Fossil Fuels
As he prepares to host climate bash, will California’s Brown bring gifts?
With a sweeping climate bill waiting for signature and an oil industry of his own, activists pressure governor Jerry Brown to live up to the vision of his own summit
End of coal power in Australia ‘inevitable’ – report
Market forces alone will see huge drop in coal use over next decade, academics find, adding that planning for a future without coal is ‘prudent risk management’
Poland’s ‘last coal power plant’ depends on subsidies, say analysts
A planned EU phase-out of state aid to fossil fuel power generation could make the Ostrołęka C coal station project unprofitable within years, according to Carbon Tracker
Pakistan to apply strict green rules on Chinese coal deals: Imran Khan advisor
The country is locked into “potential disaster” coal projects, says new PM’s climate chief Malik Amin Aslam, promising to make the “best out of a bad situation”
EU carbon price finally puts pressure on coal
Analysts predict EU carbon price, which has tripled in a year, will continue to rise into next decade, driving a fuel switch from coal to gas in power generation
Why are German coal workers so powerful, when there are so few?
With Germany slipping from its position as a climate leader, an industry with just 20,000 jobs is dictating policy to the federal government
The US’ hidden methane problem
Unregulated, unnoticed coal mines across the US are leaking a potent greenhouse gas with the same greenhouse effect as 13 million cars
Oil pipeline inspection industry ‘going wrong’ as surveys fail to prevent spills
Three separate companies inspected the San Pablo Bay pipeline for faults during a series of spills that dumped 900 barrels of crude onto farmland in California
Three ways the global business elite is underestimating clean energy
A Financial Times reader survey found most see climate change as important, but are conservative on how fast the global energy mix can shift
How the Paris Agreement can take on fossil fuel supply
The UN deal doesn’t mention coal, oil or gas, but it can still be used to limit their extraction
German renewables overtake coal power generation for six months
Wind, solar, hydro and biogas met 36.3% of electricity demand in the first half of 2018, industry data show, while coal dropped to 35.1% of the mix
World Bank reconsidering support for its last coal plant
Kosovo C is the last exception to the bank’s policy against backing coal plants, but a new assessment looks set to favour renewable alternatives
Pope Francis tells oil chiefs to keep it in the ground
At a conference in the Vatican, the head of the Catholic Church urged heads of Exxon Mobil, Eni and BP to make a faster shift to clean energy
Job of ending coal in Germany handed to 31-member committee
Commission will set a phase-out timeline for coal, but greens warn it may be too weak and divided to salvage Germany’s reputation as a climate leader
G7 fossil fuel subsidies worth $100bn a year to industry, study finds
UK accused of masking subsidies to fossil fuels, ahead of meeting of G7 countries, which have agreed to end taxpayer support by 2025
Canada oil pipeline buyout ‘subsidising a market failure’
Nationalisation of Kinder Morgan’s Trans Mountain pipeline breaches a G7 commitment to phase out fossil fuel subsidies, say analysts, ahead of leaders summit
Investors have made oil majors consider safe climate limits. What next?
Even holdout Exxon Mobil has analysed what holding global warming to 2C means for its business. Now the sector needs to invest – or divest – accordingly
Other countries ‘highly unlikely’ to replicate US shale gas boom, says UN report
Fracking transformed US energy production, but Europe and the rest of the world will struggle to repeat the trick, finds global report
EU energy chief flies to Tehran to talk gas supply, as US sanctions loom
As companies withdraw from deals involving Iran, fearing US sanctions, the EU scrambles to preserve growing energy cooperation
German coal phase-out commission to balance jobs with climate
Leaked strategy paper leads on jobs and calls for environmental concerns to be ‘harmonised’ with economic development