Talking Climate Tech 048

Here we go, putting the world to rights, or at least yakking on about it again 🤷‍♂️

Turns out it all went a bit, moleculey today...

🗞️ News Roundup

Solar v LNG = Glut 📉

Timely reminder why Don's US LNG boom isn't going to boom.

Solar is pushing out gas demand:

Pakistan is asking Qatar to divert 24 contracted LNG cargoes in 2026 to the international market because it no longer needs them. There is surplus LNG in the system.

Thanks for the heads up on LinkedIn, Gavin Mooney, original source here.

Justin Mikula keeps his eye on the pending LNG of LNG players in the USA. His favourite, Venture Global, read more here.

The current stock price is around $6, down from the IPO at $24, and falling rapidly. They have shafted some big names, which isn't helping matters either. There will be no LNG boom, Donald.

More on these jokers below 🤡

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Supporters Contribution

British Business Bank 🏦

Some much-needed positive news, you probably won't hear about in the MSM.

CEO, Lousie Taylor:

By 2030, our ambition is clear: a more dynamic and inclusive finance ecosystem, where innovative and ambitious companies – wherever they are based and whoever leads them – can access the capital they need not only to get started, but to scale, stay, and succeed here in the UK.

Our planned activity over the next five years is expected to fund around 180,000 businesses, support the creation of around 370,000 new jobs, crowd in £26bn of additional private capital and help deliver £68bn of benefit to the economy.

Full details here

CCS Getting Found Out, Finally? 🤡

Another interesting snippet of analysis from our go-to analytical dudes, TSE:

What's occurring Rob West?

This is the highest delay rate we have seen in any of our project trackers. 17% of oil projects get delayed each year. 40% of LNG projects were delayed in 2024, amidst a US moratorium. But 86% is unprecedented.

Perhaps that is because if the Public funding isn't there, and no one wants to pay for the carbon, and they don't want to put their own money in.

The CCS fallacy personified. 😡

🔎 Deeper Dive

EV Battle Stations 🚗

For when you are stuck in a Christmas conversation with an EV hater, handy guide from the always excellent Simon Evans at Carbon Brief running through the usual False narratives churned out by the media and naysayers.

Hydrogen Hits Reality 🚫

Great stuff from Tom Baxter of the Hydrogen Science Coalition.

The hydrogen reality check:

The barriers to green hydrogen uptake are structural: energy inefficiency, infrastructure demands, limited scalability and weak market signals. Commercial viability and offtakers are, of course, linked. If hydrogen was commercially attractive, there would be many more customers.

Wow, brutal. Dive on it, some great analysis here.

Could the hopium finally be dying inside? Maybe, but like any good movie zombie, it will keep going. Either until the public money runs out, or it sucks up the reality check, and focuses on relevant decarbonisation market applications. 🧟‍♂️

💥 Trump Watch

In between the Europe-bashing, boating blowing-up, sleeping in cabinet meetings, more MRI's and all the rest of it, he still has time for some climate-denial activism and policy intervention.

Before that, here he is getting his special medal for orange face.

Dirty Trump EU Influence 🇪🇺

Great stuff as usual from DeSmog, digging deep into this steaming pile of US and FF shenanigans. Further reading.

We got the Dirty Power 😱

All those delayed, cancelled and pushed back renewable projects in the US. Of course, they need them; they just don't want to admit it.

What better way to fix it and try reduce consumer energy prices, than fire up the national backup gensets - all that prime mover diesel and gas engines, plus gas turbines, sat around idle. 🙄

Say hello to the Energy Secretary, Chris Wright:

We have 35 gigawatts of backup generators that are sitting there today, and you can’t turn them on. That’s just nuts. Emissions rules or whatever … people, come on, if we just turn those generators on for a few hours a year, we’ve expanded the capacity of our grid by 35 gigawatts. That’s massive.

E&E News. Bring on the smog!

Nothing Ventured, Nothing Gained 🦹‍♂️

Oh, and remember those guys at Venture Global? ⬆️

Reported by The Guardian.

Yeah, they are up to their neck in it with DJT as well 💩

Two fossil-fuel billionaires with close ties to Donald Trump bought millions of shares in the company they co-founded just days after a meeting with senior White House officials, who then issued a key regulatory permit that helped expand the company’s fortunes in Europe.

🏡 Konfab News

Attended the Southampton Energy Coalition session yesterday, nice to get a personal invite from Satvir Kuar MP - I must be making enough noise that someone has been listening. 😆

LinkedIn Summary Post

Will take my football boots next time! 😉

😃 Good Stuff

Building Buildings 🌐

Imagine if there was a map of all the buildings in the world, in 3D, that could be used to accelerate decarbonisation... 🤔

Scientists in Germany have, for the first time, created the most comprehensive digital representation of the world’s man-made environment by compiling a massive 3D, high-resolution dataset containing 2.75 billion buildings.

That's handy then. Further reading here. Developed by Technical Uni. of Munich here.

...the map is also crucial for climate adaptation, as it improves models of energy demand, CO2 emissions, and green infrastructure planning. In addition, it improves disaster prevention through quicker assessment of natural event risks.

🌍 Climate Watch

London Town is Flooding Down 🌊

I have written before about the impact that insurance will have on climate action, people, homes, and the economy. Actuaries' analysis linked here in 020.

Reality bites. If you can't get insured and vast swathes of property get a 'market correction', a lot of people and investments are in big trouble.

In London, the Thames Barrier is hanging on, for now, via Telgraph [gated]:

Rising sea levels and more extreme weather events mean tidal defences upstream of the barrier must be raised by 2050, which is 15 years earlier than expected, according to the Environment Agency.
And while the barrier is to continue to protect London until 2070, in order to provide protection up to 2100 – as planned – the structure may need to be replaced.

Surface water is going to be even more challenging for the rest of us, though:

Environment Agency updated its model, and the number of properties at risk in England jumped to 4.6 million, an increase of 43pc compared to the previous year

43% in one year! 🤯

Bank of England is getting involved, it must be serious. Big stick time. Commentary on that here via this LinkedIn post.

The time for action is well beyond now.

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