This could be another turnaround for the fight against climate change as the G7 is willing to eliminate subsidies for oil, coal and natural gas within the decade.
Japan
One of the most read articles on this blog is ” 10 reasons to support nuclear power “, which I wrote in 2009 when the situation was very different. A lot happened since then that has made me reconsider my stance on nuclear, so here is a counter-point.
Five reasons to oppose nuclear
Now these are great news but there is a major catch, or perhaps two… The first one the date : by 2100, as in 85 years… The second one, they didn’t say even how they would cut emissions.
G7 Nations to decarbonize their economies
$5.3 trillion (or 4.7 trillion euros) : those are staggering figures as they amount to $10 million every single minute. The figures come from the International Monetary Fund, so one can be pretty sure of them.
Fossil fuels subsidies are worth $5.3 trillion
According to Bloomberg New Energy Finance global investments in clean energy such as wind and solar bounced back in 2014 with an increase of 16 percent over 2013. They reached $310 billion (260 billion euros).
Cleantech investments rebounded in 2014
2014 was according to the Japan Meteorological Agency the hottest year ever recorded. Other agencies around the world will present the same conclusion in the next days or weeks as records were broken all around the world.
2014 was the hottest year on record
This was kind of a surprise for me when I learned that not only does Japan has a carbon tax, but that is has one since… October 2012. The world’s third largest economy is taxing emissions from power plants and vehicles alike.
Japan has a carbon tax too
If investments in renewables fell over the recent years it seems 2014 will see them bounce back. As Bloomberg New Energy Finance reported, investments in the first three quarters have jumped 16 percent.
Renewables investments are bouncing back in 2014
For the past few years I have grown to become a treehugger, willing to see more trees everywhere as they could clean our air from pollution and prevent climate change. Then comes Afforestt.
Afforestt : planting mini super forests everywhere
This year’s Nobel prize in Physics is all about energy efficiency as it was awarded to three Japanese scientists for their invention of the blue LED. This enabled the world to have super efficient LED light bulbs.
Inventors of the blue LED awarded the Nobel prize
I have written previously that farmers around the world are due to be a key component to the transition to a more sustainable future. Another example of this comes from Japan. According to Eco Business : ” Japanese farmers have found a way to reactivate a declining farming culture through […]
Japan farmers produce crops and solar energy
We have seen it many times over, energy efficiency is a key component to the energy transition, alongside with renewable energy sources. Energy sobriety / conservation is another often overlooked tool. As I was reporting all the way back to 2011, after Fukushima, Japan had cut by 15 percent its power usage thanks to […]