Here are some NRDC blog posts and other material on international climate & clean energy from January that I thought you would find interesting. Best regards, Jake
4th LARGEST INDIAN STATE ADOPTS GAME-CHANGING ENERGY EFFICIENT BUILDING CODE
Buildings account for nearly a third of India’s total electricity consumption so savings in this sector can have a large impact. A new report – Building Efficient Cities:Strengthening the Indian Real Estate Market Through Codes and Incentives – from NRDC and ASCI, supported in part by Shakti Sustainable Energy Foundation, documents how big the savings could be in this sector alone. Minimal code compliance by commercial buildings in Andhra Pradesh (40% complying with the ECBC, 5% exceeding the code) translates into enough energy saved by 2030 to power as many as 8.9 million Indian households per year. And if states across India adopted the Energy Conservation Building Code and developers participated in strong programs for rating commercial buildings, an estimated 3,453 TWh of cumulative electricity could be saved by 2030. This is equivalent to powering 358 million Indian homes annually between 2014 and 2030. This would lead to around 1.2 billion tons of carbon dioxide emissions could be avoided by 2030 – equivalent to the annual emissions from more than 17 typical coal-fired power plants over that same time period.
CHINA COAL CONSUMPTION CAP PROJECT WORK BEGINS IN EARNEST
Working with leading research institutions in China, NRDC-China is working on a project – the China Coal Consumption Cap Plan and Policy Study Project –that will develop a comprehensive and integrated coal consumption cap plan, including implementation measures, that will promote both a low-carbon economy and sustainable development of the coal industry in China. The project has begun in earnest the past few months with the (go here for complete details):
First high-level policy steering committee meeting with key members of the steering committee and Research Committee hearing a presentation from the Energy Research Institute on preliminary research on national coal consumption cap levels and regional allocations.
Kick-off meeting for the electric power sector working group hosted by the China Electricity Council. The electric power sector alone makes up more than 50% of total coal consumption in the country so efforts in this sector will have a major impact.
Meeting of the inter-working group on environmental, health, resource, and climate constraints on coal consumption. The group met to detail the use of specific environmental, health, water resources and climate change red lines in further research.
Coal industry working group discussing key research areas including: the appropriate coal production capacity and regional allocation; how to make use of economic and market mechanisms, identify ways to transform industrial planning of the coal industry under coal consumption control.
Current & Projected Share of Renewable Energy in Total Final Energy Consumption
GLOBAL CLEAN ENERGY DEPLOYMENT: LOTS OF POTENTIAL & LOTS OF JOBS
Unfortunately clean energy investments were slightly down in 2013, according to Bloomberg New Energy Finance. Global clean energy investment came in at $254 billion for 2013 – down from a record level of $317.9 billion in 2011. BNEF states outlines that the reduced investment volume was due to a continued sharp reduction in the cost of photovoltaic systems (thus less per MW) and the impact of shifts in policy in Europe and U.S. on investor confidence.
Solar is projected to have another huge surge as Deutsche Bank has significantly increased its demand forecasts for the global solar industry. The investment house is predicting that 46 gigawatts of solar PV will be installed across the world in 2014 and rise to 56GW in 2015 (RenewEconomy).
In order to limit global warming to 2°C, the world needs to invest an additional $36 trillion in clean energy—an average of $1 trillion per year for the next 36 years. This comes in a new report from CERES which documents the “Clean Trillion” gap and provides 10 recommendations for investors, companies and policymakers to increase annual global investment in clean energy.
New forecasts show that low carbon LED lighting technology market will grow 12-fold over the next 10 years – from a $2 million market today to $25 million by 2023 (Climate Group).
EUROPE STARTS TO OUTLINE ITS POST-2020 CLIMATE TARGET
INDIA CLIMATE, SOLAR ENERGY, ENERGY EFFICIENCY & ADAPTATION
India nearly doubled its installed solar capacity last year. The country started the year at little over 1 GW of installed capacity and by the end of the year had reached 2.18 GW (ClimateProgress). The Indian government will launch its first “wind energy mission” later this year in an effort to boost wind deployment and put it in the same league as the high-profile solar mission (The Economic Times).
Smarting under the effects of an unprecedented natural calamity in June, the Uttarakhand government is working on an action plan to minimize the impact of climate change in the state (CNN IBN).
Delhi was blanketed in thick smog from industrial growth and a surge in vehicle usage (Reuters).
Latin America has a budding solar market, with more than 700 megawatts of installed capacity projected in 2014. This post discusses five key take-away points for the region, including details on 3 countries to watch (Mexico, Brazil and Chile) and a reminder to not overlook Peru, Argentina, Uruguay and the Caribbean.
Lots of leaders are pointing out that 2014 is a critical moment to build momentum for the Paris agreement. UNFCCC Executive Secretary Christiana Figueres discusses why Davos has left her with the feeling that 2014 is the year the world can and must rise to the climate challenge. World Bank Group President Dr. Kim reinforces that theme in an op-ed. And “The Elders” remind us why climate action is so critical now and how this is a legacy issue for all world leaders.
RENEWABLE ENERGY KEEPS BREAKING RECORDS IN CHINA
China is embarking on a massive effort double the number of wind turbines in the next six years (BBC News). Official statistics from the Chinese government show that non-fossil fuel energy accounted for 9.8% of the country’s energy mix – up from the previous year (Reuters). At the same time coal’s share dropped again.
A variety of factors are changing the vehicle-miles-of-travel (VMT) picture in the U.S. as my colleague discusses a year-end progress report in the U.S. effort to move beyond oil. Since 2006 VMT has plateaued both in per-capita and absolute terms—this change has predated and outlasted the economic recession.
