Reality Check? Global Fossil Fuel Consumption Grows

The Energy Gang

Wood Mackenzie

Alternative Energy, Tech News, 958784, Environment, Technology, Renewable Energy, Energy, Business, Sustainability, Wind Energy, Climate Change, Cleantech, News, Solar Energy, Innovation, News Commentary

4.6 • 1.3K Ratings

🗓️ 5 April 2018

⏱️ 49 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

After a multi-year decline, global carbon emissions are on the upswing.

The International Energy Agency now says that emissions grew in 2017 -- caused by an increase oil, natural gas and coal demand. Nearly three-quarters of new energy demand across the globe was served by fossil fuels.

At the same time, America saw another yearly drop in carbon emissions, which IEA says was assisted by renewables. But with more and more carbon-free nuclear plants slated for closure across the U.S., many worry the trend will end.

In this week's Energy Gang, we'll look at trends in global energy demand. We'll also look to the situation in the U.S., where concerns about losing nuclear are growing.

Then, we'll talk about FirstEnergy Solutions' bankruptcy. Could the company find a way to save its nuclear plants by compromising with renewables advocates?

Finally, EPA chief Scott Pruitt is cutting back on Obama-era fuel efficiency standards. We’ll explore the consequences. Are CAFE standards even the right policy?

The Energy Gang is brought to you by Sense. Sense installs in your home's electrical panel and provides insight into your energy use and home activity through our iOS, Android, and web apps. Find out more.

Transcript

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0:00.0	So have you heard of Sense. It's this little orange box that connects to your
0:05.5	electric panel and samples power over a million times per second. I have seen this
0:10.1	thing in action. I've seen how powerful the data is.
0:13.8	Sense lets you know what devices are on in your home and how much energy they're using in real
0:17.9	time so you can save money and see what's happening all from your smartphone.
0:23.0	The Sense Technology was developed by the same team
0:26.0	that pioneered speech recognition and brought it to market.
0:29.0	Sense is a sponsor of the Energy Gang
0:32.0	and you should go check them out at sense.com slash energy gang.
0:37.2	That's sense S-E-S-E-S-E-S-E-S-E-S-D-C-D-C-C-D-C-C-C-C-C-O-G-Gang slash Energy Gang.
0:46.0	From Green Tech Media, this is the Energy Gang,
0:48.0	a weekly digest on energy, clean tech and the environment.
0:51.0	I'm Stephen Lacey, welcome.
0:55.0	We vacillate between pessimism and optimism on this show depending on the subject recovering. I'm not going to speak for my co-hosts, but today's headlining subject puts me a little closer to the pessimistic camp, the rise of global emissions. After three years of decline, global climate pollution rose last year.
1:17.0	Meanwhile, nukes are shutting down at a rapid rate here in America,
1:21.0	raising serious concerns about a coming emissions rise here as well.
1:24.8	We'll look at the factors behind the reversal.
1:27.6	Then a related topic on the nuke front, first energy solutions, the competitive arm of major utility First Energy,
1:34.6	filed for bankruptcy protection.
1:36.5	It's got a couple major new plants set for closure,
1:39.2	and it's asking the government to declare an emergency to keep the plants open, but not for climate
1:44.4	reasons. We'll look at the politics and the market fresher. Finally, EPA Chief Scott Pruitt is cutting
	...

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