CEP Newsletter

Carbon markets down 56%, why free electricity is worrying and solar recycling breakthrough

In this issue:

That’s the fall in the size of the voluntary carbon market in 2023, according to a new report from Ecosystem Marketplace. The fall comes on the back of extensive media commentary on integrity over the last couple of years and companies concerned over accusations of greenwashing. Especially sharp declines were seen in the purchase of credits linked to renewable energy projects and forestry and land-use schemes.

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Concern is growing in Europe over the increasing number of days that see negative electricity prices. 2023 saw over 500 hours of negative prices, up from just over a 100 in 2022 as more renewables come on stream and are able to more than satisfy demand from time to time at negligible marginal cost. 2024 has already matched the 2023 total with less than half the year gone. While the negative prices are great for charging your EV free, there is concern too many negative hours will start to compromise the investment levels needed to finance the longer term transition.

free electricity

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The latest World Energy Investment report from the IEA reveals global investment in clean energy in 2024 is set to reach almost double the amount going to fossil fuels. Solar PV is the dominant technology for new investment and, geographically, China dominates with investment that is almost as much as Europe and the US combined, the second and third biggest spending regions.

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Seemingly falling under the radar of most reporting, the Bonn Climate Change Conference, 2024 is currently ploughing through a mammoth workload and will do so for another week. This year sees the 60th sessions of the UN Climate Change Subsidiary Bodies (SB 60). There is an extensive agenda, far too long to list here, but its main purpose is to pave the way for a successful COP29 later this year.

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We couldn’t let the week pass by without mention of the world’s largest solar farm coming on line in China. The site in Xinjiang covers 200,000 acres (809 square kilometers, around twice the land area of Nelson) and has a reported output of 6.09 billion kWh a year.

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Commonly cited as the biggest negative of solar panels is the cost and complexity of their recycling. Scientists at Wuhan University have developed a technique for recycling panel that saves energy and emissions. The new technique reduces energy use by a factor of 220 and saves 14Kg of emissions for each 1Kg of panels recycled.

Solar recycling

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It seems the city of Valencia in Spain is determined to use its municipal land to build renewables. This includes the RIP project – Requiem in Power – which will place over 6½ thousand solar panels in municipal cemeteries. When completed, the project will generate 440 megawatts a year and be Spain’s largest urban solar farm. However, Valencia is not the first population centre to go down this route. The French town of Saint-Joachim already has a similar, although much smaller, project underway.

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Those afraid of sharks have yet another reason to combat global warming. It seems the modern day, swift, open-water apex predator species evolved from bottom dwellers as a result of a global temperature spike 93 million years ago. If we continue as we are, Jaws 99 will definitely need a bigger boat.

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