"The bottom line: Electrification is not the silver bullet for reducing transportation emissions. Without greatly expanding our electric infrastructure and bolstering our domestic critical mineral supplies, an EV-only approach will do more to harm the environment than it will to help it, at the expense of consumer choice."
"The key is to remove all the market, cost, and fiscal barriers in the way of beneficial innovators. When streamlined policy makes new investments cheap and easy, newer, cleaner technologies replace older, dirtier technologies at an ever faster pace, accelerating innovation and the energy transition."
"When one’s hope is in this world, anxiety will overcome us. When one believes humans are responsible to be their own saviors, it will feel like an impossible task—because it is...As Christians and common-sense individuals, we can trust in the Lord, care for the Earth, and follow proven principles of economic empowerment to lift people out of poverty and create a cleaner, healthier planet."
"American energy innovation has delivered significant benefits here at home and around the world. With CCS, we can ensure the next generation of global energy is also American-led."
"CF’s executives decided to capitalize on that potential clean-energy demand and lean a bit less on fertilizer. One advantage for CF is that it can convert its ammonia to a low-carbon variety relatively cheaply, since the company already captures much of the CO2 generated. It just has to sequester that carbon dioxide instead of venting it to the atmosphere, as it does now."
"KOKO hints at why there is excitement about carbon markets. The African Carbon Markets Initiative (ACMI), a UN-backed consortium, reckons that Africa uses just 2% of its annual carbon-credit potential; it aims for Africa to sell $100bn worth of credits a year by 2050. Even a fraction of that would be a boon for a continent where annual foreign direct investment has never surpassed $80bn. William Ruto, Kenya’s president, calls carbon credits an “unparalleled economic gold mine” and his country’s “next significant export”. Yet, as is often the case with Africa and its natural resources, things could go wrong."
Leaders at COP28 should focus on making the lives innovators easier if they are serious about hitting any targets in the future.
"'We were looking for a private-sector approach that wasn’t dependent on policy, it wasn’t dependent on traditional taxes, regulation or philanthropy to price in these assets and give investors the opportunity to invest directly in nature, whether that’s for climate or biodiversity,' said IEG Chair Douglas Eger."
"The industry is racing to develop SMRs — new types of advanced nuclear reactors that have a power capacity of 300MW or less, which is about a third of standard facilities. Governments and private investors — including Rolls-Royce, GE and Hitachi — have spent billions of dollars to commercialise the technology over the past decade."
"The initiative also expands buildings’ rooftop and yard allowances to accommodate the increased need for outdoor electrified equipment such as heat pumps. It changes other rules to ensure a wide range of exterior retrofits and updates 'Zone Green' floor area exemptions to ensure a better-than-code performance. It updates the framework for accessory mechanical equipment, like HVAC units and fire protection systems, to reflect the needs of electric retrofits and other energy infrastructure, by enabling equipment to cover up to 50% of buildings to a height of 15 feet, the proposal says."
