A British Petroleum petrol station on March 10, 2017, in Ciudad Satelite, Naucalpan de Juarez municipality, Mexico State. The company will reportedly start to offer electric vehicle recharging stations at its retail gasoline stations. RONALDO SCHEMIDT / AFP via Getty Images
BP, the energy giant that grew from oil and gas production, is taking its business in a new direction, announcing Tuesday that it will slash its oil and gas production by 40 percent and increase its annual investment in low-carbon technology to $5 billion, a ten-fold increase over its current level, according to CNN.
<p>Despite losing $16.8 billion in the second quarter of 2020, the ambitious plan to become a leading purveyor of <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/renewable-energy/" target="_self">clean energy</a> sent the company's share price soaring 7 percent Tuesday, as <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/04/business/energy-environment/bp-renewable-investment.html" target="_blank">The New York Times</a> reported.</p><p>"This coming decade is critical for the world in the fight against climate change, and to drive the necessary change in global energy systems will require action from everyone," BP said in a statement, as CNN reported.</p><p>As part of its plan, the company will stop its oil and gas exploration in new countries and reduce its current production and carbon emissions by one-third, as <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/2020/08/04/bp-built-its-business-oil-gas-now-climate-change-is-taking-it-apart/" target="_blank">The Washington Post</a> reported.</p>
<p>In a discussion with analysts on Tuesday, BP's Chief Executive Bernard Looney set his company apart from its European counterparts, which have made vague commitments to address the climate crisis. Looney's pledge to invest around $5 billion a year in renewable energy like wind, solar and hydrogen, a clean-burning gas, made it the first oil and gas giant to specify its investment goal, according to The New York Times.</p><p>"This makes the BP the first supermajor to spell out, in detail, what the energy transition will actually entail, in practical terms," said Pavel Molchanov, senior energy analyst for the investment firm Raymond James, to The Washington Post.</p>
<p>"BP today introduces a new strategy that will reshape its business as it pivots from being an international oil company focused on producing resources to an integrated energy company focused on delivering solutions for customers," the company said, as <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-bp-outlook/bp-to-cut-fossil-fuels-output-by-40-by-2030-idUSKCN2500NH" target="_blank">Reuters</a> reported.</p><p>The company expects demand for <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/fossil-fuels" target="_self">fossil fuels</a> to fall by 75 percent by 2050, if the increase in global temperatures is limited to 1.5 degrees Celsius, or by 50 percent if warming is less than 2 degrees, BP head of strategy Giulia Chierchia told investors, as CNN reported.</p><p>BP said its will cut its oil and gas production by at least one million barrels a day by 2030, a 40 percent reduction from 2019 levels, as CNN reported.</p><p>While the company will dramatically expand its portfolio of clean energy technologies, the next five years will see BP continue to invest most of its money in oil and gas production, according to CNN.</p>
<p>"We believe our new strategy provides a comprehensive and coherent approach to turn our net zero ambition into action," Looney said in a statement Tuesday, as The Washington Post reported.</p><p>The investment in low-carbon initiatives is set to jump to more than $3 billion by 2025 and $5 billion by 2030, "en route to 50 gigawatts of renewable generation capacity by 2030 alongside scale-up of other clean tech businesses," Molchanov said, as The Washington Post reported.</p><p>The company sees a profitable future in providing clean energy to cities. According to The Washington Post, BP plans to advise cities on "power packages" with renewables, back-up batteries and financing. It also will also start to offer <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/electric-vehicles">electric vehicle</a> recharging stations at its retail gasoline stations.</p><p>Oswald Clint, an analyst at Bernstein, a market research firm, told The New York Times that BP's plans were "peer-leading" and that its potential to smoothly manage large projects in the renewables area was "underappreciated."</p><p>Environmental activists were lukewarm about the plans. Greenpeace UK described the announcement as a "necessary and encouraging start," but said BP must go further. "BP has woken up [to] the immediate need to cut carbon emissions this decade," senior climate campaigner Mel Evans said in a statement, as CNN reported.</p>
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As Biden Embraces More Ambitious Climate Plan, Fossil Fuel Execs Donate to Trump 'With Greater Zeal' Than in 2016
04 August
Politics
U.S. Vice President Joe Biden speaks during a White House Clean Energy Investment Summit on June 16, 2015 in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building in Washington, DC. Alex Wong / Getty Images
By Jake Johnson
With presumptive Democratic nominee Joe Biden's climate platform becoming increasingly ambitious thanks to nonstop grassroots pressure, fossil fuel executives and lobbyists are pouring money into the coffers of President Donald Trump's reelection campaign in the hopes of keeping an outspoken and dedicated ally of dirty energy in the White House.
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<p>The Houston Chronicle <a href="https://www.houstonchronicle.com/business/energy/article/Oil-donors-flock-to-Trump-as-Biden-hardens-15453270.php" target="_blank">reported</a> Monday that oil and gas executives "are writing checks to President Donald Trump with greater zeal than they did four years ago, as Biden campaigns on a climate plan that seeks to eliminate carbon emissions by mid-century."</p><p><a href="https://www.opensecrets.org/industries/recips.php?ind=E01&cycle=2020&recipdetail=P&mem=N&sortorder=U" target="_blank">According to</a> the Center for Responsive Politics, Trump's reelection campaign has thus far raised over $936,000 from the oil and gas industry — more than three times the $265,000 the industry has donated to Biden as of July 21. By contrast, the Chronicle noted, Trump only narrowly led Hillary Clinton in <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/fossil-fuels" target="_self">fossil fuel</a> industry donations during the 2016 campaign cycle.</p>
<p>"As the incumbent, Trump might seem a surer bet for companies than he was as a political outsider four years ago," the Chronicle reported. "At the same time, Biden's recent climate stance is very different from Clinton's, who as secretary of state had promoted the U.S. fracking industry overseas — Biden has sworn off donations from the oil and gas sector, though through loopholes executives are still giving."</p><p>Trump, for his part, is openly courting the oil and gas industry by warning that a Biden presidency would spell disaster for the fossil fuel sector, which has been <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/07/09/game-report-says-asset-sales-and-debt-driven-dividends-show-fossil-fuel-industry" target="_blank">hammered</a> by the coronavirus pandemic.</p><p>"If these far-left politicians ever get into power, they will demolish not only your industry but the entire U.S. economy," Trump <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefings-statements/remarks-president-trump-restoring-energy-dominance-permian-basin-midland-tx/" target="_blank">said</a> at the site of an active oil rig in Midland, Texas last week. The president went on to falsely claim that Biden supports a total ban on fracking. (Biden <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2020/07/31/us/ap-us-trump-biden-fact-check.html" target="_blank">only supports</a> banning fracking on public lands.)</p><p>"No fracking, no drilling, no oil," Trump said of the former vice president's position.</p><p>While Biden's refusal to commit to the Green New Deal and a complete fracking ban has drawn the ire of environmentalists and advocacy groups, the former vice president's release last month of a <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/07/14/more-work-do-major-step-forward-progressives-welcome-bidens-2-trillion-green-energy" target="_blank">$2 trillion green energy plan</a> was celebrated as an encouraging step in the right direction.</p>
<p>Biden's plan, as Common Dreams <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/07/14/more-work-do-major-step-forward-progressives-welcome-bidens-2-trillion-green-energy" target="_blank">reported</a>, calls for 100% clean electricity by 2035 and sweeping infrastructure upgrades that would create millions of new jobs.</p><p>"We've seen a pretty huge transformation in Biden's climate plan," Varshini Prakash, co-founder and executive director of the Sunrise Movement, <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/how-joe-bidens-surprisingly-ambitious-climate-plan-came-together/2020/07/31/b73e78d0-cd11-11ea-91f1-28aca4d833a0_story.html" target="_blank">told</a> The Washington Post on Sunday. "What I've seen in the last six to eight weeks is a pretty big transition in upping his ambition and centering environmental justice."</p>
<p><em>Reposted with permission from <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/08/03/biden-embraces-more-ambitious-climate-plan-fossil-fuel-execs-donating-trump-greater" target="_blank">Common Dreams</a>.</em></p>From Your Site Articles
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Apple and 10 of its suppliers in China are investing nearly $300 million to develop projects totaling 1 gigawatt of renewable energy. Photo courtesy of Apple
The computer and phone giant Apple pledged to be carbon neutral by 2030, following the lead of other tech companies dedicated to mitigating their impact on the climate crisis. Apple's commitment extends to its massive supply chain, which supplies computers, tablets and iPhones to customers around the world.
<p>Apple, which has already achieved carbon neutrality for its corporate operations, said the new commitment means that every iPhone, MacBook and iPad sold will have no climate impact, as <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2020/07/21/apple-pledges-be-carbon-neutral-by-2030/" target="_blank">The Washington Post</a> reported.</p><p>The company has several strategies for achieving its goal to wipe out its carbon footprint in the next decade. It will shift towards a low-carbon product design and use recycled materials as much as possible. It will develop new techniques in manufacturing, like a carbon-free aluminum smelting process, as <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2020/jul/21/apple-promises-to-become-fully-carbon-neutral-by-2030" target="_blank">The Guardian</a> reported.</p><p>Apple will also ramp up its use of <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/renewable-energy/">renewable energy</a> for projects funded by and built for Apple. The company will also remove carbon from the atmosphere through reforestation projects in Colombia, China, Kenya and the U.S., according to The Guardian.</p><p>That means Apple plans to reduce emissions by 75 percent by 2030 while developing innovative carbon removal solutions for the remaining 25 percent of its comprehensive footprint, according to a <a href="https://www.apple.com/newsroom/2020/07/apple-commits-to-be-100-percent-carbon-neutral-for-its-supply-chain-and-products-by-2030/" target="_blank">press release</a>.</p>
<p>"Businesses have a profound opportunity to help build a more sustainable future, one born of our common concern for the planet we share," said Tim Cook, Apple's CEO, in a <a href="https://www.apple.com/newsroom/2020/07/apple-commits-to-be-100-percent-carbon-neutral-for-its-supply-chain-and-products-by-2030/" target="_blank">press release</a>. "The innovations powering our environmental journey are not only good for the planet — they've helped us make our products more energy efficient and bring new sources of clean energy online around the world. Climate action can be the foundation for a new era of innovative potential, job creation, and durable economic growth. With our commitment to carbon neutrality, we hope to be a ripple in the pond that creates a much larger change."</p>
<p>In addition to the announcement about its plan to be carbon neutral in a decade, the company released its 2020 Environmental Progress Report on Tuesday. Apple said it slashed its carbon dioxide emissions by 4.3 million metric tons in 2019. That represents a 35 percent drop in absolute carbon dioxide emissions since the company's peak in 2015. It has achieved the reduction while still selling more products, as <a href="https://www.theverge.com/2020/7/21/21332461/apple-carbon-neutral-2030-climate-change" target="_blank">The Verge</a> reported. Apple has been able to cut back on its greenhouse gas emissions by using recycled materials and improving the energy efficiency of its products. Its products use 73 percent less energy on average now than they did 11 years ago.</p><p>"This is a moment not to move away from the great challenge of climate change," Lisa Jackson, Apple vice president of environment, policy and social initiatives, told <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2020/07/21/tech/apple-climate-change/index.html" target="_blank">CNN Business</a>. "We wanted to step up and show we should all move even faster if we can because the situation is urgent and continuing to be more urgent."</p><p>However, as CNN noted, the company has not actually shared that data with scientists for independent verification. And, as The Verge pointed out, Apple is still an energy behemoth. It did emit 25.1 million metric tons of carbon in 2019, the equivalent to running six coal-fired power for the entire year.</p>
<p>The commitment did win praise from environmentalists. It marks a "significant step up from what we've seen from Apple in the past," said Elizabeth Jardim, senior corporate campaigner for Greenpeace USA, as The Washington Post reported. Cutting carbon emissions will "help prevent further catastrophic climate change — the impacts of which will fall most on Black, Brown, and Indigenous communities," she said.</p><p>"The world's largest and most profitable companies must act swiftly to minimize their reliance on <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/fossil-fuels">fossil fuels</a> throughout their operations by 2030 at the latest," Jardim said.</p>
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Democratic Presidential candidate Joe Biden speaks at a "Build Back Better" Clean Energy event on July 14, 2020 at the Chase Center in Wilmington, Delaware. Joe Biden / Facebook
Presidential hopeful Joe Biden announced a $2 trillion plan Tuesday to boost American investment in clean energy and infrastructure.
<p>His plan would spend the money over the next four years to boost the transportation, electricity and building sectors' clean energy profiles. It is also part of a plan to create new economic opportunities, improve the nation's aging infrastructure, and to combat the climate crisis, as <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/14/us/politics/biden-climate-plan.html" target="_blank">The New York Times</a> reported.</p><p>Biden's sweeping proposals would put an end to all greenhouse gas emissions spewed by U.S. power plants by 2035, arguing that large-scale dramatic moves are necessary to tackle the impending threat of the climate crisis and to revive the economy after the coronavirus pandemic, as <a href="https://apnews.com/7cdf40d9bd40c75861fc0053212d034a" target="_blank">The Associated Press</a> reported. It would also ban fracking on public lands.</p>
<p>Speaking near his home in Wilmington, Delaware, Biden also sought to reframe the discussion around the climate crisis, moving it away from a moral imperative and toward an economic one, dismissing <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/trump-watch/" target="_self">Trump</a>'s and the Republicans' arguments that investments in green energy would cost jobs. Biden looked to play up how many jobs clean energy creates.</p><p>"When Donald Trump thinks about climate change, the only word he can muster is 'hoax,'" Biden told reporters, <a href="https://apnews.com/7cdf40d9bd40c75861fc0053212d034a" target="_blank">The Associated Press</a> reported. "When I think about climate change, what I think of is jobs."</p><p>Biden's <a href="https://joebiden.com/clean-energy/" target="_blank">climate initiative</a> calls to chart the U.S. on "an irreversible path" to net-zero carbon emissions by 2050. In addition to achieving a carbon-free power grid by 2035, Biden's plan calls for upgrades to 4 million buildings and to weatherize 2 million homes over four years to increase energy efficiency, as <a href="https://www.npr.org/2020/07/14/890814007/biden-outlines-2-trillion-climate-plan" target="_blank">NPR</a> reported. Homeowners would be given cash rebates to upgrade home appliances and install more efficient windows. Car owners would receive rebates to swap their old, less efficient cars for newer ones that release fewer pollutants, according to <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/biden-set-to-offer-newly-ambitious-climate-goals/2020/07/14/39ced8b8-c578-11ea-b037-f9711f89ee46_story.html" target="_blank">The Washington Post</a>.</p>
<p>The proposal, Biden's campaign said, would aim to shift major cities towards increased use of public transportation and "create millions of good, union jobs rebuilding America's crumbling infrastructure," according to NPR.</p><p>"We're not just going to tinker around the edges," Biden said his speech. "We're going to make historic investments and seize the opportunity and meet this moment in history."</p><p>Environmentalists and liberals quickly praised the climate initiative as a step forward in the climate effort. Predictably, Republicans quickly denounced it as an unwieldy plan that would raise energy costs, as The Washington Post reported.</p>
<p>The new goals align Biden more closely with three primary opponents: Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders, Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren and Washington Governor Jay Inslee. They follow the recommendations of a unity task force of Sanders and Biden supporters that was co-chaired by New York Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who co-sponsored the Green New Deal, according to <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/jul/14/joe-biden-climate-jobs-plan" target="_blank">The Guardian</a>.</p><p>"This is not a status quo plan," said Inslee, as The New York Times reported. "It is comprehensive. This is not some sort of, 'Let me just throw a bone to those who care about climate change.'"</p><p>Inslee called the proposal "visionary."</p><p>Gina McCarthy, the former U.S. Environmental Protection Agency administrator who is now president of the Natural Resources Defense Council Action Fund, told The Guardian that the plan was "by a long shot – the most ambitious we have ever seen from any president in our nation's history."</p>
<p>In the proposal, Biden also linked environmental advocacy with racial justice, noting that pollution and other toxins disproportionately affect communities of color. His plan calls for establishing an office of environmental and climate justice within the Justice Department and developing a broad set of tools to address how "environmental policy decisions of the past have failed communities of color," according to The New York Times.</p><p>Varshini Prakash, co-founder of the youth-led Sunrise Movement, said, as The Guardian reported, that Biden's plan responds to many of the group's previous criticisms by "dramatically increasing the scale and urgency of investments, filling in details on how he'd achieve environmental justice and create good union jobs, and promising immediate action — on day 1, in his first 100 days, in his first term, in the next decade — not just some far off goals."</p>
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Members of the U.S. House of Representatives Select Committee on the Climate Crisis visit the National Renewable Energy Lab on Aug. 1, 2019. National Renewable Energy Lab
House Democrats are releasing an aggressive new plan to fight the climate crisis on Tuesday. The 538-page plan includes various goals to dramatically reduce the nation's emissions. It sets a target for every new car sold by 2035 to emit no greenhouse gases, to eliminate overall emissions from the power sector by 2040, and to all but eliminate the country's total emissions by 2050, according to The New York Times.
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<p><em><a href="https://climatecrisis.house.gov/report" target="_blank">Solving the Climate Crisis: The Congressional Action Plan for a Clean Energy Economy and a Healthy, Resilient, and Just America</a></em><span style="background-color: initial;"><em> </em></span>is the first major piece of legislation from the House Select Committee on the Climate Crisis, established last year as the Green New Deal was garnering attention, and would put the country on a path to meeting the goals of the <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/paris-agreement">Paris agreement</a>, as <a href="https://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/505147-house-dems-to-offer-up-roadmap-to-solve-the-climate-crisis" target="_blank">The Hill</a> reported.</p><p>"While local communities and states and businesses take climate action, what's been missing is the federal government," said Rep. Kathy Castor, (D-FL), who chairs the House Select Committee on the Climate Crisis, in an interview with the <a href="https://www.tampabay.com/florida-politics/buzz/2020/06/29/house-democrats-to-unveil-climate-plan-calling-for-emissions-cuts-and-new-deal-style-jobs-program/" target="_blank">Tampa Bay Times</a>.</p>
<p>Prior to creating its bold plan to set the course for a zero emissions future, the committee heard testimony from researchers, local officials and a bevy of environmental activists like Greta Thunberg, according to the Tampa Bay Times.</p><p>"Turning this plan into reality will build a safer, healthier, and fairer America, restore our global climate leadership, enhance our national security, and provide a livable climate for today's youth and future generations," the report says.</p><p>The ambitious plan, which faces an dubious future in a Republican-controlled Senate, requires companies to pay for emitting excessive amounts of carbon into the atmosphere. While that cost will pass down to the consumer, it may have the net effect of reducing consumption. It also has provisions that give money back to low- and moderate-income households, according to The New York Times.</p>
<p>Since racial minority communities are disproportionately affected by pollution and extreme weather from the climate crisis, the report ties environmental justice to racial justice, citing the police killing of George Floyd in its opening paragraph. As The New York Times reported, the report argues that the government should prioritize racial minority communities for new spending on energy and infrastructure.</p><p>"We have to focus on environmental-justice communities," said Castor, according to The New York Times. "There is an awakening across the country to systemic racism, and this is a report that at its center, at its core, focuses on those communities."</p>
<p>Representative Castor and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi are announcing the plan at an event in front of the U.S. Capitol on Tuesday morning. The Democrats underpin their report with pitches on the economy, including the chance for new jobs in <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/renewable-energy/" target="_self">renewable energy</a> and $8 trillion in climate and health benefits through the middle of the century, according to <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/jun/29/democrats-climate-crisis-carbon-emissions" target="_blank">The Guardian</a>.</p><p>Leah Stokes, an assistant professor at the University of California, Santa Barbara, who studies climate policy, told <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/jun/29/democrats-climate-crisis-carbon-emissions" target="_blank">The Guardian</a> that the plan was "ambitious and comprehensive."</p><p>"It shows that the committee has been listening to stakeholders, and has watched the Democratic primary carefully. Clearly they have learned from climate champions like [Washington] Governor Jay Inslee," she said.</p><p>"I am very heartened to see the detail and ambition that the committee has put forward – it shows that the Democratic party is waking up to the scale and urgency of the climate crisis."</p>
<p>The plan calls for not only taking action to stop greenhouse gas emissions to slow down the climate crisis, but also to build infrastructure to deal with its effects. It champions investments to respond to climate impacts, including water infrastructure to handle increased flooding and a next-generation 911 system to make sure wireless communications networks are reliable during disasters, according to The Guardian.</p><p>It also acknowledges that fortifying communities with improved infrastructure will not be enough as hurricanes and other storms increase in frequency and intensity. People will need to relocate. "Communities need support developing longer-term strategies, including options to relocate and resettle willing neighborhoods or communities," the report reads, according to The New York Times. Federally funded programs should "consider the trade-offs of relocation and protection."</p>
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A US Hybrid Corporation electric hybrid heavy duty truck moves freight at the Long Beach Port in California on July 31, 2017. Dennis Schroeder / National Renewable Energy Lab
The state of California made history Thursday when it passed a clean truck rule that E&E News reported was the first of its kind in the world.
<p>The <a href="https://ww2.arb.ca.gov/resources/fact-sheets/advanced-clean-trucks-fact-sheet" target="_blank">Advanced Clean Trucks (ACT) Regulation</a>, passed unanimously by the California Air Resources Board (CARB), will require more than half of trucks sold in the state be zero-emission by 2035 and 100 percent by 2045, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/25/climate/zero-emissions-trucks-california.html" target="_blank">The New York Times reported</a>.</p><p>"California is once again leading the nation in the fight to make our air cleaner," Governor Gavin Newsom said in a statement reported by <a href="https://uk.mobile.reuters.com/article/amp/idUKKBN23W31N#referrer=https://www.google.com" target="_blank">Reuters</a>.</p>
<div id="0e389" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="c7a1aa4fb96029d99de0cce8cd1f74c2"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1276292655962402817" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">California takes bold step to reduce diesel truck pollution. A first of its kind requirement for #zeroemission truc… https://t.co/uNxDgJWvXL</div> — CARB (@CARB)<a href="https://twitter.com/AirResources/statuses/1276292655962402817">1593126856.0</a></blockquote></div>
<p>The rule aims to end diesel pollution from trucks by requiring manufacturers to sell an increasing percentage of zero-emissions trucks beginning in 2024. It applies to medium duty and large trucks, as light trucks are already covered by the state's clean car requirements.</p><p>The rule will help California achieve its goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 40 percent by 2035 and 80 percent by 2050, according to CARB. In addition to its <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/climate-change/" target="_self">climate</a> benefits, the rule will help tackle toxic diesel pollution that disproportionately impacts low-income communities of color at a time of <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/amp/protestors-publich-health-coronavirus-covid-19-testing-2646141562" target="_self">national protests</a> over racial injustice and a pandemic possibly made <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/coronavirus-air-pollution-fatality-2645656760.html" target="_self">more deadly</a> by exposure to <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/air-pollution" target="_self">air pollution</a>.</p>
<p>Transportation overall accounts for more than 95 percent of California's diesel particulate matter emissions, around 80 percent of its smog-forming nitrogen oxide emissions and around 50 percent of its greenhouse gas emissions if fuel production is accounted for, according to CARB. Heavy duty trucks alone are responsible for a third of the state's nitrogen oxide emissions and a fifth of its greenhouse gas emissions, E&E News reported.</p><p>Heavy duty trucks are especially a hazard for the largely low-income or minority communities who live in the state's "diesel death zones," areas passed by thousands of trucks every day.</p><p>"We have some of the worst air quality in the nation, and that's because of the ozone pollution that largely comes from diesel trucks," Anthony Victoria-Midence, a resident of San Bernardino and a spokesman for the <a href="https://www.ccaej.org/" target="_blank">Center for Community Action and Environmental Justice</a> told E&E News in a phone interview. "It's leading to generations of families suffering from all kinds of illnesses, like asthma and cancer. That's why these things need to be addressed now, and the best way to do that is by moving forward a strong Advanced Clean Trucks rule."</p>
<div id="d2e11" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="b6e76566a93c97ca381da97066fe8124"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1276294522306088960" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">BREAKING: @AirResources votes to pass historic #ElectricTrucksRule, the first of its kind in the nation!
Now let’… https://t.co/D7oD9gtSve</div> — CCAEJ (@CCAEJ)<a href="https://twitter.com/CCAEJ/statuses/1276294522306088960">1593127301.0</a></blockquote></div>
<p>The rule was opposed by oil companies, farmers and industry groups and truck makers, The New York Times reported. Vehicle and engine manufacturers argued in March that the rule should be delayed because of the economic impacts of the <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/coronavirus" target="_self">coronavirus</a> pandemic.</p><p>"This is not a business-as-usual situation, and it should not be a regulation-as-usual situation, either," the Truck and Engine Manufacturers Association said in a letter to regulators in March.</p><p>But CARB chairwoman Mary Nichols disagreed.</p><p>"This is exactly the right time for this rule," Nichols told The New York Times. "We certainly know that the economy is in a rough shape right now, and there aren't a lot of new vehicle sales of any kind. But when they are able to buy vehicles again, we think it's important that they be investing in the cleanest kinds of vehicles."</p>
<p>The rule could face another powerful opponent: the <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/trump-administration" target="_self">Trump administration</a>. Trump's Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has already <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/amp/trump-california-emissions-standards-2640413062" target="_self">revoked</a> California's waiver under the Clean Air Act to set its own emissions standards over its clean car rules, and environmental groups fear it may do the same for trucks.</p><p>"I'm sure the Trump administration, if they are still in the White House next year, would try to throw something in the way of this. But I think they would be very hard-pressed to justify it," <a href="https://earthjustice.org/" target="_blank">Earthjustice</a> staff attorney Paul Cort told E&E News. "This really is a big rule, and I'm very excited to get this one in the books and move on."</p>
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The downtown Amazon campus on April 30, 2020 in Seattle, Washington. Amazon recorded sales of $75.4 billion in the first three months of the year as many consumers increased their online purchases, up 26% over last year, but net income for the same period fell nearly 31% due to costs of managing the coronavirus pandemic. Lindsey Wasson / Getty Images
Amazon announced that its carbon footprint rose 15 percent in 2019, meaning the online retail giant emits the carbon equivalent of running 13 coal fired power plants all year, according to the CBC. That also included an 18 percent rise in emissions from fossil fuels.
<p>That announcement was made in tandem with a significant investment in clean technologies.</p><p>The company, which has seen its already astronomical value skyrocket during the coronavirus pandemic, is launching a $2 billion venture capital fund that will back companies building "sustainable and decarbonizing technologies," the company said in a <a href="https://blog.aboutamazon.com/sustainability/we-are-all-in-on-the-climate-pledge-net-zero-carbon-by-2040" target="_blank">statement</a> on Tuesday, as <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2020/06/23/amazon-launches-2-billion-fund-to-invest-in-climate-technologies.html" target="_blank">CNBC</a> reported.</p><p>Amazon had previously <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/amazon-bezos-climate-crisis-plan-2640454585.html" target="_self">pledged to be carbon neutral by 2040</a>, but that commitment is fraught with controversy as the <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/amazon-employees-climate-justice-threatened-2643729245.html" target="_self">company has fired employees</a> who supported climate strikes and asked the company to reign in its carbon footprint.</p>
<p>Despite the company's significant uptick in emissions and its willingness to do cloud-based work for fossil fuel giants like ExxonMobil, the new internal $2 billion fund will help the company reach its 2040 commitment by investing in technology that will bring it in line with its goal, according to <a href="https://www.fastcompany.com/90520061/amazon-will-invest-2-billion-in-climate-tech" target="_blank">Fast Company</a>.</p><p>"Each prospective investment will be judged on its potential to accelerate the path to zero carbon and help protect the planet for future generations," Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos said in a <a href="https://blog.aboutamazon.com/sustainability/we-are-all-in-on-the-climate-pledge-net-zero-carbon-by-2040" target="_blank">statement</a>, explaining that the new fund, called the Climate Pledge Fund, will look for companies of all sizes working on solutions in multiple industries, including transportation and logistics, <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/renewable-energy/">energy</a> generation and storage, the circular economy, and agriculture, as <a href="https://www.fastcompany.com/90520061/amazon-will-invest-2-billion-in-climate-tech" target="_blank">Fast Company</a> reported.</p>
<p>For his own part, <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/jeff-bezos-climate-crisis-fund-2645179580.html" target="_self">Bezos did commit $10 billion of his own wealth</a> earlier this year to help fight the <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/climate-crisis">climate crisis</a>. As <a href="https://techcrunch.com/2020/06/23/amazon-announces-2-billion-climate-pledge-fund/" target="_blank">TechCrunch</a> noted, that pledge did little to stop the criticism of Amazon — especially after the company fired eight employees for allegedly speaking out over the company's climate record. In a statement issued during the company's May shareholder meeting, a representative of the organization Amazon Employees for Climate Justice criticized the company for "environmental racism."</p><p>"Toxicity is embedded in our operations as pollution causes stunted lung development, asthma and higher death rates from COVID-19 concentrated in Black and brown communities," said Maren Costa, a spokesperson for the organization, as <a href="https://techcrunch.com/2020/06/23/amazon-announces-2-billion-climate-pledge-fund/" target="_blank">TechCrunch</a> reported.</p>
<p>The group asked Amazon to ramp up its commitments and to pledge for net zero emissions by 2030. It appears Amazon may have listened. In Tuesday's announcement, the company said it would run entirely on clean energy by the year 2025, five years ahead of its initial pledge, according to <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2020/06/23/amazon-launches-2-billion-fund-to-invest-in-climate-technologies.html" target="_blank">CNBC</a>. However, other tech giants are already there. Google reached that goal in 2017.</p><p>As <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2020/06/23/amazon-launches-2-billion-fund-to-invest-in-climate-technologies.html" target="_blank">CNBC</a> also noted, the company agreed in April to invest $10 million to help conserve or restore forests in the Northeast region of the U.S.</p>
<p>Amazon has a long way to go to reduce its carbon footprint, which clocked in at 51.17 million metric tons of carbon dioxide last year, up from 44.4 million metric tons in 2018, according to the <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/technology/amazon-carbon-footprint-1.5624048" target="_blank">CBC</a>.</p><p>While environmental advocates are shocked at the size of that number, they were complimentary of the thoroughness of Amazon's calculations, which included customers driving to Whole Foods and the energy required to make a Kindle.</p><p>However, it looks as if the company's short term carbon footprint is going the wrong way. As the <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/technology/amazon-carbon-footprint-1.5624048" target="_blank">CBC</a> noted, Amazon has leased a dozen more Boeing jets this month so it can keep up with demand and speedy deliveries. It now has a fleet of 80 airplanes.</p>
<img lazy-loadable="true" src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yMzQxMzkyNi9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY1OTUzMDc2MX0.xaF9kdvoBFhyN5dJ58R_dfauQwhqljL_IEYzDOOjAjI/img.jpg?width=980" id="5d21b" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="931d37c77513d24a8a4aa2629bc6ff2c" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" />
An Amazon Prime Air Boeing 767-306(ER)(BCF) landing in Houston on April 25, 2019. Patrick Feller / CC BY 2.0
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A new battery will help the UK store power generated by the Walney offshore wind farm, the world's largest of its kind. Ashley Cooper / The Image Bank / Getty Images
Construction is starting on what will be the world's largest liquid air battery, The Guardian reported Thursday.
<p>The project, known as the CryoBattery, will also be the first commercial <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/battery-storage/" target="_self">battery</a> of its kind. It will be housed near Manchester in the UK and help the country store <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/renewable-energy/" target="_self">renewable energy</a>. When it is completed, it will store 250 megawatt hours of energy, almost double what the world's largest chemical battery, the Tesla battery in South Australia, can store.</p><p>"This revolutionary new Cryobattery facility will form a key part of our push towards net zero, bringing greater flexibility to Britain's electricity grid and creating green collar jobs in Greater Manchester," UK Energy and Clean Growth Minister Kwasi Kwarteng said in a government <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/news/greater-manchester-to-house-to-worlds-largest-liquid-air-battery" target="_blank">press release</a>. "Projects like these will help us realise the full value of our world-class renewables, ensuring homes and businesses can still be powered by green energy, even when the sun is not shining and the wind not blowing."</p>
<p>The UK government is backing the project to the tune of £10 million. It is due to be completed by 2022 and, when it is, it will be able to power as many as 200,000 homes for five hours.</p><p>The government explained how the battery will accomplish this:</p><blockquote>The CryoBattery works by using electricity to cool and compress air, turning it into liquid and storing it in industrial sized containers. It then feeds the liquid through a turbine, turning it back into electricity and pumping it back into the grid when it is needed.</blockquote>
<p>The battery is being developed by Carlton Highview Storage, a partnership between UK independent power station developer Carlton Power and long-term energy storage firm Highview Power Storage, <a href="https://www.current-news.co.uk/news/worlds-largest-liquid-air-battery-received-10m-from-beis" target="_blank">Current reported</a>.</p><p>Highview chief executive Javier Cavada told The Guardian that liquid air batteries could be built anywhere.</p><p>"Air is everywhere in the world. The main competitor is really not other storage technologies but <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/fossil-fuels" target="_self">fossil fuels</a>, as people still want to continue building gas and coal-fired plants today, strangely enough," he said.</p><p>For his part, Carlton Power chief executive Keith Clarke told Current his company looked at several energy storage solutions and settled on Highview's "because it is scalable, clean, can deliver the grid services we need, and can be deployed now."</p><p>The UK gets a third of its electricity from renewable energy and is home to the world's largest offshore <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/wind">wind</a> farm, the government said. Storing that energy when it is not needed can help the UK meet its <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/theresa-may-net-zero-carbon-emissions-2638788121.html" target="_self">goal</a> of going carbon neutral by 2050.</p>
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A general view of BP (British Petroleum) refinery in the Port of Rotterdam on April 23, 2020 in Rotterdam, Netherlands. Dean Mouhtaropoulos / Getty Images
Fossil fuel giant BP made headlines earlier this year when it announced it would target net zero emissions by 2050. Now, it is in the headlines again, since it announced on Monday that it would slash 10,000 jobs, roughly 15 percent of its workforce, as it struggles during a downturn in the oil market and transitions its practices towards renewable energy, as CNN reported.
<p>In an email to staff on Monday that was also <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/reinventing-bp-next-steps-bernard-looney/?trackingId=h8FmFLmIQ7mh3i9%2BTbC29w%3D%3D&utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=newsletter_axiosgenerate&stream=top" target="_blank">published on LinkedIn</a>, BP CEO Bernard Looney announced the layoffs, which mostly affect senior office-based positions and not front-line operational staff. He called it part of some "tough decisions" but said that "we must do the right thing for bp and this is that right thing," as <a href="https://earther.gizmodo.com/bp-ceo-calls-plan-to-lay-off-10-000-workers-the-right-t-1843954641" target="_blank">Gizmodo</a> reported.</p><p>BP currently employs 70,100 people. "We will now begin a process that will see close to 10,000 people leaving BP – most by the end of this year," Looney said in a statement, as <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-bp-jobs-exclusive/exclusive-bp-to-cut-15-of-workforce-sources-idUSKBN23F1D9" target="_blank">Reuters</a> reported.</p>
<p>BP also said it will not give any raises to senior executives this year and it will not hand out any cash bonuses. Like all the world's top energy companies, BP has cut its 2020 spending plans after the coronavirus pandemic brought an unprecedented drop in demand for oil, according to <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-bp-jobs-exclusive/exclusive-bp-to-cut-15-of-workforce-sources-idUSKBN23F1D9" target="_blank">Reuters</a>.</p><p>In his <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/reinventing-bp-next-steps-bernard-looney/?trackingId=h8FmFLmIQ7mh3i9%2BTbC29w%3D%3D&utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=newsletter_axiosgenerate&stream=top" target="_blank">email to staff</a>, Looney said: "The oil price has plunged well below the level we need to turn a profit. We are spending much, much more than we make - I am talking millions of dollars, every day," as the <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/explainers-52966609" target="_blank">BBC</a> reported.</p><p>"It was always part of the plan to make BP a leaner, faster-moving and lower carbon company," wrote Looney. "Then the COVID-19 pandemic took hold. You are already aware that, beyond the clear human tragedy, there has been widespread economic fallout, along with consequences for our industry and our company."</p>
<p>The price of crude oil fell precipitously this year. It started the year at $66 per barrel, but dropped below $20 during the pandemic and has now inched its way up to $42 barrel. That slow recovery in the price and the continued low demand for oil means the <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/fossil-fuels">fossil fuel</a> industry is losing money hand over fist, according to <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2020/06/08/business/bp-job-cuts/index.html" target="_blank">CNN</a>.</p><p>The drop in oil prices has accelerated the push toward renewable energy sources, Looney said on Monday, according to <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2020/06/08/business/bp-job-cuts/index.html" target="_blank">CNN</a>. "To me, the broader economic picture and our own financial position just reaffirm the need to reinvent [BP]," Looney wrote in his note to employees. "While the external environment is driving us to move faster — and perhaps go deeper at this stage than we originally intended — the direction of travel remains the same."</p>
<p>Prior to the coronavirus, demand for oil was expected to peak around 2040 due to the rise of electric cars, increased energy efficiency and a switch to alternative sources. That combination puts pressure on energy companies to decrease their reliance on fossil fuels. BP started out ahead in that department, having committed to cutting greenhouse gas emissions from its global operations, as well as emissions that result from the oil and gas it produces, to net zero by 2050. BP wants to halve the carbon intensity of the products it sells by 2050, as <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2020/06/08/business/bp-job-cuts/index.html" target="_blank">CNN</a> reported.</p><p>The drop in demand has affected other companies, too. Chevron Corp, the second-largest U.S. oil producer, said that it would cut between 10 and 15 percent of its global workforce as part of an ongoing restructuring, according to <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-bp-jobs-exclusive/exclusive-bp-to-cut-15-of-workforce-sources-idUSKBN23F1D9" target="_blank">Reuters</a>. Also, Royal Dutch Shell cut its dividend and started a layoff process.</p>
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U.S. Ranks 24th in New Environmental Performance Index, Near Bottom of Developed Countries
04 June
Politics
A coke storage area is seen as steam rises from the quench towers at the US Steel Clairton Works on Jan. 21, 2020, in Clairton, Pennsylvania. White plumes of smoke billow above western Pennsylvania's rolling hills as scorching ovens bake coal, which rolls in by the trainload along the Monongahela River. BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI / AFP via Getty Images
President Trump's claim that the U.S. has the cleanest air and water in the world has been widely refuted by statistics showing harmful levels of pollution. Now, a new biannual ranking released by researchers at Yale and Columbia finds that the U.S. is nowhere near the top in environmental performance, according to The Guardian.
<p>Not only is the U.S. not in the top 10, it's not in the top 20. It ranks 24th in the 2020 <a href="https://epi.yale.edu/2020-epi" target="_blank">Environmental Performance Index</a> (EPI), which was released on Thursday. The top ranked country, Denmark, has made commitments to a carbon-free future, renewable energy and sustainable agriculture. By contrast, the U.S., during the Trump administration, has worked at breakneck speed to rollback environmental regulations, expand <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/fossil-fuels" target="_self">fossil fuel</a> development, and ditch international treaties protecting the environment. He has even questioned climate science and ridiculed its findings.</p><p>"If you look at Denmark, they're doing great but they're a tiny fraction of overall carbon emissions or greenhouse gas emissions broadly," said Zach Wenderling, lead researcher on the index, as <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/jun/04/us-ranks-24th-in-the-world-on-environmental-performance" target="_blank">The Guardian</a> reported. "The U.S. is one of the top five players in every greenhouse gas, so we need to do better than just OK if we're going to generate the best practices."</p>
<p>Many signatories to the <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/paris-agreement">Paris agreement</a> have ramped up their commitments to have net-zero carbon emissions by 2050, especially in Europe. European countries performed the best in the new index. After Denmark, Luxembourg, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom rounded out the top four, according to <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/jun/04/us-ranks-24th-in-the-world-on-environmental-performance" target="_blank">The Guardian</a>.</p><p>Researchers at Yale and Columbia universities produce the global report, which is released every two years. It ranks 180 of the world's nations on 24 key indicators in 10 categories related to environmental health and ecosystem vitality.</p><p>The data-driven and empirical approach to environmental protection makes it easier to spot problems, track trends, highlight policy successes and failures, identify best practices, and optimize the benefits of investing in environmental protection, said Daniel Esty, a professor of environmental law and policy at Yale, in a university <a href="https://environment.yale.edu/news/article/dan-esty-on-the-2020-environmental-performance-index" target="_blank">press release</a>.</p><p>"[T]he EPI provides a clear and compelling way to see which countries are leading issue by issue, who is lagging, and what the best policy practices look like across a range of critical environmental challenges," said Esty, in the university <a href="https://environment.yale.edu/news/article/dan-esty-on-the-2020-environmental-performance-index" target="_blank">press release</a>.</p>
<p>Since the EPI was created in the year 2000, the U.S has never reached the top of the rankings.</p><p>"Countries that make an effort do better than those that don't don't and the U.S. right now is not making an effort. That shows up in a stagnation in the rankings where others are really seeing some significant improvements," said Esty, as <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/jun/04/us-ranks-24th-in-the-world-on-environmental-performance" target="_blank">The Guardian</a> reported.</p><p>The U.S., which is the second largest contributor of greenhouse gas emissions after China, is near the bottom of the rankings for advanced industrial countries. China, which suffers from poor air quality, has made significant investments in solar energy and reducing its dependence on coal, and climbed the rankings to 120th place. China is still a big polluter but has made "much more dramatic progress than other countries," Esty said, as <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/jun/04/us-ranks-24th-in-the-world-on-environmental-performance" target="_blank">The Guardian</a> reported.</p><p>China's ranking as the world's worst contributor to the <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/climate-crisis">climate crisis</a> is only recent. Over time, the U.S. has put more heat trapping gases into the air than any other country. India, which also sees its cities choking under polluted air quality, ranked 168th.</p>
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An aerial view of Indira Gandhi Indoor Stadium and the city's green cover during lockdown, on April 17, 2020 in New Delhi, India. Sonu Mehta / Hindustan Times via Getty Images
By Lauri Myllyvirta and Sunil Dahiya
An economic slowdown, renewable energy growth and the impact of Covid-19 have led to the first year-on-year reduction in India's CO2 emissions in four decades. Emissions fell by around 1% in the fiscal year ending March 2020, as coal consumption fell and oil consumption flatlined.
<p>The decline in emissions reflects the headwinds <a href="https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/economy/policy/economy-trapped-in-four-balance-sheet-problem-ex-cea/articleshow/72867290.cms?from=mdr" target="_blank">alread</a><a href="https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/economy/policy/economy-trapped-in-four-balance-sheet-problem-ex-cea/articleshow/72867290.cms?from=mdr" target="_blank">y</a><a href="https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/economy/policy/economy-trapped-in-four-balance-sheet-problem-ex-cea/articleshow/72867290.cms?from=mdr" target="_blank"> affecting</a> the Indian economy since early 2019, and increasing renewable energy generation. But our analysis of official Indian data across the nation's entire 2019-20 fiscal year shows the fall has steepened in March, due to measures to combat the coronavirus pandemic. The country's CO2 emissions fell by an estimated 15% during the month of March and are likely to have fallen 30% in April.</p><p>As with the <a href="https://www.carbonbrief.org/iea-coronavirus-impact-on-co2-emissions-six-times-larger-than-financial-crisis" target="_blank">global CO2 impact</a> of the pandemic, the longer-term outlook for India's emissions will be shaped, to a significant degree, by the government response to the crisis. This response is now starting to emerge – as set out below – and will have major long-term implications for India's CO2 emissions and air quality trajectory.</p>
<h3>Coal Bearing Brunt of Demand Crunch</h3><p>As lower power demand growth and competition from renewables weakened the demand for thermal power generation throughout the past 12 months, the drop-off in March was enough to push generation growth below zero in the fiscal year ended March, the first time this has happened in three decades.</p><p>Over the preceding decade, thermal power generation grew by an average of 7.5% per year. As seen in the figure below, the dramatic drop-off in total power demand was entirely borne by coal-based generators, amplifying the impact on emissions.</p><p>Coal-fired power generation fell 15% in March and 31% in the first three weeks of April, based on <a href="https://posoco.in/reports/daily-reports/" target="_blank">daily data</a> from the national grid. In contrast, renewable energy (RE) generation <a href="https://posoco.in/" target="_blank">increased</a> by 6.4% in March and saw a slight decrease of 1.4% in the first three weeks of April.</p>
<iframe scrolling="no" frameborder="0" marginheight="0px" marginwidth="0px" style="display: initial; margin: 0 auto;" src="https://cbhighcharts2020.s3.eu-west-2.amazonaws.com/india-emissions-fall/india-power-gen-small-multiples.html" width="800px" height="900px"></iframe><span style="display:block; height:22px; max-width:800px;"><img src="https://s3.eu-west-2.amazonaws.com/cbhighcharts2019/cb-logo-highcharts.svg" style="width: 22px; height: 22px; margin-top: 2px; margin-bottom: 2px; float:right; background-repeat: no-repeat; background-size: contain;"/></span><p>Daily power generation by source and by year in India. Source: <a href="https://posoco.in/reports/daily-reports/" target="_blank">POSOCO</a>. Chart by Carbon Brief using <a href="https://www.highcharts.com/" target="_blank">Highcharts</a>.</p>
<p>The fall in total coal demand extends beyond the power sector and is evident in data on coal supply. In the fiscal year ending March, coal sales by the main coal producer Coal India Ltd fell by 4.3%, while coal imports increased 3.2%, implying that total coal deliveries fell by 2% and signaling the first year-on-year fall in consumption in two decades.</p><p>The trend steepened in March, with coal sales falling 10% while coal imports <a href="https://www.bloombergquint.com/business/coronavirus-impact-india-s-coal-import-drops-over-27-pc-to-16-mt-in-march" target="_blank">fell 27.5%</a> in March, meaning that total deliveries of coal to end users fell by 15%, in line with the reduction in power generation.</p><p>In March, coal <a href="https://www.coalindia.in/DesktopModules/DocumentList/documents/nsebseprodmar2001042020.pdf" target="_blank">output increased 6.5%</a> even as sales fell by a record amount. Also, during the full year, more coal was mined than sold, indicating that the reason for the drop was on the demand side.</p>
<h3>Oil Demand: From Weak to Negative</h3><p>Similar to electricity demand, oil consumption has been slowing down since early 2019. This is now compounded by the dramatic impact of the Covid-19 lockdown measures on transport oil consumption. During the national lockdown, oil consumption fell 18% on year in March 2020.</p><p>As a result of low demand due to the coronavirus outbreak and <a href="https://www.carbonbrief.org/analysis-indias-co2-emissions-growth-poised-to-slow-sharply-in-2019" target="_blank">already slower demand growth earlier in the year</a>, consumption during the fiscal grew at 0.2%, the slowest in at least 22 years. Natural gas consumption <a href="https://www.ppac.gov.in/content/152_1_Consumption.aspx" target="_blank">increased</a> 5.5% in the first 11 months of the fiscal year, but is <a href="https://www.spglobal.com/platts/en/market-insights/latest-news/natural-gas/032620-india-lockdown-domestic-natural-gas-demand-set-to-plummet" target="_blank">expected</a> to fall by 15-20% during the lockdown.</p><p>Crude oil production in India decreased by 5.9% compared to last financial year and a 5.2% drop <a href="http://petroleum.nic.in/sites/default/files/mprmarch20.pdf" target="_blank">has been observed</a> in natural gas production during the same time. Refinery production – in terms of crude oil processed – also <a href="http://petroleum.nic.in/sites/default/files/mprmarch20.pdf" target="_blank">fell</a> by 1.1% over the last financial year, compared to 2018-19.</p><p>Crude steel production dropped by 22.7% in March 2020 compared to the previous month and, cumulatively, the financial year 2019-20 saw a decline of 2.2% compared to last year, according to <a href="https://steel.gov.in/sites/default/files/March%202020_0.pdf" target="_blank">Ministry of Steel</a> data.</p>
<h3>CO2 Emissions Down 30% in April</h3><p>Using the indicators above for coal, oil and gas consumption, we estimate that CO2 emissions fell by 30m tonnes of CO2 (MtCO2, 1.4%) in the fiscal year ending March, in what is likely to have been the first annual decline in four decades.</p>
<iframe scrolling="no" frameborder="0" marginheight="0px" marginwidth="0px" style="display: initial; margin: 0 auto;" src="https://cbhighcharts2020.s3.eu-west-2.amazonaws.com/india-emissions-fall/india-co2-emissions-fall.html" width="770px" height="550px"></iframe><span style="display:block; height:22px; max-width:770px;"><a href="https://www.carbonbrief.org" target="_blank"><img src="https://s3.eu-west-2.amazonaws.com/cbhighcharts2019/cb-logo-highcharts.svg" style="width: 22px; height: 22px; margin-top: 2px; margin-bottom: 2px; float:right; background-repeat: no-repeat; background-size: contain;"/></a></span><p>Annual emissions from fossil fuel use in India, millions of tonnes of CO2, 1965-2020. Figures for 2009 onwards correspond with financial years ending that March, with the 2020 number showing fiscal year 2019-20. Source: Analysis of Indian government data for this article and <a href="https://www.bp.com/en/global/corporate/energy-economics/statistical-review-of-world-energy.html" target="_blank">BP Statistical Review of World Energy</a>. Chart by Carbon Brief using <a href="https://www.highcharts.com/" target="_blank">Highcharts</a>.</p>
<p>Furthermore, emissions fell by 15% year-on-year in March and by 30% in April. The April estimate is based on power-sector emissions estimated from daily generation data. This assumes oil consumption falls as much in April as in March, which is very likely to be conservative as the national lockdown is continuing until the end of the month, and gas consumption falls 15-20% <a href="https://www.spglobal.com/platts/en/market-insights/latest-news/natural-gas/032620-india-lockdown-domestic-natural-gas-demand-set-to-plummet" target="_blank">as projected</a>.</p>
<h3>Government Response</h3><p>While the current crisis is having a significant impact on India's CO2 emissions in the short term, it could also influence the longer-term trajectory of India's energy use and emissions.</p><p>Although the situation is only beginning to unfold, three possible consequences are already emerging:</p><ul><li>Post-crisis economic stimulus could be directed towards reinvigorating the country's renewable energy program.</li><li>Plummeting electricity demand has brought the power industry's <a href="https://energy.economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/power/rs-1-lakh-crore-bad-loans-ailing-indias-power-sector-teri/71721715" target="_blank">long-brewing financial problems</a> to a head, necessitating bailouts with the <a href="https://www.livemint.com/opinion/online-views/opinion-power-purchase-agreements-as-an-albatross-11587489054847.html" target="_blank">potential</a> for structural changes.</li><li>Experience of <a href="https://energy.economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/oil-and-gas/covid-19-lockdown-air-quality-in-indias-major-industrial-cities-improve-by-up-to-60-compared-to-last-yr/74931010" target="_blank">exceptional air quality</a> could add momentum to efforts against <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/air-pollution">air pollution</a>, resulting in strengthened targets and standards.</li></ul>
<p>In each case, the crisis could act to catalyse, reinforce or accelerate the factors that have already been driving Indian policymaking in this area.</p><p>For example, the Indian government has already started talking about <a href="https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/industry/energy/power/mnre-urges-states-to-provide-incentives-to-manufacturers/articleshow/75232158.cms?from=mdr" target="_blank">support for renewable energy</a> as a part of the recovery, alongside similar <a href="https://www.pv-magazine.com/2020/04/14/european-leaders-push-green-recovery-plan-for-post-covid-economy/" target="_blank">statements</a> by European leaders. One reason for this continued support is the fact that <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/solar">solar</a> already offers far cheaper electricity than coal.</p><p>A <a href="https://pib.gov.in/newsite/PrintRelease.aspx?relid=202339" target="_blank">rec</a><a href="https://pib.gov.in/newsite/PrintRelease.aspx?relid=202339" target="_blank">e</a><a href="https://pib.gov.in/newsite/PrintRelease.aspx?relid=202339" target="_blank">nt auction</a> secured 2,000 megawatts (MW) of new solar capacity at an average of 2.55-2.56 rupees per kilowatt hour (Rs/kWh, around $34 per megawatt hour). This result came despite the auction being held during the lockdown amid a period of severe uncertainty over the future market and financial situation.</p><p>In contrast, the average cost of a unit of electricity from India's biggest coal generator, the National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC), stood at <a href="https://www.ntpc.co.in/presentations/8262/presentation-15th-analysts-investors-meet-held-mumbai-19082019" target="_blank">3.38 Rs/kWh</a> in the financial year 2018-19 ($45/MWh). This figure will likely keep moving upwards with every passing year due to inflation, increasing operational costs and with implementation of <a href="http://moef.gov.in/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/Thermal_plant_gazette_scan.pdf" target="_blank">stricter emission standards</a>.</p><p>Another example of Indian government support for the renewable industry came in early April when it <a href="https://mnre.gov.in/img/documents/uploads/file_f-1586142405322.pdf" target="_blank">stressed</a> the "must-run" status of wind and solar projects and <a href="https://mnre.gov.in/img/documents/uploads/file_f-1585801699131.pdf" target="_blank">called on</a> distribution companies to make timely payments to power generators.</p><p>The <a href="https://mnre.gov.in/img/documents/uploads/file_f-1587398024891.pdf" target="_blank">Ministry of New and Renewable Energy</a> also extended the timelines for renewable energy projects to be completed for the period of the lockdown and the following 30 days. This will safeguard renewable energy developers from penalties arising due to delays from their committed schedules.</p><p>The ministry has also <a href="https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/industry/energy/power/mnre-urges-states-to-provide-incentives-to-manufacturers/articleshow/75232158.cms?from=mdr" target="_blank">written to various states</a> in recent weeks to give a "major push" to domestic renewable manufacturing capacity. Increased domestic supply will strengthen the renewable energy program by strengthening supply chains and political weight for the industry, as long as it does not give rise to excessive protectionism.</p>
<h3>Blue-Sky Thinking</h3><p>Over the past year, CO2 emissions as well as air pollution levels have <a href="https://indianexpress.com/article/cities/delhi/delhi-pollution-quality-2019-saw-more-good-air-days-6198725/" target="_blank">declined</a>. More recently, the sight of <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-52313972" target="_blank">blue skies</a> during the national lockdown across the country has created a <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/asia_pacific/india-coronavirus-delhi-clean-air-pollution/2020/04/10/ac23dd1e-783e-11ea-a311-adb1344719a9_story.html" target="_blank">sense of optimism</a> among the public as well as policymakers that the air in India can be cleaned, if appropriate steps are taken.</p><p>Since many of the major sources of pollution – transport, power stations and industry – are also responsible for significant shares of the country's CO2 output, any strengthening of air quality standards – or their implementation – would have knock-on effects on emissions.</p><p>Earlier last year, in response to building public pressure, the environmental ministry announced India's first-ever <a href="http://moef.gov.in/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/NCAP_Report.pdf" target="_blank">National Clean Air Programme</a>. This aims to reduce particulate matter pollution levels across 102 cities by 20-30% by 2024.</p><p>The program also pointed out that India's national ambient air quality standards (NAAQS), dating back to 2009, need revision. The standards are much weaker than the World Health Organization <a href="https://www.who.int/airpollution/publications/aqg2005/en/" target="_blank">guidelines</a> and there is more evidence of health impacts of air pollution <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/30077140" target="_blank">being reported</a> even at low concentrations of pollutants.</p><p>The recent experience of cleaner air and the drastic drop in pollution levels due to coronavirus lockdowns have <a href="https://twitter.com/CSTEP_India/status/1252578515255468032?s=20" target="_blank">started these conversations</a> to strengthen the NAAQS among public, research institutes and civil society organizations. As a result, any return of India's poor air quality and smog can be expected to trigger a stronger public response.</p>
<h3>Power-Sector Bailouts</h3><p>As demand for thermal <a href="https://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/rs-70-000-cr-covid-19-package-for-power-firms-cabinet-approval-expected-soon/story-QJpV5trLmebMW9NEnl0ZnO.html" target="_blank">power generation plummets</a>, so too do the earnings of India's electricity industry. In this way, the coronavirus crisis has brought the long-brewing financial woes of the country's power sector to a head.</p><p>The Indian government is working to finalize an economic relief package for the sector, initially <a href="https://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/rs-70-000-cr-covid-19-package-for-power-firms-cabinet-approval-expected-soon/story-QJpV5trLmebMW9NEnl0ZnO.html" target="_blank">pegged at</a> INR 70,000 crore ($9bn) and now <a href="https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/industry/energy/power/rs-90000-crore-scheme-in-offing-for-power-companies/articleshow/75436263.cms?from=mdr" target="_blank">reportedly</a> worth INR 90,000 crore ($12bn).</p><p>The sector was already struggling before the coronavirus crisis, making it a major source of <a href="https://energy.economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/power/rs-1-lakh-crore-bad-loans-ailing-indias-power-sector-teri/71721715" target="_blank">bad loans and financial distress</a>.</p><p>The reasons behind the <a href="https://www.livemint.com/industry/energy/producers-feel-the-heat-as-power-distribution-losses-widen-11579632769183.html" target="_blank">chronic financial losses</a> of the power industry and <a href="https://energy.economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/power/covid-19-power-discoms-will-require-subsidies-of-rs-1-lakh-crore-in-2020-21/75539215" target="_blank">dependence</a> on government bailouts are easy enough to see. <a href="https://www.financialexpress.com/industry/delhi-govt-to-use-pvt-discom-subsidies-to-clear-dues-of-state-run-power-stations/1935729/" target="_blank">Discounted electricity tariffs</a> are offered for agricultural and domestic consumers, with farmers even being provided with electricity for <a href="https://www.thehindubusinessline.com/economy/policy/proposed-electricity-act-may-rework-slabs-for-residential-consumers/article31395464.ece" target="_blank">free</a>, and losses covered from industrial and commercial consumers and state budgets. There are major <a href="https://energy.economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/power/covid-19-impact-turbulent-times-for-power-distribution-sector/75420652" target="_blank">losses</a> in transmission and <a href="http://bwsmartcities.businessworld.in/article/Smart-meters-Invaluable-in-the-current-scenario-imperative-in-a-post-COVID-world/06-05-2020-191305/" target="_blank">theft</a> of power. Distribution companies have <a href="https://www.livemint.com/opinion/online-views/opinion-power-purchase-agreements-as-an-albatross-11587489054847.html" target="_blank">committed</a> to purchasing excessive amounts of power as a part of a push to expand thermal power generation, leading to the country's coal <a href="https://thewire.in/energy/climate-change-coal-india" target="_blank">power overcapacity</a> issue.</p><p>If the forthcoming government bailout allows these structural problems to persist then it could mean old coal power stations are able to continue operating, entrenching the country's dependence on fossil-fired generation. On the other hand, the bailout could be conditioned on reforms and restructuring, facilitating the achievement of national clean-energy goals.</p><p>There are already <a href="https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/blogs/toi-edit-page/the-clean-environment-were-enjoying-currently-will-only-be-short-term-without-fundamental-changes/" target="_blank">calls</a> for a <a href="https://www.hindustantimes.com/analysis/covid-19-india-needs-a-green-economic-stimulus-opinion/story-MnFm3MdzRWWv1pD5COFKzJ.html" target="_blank">g</a><a href="https://www.hindustantimes.com/analysis/covid-19-india-needs-a-green-economic-stimulus-opinion/story-MnFm3MdzRWWv1pD5COFKzJ.html" target="_blank">r</a><a href="https://www.hindustantimes.com/analysis/covid-19-india-needs-a-green-economic-stimulus-opinion/story-MnFm3MdzRWWv1pD5COFKzJ.html" target="_blank">een</a> recovery package in India. These questions — re-invigorating the renewable energy program, mitigating the rebound of air pollution and addressing the structural problems of the thermal power sector — will be at the heart of determining the outcome.</p>
<p><em>Reposted with permission from <a href="https://www.carbonbrief.org/analysis-indias-co2-emissions-fall-for-first-time-in-four-decades-amid-coronavirus" target="_blank">Carbon Brief</a>.</em></p>From Your Site Articles
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