Award-winning journalist: Deputy Editor + Senior Policy Editor @CarbonBrief, covering climate & energy. DMs open | simon.evans@carbonbrief.org
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Joined March 2012
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Pssst!
Solar is now 88% cheaper than thought a decade ago, UK govt says – half its estimated cost of new gas power
Just running a gas plant in Feb 2022 is costing around FOUR times as much as we'd pay for new solar or wind
Thread with charts + FAQ
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Interested to hear thoughtful pro-nuclear response to this
Many claim that nuclear can provide base load, i.e. run 24/7. That’s absolutely right! But the point is: this is not what modern power systems need. To see why, we can use an argument made by Georg Klingenberg in 1920. (1/7)
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Simon Evans retweeted
Four essential things to realize about the global fossil fuel crisis:
1) The crisis started long before Russia's invasion - see the tweet below from last October. Russia's energy blackmail and sanctions by Ukraine's allies merely compounded it.
Efforts to boost domestic fuel supply aside, I think it's clear that the overall impact of the fossil fuel crisis will be to hasten the shift to clean energy and reduce vulnerability to fossil fuel markets, both in China and globally.
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Simon Evans retweeted
JUST IN - New Study ➡️ The untapped climate mitigation potential of demand-side solutions.
➡️ Showing a 52%‼️reduction in final energy consumption, while improving quality of life [Transform Scenario 2050].
👇👇
via @j_r_barrett @_chris_brand_
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Simon Evans retweeted
About the #G7, and how the fossil and climate finance debates are connected:
Developed countries have failed to meet the goal of delivering $100bn/yr in #climatefinance for developing countries between 2020-25.
Funding reached ~$80bn in 2019, of which ~$66bn was public. 1/4
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Simon Evans retweeted
🔊🇬🇧Three years ago the UK enshrined net zero into law - it now more important than ever to act
🌎Today on #NetZeroDay @EnvironmentAPPG members highlight the cross party support for achieving net zero by 2050 or sooner👇
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Simon Evans retweeted
Happy #NetZeroDay
Three years ago today the U.K. became the first G7 country to legislate for net zero carbon dioxide emissions by 2050
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In less than 36 hours @theCCCuk will publish its annual verdict on UK climate policy
Will govt get a kick up the arse or a slap on the back?
I can't answer until Wednesday, but meanwhile here's our coverage of the last four progress reports
(THREAD)
carbonbrief.org/ccc-uk-will-…
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Last year, only four of 21 policy areas had sufficient ambition and only 2 had adequate policies in place
CCC said UK would miss its goals by a "huge margin" without new policies to fill the gap
carbonbrief.org/ccc-uk-will-…
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In 2020, 14 of 21 sectoral progress indicators were missed as well as 14 of 31 policy indicators; just two of 31 policy milestones were met in full
carbonbrief.org/ccc-uk-risks…
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In 2019, 17 of 24 progress indicators were missed and only 1 of 25 needed policies were delivered in full
The UK was given 18mths to avoid "embarrassment" as host of COP26 (it got a 12mth Covid reprieve)
carbonbrief.org/ccc-uk-has-j…
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In 2018, the CCC reported a "worrying trend" in UK emissions outside the power and waste sectors
carbonbrief.org/worrying-tre…
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Simon Evans retweeted
Chair summary from #G7 hosts 🇩🇪 on joint efforts to accelerate just energy transition #EndCoal
👋 Welcoming progress on South Africa's Just Energy Transition Partnership
🗣️Highlighting talks w Indonesia, India, Senegal
and Vietnam on future partnerships
g7germany.de/resource/blob/9…
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Simon Evans retweeted
Can someone explain what precisely makes it too late to keep Hinkley Point B a bit longer and whether anything can be done to get around that?
Naturally, all those using nuclear shutdowns to criticise German climate and energy policy, will respond in kind to the news that the UK govt didn't even bother to ask EDF to keep Hinkley Point B open next winter, according to the i newspaper. Right?
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Simon Evans retweeted
From what I hear from officials on the ground, the G7 is **not** going to agree on an oil price cap at this meeting, but it will agree **this a direction it wants to push forward**, and will seek further talks to non-G7 nations to see if it can be put into practice | #OOTT
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Naturally, all those using nuclear shutdowns to criticise German climate and energy policy, will respond in kind to the news that the UK govt didn't even bother to ask EDF to keep Hinkley Point B open next winter, according to the i newspaper. Right?
The government has admitted it failed to ask EDF to keep the Hinkley Point B nuclear power plant open, despite the ongoing energy crisis. The reactor provides enough electricity to power more than 1.7m homes, but will now shut down this August.
inews.co.uk/news/politics/go…
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Simon Evans retweeted
The recently concluded Nairobi session brought the CBD process to a crisis point. Many of the long standing problems persisted, resulting in limited progress, putting COP15 as the least well-prepared major environment conference in recent memory. A thread to unpack things:
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Simon Evans retweeted
Nairobi nature talks conclude. Patient co-chairs encouraged by "meaningful", "constructive" progress, if incremental. Say there was "no blocking".
@UNBiodiversity's @mremae: biodiversity too important to fail.
Confirmed: a *fifth* prep meeting right before #COP15 in Montreal.
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💧🇨🇳Pumped-storage hydro
In operation: 36.39 GW of capacity at the end of 2021
Under construction/approved: 61.53 GW
Data from China Renewable Energy Engineering Institute (CREEI)
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