Energy Resources & Access

Peabody Energy just declared bankruptcy after years of financial instability owing to sustained low natural gas prices, the increasing social and environmental cost of burning coal, and other market factors. One of the companies’ last ditch efforts to remain relevant was the launch of their Advanced Energy for Life campaign created to promote coal development as a way to lift the poor out of poverty and provide lasting energy access.

Despite a collective promise made by wealthy to developing countries of $100 billion annually by 2020, there is a Grand Canyon sized gap before us in reaching that goal. Adaptation costs alone in developing countries may rise to $150 billion or more by 2025, so $100 billion should be viewed as a basement, not a ceiling, to be scaled up over time. Vulnerable countries didn’t create this problem, but they are suffering most.

Dipti Vaghela is passionate about micro hydro. Vaghela’s organization, the Hydropower Empowerment Network, takes a country-by-country approach to rural electrification, helping micro hydro and other technologies take root in places where electricity is expensive and hard – or even impossible – to come by. Her goal? To bring electricity in a sustainable and participatory way to places that need it.

Fellow Shaye Wolf asks why California regulators are letting oil companies increase quake risks by drilling injection wells near faults across the state?

The realities of climate change are literally sinking in with weekly images of flooding, discussions of the next big storm or sophisticated maps outlining the new edges of the coast. Climate change is happening and its impacts could be devastating. But even with sobering stories about warmer waters and rising seas, we should not be paralyzed or abandon our current course of action for the Chesapeake Bay.

The types of storms that have been bringing heavy snow and rain to the West this winter, triggering landslides and floods while easing stubborn droughts, are likely to become stronger and more frequent, according to the results of a conclusive new study. ... “This paper provides a nice framework for exploring storm variability in other regions of the world,” said Sarah Kapnick, a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration climate change scientist. ...

It can be hard to escape the buzz of the activity around energy access initiatives that have been launched by a variety of stakeholders in India. However, this hype often muddles the real story of how entrepreneurs and enterprises are succeeding or failing to distribute energy technologies across this vast country. The space for business innovation in the sector is promising, with a large market of unelectrified people (over 300 million) and government targets aimed at boosting solar technologies and achieving universal electricity access by 2019.

Climate change is the keystone environmental problem of our times. While most proposed solutions emphasize reducing carbon emissions from fossil fuel combustion, measures that protect our remaining wildlands are also a means to combat and adapt to climate change. The designation of Mojave Trails, Castle Mountains, and Sand to Snow National Monuments in the California desert is an important mechanism for the United States to help fulfill its promise as a global leader on climate change.

The global climate agreement reached in Paris late in 2015, which sets specific targets nations will aim for in limiting emissions of heat-trapping greenhouse, was widely and justly regarded as a diplomatic triumph.