Green Lights Nov. 8: Top stories this week
Don't miss a single story from the best of Callaway Climate Insights.
. . . . Welcome back to Green Lights. Here’s our weekly roundup of the best of Callaway Climate Insights. This week, it’s all about the power. Wind power, nuclear power, coal power, presidential power, the power of AI, the voters, the electric grid and, not least, the power of money. David Callaway unpacks it all, starting with the election and a new course of chaos and power-grabs in the coming years. Have a good weekend, and please support our great climate finance journalism by subscribing.
. . . . Donald Trump’s stunning comeback win in this week’s presidential election is set to chart the U.S. on a new course of chaos and power-grabs in the coming years. But it’s not a death knell for clean energy investors, writes David Callaway. Instead, the renewable energy transition will be rebranded as a push for more energy security and global energy domination. It will include oil and gas, but also other forms of clean energy popular in red states, including solar and onshore wind. And it will include new tax breaks as well as tariffs and changing laws. At least one company has already benefited. Tesla’s shares rose 14% the day after the election. Callaway details five themes that investors should look out for, and who will win or lose in each.
. . . . The low expectations for next week’s COP29 climate summit in Azerbaijan grew even more precarious this week after Donald Trump was re-elected U.S. president and China said it wanted to use the talks to air trade grievances. China’s demand, which was joined by India, Brazil and South Africa, comes as tensions mount regarding global trade now that Trump is president-elect, and as several European trade regulations begin to take force.
. . . . Many tech titans, girding for the growing wars over power for AI data centers, are trying to do private deals with energy suppliers and grids that will almost certainly result in regulatory scrutiny as the demand for power competes with the needs of towns and cities. David Callaway considers how the next White House administration will play a role in the outcome.
. . . . Annual investment in the world’s electric grids is expected to reach $811 billion in five years, according to BloombergNEF’s Net Zero Scenario. Rapid global growth in EVs, clean power and low-carbon technologies will power that increase — nearly three times as much as flowed into the sector last year. According to BNEF’s Economic Transition Scenario, grid spending grid spending in a slower, economics-led transition, would still be at $483 billion by 2030 — 58% above the average investment seen in the first four years of this decade.
. . . . Feeding the coal fires: The 2023 UN Climate Change Conference reinforced already existing pressure to transition away from fossil fuels, in particular for the most polluting source, coal. The authors of this IMF working paper titled Following the Money: Who is Keeping Coal Alive? use a comprehensive dataset on bank loans for coal projects to shed light on which type of banks continue to finance coal and how coal phase-out commitments affect coal financing.
More greenery . . . .
Regenerative farming: Chef cooks up practical climate solutions (Fast Company)
Broken record: European climate agency says this will likely be the hottest year on record — again (The AP)
Climate change and kids: Growing up in climate chaos (The New York Times)
IAEA at COP29: Nuclear Solutions for Climate Change (International Atomic Energy Agency)
Small but mighty?: Chonkus, the mutant cyanobacteria that could help fight climate change (Science News)