Carbon Emissions

ChatGPT generated a panoramic close-up image of an inspection drone examining the blades of an older wind turbine, highlighting the role of proactive maintenance

Wind Farms Outlast Expectations: Longevity Matches Nuclear

One of the persistent claims made by nuclear energy advocates is that nuclear power plants hold a critical advantage over wind and solar facilities due to their significantly longer operational lifespans. This argument frequently serves as justification for continued investment in nuclear, often at the expense of renewable options. News … [continued]

ChatGPT generated: A high-resolution aerial photograph of the Panama Canal shows a large container ship at dock, where cranes are actively swapping battery-labeled containers

Renewable-Powered Battery Swaps: Unlocking Ship Electrification At Global Canals

The Maersk McKinney Moller Institute published an analysis in late 2024 exploring the potential for battery-electric shipping. Their study rightly concluded that battery-powered ships are not only viable but increasingly competitive, driven by falling battery prices, rising energy density, and straightforward integration of battery containers onto vessels. They missed on … [continued]

ChatGPT generated a panoramic aerial view of a battery-hybrid container ship docked and charging from shore-side infrastructure, illustrating the electrified future of shipping

Why The Maersk Institute Was Right About Ship Batteries But Wrong On Price

The September 2024 pre-feasibility study from the Maersk McKinney Møller Center on battery-powered vessels that crossed my screen today provides a welcome and thoughtful addition to the critical discussion of maritime electrification. The report rightly identifies battery-hybrid propulsion as an essential part of shipping’s decarbonization toolkit. It demonstrates a clear … [continued]

ChatGPT generated a caricatured dockside bazaar where ship captains argue over fuel choices, surrounded by stalls hawking biofuels, e-fuels, wind kites, and shore power

Shipping’s Climate Reckoning: The IMO’s $36 Billion Pivot

In the wake of the International Maritime Organization’s vote to price carbon in shipping fuels, I had the opportunity to sit down with an insider and expert on maritime decarbonization, Tristan Smith. He’s the director of a maritime advisory services consultancy, UMAS, and professor at University College London. This is … [continued]

ChatGPT generated a panoramic image of a contaminated wastewater geyser erupting from an abandoned site, surrounded by dead trees and scorched earth—an eerie illustration of shale industry's self-inflicted environmental pressure

Shale’s Self-Inflicted Crisis: Wastewater Injection Is Sinking Profits

The shale industry is facing an entirely predictable consequence of its own making. Across major shale-producing basins, particularly East Texas and the Permian, excessive wastewater injection practices have created areas with extreme overpressure, driving up the cost of new drilling operations and threatening the economic viability of shale production in … [continued]

ChatGPT generated illustration of a cracked hydrogen molecule leaking gas, symbolizing hidden emissions and the climate risks of hydrogen leakage across energy systems

Hydrogen Isn’t The Answer: 0.7-1.5 Billion Tons CO2e Would Make It A Climate Liability

Hydrogen is often presented as the clean-energy solution capable of decarbonizing the trickiest sectors, including heavy industry, aviation, maritime shipping, and long-haul trucking. Yet, a growing body of evidence makes it clear that a hydrogen economy, at scale, would deliver a major setback to global climate goals rather than helping … [continued]

ChatGPT generated this panoramic illustration of sleek BYD Seal sedans rolling off the Oshawa Assembly Plant line, set against rusting relics of the Big Three's faded glory.

Time For Canada To Dump The Big Three & Go Electric With China

Mark Carney, Canada’s freshly minted Prime Minister, faces an early test of leadership courtesy of the country’s automotive old guard. Ford, GM, and Stellantis have banded together to ask his government to scrap Canada’s zero-emission vehicle mandate, pleading poverty and technological impossibility. Apparently, after a mere century of automotive innovation, … [continued]

ChatGPT generated this panoramic caricature of the aviation vs. shipping fuel tug-of-war, with an angry airplane and cargo ship battling over barrels of vegetable oil and biomethanol

Mea Culpa: Biomethanol Will Be A Major Shipping Fuel

For the past week I’ve been working with a team of deep and broad experts in decarbonization in the Netherlands. The transmission system operator TenneT invited me and other experts to assist them with their Target scenario for 2050 to enable them to plan for transmission upgrades and space requirements … [continued]

ChatGPT generated illustration showing Gates, Bezos, and Branson looming over nuclear, geothermal, and hydrogen infrastructure—symbolizing Breakthrough Energy’s enduring bias toward firm, capital-intensive energy solutions

Beyond CATF’s Biased Analysis: Why Firm Power Isn’t The Full Answer

CATF recently published a report entitled Beyond LCOE: A Systems-Oriented Perspective for Evaluating Electricity Decarbonization Pathways advocating for a shift in how we evaluate energy technologies. At face value, their core criticism, that Levelized Cost of Electricity (LCOE) alone does not capture the full economic complexity of integrating intermittent renewable … [continued]

ChatGPT generated this illustration to depict a balanced moral framing, with symbols of conservative values on one side and progressive priorities on the other

Climate Communication Reimagined: Appealing Across Moral Foundations

Recently, while deeply engaged in energy transition scenario planning with TenneT for the Netherlands’ decarbonization by 2050, I found myself considering again the lessons of Jonathan Haidt’s 2012 book, The Righteous Mind, a book I recently read for the first time. Haidt’s insights into the moral foundations that underpin human … [continued]