduring lesson is that “to accelerate low-carbon transitions, policymakers should not only stimulate techno-economic developments, but also build political coalitions, enhance business involvement, and engage civil society.”

Additionally, the research underscores the non-technical, or social, elements of transitions. Dr. Tim Schwanen from the University of Oxford, a coauthor, states that “the approach described in this Policy Forum demonstrates the importance of heeding insights from across the social sciences in thinking about low-carbon transitions.”

While full integration of both approaches is not possible, productive bridging strategies may enable policy strategies that are both cost-effective and socio-politically feasible.

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References:

1. Frank W. Geels, Benjamin K. Sovacool, Tim Schwanen, Steve Sorrell. Sociotechnical transitions for deep decarbonization. Science, 2017; 357 (6357).

2. If the world is to eradicate poverty, address climate change and build peaceful, inclusive societies for all by 2030, greater efforts are needed to accelerate progress on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), according to a United Nations report presented today by Secretary-General António Guterres. July 17, 2017

See also: www.CERES.org

Investors and Businesses Know the Clean Power Plan is Good for the Economy

From an Article by Katina Tsongas, Senior Manager, Policy Program, Ceres Coalition, September 27, 2016

Today, challengers to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Clean Power Plan will try to make their case to the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals that the plan—the nation’s first comprehensive effort to reduce carbon pollution from power plants—will cause “irreparable harm” to our economy.

However, hundreds of leading investors and businesses—as well as top climate and energy experts—recognize that this claim is far from the truth.

A 2016 report from the U.S. Energy Information Administration shows that the Clean Power Plan will in fact accelerate annual growth of renewable energy production nationwide by nearly five percent through 2030, falling in line with the mandate’s goal of reducing U.S. power-plant carbon pollution 30 percent by 2030.

Businesses from across the country—from large employers to mom-and-pop stores—support the Clean Power Plan. Last summer, more than 365 companies and investors sent letters to governors calling for swift implementation of the plan. Industry leaders like General Mills, Staples, Unilever, eBay and Levi Strauss were among the wide swath of companies who signed onto to the letters, stating, “tackling climate change is one of the greatest economic opportunities of our time.”

More recently, eight major companies—including Adobe Systems Inc, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts, IKEA North America Services and Mars Incorporated, took their support a step further by submitting legal briefs in defense of the Clean Power Plan.

“[We] believe the Clean Power Plan, when fully implemented, would not cause business harm to [our] operations as large energy consumers and purchasers,” wrote the companies. Tech companies Apple, Amazon, Google and Microsoft submitted a separate legal brief.

These companies understand that the Clean Power Plan plays a major role in the United States’ contribution to the global Paris Agreement—a climate pact signed by more 170 countries that showcases broad, universal support for addressing greenhouse gas pollution across the globe. They acknowledge the value of moving towards a low-carbon economy and the importance of forward-looking climate policies that will help to secure a clean energy future.

The Clean Power Plan is a critical step in making that future an achievable reality.

NOTE: This Article is from CERES,  the Coalition for Environmentally Responsible Economies.

See also: www.FrackCheckWV.net