Nick Stern: Shell is asking us to bet against the world on climate change

Shell is asking investors to bet against the world taking action on climate change or in renewables displacing fossil fuels, says influential economist Nick Stern.

Australia could source 100% of power from renewables by 2050, report finds

Australia is well placed to reduce emissions at low cost because the costs of carbon-free technologies such as wind and solar have fallen significantly in recent years.

Fossil fuel-free funds outperformed conventional ones, analysis shows

Investors who have dumped holdings in fossil fuel companies have outperformed those that remain invested in coal, oil and gas over the past five years according to analysis by the world’s leading stock market index company, MSCI, which runs global indices used by more than 6,000 pension and hedge funds, found that investors who divested from fossil fuel companies would have earned an average return of 13% a year since 2010, compared to the 11.8%-a-year return earned by conventional investors.

With climate change, US presidents matter

Yesterday, President Barack Obama became the first president who has taken a stand to stop climate change. Actually, that isn’t quite true.

As oil prices continue to fall, could it spell global trouble for the year ahead?

As oil producers count the cost of the plunging oil price, countries that rely on oil imports are rubbing their hands.

Wind power is cheapest energy, EU analysis finds

Onshore wind is cheaper than coal, gas or nuclear energy when the costs of ‘external’ factors like air quality, human toxicity and climate change are taken into account, according to an EU analysis.

New coal power stations threat to EU’s emissions target

New coal power stations designed to burn Europe’s massive deposits of lignite pose a serious threat to the continent’s decarbonisation efforts, according to figures released on Wednesday.

Top federal officials discuss energy development

SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) -- The potential for renewable energy development in the Southwest is tremendous, but two top officials in President Barack Obama's administration said Monday much work needs to be done to meet the challenges of exporting that power to market.

Solar and Wind Power More Expensive Than Thought

A new study from the Brookings Institution, a Washington think tank, argues that using solar and wind energy may be the most expensive alternatives to carbon-based electricity generation, even though they require no expenditures for fuel.

Chile's energy dilemma after ditching megaproject

Following the Chilean government's decision to scrap what would have been the biggest energy project in the country's history, the BBC's Gideon Long asks what Chile will now do for energy instead.

World not moving fast enough on renewable energy, says IEA

The world is not moving fast enough on investment in low carbon energy to tackle climate change, new research from the International Energy Agency has found.

Energy Security in Focus as Ukraine Unsettles EU Talks

The escalating crisis in Ukraine is moving security of gas supplies to the forefront of the European Union debate on how to design its climate and energy rules for the next decade.

Solar lasers, ocean power and volcanoes: unusual energy sources of the future

(CNN) -- Fossil fuels are going to run out. This much we know. No one is entirely certain when they will run out exactly, but we know it will happen eventually.

Oil price volatility undermines economic growth, says Sir David King

Governments need to deter oil speculators, set aside reserves of crude oil and take steps urgently to reduce their dependence on fossil fuels in order to escape price volatility that undermines stable economic growth, according to a report co-authored by one of Britain's top scientists.

I don't want UK to be at forefront of tackling climate change, says Osborne

George Osborne has said he does not want Britain to be a world-leader in fighting climate change because the UK should not price itself out of international energy markets by placing too heavy an environmental burden on suppliers.

France to cut fossil fuels by 30 per cent by 2030: France President Hollande

France will reduce use of fossil fuels by 30 per cent by 2030 as part of a strategy to halve overall energy use by 2050, President Francois Hollande announced on Friday.

Merkel vows to rein in renewable subsidies

BERLIN (Reuters) - German Chancellor Angela Merkel promised on Wednesday to scale back Germany's generous system of subsidies to the renewables sector if she is re-elected in September, a move that would reduce the costs of her green revolution on consumers.

Japan cracks seabed 'ice gas' in dramatic leap for global energy

Japan has extracted natural "ice" gas from methane hydrates beneath the sea off its coasts in a technological coup, opening up a super-resource that could meet the country's gas needs for the next century and radically change the world's energy outlook.

Report calls for huge expansion of experimental nuclear plants

The UK will need to develop a huge fleet of currently experimental nuclear reactors by the middle of the century, to generate around two-thirds of the country's electricity supply if it is to meet the most nuclear-intensive scenario for moving away from fossil fuels, according to a report by three of the government's most senior scientific advisers.

Biofuel production threatens air quality and crop yields, study finds

Fighting climate change by producing more biofuels could actually worsen a little-known type of air pollution and cause almost 1,400 premature deaths a year in Europe by 2020, according to a new study.