Unless you have been in hibernation for the past few years you will have heard that there is a shale hydrocarbon “revolution” or “miracle” under way. Barack Obama, the US president, pledged support for shale gas development in his 2012 State of the Union speech. David Cameron has urged opponents of fracking to “get on board”. “Fracking” has passed into the vernacular. The term was added to the Oxford English Dictionary last June.
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Climate change is no longer a doomsday theory about our distant future – it’s here. Farmers around the world are already dealing with more variable climates and dramatic weather events, like the drought in California and gigantic typhoons in Asia.
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Lo scorso 15 novembre il Consiglio dei Ministri ha approvato il disegno di legge “Collegato Ambiente” alla legge di Stabilità, con lo scopo di promuovere nuove misure di green economy, modelli di sviluppo riguardanti le energie rinnovabili, il trasporto ecologico, la gestione delle risorse naturali, l’edilizia ecosostenibile eccetera. L’intento è ovviamente quello di incentivare comportamenti virtuosi da parte dei Comuni e dei cittadini.
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Pursuing carbon capture and storage (CCS) technology in the UK could create a new industry worth £15bn-£35bn by 2030 employing tens of thousands of people, a report from the industry and trade unions has found. It could also eventually cut energy bills by about £80 a year, according to the study by an independent consultancy for the CCS Association, which represents the industry, and the TUC. CCS involves removing carbon dioxide from power stations and large industrial installations, compressing it and piping it under the ground.
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Europe is beset by rising energy prices, driven by the increasing competitiveness of shale production in the US, political commitments to lower emissions and an over-reliance on Russia in the wake of unrest in the Middle East and North Africa. Britain’s Big Six, the six dominant energy companies, face accusations of overcharging, but they in turn claim that prohibitive emissions targets and governmental “green levies” are to blame for the price increase. While the US is benefiting from a shale gas boom that is predicted to give it an edge over both the EU and China for the next two decades, fracking is struggling to take off in Europe due to high costs, geological difficulties and public ambivalence to the environmentally destructive production methods. European politicians are considering abandoning the 2030 renewable energy targets in light of these high costs.
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The European Parliament’s environment committee agreed to accelerate the adoption of a rescue plan for the bloc’s emissions market, which the European Commission wants to start as soon as possible. Carbon prices rose as much as 3.6 percent after the panel voted 43 to 13 to shorten the measure’s usual three-month scrutiny period in the Parliament. The recommendation now needs approval from all heads of the assembly’s other committees before it goes to a plenary, which can end the obligatory evaluation before an April deadline.
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