The Grumpy Optimists #94
Happy Monday. 👋
Welcome back to another episode of The Grumpy Optimists and your weekly recap of things positive and sometimes grumpy climate news from the last week.
This week we’re looking at the EU voting to require companies to include climate transition plans, renewable power breaking new records and Delta Air Lines being sued for $1bn for greenwashing their carbon neutral claims.
Without further ado, let’s dig in!
👀 Articles to read
⚖️ EU Parliament requires companies to include climate transition plans. European Parliament votes in favour of new rules requiring companies to identify and address the impact of their activities and value chains on human rights and the environment. The rules would also require companies to adopt and implement climate transition plans and would apply to companies with over 500 employees and more than €150 million in revenues. Non-EU companies with revenues earned in the EU above the thresholds would also be required to follow the rules.
⚡ Renewable power on course to break records in 2023. The International Energy Agency (IEA) has released its latest Renewable Energy Market Update with renewable energy capacity expected to surge by a third in 2023, reaching a record high of 440 GW. Solar PV will account for two-thirds of this year's increase, and wind power additions are forecast to rebound sharply. This growth is being driven by rising fossil fuel prices, energy security concerns, and government policies.
🛫 Delta Air Lines faces a $1bn lawsuit over carbon neutral claims. In February 2020, the US airline pledged to become carbon neutral, relying mainly on a $1bn investment in low-cost and low-impact offsets. The company is now being sued for falsely claiming that each flight will have no impact on the warming of the planet. While I would say that to some extent I agree with this lawsuit and there is no denying that this was a serious case of greenwash, we also need to be conscious of stopping companies from feeling like they can talk about action. With that being said, I’m all for ensuring bs claims are called out and real action takes place.
⛽ 80% of households happy with their heat pump. Heat pumps are a great weapon in the battle to decarbonise home heating and despite fossil fuel lobbyists’ attempts to make heat pumps seem like a con, see just one example, heat pumps have the same satisfaction as gas boilers. This is a win for the planet and for consumers.
🔥 US talks could plug Turkmenistan’s mind-boggling methane emissions. Turkmenistan is the world's worst emitter of methane, a greenhouse gas that is 80 times more potent than carbon dioxide and causes 25% of global heating. Methane emissions from Turkmenistan's oil and gas industry are estimated to be equivalent to the emissions of 67 million cars. The methane leaks mainly stem from ageing and poorly maintained pipelines as well as flaring and venting methane from oil production. If the US-Turkmenistan deal is successful, it could set a precedent for other countries to reduce their methane emissions.
🐷 Can pig fat be a solution to turn aviation green? With animal fat considered a waste material, it has lower emissions than traditional aviation fuel and that’s leading to rising demand for dead animal fat. With 8,800 pigs worth of fat needed to fuel just one flight from Paris to New York we’re likely to create a situation where we increase our reliance on the highly emitting animal industry. Something tells me this just isn’t the solution.
♻️ Solar panel recycling gets a major and much-needed boost. The world's solar energy generation capacity grew by 22% in 2021, and the number of solar panels installed is expected to continue to grow in the coming years. As a result, the amount of solar panel waste is also expected to grow. There are currently few facilities for recycling solar panels with the recycling process is often inefficient. In France, a new factory has opened that is capable of fully recycling solar panels and hopes to be able to extract and reuse 99% of its materials. A much-needed boost, but a shocking title from the BBC on this article.
🔌 ‘Get on, get back or get out of the energy queue’ ESO announced urgent action to speed up electric grid connection. A few weeks ago I shared an article about why we need to make it easier to connect renewable energy projects to the national grid, now, National Grid ESO has announced reforms to speed up the connection of new power projects. The reforms include requiring energy generators to meet certain milestones, allowing projects that are not progressing to move backwards in the queue or leave, and supporting developers to build their own connections into the grid. There are currently 220 projects due to connect before 2026, totalling 40GW or more than double peak demand in the summer months for Great Britain yet only half have planning consent. This new law will connect more renewables to the grid, lower costs and the emissions associated with electricity.
💦 Chemical companies ordered to pay billions to remove forever chemicals. Three major chemical producers, Chemours, DuPont, and Corteva, have agreed to pay $1.19 billion to settle claims from U.S. water providers over PFAS pollution. PFAS are a group of synthetic chemicals linked to health problems such as cancer and reproductive issues. The settlement is a significant victory for water providers and a sign that the legal landscape is shifting against PFAS producers. If you haven’t already, I highly recommend watching Dark Waters.
🚆 Just because it’s cool
Ever wanted to know how far you could get by train in a certain number of hours, well now you can with Chronotrains. This tool has somewhat limited use but is very interesting for travel planning and helping switch out flights for trains. Worth having a play around.
This week's episode was fuelled by plenty of sunshine, perhaps one (or four) too many Arrowtown Hard Seltzers, which I can confirm are delicious and refreshing*. The song recommendation this week is new Tame Impala and yes, it does sound exactly like every other song. On a final note, I discovered a new word I think you may all like this weekend, Opacarophile, a person who loves sunsets. Consider me one of those just don’t make me pronounce it.
George, The Grumpy Optimist 💚
*not sponsored but they may as well have been this Saturday.