Assistant Professor, Economics, Grenoble École de Management (GEM)
Student, Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies
Research Fellow, Exeter University; Professor in Practice, Lancaster University
Director-General, Blockchain & Climate Institute
Production
Wave energy converter to be built in Scotland
Maritime services firm Malin Renewables has secured a £1-million contract to supply a 50-tonne wave energy converter in Scotland, a global hub for renewable innovation. Malin was selected by AWS Ocean Energy to build the half-scale Archimedes Waveswing power generator for offshore wave-energy production. The Archimedes Waveswing project is backed by the publicly funded Wave […]
Transmission
Australian grid struggles with renewables boom: report
Australia’s independent Energy Security Board (ESB) has reported a “remarkable growth” in renewable energy, driven by cheaper equipment and government support with rooftop panels accounting for 5 per cent of production. The report said since 2005 total emissions across the national electricity market fell by 15 per cent with pollution expected to drop by a […]
Storage
Study says Scottish parks could heat homes
Scottish parks could provide low-carbon energy to heat 15 per cent of Scotland’s homes, according to a study by Greenspace Scotland. The study of 3,500 urban open spaces could generate energy by capturing ground heat to be channelled into surrounding homes. Most Scottish homes have natural gas boilers, which release large quantities of carbon dioxide. […]
Consumption
Opec scrambles to address coronavirus fallout
Opec (the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries) says it has not decided whether to extend oil output cuts. Saudi Arabia’s energy minister, Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman, said the cartel was addressing the fallout from Covid-19. Abdulaziz said oil producers were communicating and he was “confident of our partnership”, adding that every producer was “responsible”. […]
Policy
Japan promises to review coal-power export policy
Japan’s environment minister, Shinjiro Koizumi, has said tighter restrictions could be placed on the export of coal power technology to the developing world. The country has been criticised for supporting the construction of coal-fired power stations in Indonesia, Vietnam and elsewhere and for developing new plants in Japan. “This is a significant decision that brings […]
Environment
Action demanded to meet Scottish net-zero transport target
A report has suggested immediate action aimed at achieving net-zero carbon can still offer a significant economic opportunity for Scotland – and the transport sector is “hugely optimistic” about the country’s prospects of decarbonisation. According to ‘Transport in Scotland: The Road to Net Zero’ – a report published by international law firm Addleshaw Goddard – […]
Industry
Rio Tinto: coronavirus could bring 6 months’ disruption
The UK-Australian mining firm Rio Tinto says Covid-19 may disrupt global supply chains and delay projects in Australia over the next six months. The world’s second-largest mining firm recently reported its strongest underlying earnings since 2011, boosted by rising iron ore prices last year. It also produces aluminium, copper and diamonds. Iron ore accounts for […]
Opinion
Could coronavirus cause China’s oil demand to plateau?
The coronavirus (Covid-19) is upending two fundamental tenets of globalization: flow of people and goods and a booming Chinese economy. With nearly 1.5 billion people, and as the world’s largest economy, center of global supply chains, and largest emitter of carbon, it is safe to say that as China goes, so goes the world’s health, […]
Should we worry about a potential grand solar minimum?
The new decade saw intensified attention on global climate change. The World Economic Forum’s Global Risk Report 2020 linked climate to its top-five long-term risks to the economy. Wildfires ravaged Australia. Last year was the second warmest on record, while new forecasts suggest that the hottest year on record will occur between 2020 and 2024. […]