Filtered News
Deemed Sustainable by Seafood Industry Monitors, Harvested California Squid Has an Unmeasurable Energy Footprint 12/8/2023
Deemed Sustainable by Seafood Industry Monitors, Harvested California Squid Has an Unmeasurable Energy Footprint
Payne Institute Earth Observation Group Senior Research Associate Christopher Elvidge contributed to this article about how tens of thousands of tons of the cephalopods caught off the California coast are shipped to China for processing, then sold to consumers around the world. China has also become a ruthlessly efficient and cheap processor of the seafood its fleets catch, as well as that caught by fleets from other countries. December 8, 2023.
Why the U.S. has a serious mining worker shortage 12/8/2023
Why the U.S. has a serious mining worker shortage
Payne Institute Faculty Fellow Jessica Smith and Research Associate Juliet Akamboe contributed to this news video about the role that miners play in the transition to green energy. The demand for rare earth minerals such as lithium, cobalt and copper, critical components used to make batteries for electric vehicles and smartphones, is on the rise, and with it, the need for the expertise of miners. December 8, 2023.
Vietnam Renewables: Investment Priorities 12/6/2023
Vietnam Renewables: Investment Priorities
Centre for Climate Finance & Investment at Imperial College Business School led a team, including the Payne Institute Sustainable Finance Lab Program Manager Brad Handler, to write “Vietnam Renewables: Investment Priorities”, a review of prospects and challenges to deploy more renewable energy in the country. The report offers specific steps for further renewable power deployment in Vietnam in the context of its economic growth and incredible resource potential (solar and wind), through a combination of policy and market mechanisms. December 6, 2023.
Enabling Finance for Net-Zero Energy Transitions 12/6/2023
Enabling Finance for Net-Zero Energy Transitions
Payne Institute Program Manager Bradley Handler, Director Morgan Bazilian, and Fellow Johannes Urpelainen and others write about how the key issue of financing of the transition required in the energy sector to get to net-zero targets. It identifies key technologies, maps them to potential sources of finance, identifies key barriers to at scale deployment, and suggests potential solutions to these barriers. Policy solutions include setting net-zero targets and creating sector specific pathways, enabling cost-effective procurement, providing supporting policies, and enabling a diverse financial sector. Financial solutions include development of risk-mitigation instruments, blended finance funds, and innovative financial products. December 6, 2023.
A comparative analysis of US state-level policies and programs to advance energy justice 12/6/2023
A comparative analysis of US state-level policies and programs to advance energy justice
Noah Sandoval, Jonathan Morgenstein, Jesse Geiger, Patrick Gibbs, Payne Institute Director Morgan Bazilian, and Adam Warren write about how the US energy system is undergoing massive changes that have environmental, technological, and societal implications. A formal survey of state-level energy justice policies and programs is needed to better understand the methods used to assist communities targeted and the impacts of these efforts. Such an analysis should include an analysis of the metrics used to judge the effectiveness of the enacted policies and programs. In this paper, we analyze the energy justice policies and programs of seven different US states. December 6, 2023.
OGCI accelerates action to tackle global oil and gas methane emissions 12/5/2023
OGCI accelerates action to tackle global oil and gas methane emissions
The Oil and Gas Climate Initiative (OGCI) announced at COP28 that it has stepped up activities on methane detection and flaring to help more companies reduce methane emissions from their oil and gas operations. OGCI expanded its flagship Satellite Monitoring Campaign (SMC) to include more countries and assets. This was complemented by work with the World Bank’s Global Flaring and Methane Reduction Partnership (GFMR) and US-based Payne Institute for Public Policy to launch a more accessible platform on global gas flaring data. December 5, 2023.
U.S. EV Makers Are Still Stuck on China. The Stakes Are Rising. 12/5/2023
U.S. EV Makers Are Still Stuck on China. The Stakes Are Rising.
Payne Institute Student Researcher Isabel Guajardo, Program Manager Brad Handler and Director Morgan Bazilian write about how U.S. automakers are dependent on China for important aspects of EV construction. It’s in the interests of the U.S. economy to accommodate the current shortcomings, work with allies, and make long-term investments toward more robust and resilient sourcing. December 5, 2023.
Mines faculty, students work on technology that could “change space travel forever”
Mines faculty, students work on technology that could “change space travel forever”
Payne Institute Faculty Fellow George Sowers is featured in this video about how a team of Mines researchers are partnering with Lunar Outpost to compete in the NASA Break the Ice Challenge. Mines has competed in this challenge to harvest lunar ice deposits to harvest to get water on the moon for the last several years. December 4, 2023.
Where the World Is (and Isn’t) Making Progress on Climate Change 11/30/2023
Where the World Is (and Isn’t) Making Progress on Climate Change
Payne Institute Director Morgan Bazilian contributed to this article about how emissions from electricity and transportation are projected to fall over time, a new report finds, but industry remains a major climate challenge. To tackle dangerous global warming, countries have started to clean up their power plants and cars. But emissions from heavy industry — like cement, steel or chemical factories — have been harder to curb and are now on pace to become by far the world’s largest source of planet-warming pollution. November 30, 2023.
AS AMERICA’S MILITARY REARMS, IT NEEDS MINERALS—AND LOTS OF THEM 11/29/2023
AS AMERICA’S MILITARY REARMS, IT NEEDS MINERALS—AND LOTS OF THEM
Payne Institute Fellow Gregory Wischer, Payne Institute Director Morgan Bazilian and Macdonald Amoah write about how the US military is attempting to quickly replenish diminished weapons stocks in its largest production ramp-up in decades. To ensure a secure, resilient, and sufficient mineral supply for its platforms and munitions, the Department of Defense should refine its approach to mineral stockpiling, its engagement with mineral mining and refining, and its implementation of mineral recycling. November 29, 2023.
The path to net-zero emissions runs through industry 11/29/2023
The path to net-zero emissions runs through industry
Payne Institute Director Morgan Bazilian, Payne Institute Fellow Steve Griffiths and Benjamin K. Sovacool write about how government leaders and climate negotiators gather in Dubai for the COP28 United Nations climate conference and how an enormous challenge looms over the proceedings: decarbonizing the global industrial sector. November 29, 2023.
Tesla’s Cybertruck Is Two Years Late and Still Crazy 11/29/2023
Tesla’s Cybertruck Is Two Years Late and Still Crazy
Payne Institute Faculty Fellow John Speer contributed to this article about how after years of delays, Tesla will livestream its Cybertruck delivery event Thursday. Car experts still can’t believe it’s trying to mass-produce a vehicle with such a challenging design. One theme of the Cybertruck’s off-kilter aesthetic is simplicity—straight lines, bare surfaces, sharp corners. Taking that approach actually makes building the thing a lot more complex. November 29, 2023.
Net-Zero Industry Tracker 2023 11/28/2023
Net-Zero Industry Tracker 2023
Payne Institute Director Morgan Bazilian, a World Economic Forum Advisory Council Member, contributed to the second edition of the Net-Zero Industry Tracker report provides a detailed analysis of the progress heavy industrial and transport sectors are making worldwide, in their efforts to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050. These sectors, which account for more than 40% of global greenhouse gas emissions, need multifaceted solutions that accelerate the speed of technology development, build supporting infrastructure, and raise necessary capital to finance the transformation. November 28, 2023.
Biden’s first-ever UN climate summit snub carries symbolic weight 11/28/2023
Biden’s first-ever UN climate summit snub carries symbolic weight
Payne Institute Director Morgan Bazilian contributes to this article about how President Biden is reportedly skipping a global climate change summit for the first time in his presidency. Not attending the conference would mark a significant snub by a president who has vowed to fight global warming. Yet some experts say his absence is unlikely to actually impact the conference’s outcomes, with both his presence and absence playing more of a symbolic role. November 28, 2023.
Uranium’s Epic Rally Says Lots About the World Right Now 11/27/2023
Uranium’s Epic Rally Says Lots About the World Right Now
Payne Institute Fellow Liam Denning writes about how climate change will continue to spur demand for the metal while traders are betting on the growing risk of geopolitical disruptions to supply. Uranium offers a perfect distillation of a world that is heating up and a world order that is breaking down. Plus a market eager to capitalize on both. November 27, 2023.
Forever chemical study planned for Schriever Space Force Base focused on soils 11/26/2023
Forever chemical study planned for Schriever Space Force Base focused on soils
Payne Institute Faculty Fellow Christopher Higgins contributes to this article about how PFAS or “forever chemicals” leach into the groundwater and pose a health risk, they sit in soils — where they can be washed out or otherwise treated before they reach an aquifer. The chemicals can cause a range of health problems at high levels in humans. Researchers from the Colorado School of Mines and Clarkson University expect to compare nine different strategies for removing firefighting foam from the soils at the Schriever Space Force Base to help inform how soils at other sites could be treated in the future. November 26, 2023.
Context-dependent changes in maritime traffic activity during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic 11/25/2023
Context-dependent changes in maritime traffic activity during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic
Payne Institute Earth Observation Group Christopher D. Elvidge and others write about how rapid implementation of human mobility restrictions during the COVID-19 pandemic dramatically reduced maritime activity in early 2020. However, maritime activity in 2020 was more complex than previously reported, as activity were industry and area specific. Passenger vessels were less active in 97% of Mediterranean Sea coastal states, and ceclines in fishing vessel presence were localised and short-lived. November 25, 2023.
Align the VCM with Internal Carbon Pricing 11/21/2023
Align the VCM with internal carbon pricing
Payne Institute Sustainable Finance Lab Program Manager Brad Handler writes about how companies can boost confidence in the voluntary market by using their internal carbon prices as reference points against which to measure the implied climate contribution of their purchased offsets. November 21, 2023.
Tracking electricity losses and their perceived causes using nighttime light and social media 11/21/2023
Tracking electricity losses and their perceived causes using nighttime light and social media
Samuel W. Kerber, Nicholas A. Duncan, Guillaume F. L’Her, Payne Institute Director Morgan Bazilian, Earth Observation Group Chris Elvidge, and Faculty Fellow Mark R. Deinert write about how urban environments are intricate systems where the breakdown of critical infrastructure can impact both the economic and social well-being of communities. Electricity systems hold particular significance, as they are essential for other infrastructure, and disruptions can trigger widespread consequences. This study shows how satellite imagery, social media, and information extraction can monitor blackouts and their perceived causes. November 21, 2023.
Why calls for oil embargo on Israel are unlikely to go anywhere 11/21/2023
Why calls for oil embargo on Israel are unlikely to go anywhere
Payne Institute Director Morgan Bazilian contributes to this article about how Israel’s military offensive in Gaza following an Oct. 7 attack by the enclave’s ruling Islamist group Hamas has raised calls in the Middle East, particularly from OPEC member Iran, for using oil as a weapon to punish Israel. Analysts and OPEC sources, however, say that the energy world today is far different from 50 years ago, and play down any possibility of a new embargo. November 21, 2023.