Talking Climate Tech 039
🔥 Methane Gaslighting | 🇨🇳 All About China | 😷 Health Impacts | ⚡ Electrotech | 🔫 Double Grift | ⚡ Pylon of the Month
It's good to be back, let's charge it up! ⚡
🗞️ News Roundup
Gaslighting on Gas 🔥
You won't be surprised to learn that much isn't changing with Big Oil. Stepping back from climate pledges and investments, gorging on the trough opened back up again by 🍊Don, has become standard news fare in recent months.
One place that they could make an impact, that would really help [have a look at more Methane info in 012 and 029] would be extraction, processing and transportation derived methane emissions. Reminder, methane is 80 times more potent than CO2 over a shorter-term 20-year window, i.e. high impact benefit now for huge long-term climate wins.
IEA has been jogging them along on methane since their 2017 World Energy Outlook report, and they have been nodding sagely in response. Not doing much about it though, obviously.
For eight years, the International Energy Agency (IEA) has presented research indicating that oil and gas companies can reduce their prolific methane emissions cost-effectively. For eight years, oil and gas companies have failed to do so, and their emissions have continued to grow, according to the IEA’s own data.
Deeper dive on this one from OilChange here. IEA needs to grow some backbone and recognise the gaslighting. The IEA 2021 '“Curtailing Methane Emissions from Fossil Fuel Operations: Pathways to a 75% Cut by 2030.” looks a long way off.
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China Leads the Way 🇨🇳
Another familiar story - it's always China setting the records for clean energy deployment 035, global supply chain, big hydro 036, big turbines 037. As the US cedes the global gauntlet of power to China on many things, they are also now taking the lead on emissions commitments. BBC here.
China, the world's biggest source of planet-warming gases, has for the first time committed to an absolute target to cut its emissions.
In a video statement to the UN in New York, President Xi Jinping said that China would reduce its greenhouse gas emissions across the economy by 7-10% by 2035, while "striving to do better".
It's good, it might not be enough for 1.5℃, but I think we can all agree that ship has sailed anyway. In all likelihood, they will outperform their targets as usual.
Deeper China analysis from Carbon Brief here.
Meanwhile, the US call-back on climate....from that well-informed, science-based 🍊Don at the recent UN speech 🙄
It's the greatest con job ever perpetrated on the world, in my opinion.
Double China 🇨🇳
Fill your boots while you are here, they might be from China as well. The excellent Ember have compiled their 'China Energy Transition Review 2025' more here.
Moving the needle rapidly...
🔎 Deeper Dive
Health Impacts 😷
In the big picture climate view, direct health impacts often get sidelined. They are felt over the long term, a gradual impact, not in our immediate focus. It affects us all; personally, financially, in government healthcare spending, economic productivity etc.
Millions of Britons face higher risk of heart failure due to dirty air
Stroke risk is 7% higher and heart failure risk increases by 27% in areas with worst level of pollution
From the European Society of Cardiology conference. More details via the Guardian here. It's that nasty PM2.5 again. Still got a gas cooker and hob? Have a read here.
Electrotech Revolution ⚡
Those good people at Ember have nailed it again with this one. A deeper dive into everything electric and electrotech. That's what we are calling it all now, apparently, Electrotech. A new age, new branding, distancing itself from legacy analogue fossil fuels. I like it.
Absolutely worth your time to read this, more here, the executive summary page, plus download the PDF for the full scope. A couple of selections:
Electrotech is around three times more efficient than fossil fuel systems, which waste two-thirds of primary energy inputs (380 exajoules) as heat at a cost of $5 trillion every year.
80% of the world lives in fossil fuel-importing countries, with over 50 countries importing more than half their primary energy as fossil fuels. In contrast, 92% of countries have a renewables potential over ten times their current demand. Replacing imported fossil fuels using three key levers—EVs, heat pumps and renewables—can cut net fossil fuel imports by 70%, saving $1.3 trillion globally each year
The future is electrotech...⚡
💥 Trump Watch
My goodness, it keeps on rolling in waves over there, doesn't it - flood the zone. Couple of climate-specific snippets, then some 🍊 juice as you would come to expect!
Oh, and there was the UN speech, which you must have seen and heard by now, hilarious. Fact check here - all nonsense and weird stuff dribbling out of his decaying mind as usual.
Loud & Proud 📉
Dept. of Energy banners these funding cuts announced this week as a major win. Source.
The U.S. Department of Energy today announced the termination of 321 financial awards supporting 223 projects, resulting in a savings of approximately $7.56 billion dollars for American taxpayers.
Thats on top of this lovely headline from a DoE page. Source. What Government in the world actually says things like 'green new scam agenda'. 🤯
The U.S. Department of Energy announced today its intention to return more than $13 billion in unobligated funds initially appropriated to advance the previous Administration’s wasteful Green New Scam agenda.
More on surging US electricity costs here, the impact of data centres, and why this ⬆️ is not such a good idea.
More Gaslighting with Gas 🔥
Another deepdive from DeSmog; the gas grift continues peddled by the administration - have to find a home for fracked gas that no one wants anymore...
the natural gas industry has a message for the public: Fossil fuels must power the future’s data centers
Battle Stations ⚔️
On that long and winding road to the coveted Nobel Peace Prize that's surely within his clamy grasp, he has solved 7 wars, or possibly more by now. A rebrand was needed for the Department of Defense. Now the Department of War. Although he can't actually change it, he just wants to. Hegseth:
The mission of the Pentagon is "warfighting: preparing for war and preparing to win, unrelenting and uncompromising in that mission
The enemy, who knows. 🤷♂️ Maybe a small drug runner boat from Venezuela, which you can apparently illegally blow up when you want, because you're at 'war'
Trump had formally notified Congress on 1 October that the US was in a "non-international armed conflict" with "unlawful combatants" regarding drug cartels in the Caribbean, specifically referencing the 15 September strike
Or perhaps it's just all Democratic cities. LA, Portland, Memphis, Chicago, etc.
provide all necessary Troops to protect War ravaged Portland
My goodness, those pot-smoking coffee shop vegan hippies must be running wild over there. There are no signs of troops in Republican cities yet...🤔
FBI data emphasises that 13 of the 20 U.S. cities with the highest murder rates in 2024 were in Republican-run states
Government, universities, media, lawyers, courts, cities - the hostile authoritarian takeover continues. Now fighting the 'enemy within' can we expect the cancellation of the mid-terms under 'war conditions'? 🤯
Jimmy is Back 👏
After trying to cancel Jimmy Kimmel, he is back. The backlash on Disney subscriptions and public outcry was enough to swing it. Don wasn't happy, but ever the grifter, he can see some more cash for the pot...
Ballroom Grift 🔫
Which leads us nicely into the other cash grab, this time for the 'greatest ballroom the world has ever seen'. $22m for the pot strong-armed from YouTube this time;
🏡 Konfab News
Quick run-down as we head into the final furlong.
We had the Climate Tech Impact_South 02 event the other week, a great success!
Special post on that coming next week with some special AI captured outputs from both speakers and the audience. 🧠
New guest article this week, care of Stephen Graham from the University of Cambridge - a decarbonisation challenge!
⌛ Historic and complex estate
📍 375 buildings across 16 sites
🔐 19% of its area is listed status
Stephen Graham
I will be in London on Monday for a key Geothermal UK Coalition meeting as we set up working groups to move policy, traction and investment forward with all the key stakeholders. 80 people from 60 organisations, including:
Geothermal developers, DESNZ, academia, Environment Agency, Mining Remediation Authority, Jacobs, Arup, BGS, BSI, NESO, Heat Pump Federation, Regen, NSTA, Heat Network developers, finance, insurance, legal.
The golden age of UK geothermal and low-carbon heat is on the horizon. ♨️
⚡Pylon of the Month
Your final fix, I know you've missed it. It looks like we have a Pylon problem. It seems that Pylon HQ is no more - the site is down, no further word or insighst to the blackout.
Is this the end? I will investigate and report back next week. We shall prevail and continue the good work. ✊
This week's Tower of Power, has a dash of Blade Runner: Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep...
On that poignant note, it's time to move on.
Thanks for your time, interest and support as always, let's keep pushing forward - remember, the momentum is unstoppable despite everything you might see and hear! 🌍
Kane
