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DUST-UP OVER FUTURE TECHNOLOGY: A statement from the International Energy Agency that nearly half of the global emissions reductions needed in 2050 will come from technologies not yet commercialized is causing a dust-up with some climate activists.
John Kerry, climate envoy for President Joe Biden, is taking most of the heat this week, after comments in an interview with BBC over the weekend that half of future emissions cuts will come from technologies that haven’t been invented yet.
It was an ineloquent reference to the IEA’s net-zero report released just days later, which pointed to a massive need for investments to research, develop, and deploy technologies that are currently only in the demonstration or prototype stage. Those technologies include advanced batteries, electrolyzers for hydrogen, and direct air capture.
Nonetheless, Kerry was hammered by many climate activists who saw his comments as downplaying the investments that could be made today to bolster renewable energy, which is already plentiful and cheaper each year.
“Great news! I spoke to Harry Potter and he said he will team up with Gandalf, Sherlock Holmes & The Avengers and get started right away!” climate activist Greta Thunberg tweeted Sunday in response to Kerry’s comments.
Climate activists are keen to make sure the U.S. and other governments immediately switch from fossil fuels to renewable energy and don’t bank on some future technology to absolve the world of its climate obligations. Climate activists did cheer, however, the IEA’s call to immediately halt investment in new oil and gas development. (More on that below.)
Environmentalists’ criticism of Kerry is, in a way, an extension of a debate playing out over plans from Biden and top Democrats to eliminate carbon from the power sector by 2035. Some left-wing activists are calling on Biden to exclude carbon capture and nuclear power from his climate agenda, saying the technologies will do more harm than good. National climate adviser Gina McCarthy said Tuesday the Biden administration doesn’t intend to remove any low-carbon technology as an option to curb emissions.
IEA executive director Fatih Birol, meanwhile, came to Kerry’s defense. He called activists’ criticism of Kerry “unhelpful if not irresponsible.”
“I was shocked by some of the reactions,” Birol said at a virtual forum hosted by Columbia University’s Center on Global Energy Policy. “He might have chose this or that word, but he wanted to highlight the critical importance of innovation.”
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BIROL SAID IEA MEANS IT…NO NEW OIL AND GAS EXPLORATION NEEDED: Birol, in his remarks yesterday, also provided more specifics on his group’s stark new position that new oil and gas development must immediately stop to reach net-zero global emissions.
Birol said the statement essentially means “no new exploration activity” but that oil and gas fields already approved for development can continue producing.
“We are saying the investments in all the existing fields will continue,” Birol said. “We do not stop them.”
Birol also underscored that the IEA is basing its warning on the need to cut oil and gas production on matching the drastic fall in demand the group says must happen to reach net-zero emissions. That presumption, he acknowledged, relies on governments imposing policies to reduce fossil fuel demand, such as pricing carbon or banning new gasoline-powered vehicles in favor of electric ones.
He said there would be “risk” if the world cuts supply but fails to reduce demand, which could result in higher oil prices.
“We do not say there is no oil or gas anymore as of 2022,” Birol said. “We are saying its use will go down.”
BP CEO IS COOL WITH STOPPING NEW OIL AND GAS INVESTMENTS: BP CEO Bernard Looney, also speaking at the Columbia Energy forum yesterday, said IEA’s call for no more investments in new oil and gas supply is “consistent with what we are doing as a company.”
“In many ways, there is no surprise in what Fatih has put out,” Looney said. “At the end of the day, it is a scenario on a piece of paper and what the world needs is less scenarios and debate and more action. That is what we are intent on doing.”
Looney reiterated BP’s pledge to reduce oil and gas production 40% by 2030 as part of its commitment to cut emissions to net-zero by 2050.
He also said BP is “exploring less” for new oil and gas, spending less than half a billion dollars this year after investing $2 to $3 billion searching for hydrocarbons in previous years.
“There will be much less investment in oil and gas but still investment in oil and gas,” Looney said.
KEY DEMOCRAT REBUKES BIDEN FOR WAIVING NORD STREAM 2 SANCTIONS: Hawkish Democrats joined Republicans in accusing Biden of violating congressionally mandated sanctions by waiving penalties on the company and CEO in charge of building the Russian Nord Stream 2 natural gas pipeline into Germany.
“I urge the administration to rip off the Band-Aid, lift these waivers and move forward with the congressionally mandated sanctions,” said Democratic Sen. Bob Menendez of New Jersey, the chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee, who added he “fails to see how today’s decision will advance U.S. efforts to counter Russian aggression in Europe.”
The State Department officially submitted a 90-day mandatory report to Congress yesterday that said the corporate entity in charge of the project (Nord Stream 2 AG) and its CEO (Matthias Warnig) are engaged in sanctionable activities. But it will waive applying sanctions to them, citing U.S. national security. Instead, the administration is sanctioning four ships and four companies — all of them Russian in origin — involved in the building of Nord Stream 2.
What it means: But in choosing not to sanction the Russian-owned Swiss company overseeing construction and its CEO, the Biden administration invited criticism that it is being soft on Russia as it looks to rehab relations with Germany and Europe. It also means Nord Stream 2, already 95% complete, will be finished with construction soon.
“We see today’s light sanctions touch as a de facto stand-down, paving the way for eventual NS2 completion,” said ClearView Energy, a research group, in a note.
More questions: Menendez, in his statement, asked what the administration expects to receive in return from Germany “after having made this significant concession to exercise the waiver.” German Chancellor Angela Merkel has bristled at U.S. sanctions as interfering with its sovereignty and considers the pipeline to be a commercial project despite opponents who say it would increase Europe’s reliance on Russia for energy.
“This decision has created uncertainty in many corners of Europe and I expect to hear very soon from the administration on its plans moving forward,” Menendez said.
COULD THE GOP COMPROMISE ON ELECTRIC CARS? Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, leading Republican negotiations with Biden over the infrastructure package, told Bloomberg TV yesterday that she’s open to some support for electric vehicle charging infrastructure if it mirrors what senators agreed to in last year’s surface transportation bill.
That legislation, which the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee approved unanimously but was never considered on the Senate floor, was the first surface transportation bill to include a dedicated climate section. The bill offered funding to increase the resilience of roads and bridges to climate change effects, support the build-out of electric vehicle charging and hydrogen refueling stations, and incentivize states to reduce their transportation emissions.
“Our anticipation is that this would be a part of this [larger infrastructure deal], yes. I think it’s an important part,” Capito told Bloomberg TV of the electric vehicle portion of last year’s bill. Even so, Capito cautioned against massive public investments in vehicle electrification. Biden’s infrastructure plan proposes roughly $174 billion to support electric vehicles and charging infrastructure, as well as point-of-sale rebates for consumers to buy electric cars.
Capito said she doesn’t want public funding to crowd out private sector investment. “Let’s figure out a way that government can jumpstart it, and then let that private investment go. Because there’s going to be money made here on that,” she said.
FORD LIGHTNIN’: Ford officially debuted the electric version of the most popular U.S. car — the F-150 pickup — last night in a flashy event at its Dearborn headquarters.
The electric pickup doesn’t have the futuristic feel of Tesla’s cybertruck, instead boasting the style of the classic Ford truck (the best-selling car in the U.S. for 39 straight years). But the automaker is touting the electric pickup’s performance, noting it delivers 563 horsepower and the most torque of any F-150 truck. The electric pickup can also go from 0 to 60 miles per hour in just over 4 seconds.
Those aspects are critical to attract the typical pickup truck buyer, who is purchasing based on the vehicle’s performance rather than its environmental friendliness.
Ford also announced it is partnering with solar company Sunrun as the preferred installer of Ford Intelligent Backup Power, a charging station and home management system that will enable the electric F-150 to be a reliable backup power source for a home during outage events.
COURT SCRAPS LAST-MINUTE TRUMP BIOFUELS WAIVERS: A federal appeals court canceled waivers exempting three small oil refineries from the Renewable Fuel Standard requirements that the Trump administration granted in its final days in office.
The Biden EPA had asked the court in April to vacate the exemptions, claiming the Trump administration had not conducted the proper legal analysis to determine whether the refineries could earn the exemptions. The decision comes as the Supreme Court is weighing an appeal from oil refiners of a 2020 ruling that would sharply limit the EPA’s ability to grant such exemptions in the future.
“EPA did the right thing in April by requesting that these spurious exemptions be vacated, and we applaud the agency for honoring President Biden’s commitment to putting an end to the surge of illegitimate refinery waivers,” said Renewable Fuels Association president Geoff Cooper in a statement.
The Rundown
Reuters U.S. EPA to keep biofuel mandates steady in 2021-22 due to coronavirus -sources
Bloomberg U.K. is pushing for G-7 to adopt mandatory climate reporting
Financial Times Why the IEA is ‘calling time’ on the fossil fuel industry
Calendar
THURSDAY | MAY 20
9:30 a.m. The House Select Committee on the Climate Crisis will hold a remote hearing titled, “Powering Up Clean Energy: Investments to Modernize and Expand the Electric Grid”.
9:30 a.m. The Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry will hold a hearing titled, “Federal, State, and Private Forestlands: Opportunities for Addressing Climate Change.”
