UK energy giant pushes for reforms on energy transition: Urgent reforms in the UK are needed to accelerate the pace of transitioning to renewable energy, leading energy supplier Scottish Power CEO Keith Anderson told The Financial Times, warning that the government is dissipating a “God-given” chance for a greener future. “It only takes us two years to physically build an offshore wind farm but the planning process is fundamentally flawed and means it takes us more like 10 years,” Anderson said. His statements come days after a warning by the government’s spending watchdog National Audit Office (NAO) of a lack of a clear plan towards the UK’s net zero ambitions.

And energy workers want some assurances: British offshore oil, gas, and renewables workers are demanding a public ownership of the country’s energy companies to ensure that a net zero transition from fossil fuels safeguards their jobs, The Guardian reports. The demands come on the back of a report surveying over 1k workers on the necessity of government-backed jobs guarantees, an offshore training program to rehabilitate workers along the shift to renewables, and others. The report sees public ownership ensuring a “just energy transition” in terms of job security and conditions.

TotalEnergies expands its biogas and solar activities in Poland: French energy giant TotalEnergies has become a key player in the Polish biogas market after acquiring the country’s main biogas producer Polska Grupa Biogazowa (PGB) along with a 200 MW development pipeline of six solar projects, according to a press release. PGB is specialized in generating renewable heat and energy from biogas sourced from organic waste, generating a total capacity of 166 GWh per year. The acquisition of PGB raises TotalEnergies’ biogas production capacity to 1.1 TWh, placing the French company in the fourth place in potential for biogas and biomethane production. The acquired solar projects are located in northern and western Poland, with the first one expected to be operational by 2025.

Global energy emissions reached a record high in 2022 but were lower than feared thanks to clean energy deployments, according to a new International Energy Agency (IEA) report. The global energy industry’s carbon emission contributions rose 0.9% — up 321 mn CO2 tons y-o-y — in 2022, reaching a record high of 36.8 bn tons. The hike in emissions is largely attributable to extreme weather driving an increase in cooling and heating demand, which alone generated 60 metric tons of CO2, according to the report. Droughts and other extreme weather events also led to widespread nuclear and hydroelectric power plant shutdowns, leading to an increased reliance on carbon-intensive energy sources, and generating an additional 50 mn tons of CO2 last year.

Renewables to the rescue: The deployment of renewable energy projects coupled with increased adoption of electric vehicles and energy-efficient technologies abated some 550 mn tons of GHG, the IEA notes, adding that the y-o-y growth rate for 2022 would have been threefold higher without renewable energy deployments. Europe generated more electricity from wind and solar sources combined than from nuclear and gas in 2022, ultimately pushing down its carbon production levels by 70 tons in 2022, down 2.5% y-o-y, according to the report.

OTHER STORIES WORTH KNOWING ABOUT THIS MORNING-

  • China will streamline its carbon trading system to eliminate data fraud and enable an expansion of their national carbon market after inaccuracies were found in power plants’ emissions reports. (Bloomberg)
  • Adani Green Energy‘s operating renewable portfolio reached 8 GW with the opening of the group’s fourth wind-solar hybrid power plant which yields 600 MW from solar and 510 MW from wind respectively. The company’s hybrid portfolio is now the world’s largest with over 2 GW production capacity. (The Economic Times)
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