Utility Week

4 | 5TH - 11TH JULY 2019 | UTILITY WEEK Seven days... Australia needs action to meet Paris target The challenge the Morrison gov- ernment faces in meeting future climate targets without new policies is underlined by an analysis that breaks down how significantly greenhouse gas emissions are increasing from transport, natural gas and coalmining. The analysis of government data by Hugh Saddler, an energy consult- ant and ANU honorary associate professor at the Crawford School of Public Policy, suggests Australia cannot meet the target it set at the Paris climate summit without poli- cies to address where emissions are rising substantially. The Guardian, 1 July Coal-free period was hit using a ploy It was hailed as a "watershed moment" by National Grid: Britain's first 24 hours without burning coal for electricity since the Victorian era. However, The Times can reveal that managers at the company had to delay a coal plant from being fired up to achieve the headline- grabbing feat. The decision was disclosed by a whistleblower, who alleged that National Grid may have broken its licence conditions by discriminating against coal and potentially by reducing security of supply. National Grid denies wrongdoing. The Times, 29 June Gas in the US is the climate battleground America's coal-burning power plants are shutting down at a rapid pace, forcing electric utilities to face the next big climate question: embrace natural gas or shiŠ aggres- sively to renewable energy? A rush to build gas-fired plants, even though they emit only half as much carbon pollution as coal, has the potential to lock in decades of new fossil-fuel use. The New York Times, 26 June National media Reeves queries £1 trillion cost estimate for net zero T he chair of the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy select committee, Rachel Reeves, has called on the chancellor to explain reports the government has put the cost of meeting net zero emissions by 2050 at £1 trillion. In a letter to Phillip Ham- mond, Reeves aked the Treasury to confirm the estimate and explain how such a figure had been calculated. She also queried whether the Treasury had considered what possible public expenditure sav- ings could arise from reducing greenhouse gas emissions. According to the letter, such savings could arise from reduced NHS expenditure brought about by people enjoying healthier and more active lifestyles. It also asked the chancellor if he agreed with the Committee on Climate Change's analysis that the air quality and health benefits would "partially or possibly even fully offset the costs" of delivering the target. Last week, MPs approved a motion to introduce the new target through an amendment to the 2008 Climate Change Act. The legislation, which was introduced under the last Labour government, set a target that the UK should reduce its carbon emissions to 80 per cent of 1990 levels by 2050. The BEIS committee chair has also written to the interim energy minister, Chris Skidmore, ahead of his appearance in front of the committee on 10 July, with a series of questions about how the government intends to achieve net zero by 2050. In her letter to Skidmore, Reeves asks if the government plans include international aviation and shipping, and if so, whether ministers intend to legislate accordingly. The letter also asks how the government will work with other countries to develop markets for carbon units and about BEIS's role in the proposed five year review of the net zero target. JH See lead story, p10 "We have done a lot of work to improve the perception that we are actually going to do what we say we are going to. But delivery speaks louder than anything else" Thames Water chief financial officer Brandon Rennet STORY BY NUMBERS Tata Chemicals' CCS project Tata Chemicals Europe has unveiled plans to invest £16.7 million in the UK's first large- scale carbon capture facility at its Northwich industrial site in Cheshire. £4.7m BEIS support for the scheme. 9 Number of CCS projects that will share £26 million of government funding. 96MW Tata will extract carbon dioxide from an existing 96MW gas plant and use it to produce sodium bicarbonate for food and pharmaceuticals. 40,000 Tonnes of carbon dioxide that will be captured and processed by the plant each year.

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