#energy-policy

#energy-policy

He finds that headline figures have fallen dramatically not because net zero has become cheaper, but because public bodies have changed methodologies and relied on increasingly unrealistic assumptions. The CCC now claims that achieving net zero between 2025 and 2050 will cost just £108 billion - down from earlier estimates of over £1 trillion. Turver shows this is done by moving the goalposts from measuring gross costs to comparing against a notional baseline scenario.

There's a reason why there's no profit motive in government,

You may be surprised to learn electricity only accounts for 21 percent of the world's energy consumption. Fossil fuels and the rest all play their part to make the world go around, but their role is likely to diminish no matter what happens. The International Energy Agency believes electricity's share of global energy consumption is going to in the next decade alone.

We no longer need as much centralized power generation, yet it is still the planning model used by PG&E and the other investor-owned utilities (IOUs). Instead, the IOUs should be leading the effort to grow local electricity generation through solar panels, wind turbines and batteries. Microgrids should be the main method of distribution, and costly transmission lines should be minimized.

Rachel Reeves announced in her budget that she would cut 150 a year from the average energy bill, partly financed by axing the 1.3bn energy company obligation (ECO) scheme that helped fund upgrades for homes owned or rented by households earning under 31,000. This scheme is due to be end in March. The government plans to launch a warm homes plan to provide funding for heat pumps, insulation and other home upgrades but this has been beset by delays.

Under the order, the Department of Energy will build a platform with AI capabilities for scientists and engineers to use in their work. It would also create a portfolio of scientific and engineering challenges around energy and national security for Genesis Mission participants to pursue. Other departments and agencies will be able to tackle their own challenges - such as around drug discovery - through the executive order.

She will argue that eight in ten firms believe the legislation, in its current form, will make hiring harder, acting as a brake on economic growth. "Lasting reform takes partnership, not a closed door," she will say. "When eight in ten firms say this bill will make it harder to hire, they are brakes on growth. The government must change course and ask business and unions to forge consensus through compromise."

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

"My office will audit the state's role in these price hikes," he said. "New Yorkers pay more while utilities and their shareholders pocket tax credits, abatements, bonuses, and side deals - and for years no one in state government has followed the money. I will expose those deals and put real pressure on regulators and Albany to stop letting the system work for utilities while everyone else keeps getting squeezed."

President Donald Trump's efforts to help the U.S. coal industry at home are being undermined by falling sales abroad amid his trade war with China, new government reports show. China has stopped importing U.S. coal, accounting for most of a 14% decline in U.S. coal exports so far this year, according to analysts and the U.S. Energy Information Administration. Trump's meeting with Chinese leader Xi Jinping this week suggests trade progress.

Kemi Badenoch has committed the party to repealing the Climate Change Act and abandoning the commitment to reach net zero by 2050, arguing that the target threatens to bankrupt Britain. The repeal of the act would remove the need to meet carbon budgets ceilings, set for five-year periods, on the amount of greenhouse gas that can be emitted and disband the Climate Change Committee – a watchdog that advises on how policies affect the UK's carbon footprint.

European leaders are meeting on Thursday with the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, in Brussels to reaffirm support for Kyiv. The president of the European Council, Antonio Costa, welcomed Zelenskyy, addressing him as future member of the European Union. The meeting comes as the 27 member bloc formally adopted a 19th package of sanctions against Russia for its war against Ukraine that includes a ban on Russian liquefied natural gas imports.

Germany's ex-chancellor Gerhard Schröder on Friday slammed a state parliamentary inquiry into the Nord Stream 2 pipeline from Russia as 'ridiculous' and said he did not regret his role in its controversial construction. The inquiry, at the Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania regional parliament, is looking into political influence around construction of the pipeline between Russia and Germany and possible Russian interventions in favour of the project. The investigation focuses on the state's Climate Protection Foundation that was allegedly used to shield companies involved in building it from US sanctions.