Here’s what happened over the past week that helped or harmed the world’s chances of cutting greenhouse-gas emissions to zero.
Decreases emissions
1️⃣ The countries where electricity demand peaks in the day—as air conditioners are turned up high—are finally starting to tap into cheap solar power. Southeast Asian countries were once expected to build many coal power plants to meet the growing demand, but if the solar boom takes off, all those fossil-fuel assets may not be necessary.
2️⃣ Germany’s electricity demand hit a 40-year low. The driving forces are energy efficiency measures, the slowing economy, and a move away from manufacturing.
3️⃣ Liberty Steel has set 2030 as its target to be carbon neutral. Steel production is responsible for about 7% of global emissions (three time as much as all aviation), and the industry has generally lagged in addressing climate concerns.
4️⃣ Another US coal company fails. Murray Energy filed for bankruptcy, as cheap natural gas and cheaper renewable energy cut coal demand.
5️⃣ The EU says it’s “nearly” on track for its 2030 goal of cutting emissions by 40% compared to 1990 levels. But it won’t get there without a concerted push in the next decade. Fortunately, Ursula von der Leyen, the incoming EU president, is doubling down on climate action. Bonus: She will have a supportive new president at the European Central Bank.
Plastic world
Only 9% of the plastic the world produces gets recycled. As the oil industry realizes that the transport sector is changing and electric cars will cut demand, it’s betting that people will instead need the oil in the form of more plastic. If Big Oil is right, the world’s plastic boom—more than half of all the plastic was produced in the last 15 years—has only just begun. Read more in the field guide on plastic, written by my colleague Zoë Schlanger. Quartz members can join a conference call on the topic later this week.
Net-zero (for now)
1️⃣ Algae blooms on glaciers are darkening their surface, which helps trap more heat and thus hastens melting. Now scientists think that the process likely has a greater impact—that is, more melting—than previous estimates.
2️⃣ Researchers in Sweden have created a new type of molecule that could store the sun’s energy. The molecule undergoes a chemical transformation when exposed to sunlight. The stored energy is released back as heat, and the molecule returned to its original state, when exposed to a catalyst.
3️⃣ The backlash against plastic is raising the demand for aluminum, which over its lifetime can have a lower energy footprint and a higher recycling rate.
4️⃣ Saudi Arabia, the country with the highest per capita emissions, plans to launch a carbon trading scheme. If it does, it will be following the example set by China, the country with the highest absolute emissions, which is planning to launch its own scheme next year. But as with Saudi Aramco’s IPO plans, expect delay and dithering.
5️⃣ It’s not even spring in South Africa and it’s already starting to ration water in major cities. The decision is based on the drought the country has faced over the past 12 months.
The Climate Trail 🎧
That climate change is unleashing horrors makes it a more compelling story, not less. It’s remarkable then, just as with literary fiction, that computer games have not yet properly explored the subject. I’m thinking about this because of a new game called Climate Trail, which you can download for free from your app store. It’s basic and only kept me hooked for an hour, but it did make me consider the difficult trade offs we will have to make if it all goes haywire.
🔼 Increases emissions
1️⃣ The world’s largest initial public offering is a go. Saudi Aramco is aiming for a valuation north of $1.5 trillion, which means it would outrank Apple and Microsoft to become the world’s largest company. It forecasts that demand for oil won’t peak until 2040, which would almost certainly mean blowing past the carbon budget set under the Paris climate agreement.
2️⃣ California‘s fires are causing all sorts of problems, including increased emissions.
3️⃣ The largest US homebuilder’s association has found crafty ways of keeping building codes from addressing climate change. That means less energy efficient homes.
4️⃣ The Philippines is cementing the role of coal in its energy mix with new power plants, at a time when renewables are the cheaper option.
5️⃣ The emissions from damage to tropical forests may have been underestimated. Deforestation, selective logging, and fires likely added more than 6 billion metric tons of carbon dioxide between 2000 and 2013—about six times as much as previous estimates.
Stats to remember
As of Nov. 4, the concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere was 409.42 ppm. A year ago, the level was 407.16 ppm.
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