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Tag: Alternative and sustainable energy

  • The business case for green sports stadiums and arenas is growing

    The business case for green sports stadiums and arenas is growing

    A general exterior view of Climate Pledge Arena before the game between the Seattle Kraken and the Carolina Hurricanes on October 17, 2022.

    Steph Chambers | Getty Images

    Professional sports are inherently a copycat industry. From Major League Baseball’s Moneyball revolution to the NBA’s renewed focus on 3-point shooting driven by the Golden State Warriors and Steph Curry, in-season and championship success quickly becomes a blueprint for other teams to follow.

    Another recent trend spreading across sports has many hoping it will also follow suit: arenas and stadiums not only adopting sustainable and environmentally friendly practices, but putting those efforts front and center for fans, players, musicians, and anyone else who enters the building.

    Much like the broader world of commercial real estate, arenas, and stadiums have been slowly adopting sustainable practices over the last few decades, from recycling programs to energy efficiency efforts. But several major sports facilities across the U.S. have taken this to another level in recent years, and their operators and owners hope that the success they’ve seen across multiple fronts creates real momentum around the idea of environmentally friendly stadiums.

    Mercedes Benz Stadium, home of both the NFL’s Atlanta Falcons and MLS’s Atlanta United, became the first pro sports venue in the U.S. to achieve LEED Platinum Certification in 2017. Footprint Center, home of the NBA’s Phoenix Suns and WNBA’s Phoenix Mercury, works directly with the materials science company that holds its naming rights to eliminate single-use plastic from the arena and on other sustainable practices.

    The bar across sports was set even higher in 2021 when Climate Pledge Arena in Seattle opened and not only became the first net zero certified arena in the world but served as a call-to-action for Amazon’s push for companies globally to be net zero carbon by 2040.

    “Venue operators are relatively quickly understanding their opportunities and their responsibilities as it related to operating more sustainability,” said Chris Granger, CEO of OVG360, a management company that works with more than 300 venues across the world ranging from arenas and stadiums to amphitheaters and performing arts centers.

    “Sports teams and venues have a platform on the topic of social change, and we have the ability to shine a light on issues that matter in a way that many businesses don’t,” he said. “I think our venue operators are saying ‘Okay, we get it. Now what do we do about it?’”

    The trend in sports is not dissimilar to what is being seen across other industries: a desire from businesses to be better stewards in their community and connect with the growing number of people putting an increased emphasis on environmentally friendly actions, coupled with the fact that many of these measures also have a solid business case attached to them.

    When work to renovate KeyArena in Seattle began, there were many discussions on how to introduce sustainability measures not only for construction goals but also operational goals, said Seattle Kraken and Climate Pledge Arena senior vice president of sustainability and transportation Rob Johnson.

    That quickly evolved into making an arena that could be a “beacon of a sustainability district,” Johnson said, which helped attract the attention of Amazon, who in 2019 co-founded the Climate Pledge initiative to have companies, organizations, and partners work together to address the climate crisis and solve the challenges around decarbonizing.

    That led to what has become the Climate Pledge Arena. Its efforts include being zero-waste by using compostable containers and reducing single-use plastic use, conserving water by retaining rainwater for reuse, and not using fossil fuels in the arena for daily use – including electric-powered Zambonis for Kraken games.

    Setting a zero-waste goal at Atlanta’s Mercedes-Benz Stadium

    Mercedes-Benz Stadium has been on its own sustainability path since it opened in 2017, with operator Arthur Blank pushing his AMB Sports and Entertainment Group (AMBSE) executives to set a higher standard for an environmentally friendly stadium.

    The stadium opened as the first LEED Platinum stadium in the U.S., but “that was just the start,” said Steve Cannon, vice chairman of AMBSE.

    “Anyone can make that incremental investment into your building, but if operationally you don’t perform in a manner that’s consistent with that, you’re leaving something on the table,” Cannon said.

    That has led to a focus on getting to zero-waste status, which the stadium first achieved in 2020 for an Atlanta United match, Cannon said. After an investment of about $1 million to retrofit the building and put in other measures to achieve that zero-waste consistently, the stadium has now reached that goal.

    In its 2022 fiscal year, there were more than four million pounds of waste at the stadium, and more than 91% of that was diverted away from landfills, according to Andrew Bohenko, Mercedes-Benz Stadium sustainability coordinator.

    That required a significant amount of education for employees and fans, and also working with vendors and other departments within the company to ensure that “there was buy-in across all our of two-million-square-foot footprint,” Bohenko said.

    Ultimately, the stadium saw more than 95% compliance from fans putting trash in the right receptacles, and it projects a $400,000 yearly return on its initial investment while spending about 13 cents per guest for its overall zero-waste efforts right now. AMBSE has even created a “playbook” for other stadium operators to follow if they also want to get to zero waste.

    “Everyone understands that the environment is our number one global challenge. It’s reached a level of critical mass where people have moved past greenwashing, and they’re making substantive changes to their business practices,” Cannon said. “The platform that sports represents has a disproportionate impact on our society at large, so if you think about the aggregated impact of all ballparks and stadiums across America diverting waste from landfills that’s huge, but where it becomes even more important is the power of the platform to influence other businesses – then you start to really make meaningful change.”

    Johnson said Seattle’s zero-waste push has led to savings as well, as composting costs less than sending garbage to a landfill.

    Reaching fans, sponsors and performers through sustainability

    Fenway Farms, a roof top garden in Boston’s Fenway Park, on July 6, 2020.

    Boston Globe | Getty Images

    Another impactful revenue opportunity related to the arena’s sustainability push, according to Johnson, is reaching new fans.

    “Folks under 40, who we are all cultivating as critically important fans to our success in the future, identify the environment as one of their top three global concerns,” he said. “So, we believe it’s not just the right thing for us to do for the planet, but we also think that we’re speaking to a demographic that is key to the future of the success of our industry.”

    Kristen Fulmer, senior director of sustainability at OVG360 parent company Oak View Group, said while it’s clear that “sustainability can be a good business,” there still can be confusion about what that really means.

    “Sustainability is kind of noisy; ESG is a catchphrase that everyone knows but doesn’t quite know the meaning of, so there are some things that we can demystify about it,” Fulmer said. “We want to help them figure out what are things that are relevant to me, my specific building, my specific market, my community, my employees, so that they can hone in on something that’s really unique.”

    Granger pointed to efforts like Sacramento’s Golden One Center where the arena is powered by 100% renewable and solar energy, and Toronto’s Scotiabank Arena, where a deep-lake water cooling system utilizing nearby Lake Ontario helps keep the building cool and eliminates the need for air conditioning compressors.

    Making sustainability a key part of any construction or building project is also becoming table stakes for bonds, loans, and other financial measurements, both Granger and Fulmer noted, a critical factor for many of the aging arenas and stadiums across the U.S. likely due for upgrades or full replacements in the coming decade.

    It also matters more for artists and athletes. Granger said there are musicians asking for vegan or plant-based food options or asking buildings to let fans bring reusable water bottles to reduce the impact of single-use plastics.

    Johnson said that when singer Billie Eilish came to Seattle to perform in 2022, her tour rider required the arena to not use single-use plastics for at least the night that she was to preform.

    “That was a big inspiration for us; if Billie Eilish can come through your building and you’ll move to no single-use plastics for one night, why couldn’t you do it for the other 364 nights,” he said. Ahead of the tour date, Eilish’s mother and sustainability advocate Maggie Baird asked to tour the arena, telling Johnson and Seattle’s team that they “operationalized” the rider,” Johnson said. Seattle has given tours to numerous artists, teams, athletes and other organizations wanting to see more of the building’s practices in action.

    All of these factors are pointing towards a future where sports and sustainability are more intertwined, Fulmer said.

    “In the sustainability world we often say that imperfection gets in the way and creates inaction, and I think people are always really scared to not quite be perfect. In the sports world of course we all want to be perfect or always win,” she said. “Here, small wins are really important, and they’re leading to bigger wins.”

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  • New ETF makes a big bet on cleaning up the environment

    New ETF makes a big bet on cleaning up the environment

    A U.S.-based ETF is mimicking an investment trend in Europe that’s designed to boost profits while helping the climate.

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  • The EV industry is gaining momentum. But public charging is a long way from being accessible to all

    The EV industry is gaining momentum. But public charging is a long way from being accessible to all

    Electric vehicles will play a critical role in slashing transport-related emissions in the years ahead.

    Momentum behind the industry is building, with a number of big economies gearing up for the mass rollout of EVs and sales of electric cars hitting 6.6 million in 2021, a record, according to the International Energy Agency.

    Not all countries will move at the same pace in the planned transition to low and zero-emission mobility, and the shift away from cars powered by fossil fuels won’t always be smooth.

    There are concerns, for example, that the lower noise levels of EVs may pose a challenge to people with sight problems, while talk of a skills gap is sparking discussions about cost and safety.

    Charging infrastructure is another area to watch, with the construction of vast networks set to be crucial in allaying fears about range anxiety. Equally important is making sure these EV chargers are accessible to all.

    Read more about electric vehicles from CNBC Pro

    According to the charity Motability, it’s estimated the U.K. will have 2.7 million disabled drivers by 2035.

    As many as 1.35 million of this group, it says, “will be at least wholly or partially reliant on public charging infrastructure.”

    The year 2035 is seen as being particularly important because that’s when the U.K. government wants all new cars and vans to have zero tailpipe emissions.

    A disabled person who wants to use an EV charger today faces “inaccessibility at lots of different points throughout the process,” Catherine Marris, Motability’s head of innovation, told CNBC.

    Such challenges begin when one leaves the house to use a public charger, she added.

    “If they want to go on an app, for example, to see where there’s chargers, there isn’t usually information available about which chargers might be more accessible,” Marris said.

    “Then, when they get to a charging site, there might not be clear signage and information about where charging points are located.”

    The built environment around the charging bay could create difficulties too. “There might not be enough space around the charging bay to exit your vehicle,” Marris said.

    “If you’re using a mobility aid, there might be a really high, raised curb that … someone would have to mount to get on the pavement.”

    “The charge point itself might be surrounded with bollards that aren’t adequately spaced, so … if you’re using a mobility aid or wheelchair, you wouldn’t be able to actually get up to the charge point itself.”

    Marris told CNBC that a charging point may also be “too high for a seated user, it might be too low for someone who might have difficulties reaching down.”

    Ensuring EV chargers are accessible to all is a big task, and organizations like Motability are pushing hard to create conditions for change.

    In collaboration with the U.K. government’s Office for Zero Emission Vehicles, it commissioned the British Standards Institution to develop a “national accessible charging standard for EV chargepoints.”

    PAS 1899:2022, as it’s known, was published in October 2022, and covers everything from curb height and location of charging kits, to the spacing of bollards and height of charge points. 

    “There was a yearlong process where industry … accessibility experts and disabled people came together, and they developed the standard through consensus as a group,” Marris said.

    She went on to describe the end product as “a really powerful document that sets out exactly what accessible charging is and how it can be achieved.”

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    Another charity, Designability, was included in a steering group to help inform PAS 1899:2022. Separately, it received funding from Motability to develop design guidance for those involved in the charging industry.

    The guidance covers three main areas: signage and information; the built environment; and the process of charging a vehicle.

    “We did a deep dive into the areas that were really difficult,” Matt Ford, director of design and innovation at Designability, told CNBC.

    “It’s out there, it’s free, it’s there for anybody to use that’s involved in providing vehicle recharging,” he said.

    Having design guidance and a standard like PAS 1899 is one thing. Getting charging stations that actually incorporate accessible features is another.

    ‘Change is required across the industry’

    In February 2023, Tanni Grey-Thompson, a wheelchair user who won multiple gold medals at the Paralympic Games, highlighted the issue when she tweeted a picture of EV chargers from the firm InstaVolt with the caption: “This is why I can’t change to an electric car.”

    Expanding on her point, Grey-Thompson — who sits in the U.K.’s House of Lords — tweeted about a lack of space on either side and how she couldn’t “get close enough to reach.”

    In a statement sent to CNBC, InstaVolt CEO Adrian Keen said it’s “committed to cooperating with the requirements outlined in the PAS1899 consultation, while also taking on board direct feedback from charge point users, to improve accessibility at InstaVolt sites.”

    “We are in contact with Tanni Grey-Thompson to discuss the work we’re doing in the space, challenges that users face, and how this can influence our site designs in future,” he added.

    “We recognise that change is required across the industry as a whole and we are taking steps to ensure we’re providing accessible sites where we can.”  

    “In addition, we have fully redesigned our chargers based on PAS1899 guidance, and these will be installed at new sites from the spring,” Keen said.

    This unit has now incorporated a number of features, such as longer cables, lower screens and payment terminals, as well as what Keen called “an enhanced cable management system, to allow for improved charger accessibility.”

    Creating a standard

    InstaVolt’s plans represent a step in the right direction, but there’s still a lot of work ahead.

    Designability’s Ford explained that a PAS, or publicly available specification, is “not an official standard — it’s not been adopted into legislation. It’s not … regulation.”

    “But by creating a standard, by doing it through a robust process with the British Standards Institute, by having a steering group of stakeholders from across industry and the disabled community … what you have is a standard that is a really good blueprint for making chargepoints accessible.”

    Such a standard became “really powerful” when local authorities started to incorporate it in procurement forms for companies bidding to install charging installations, Ford said.

    “It’s being adopted, from what we can see, really quite quickly, not just by councils [but] … hotel chains, large companies [as well].”

    A global challenge

    U.K.-based organizations like Motability and Designability aren’t alone in looking to develop ideas and designs focused on accessibility.  

    In July 2022, the U.S. Access Board, an independent federal agency, issued design recommendations for accessible charging stations.

    And in December 2022, the Royal Automobile Association of South Australia announced it was launching a trial focused on creating “access standards for people with disabilities seeking to use electric vehicle charging infrastructure.”

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    The IEA, seen by many as an authoritative voice on the energy transition, describes EVs as being “the key technology to decarbonise road transport.”

    To achieve this mass decarbonization, a huge network of public chargers will be required in the years ahead.

    For charities like Designability, that represents a huge chance to put accessibility at the heart of charging networks. “It is a once in a generation opportunity … once an infrastructure goes in, it’s very hard to affect it,” Ford said.

    For her part, Motability’s Marris said she firmly believes that “100% of charge points should be accessible.”

    “Not only because we want disabled people to charge at any charge point they come across — not just only a select few — but also, accessibility is great for everyone.”

    “Whether you’re a disabled person, whether you’re an older person, whether you’re a parent pushing a pram and you need some more space, accessibility really does result in a better consumer experience.”

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  • Goldman and others are bullish on copper. Here are some stock ideas that analysts love

    Goldman and others are bullish on copper. Here are some stock ideas that analysts love

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  • UK backs Rolls-Royce project to build a nuclear reactor on the moon

    UK backs Rolls-Royce project to build a nuclear reactor on the moon

    Rolls-Royce has been working on a Micro-Reactor program “to develop technology that will provide power needed for humans to live and work on the Moon.”

    Lorenzo Di Cola | Nurphoto | Getty Images

    LONDON — The UK Space Agency said Friday it would back research by Rolls-Royce looking at the use of nuclear power on the moon.

    In a statement, the government agency said researchers from Rolls-Royce had been working on a Micro-Reactor program “to develop technology that will provide power needed for humans to live and work on the Moon.”

    The UKSA will now provide £2.9 million (around $3.52 million) of funding for the project, which it said would “deliver an initial demonstration of a UK lunar modular nuclear reactor.”

    The new money builds upon £249,000 provided by the UKSA to fund a study in 2022.

    “All space missions depend on a power source, to support systems for communications, life-support and science experiments,” it said.

    “Nuclear power has the potential to dramatically increase the duration of future Lunar missions and their scientific value.”

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    Rolls-Royce is set to work with a range of organizations on the project, including the University of Sheffield’s Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre and Nuclear AMRC, and the University of Oxford.

    “Developing space nuclear power offers a unique chance to support innovative technologies and grow our nuclear, science and space engineering skills base,” Paul Bate, chief executive of the UK Space Agency, said.

    Bate added that Rolls-Royce’s research “could lay the groundwork for powering continuous human presence on the Moon, while enhancing the wider UK space sector, creating jobs and generating further investment.”

    According to the UKSA, Rolls-Royce — not to be confused with Rolls-Royce Motor Cars, which is owned by BMW — is aiming “to have a reactor ready to send to the Moon by 2029.”

    The news out of the U.K. comes at a time when NASA is pushing ahead with its Artemis program, which is focused on creating what it calls a “sustainable presence on the Moon to prepare for missions to Mars.”

    NASA is working with international and commercial partners on Artemis. In July 1969, Neil Armstrong became the first person to set foot on the moon.

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  • Vietnamese EV maker VinFast says job cuts won’t derail plans to start U.S. production

    Vietnamese EV maker VinFast says job cuts won’t derail plans to start U.S. production

    The Vinfast VF6 all-electric vehicle is on display at the 2022 Los Angeles Auto Show on November 18, 2022 in Los Angeles, California.

    Josh Lefkowitz | Getty Images News | Getty Images

    Vietnamese electric vehicle maker VinFast told CNBC it’s on track to start production in the U.S. by 2024 even though the company is cutting its headcount in North America.

    Vietnam’s first domestic automaker previously announced plans to go public in the U.S.

    Just this week, VinFast — the automotive arm of Vietnam’s biggest conglomerate Vingroup — announced it will be cutting jobs in the U.S. in a restructuring exercise that will consolidate its operations across the U.S. and Canada.

    “After last year’s observation, we see a lot of similarity in the two markets and consolidating the two markets will allow us to be stronger and more agile,” said Le Thi Thu Thuy, VinFast CEO, in an interview with CNBC’s J.P. Ong on Friday.

    The news about the job cuts come on the heels of a Reuters report on Feb. 3 that VinFast will be delaying deliveries to its first customers in the U.S.

    We still plan to start the trial production in 2024 as originally planned.

    Le Thi Thu Thuy

    CEO, VinFast

    VinFast shipped its first batch of cars to the U.S. in November, which included 999 VF 8s. It had plans to deliver them by the end of December but has since delayed shipments to February.

    Le told CNBC on Friday they have about 12,000 pre-orders in the U.S.

    International expansion

    The automaker has been ramping up its U.S. expansion to take on American automakers such as Tesla and announced it will be setting up a production plant in North Carolina to manufacture EVs.

    Le said the layoffs will not affect the planned timeline for production to commence at its first North American manufacturing plant.

    “We are in the final stages of getting a permit to test the construction but the land has already been cleared. The state has already worked on the infrastructure for the land as well,” she told CNBC.

    “We still plan to start the trial production in 2024 as originally planned,” Le said. The annual production capacity of the plant is 150,000 electric vehicles, according to the company’s release.

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    The next markets VinFast plans to target will be in Europe, namely Germany, France and the Netherlands, said the CEO.

    However, VinFast vehicles do not currently qualify for the $7,500 tax credit in the U.S. because they are not built in the country, but are built in Vietnam. Prices for the 2023 VinFast VF 8 model start from $40,700.

    “We immediately accelerated our plan for the North Carolina plant. Luckily, we had already signed that agreement before the Inflation Reduction Act,” Le said.

    “We didn’t see it coming but we always [planned] to have a plant in the U.S. so the IRA increased our manufacturing capability in the U.S. to make sure that our customers will be able to have access to electric vehicles at a reasonable pricing.”

    “I believe that in the long run [we are] going to concentrate the manufacturing of electric vehicles as well as the key components of electric vehicles in the U.S.,” Le added.

    VinFast IPO plans

    VinFast filed for an initial public offering in the U.S. on Dec. 6. They have not disclosed the number nor price of the shares to be traded, according to its prospectus. It is also not known when they exactly plan to list.

    “We have been watching the intensity of the market and I think this year, the market has been a little bit better. We are ready but we need the market to be more cooperative for us to make the IPO happen,” said Le.

    When asked about when the IPO is expected to happen, she said: “When we are ready to talk more about it, we will be happy to share more.”

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  • UK Labour leader Starmer slams PM’s Davos no-show, touts new ‘inverse OPEC’ alliance

    UK Labour leader Starmer slams PM’s Davos no-show, touts new ‘inverse OPEC’ alliance

    DAVOS, Switzerland – Jan. 19, 2023: Keir Starmer, leader of the Labour Party, during a CNBC panel session on day three of the World Economic Forum (WEF).

    Stefan Wermuth/Bloomberg via Getty Images

    U.K. opposition Labour Party leader Keir Starmer on Thursday hit out at Prime Minister Rishi Sunak for opting not to attend the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.

    On a CNBC-moderated panel in Davos, Starmer said he had been meeting with business leaders and policymakers to promote the idea of a Clean Power Alliance should Labour win the next general election in 2024.

    The international body, which Starmer characterized as an “inverse OPEC,” would seek to address the joint economic challenges of climate change, renewable energy job creation and household energy costs.

    “I think our prime minister should have showed up — I absolutely do. One of the things that has been impressed on me since I’ve been here is the absence of the United Kingdom,” Starmer told the panel.

    “That’s why I think it’s really important that I’m here and that our Shadow Chancellor Rachel Reeves is here, as a statement of intent that should there be a change of government, and I hope there will be, the United Kingdom will play its part on the global stage in a way I think it probably hasn’t in recent years.”

    Sunak was not the only world leader to skip the summit, with U.S. President Joe Biden, French President Emmanuel Macron and new Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva also absent.

    British Business and Energy Minister Grant Shapps is in the Swiss Alps in Sunak’s absence, and told CNBC on Thursday that it was appropriate that he attend, as his role in government is to secure business investment and jobs for the U.K.

    “[Sunak] may well come another year, but right now in the midst of the energy crisis caused by Ukraine being invaded by Putin, with all of the trauma that we’ve gone through with Covid and much else, he is at home focusing — as a brand new prime minister, by the way, two or three months into the job — on the domestic priorities,” Shapps said.

    “I’m here because I’m actually, technically, if you like, the right person to have in Davos.”

    Sunak spent Thursday on a visit to Morecambe in the northwest of England as part of a series of trips to promote his government’s “leveling up” funding.

    ‘Inverse OPEC’

    Labour holds a massive polling lead over Sunak’s ruling Conservative Party ahead of the next general election slated for 2024. The latest Ipsos voting intention poll published this week gave Labour a 26 point lead with a 49% share of the vote to the Conservatives’ 23%.

    Starmer vowed that in the event that Labour does take power in Westminster in 2024, his government would work with the private sector in the U.K., where renewable energy contracts are estimated at nine times cheaper than oil and gas, to unlock employment and innovation opportunities.

    UK Business Secretary: Prime Minister Sunak is at home focusing on domestic priorities

    “The prize here is huge in terms of energy security and that shouldn’t be something which is national. It’s in all of our interests to have energy security, it’s in all of our interests to make sure that Putin can’t weaponize energy across the world, whether it’s now or any time in the future,” Starmer said.

    “There’s an element of course of each country trying to rise to this challenge themselves but there is also this element of mutual cooperation in this in relation to the mutual threats that we are facing, and that’s why I’m very keen to develop this idea of Clean Power Alliance, which is an inverse OPEC in the sense that the purpose is to drive down those prices across the globe.”

    OPEC, or the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, is a permanent intergovernmental alliance of 13 major oil producing nations that negotiate adjustments in their respective production in order to retain stability in global oil prices.

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  • Prices have not peaked yet, says CEO of one of the world’s largest consumer goods firms

    Prices have not peaked yet, says CEO of one of the world’s largest consumer goods firms

    Unilever CEO Alan Jope photographed at the World Economic Forum in May 2022.

    Hollie Adams | Bloomberg | Getty Images

    The CEO of consumer goods giant Unilever said Tuesday that prices would likely continue to rise in the near term, adding that his firm had a playbook for high inflation thanks to its business dealings in markets like Argentina and Turkey.

    Speaking to CNBC’s Joumanna Bercetche at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Alan Jope talked about how his firm was managing its operations in the current climate.

    “For the last 18 months we’ve seen extraordinary input cost pressure … it runs across petrochemical derived products, agricultural derived products, energy, transport, logistics,” he said.

    “It’s been feeding through for quite some time now and we’ve been accelerating the rate of price increases that we’ve had to put into the market,” he added.

    “So far, the consumer response in terms of volume softness has been very muted, the consumer has been very resilient,” Jope said.

    “We do see the prospect of higher volume elasticity as winter energy costs hit, as households’ savings levels come down and that buffer goes away and as prices continue to rise,” he said.

    Last October, Unilever published its third-quarter results for 2022, with the firm reporting price growth of 12.5%.  

    Jope was asked if he foresaw any moderation when it came to inflationary pressures. “It’s very hard to predict the future of commodity markets,” he replied.

    “Even if you press the oil major CEOs, they’ll be a little cagey on giving an outlook on energy prices.”

    Unilever’s view, he said, was that “we know for sure there’s more inflationary pressure coming through in our input costs.”

    “We might be, at the moment, around peak inflation, but probably not peak prices,” he went on to state.

    “There’s further pricing to come through, but the rate of price increases is probably peaking around now.”

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    Unilever has a global footprint and owns brands including Ben & Jerry’s, Magnum and Wall’s.

    During his interview with CNBC, Jope touched upon the international dimension of his business and how the experience of operating in a range of markets was steering it through the current climate.  

    “Nobody running a business at the moment has really lived through global inflation, it’s a long time since we’ve had global inflation,” he said.

    “But we’re used to high levels of inflation from doing business in places like Argentina, or Turkey, or parts of Southeast Asia,” he added.

    “So we do have a playbook, and the playbook is that it’s important to protect the shape of the P&L by landing price.”

    “And so it’s not that we’ve taken more price, we just started acting earlier than many of our peers, and the guidance that we’ve been getting from our investors is they support that and feel that that’s an appropriate action.”  

    This, Jope explained, was “something we have learned from being in these high inflationary markets, though … much of that inflation is currency weakness, historically.”

    “But now those markets are having to deal with the combination of commodity pressure and currency weakness. So our instinct is to act quickly when costs start coming through.”

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  • IEA says clean energy manufacturing set for substantial growth as world enters ‘new industrial age’

    IEA says clean energy manufacturing set for substantial growth as world enters ‘new industrial age’

    Wind turbine blades photographed at a facility in China’s Hebei Province on July 15, 2022. The world’s second largest economy is a major force in technologies crucial to the planned energy transition.

    VCG | Visual China Group | Getty Images

    The world is moving into “a new age of clean technology manufacturing” that could be worth hundreds of billions of dollars per year by the end of the decade, generating millions of jobs in the process, according to a new report from the International Energy Agency.

    Published Thursday morning, the IEA’s Energy Technology Perspectives 2023 report — which referred to “the dawn of a new industrial age” — looked at the manufacturing of technologies including wind turbines, heat pumps, batteries for electric vehicles, solar panels and electrolyzers for hydrogen.

    In a statement accompanying its report, the IEA said its analysis showed that “the global market for key mass-manufactured clean energy technologies” would be worth roughly $650 billion per year by 2030, a more than three-fold increase from today’s levels.

    There is a caveat to the Paris-based organization’s forecast, in that it’s based on countries around the world implementing, in full, pledges related to energy and the climate — a significant task that will require both political will and financial muscle.

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    “The related clean energy manufacturing jobs would more than double from 6 million today to nearly 14 million by 2030,” the IEA said, “and further rapid industrial and employment growth is expected in the following decades as transitions progress.”

    Despite the above, the IEA noted there were potential headwinds related to supply chains, a long-standing issue that heightened geopolitical tensions and the coronavirus pandemic have thrown into sharp relief in recent years.

    Its report highlighted “potentially risky levels of concentration in clean energy supply chains — both for the manufacturing of technologies and the materials on which they rely.”

    China, it said, was dominating both the production and trade of “most clean energy technologies.”

    When it came to mass-manufactured technologies such as batteries, solar panels, wind, heat pumps and electrolyzers, the IEA said the three biggest producer countries represented “at least 70% of manufacturing capacity for each technology — with China dominant in all of them.”

    “Meanwhile, a great deal of the mining for critical minerals is concentrated in a small number of countries,” it added.

    “For example, the Democratic Republic of Congo produces over 70% of the world’s cobalt, and just three countries — Australia, Chile and China — account for more than 90% of global lithium production.”

    Read more about China from CNBC Pro

    Commenting on the report, IEA Executive Director Fatih Birol said the planet “would benefit from more diversified clean technology supply chains.”

    “As we have seen with Europe’s reliance on Russian gas, when you depend too much on one company, one country or one trade route — you risk paying a heavy price if there is disruption,” he added.

    This is not the first time Birol has spoken about the geopolitical dimension of the world’s shift to a future centered around lower-carbon technologies.

    In October, Birol told CNBC that the main driver of clean energy investment was energy security rather than climate change.

    Namechecking the Inflation Reduction Act in the U.S. and other packages in Europe, Japan and China, Birol said a “major increase in clean energy investment, about [a] 50% increase,” was being seen.

    “Today it’s about 1.3 trillion U.S. dollars and it will go up to about 2 trillion U.S. dollars,” Birol told CNBC’s Julianna Tatelbaum.

    “And as a result, we are going to see clean energy, electric cars, solar, hydrogen, nuclear power, slowly but surely, replacing fossil fuels.”

    “And why do governments do that? Because of climate change, because of the greenness of the issues? Not at all. The main reason here is energy security.”

    Birol went on to describe energy security as being “the biggest driver of renewable energies.” He also acknowledged the importance of other factors, including those related to the climate. 

    “Energy security concerns, climate commitments … industrial policies — the three of them coming together is a very powerful combination,” he said.

    How wind power is leading America’s energy transition

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  • Rooftop solar: How homeowners should do the math on the climate change investment

    Rooftop solar: How homeowners should do the math on the climate change investment

    Solar panels create electricity on the roof of a house in Rockport, Massachusetts, U.S., June 6, 2022. Picture taken with a drone. 

    Brian Snyder | Reuters

    When Josh Hurwitz decided to put solar power on his Connecticut house, he had three big reasons: To cut his carbon footprint, to eventually store electricity in a solar-powered battery in case of blackouts, and – crucially – to save money.

    Now he’s on track to pay for his system in six years, then save tens of thousands of dollars in the 15 years after that, while giving himself a hedge against utility-rate inflation. It’s working so well, he’s preparing to add a Tesla-made battery to let him store the power he makes. Central to the deal: Tax credits and other benefits from both the state of Connecticut and from Washington, D.C., he says.

    “You have to make the money work,” Hurwitz said. “You can have the best of intentions, but if the numbers don’t work it doesn’t make sense to do it.” 

    Hurwitz’s experience points up one benefit of the Inflation Reduction Act that passed in August: Its extension and expansion of tax credits to promote the spread of home-based solar power systems. Adoption is expected to grow 26 percent faster because of the law, which extends tax credits that had been set to expire by 2024 through 2035, says a report by Wood Mackenzie and the Solar Energy Industry Association. 

    Those credits will cover 30 percent of the cost of the system – and, for the first time, there’s a 30 percent credit for batteries that can store newly-produced power for use when it’s needed.

    “The main thing the law does is give the industry, and consumers, assurance that the tax credits will be there today, tomorrow and for the next 10 years,” said Warren Leon, executive director of the Clean Energy States Alliance, a bipartisan coalition of state government energy agencies. “Rooftop solar is still expensive enough to require some subsidies.”

    California’s solar energy net metering decision

    Certainty has been the thing that’s hard to come by in solar, where frequent policy changes make the market a “solar coaster,” as one industry executive put it. Just as the expanded federal tax credits were taking effect, California on Dec. 15 slashed another big incentive allowing homeowners to sell excess solar energy generated by their systems back to the grid at attractive rates, scrambling the math anew in the largest U.S. state and its biggest solar-power market — though the changes do not take effect until next April.

    Put the state and federal changes together, and Wood Mackenzie thinks the California solar market will actually shrink sharply in 2024, down by as much as 39%. Before the Inflation Reduction Act incentives were factored in, the consulting firm forecast a 50% drop with the California policy shift. Residential solar is coming off a historic quarter, with 1.57 GW installed, a 43% increase year over year, and California a little over one-third of the total, according to Wood Mackenzie.

    For potential switchers, tax credits can quickly recover part of the up-front cost of going green. Hurwitz took the federal tax credit for his system when he installed it in 2020, and is preparing to add a battery now that it, too, comes with tax credits. Some contractors offer deals where they absorb the upfront cost – and claim the credit – in exchange for agreements to lease back the system. 

    Combined with savings on power homeowners don’t  buy from utilities, the tax credits can make rooftop solar systems pay for themselves within as little as five years – and save $25,000 or more, after recovering the initial investment, within two decades.  

    “Will this growth have legs? Absolutely,” said Veronica Zhang, portfolio manager of the Van Eck Environmental Sustainability Fund, a green fund not exclusively focused on solar. “With utility rates going up, it’s a good time to move if you were thinking about it in the first place.”

    How to calculate installation costs and benefits

    Here is how the numbers work.

    Nationally, the cost for solar in 2022 ranges from $16,870 to $23,170, after the tax credit, for a 10-kilowatt system, the size for which quotes are sought most often on EnergySage, a Boston-based quote-comparison site for solar panels and batteries. Most households can use a system of six or seven kilowatts, EnergySage spokesman Nick Liberati said. A 10-12 kilowatt battery costs about $13,000 more, he added.

    There’s a significant variation in those numbers by region, and by the size and other factors specific to the house, EnergySage CEO Vikram Aggarwal said. In New Jersey, for example, a 7-kilowatt system costs on average $20,510 before the credit and $15,177 after it. In Houston, it’s about $1,000 less. In Chicago, that system is close to $2,000 more than in New Jersey. A more robust 10-kilowatt system costs more than $31,000 before the credit around Chicago, but $26,500 in Tampa, Fla. All of these average prices are as quoted by EnergySage. 

    The effectiveness of the system may also vary because of things specific to the house, including the placement of trees on or near the property, as we found out when we asked EnergySage’s online bid-solicitation system to look at specific homes.

    The bids for one suburban Chicago house ranged as low as $19,096 after the federal credit and as high as $30,676.

    Offsetting those costs are electricity savings and state tax breaks that recover the cost of the system in as little as 4.5 years, according to the bids. Contractors claimed that power savings and state incentives could save as much as another $27,625 over 20 years, on top of the capital cost.

    Alternatively, consumers can finance the system but still own it themselves – we were quoted interest rates of 2.99 to 8.99 percent. That eliminates consumers’ up-front cost, but cuts into the savings as some of the avoided utility costs go to pay off interest, Aggarwal said. 

    The key to maximizing savings is to know the specific regulations in your state – and get help understanding often-complex contracts, said Hurwitz, who is a physician.

    Energy storage and excess power

    Some states have more generous subsidies than others, and more pro-consumer rules mandating that utilities pay higher prices for excess power that home solar systems create during peak production hours, or even extract from homeowners’ batteries.

    California had among the most generous rules of all until this week. But state utility regulators agreed to let utilities pay much less for excess power they are required to buy, after power companies argued that the rates were too high, and raised power prices for other customers.

    Wood Mackenzie said the details of California’s decision made it look less onerous than the firm had expected. EnergySage says the payback period for California systems without a battery will be 10 years instead of six after the new rules take effect in April. Savings in the years afterward will be about 60 percent less, the company estimates. Systems with a battery, which pay for themselves after 10 years, will be little affected because their owners keep most of their excess power instead of selling it to the utility, according to EnergySage. 

    “The new [California rules] certainly elongate current payback periods for solar and solar-plus-storage, but not by as much as the previous proposal,” Wood Mackenzie said in the Dec. 16 report. “By 2024, the real impacts of the IRA will begin to come to fruition.”

    The more expensive power is from a local utility, the more sense home solar will make. And some contractors will back claims about power savings with agreements to pay part of your utility bill if the systems don’t produce as much energy as promised. 

    “You have to do your homework before you sign,” Hurwitz said. “But energy costs always go up. That’s another hidden incentive.”

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  • Planned wind farm told it will need to shut down for five months a year to protect parrots

    Planned wind farm told it will need to shut down for five months a year to protect parrots

    An Orange-Bellied Parrot perched on the edge of a feeding bowl. The species is listed as being critically endangered.

    Margot Kiesskalt | Istock | Getty Images

    Plans for a major new wind farm in Australia were given the thumbs up this month — on the provision its turbines go offline for five months a year to protect a parrot species.

    In an environmental assessment report of the Robbins Island Renewable Energy Park, Tasmania’s Environment Protection Authority said its board had “determined to approve the proposal” for the project, which could have as many as 122 wind turbines and is overseen by ACEN Australia.

    One of the approval conditions relates to the Orange-bellied parrot, which the Australian government says is critically endangered.

    “Unless otherwise approved in writing by the EPA Board, all WTG [wind turbine generators] must be shut down during the northern OBP migration period (1 March to 31 May inclusive) and the southern OBP migration period (15 September to 15 November inclusive),” the EPA document says.

    Read more about energy from CNBC Pro

    In a statement last week, EPA board chair Andrew Paul said the organization had concluded that “significant mitigation measures” were needed in relation to “potential impacts on the orange-bellied parrot population.”

    This was due to “the limited knowledge about the importance of Robbins Island in the annual northern and southern migrations” as well as a need to account for a National Recovery Plan for the species.

    “This has led to the inclusion of [project approval] condition FF6 which imposes shutdown periods during the migrations totaling five months when the turbines cannot operate,” Paul added.

    Robbins Island is located in waters off the northwest coast of Tasmania, a large island and Australian state. If all goes to plan, the total capacity of the proposed wind farm could be as much as 900 megawatts.

    CNBC contacted ACEN Australia via the Robbins Island project’s website, but did not receive a response prior to publication. The Ayala Corporation, parent company of ACEN Australia majority-owner ACEN Corporation, did not respond to a CNBC request for comment.

    In a Facebook post, project developers said they welcomed approval from the EPA, adding that further approvals were needed from the Circular Head Council and the Commonwealth Government’s Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water. These were expected in early 2023, they said.

    In comments reported by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, ACEN Australia Chief Operating Officer David Pollington described the switch-off condition as “completely unexpected.”

    The firm would “need to consider our options going forward,” the ABC report quoted Pollington as saying.

    Stock picks and investing trends from CNBC Pro:

    Amid global plans to ramp up wind power capacity in the years ahead, the interaction of wind turbines with the natural world — including marine and bird life — is likely to become a key area of debate.

    The U.K.-based Royal Society for the Protection of Birds warns that wind farms “can harm birds through disturbance, displacement, acting as barriers, habitat loss and collision,” adding that “impacts can arise from a single development and cumulatively multiple projects.”

    The U.S. Energy Information Administration has said that some wind projects and turbines can result in bat and bird casualties.

    “These deaths may contribute to declines in the population of species also affected by other human-related impacts,” it notes. “The wind energy industry and the U.S. government are researching ways to reduce the effect of wind turbines on birds and bats.”

    Brussels-based industry body WindEurope says the effects of projects can be prevented “by adequately planning, siting, and designing wind farms.”

    “The impact of wind farms on birds and bats is extremely low compared to the impact of climate change and other human activity,” it adds.

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  • With Tesla battery packs and largest hydrogen tank in Japan, Panasonic tests a factory of the future

    With Tesla battery packs and largest hydrogen tank in Japan, Panasonic tests a factory of the future

    As a bullet train speeds by in the background, a liquid hydrogen tank towers over solar panels and hydrogen fuel cells at Panasonic’s Kusatsu plant in Japan. Combined with a Tesla Megapack storage battery, the hydrogen and solar can deliver enough electricity to power the site’s Ene-Farm fuel cell factory.

    Tim Hornyak

    As bullet trains whiz by at 285 kilometers per hour, Panasonic’s Norihiko Kawamura looks over Japan’s tallest hydrogen storage tank. The 14-meter structure looms over the Tokaido Shinkansen Line tracks outside the ancient capital of Kyoto, as well as a large array of solar panels, hydrogen fuel cells and Tesla Megapack storage batteries. The power sources can generate enough juice to run part of the manufacturing site using renewable energy only.

    “This may be the biggest hydrogen consumption site in Japan,” says Kawamura, a manager at the appliance maker’s Smart Energy System Business Division. “We estimate using 120 tons of hydrogen a year. As Japan produces and imports more and more hydrogen in the future, this will be a very suitable kind of plant.”

    Sandwiched between a high-speed railway and highway, Panasonic’s factory in Kusastsu, Shiga Prefecture, is a sprawling 52 hectare site. It was originally built in 1969 to manufacture goods including refrigerators, one of the “three treasures” of household appliances, along with TVs and washing machines, that Japanese coveted as the country rebuilt after the devastation of World War II.

    Today, one corner of the plant is the H2 Kibou Field, a demonstration sustainable power facility that started operations in April. It consists of a 78,000-liter hydrogen fuel tank, a 495 kilowatt hydrogen fuel cell array made up of 99 5kW fuel cells, 570kW from 1,820 photovoltaic solar panels arranged in an inverted “V” shape to catch the most sunlight, and 1.1 megawatts of lithium-ion battery storage.

    On one side of the H2 Kibou Field, a large display indicates the amount of power being produced in real time from fuel cells and solar panels: 259kW. About 80% of the power generated comes from fuel cells, with solar accounting for the rest. Panasonic says the facility produces enough power to meet the needs of the site’s fuel cell factory — it has peak power of about 680kW and annual usage of some 2.7 gigawatts. Panasonic thinks it can be a template for the next generation of new, sustainable manufacturing. 

    “This is the first manufacturing site of its kind using 100% renewable energy,” says Hiroshi Kinoshita of Panasonic’s Smart Energy System Business Division. “We want to expand this solution towards the creation of a decarbonized society.”

    The 495kilowatt hydrogen fuel cell array is made up of 99 5KW fuel cells. Panasonic says it’s the world’s first site of its kind to use hydrogen fuel cells toward creating a manufacturing plant running on 100% renewable energy.

    Tim Hornyak

    An artificial intelligence-equipped Energy Management System (EMS) automatically controls on-site power generation, switching between solar and hydrogen, to minimize the amount of electricity purchased from the local grid operator. For example, if it’s a sunny summer day and the fuel cell factory needs 600kW, the EMS might prioritize the solar panels, deciding on a mixture of 300kW solar, 200 kW hydrogen fuel cells, and 100kW storage batteries. On a cloudy day, however, it might minimize the solar component, and boost the hydrogen and storage batteries, which are recharged at night by the fuel cells.

    “The most important thing to make manufacturing greener is an integrated energy system including renewable energy such as solar and wind, hydrogen, batteries and so on,” says Takamichi Ochi, a senior manager for climate change and energy at Deloitte Tohmatsu Consulting. “To do that, the Panasonic example is close to an ideal energy system.”

    With grey hydrogen, not totally green yet

    The H2 Kibou Field is not totally green. It depends on so-called grey hydrogen, which is generated from natural gas in a process that can release a lot of carbon dioxide. Tankers haul 20,000 liters of hydrogen, chilled in liquid form to minus 250 Celsius, from Osaka to Kusatsu, a distance of some 80 km, about once a week. Japan has relied on countries like Australia, which has greater supplies of renewable energy, for hydrogen production. But local supplier Iwatani Corporation, which partnered with Chevron earlier this year to build 30 hydrogen fueling sites in California by 2026, has opened a technology center near Osaka that is focused on producing green hydrogen, which is created without the use of fossil fuels.

    Another issue that is slowing adoption is cost. Even though electricity is relatively expensive in Japan, it currently costs much more to power a plant with hydrogen than using power from the grid, but the company expects Japanese government and industry efforts to improve supply and distribution will make the element significantly cheaper.

    “Our hope is that hydrogen cost will go down, so we can achieve something like 20 yen per cubic meter of hydrogen, and then we will be able to achieve cost parity with the electrical grid,” Kawamura said. 

    Panasonic is also anticipating that Japan’s push to become carbon-neutral by 2050 will boost demand for new energy products. Its fuel cell factory at Kusatsu has churned out over 200,000 Ene-Farm natural gas fuel cell for home use. Commercialized in 2009, the cells extract hydrogen from natural gas, generate power by reacting it with oxygen, heat and store hot water, and deliver up to 500 watts of emergency power for eight days in a disaster. Last year, it began selling a pure hydrogen version targeted at commercial users. It wants to sell the fuel cells in the U.S. and Europe because governments there have more aggressive hydrogen cost-cutting measures than Japan. In 2021, the U.S. Department of Energy launched a so-called Hydrogen Shot program that aims to slash the cost of clean hydrogen by 80% to $1 per 1 kilogram over 10 years. 

    Panasonic doesn’t plan to increase the scale of its H2 Kibou Field for the time being, wanting to see other companies and factories adopt similar energy systems.

    It won’t necessarily make economic sense today, Kawamura says, “but we want to start something like this so it will be ready when the cost of hydrogen falls. Our message is: if we want to have 100% renewable energy in 2030, then we must start with something like this now, not in 2030.”

    Japan's nuclear energy reversal 'is very good and encouraging news,' IEA director says

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  • Heat pumps are an energy upgrade for homeowners that’s becoming a climate and financial winner

    Heat pumps are an energy upgrade for homeowners that’s becoming a climate and financial winner

    Heat pumps are becoming more popular for residential housing with energy prices increasing and the need to reduce use of fossil fuel heating systems.

    Andrew Aitchison | In Pictures | Getty Images

    Thinking about a home heat pump? New and expanded government incentives, coupled with sharply rising utility costs, make it more compelling.

    Especially when used in connection with clean electricity sources like rooftop or community solar, a heat pump — a single electric appliance that can replace a homeowner’s traditional air conditioner and furnace system — can warm and cool a home with less planetary harm. 

    These investments are becoming more appealing to consumers, too, given inflation’s heavy hand. A whopping 87% of U.S. homeowners surveyed said they experienced higher prices in at least one household service or utility category over the summer, according to SaveOnEnergy.com. There’s another possible bonus: Incentives being offered through the recently passed Inflation Reduction Act of 2022. 

    “These incentives are not only saving you money now and in the long run on your utility bills, but they are putting our economy on track to reduce consumption of fossil fuels that contribute to climate change,” said Miranda Leppla, director of the Environmental Law Clinic at Case Western Reserve University School of Law. “It’s a win-win.”

    The use of heat pumps will become more common as governments legislate their adoption. Washington State recently mandated that new homes and apartments be constructed with heat pumps. In July, California Governor Gavin Newsom announced a goal of 3 million climate-ready and climate-friendly homes by 2030 and 7 million by 2035, supplemented by 6 million heat pumps by 2030.

    Here are four important things to know about upgrading your home to a heat pump system.

    Heat pump cost, savings and efficiency considerations

    Heat pumps are appropriate for all climates and are three to five times more energy efficient than traditional heating systems, according to Rewiring America, a nonprofit focused on electrifying homes, businesses and communities.

    Rather than generating heat, these devices transfer heat from the cool outdoors into the warm indoors and vice versa during warm weather. Heat pumps rely on electricity instead of natural gas or propane, both of which have a higher carbon emission than renewable electricity such as wind or solar, said Jay S. Golden, director of the Dynamic Sustainability Lab at Syracuse University. 

    With installation, heat pumps can range from around $8,000 to $35,000, depending on factors such as the size of the home and heat pump type, according to Rewiring America, but it estimates the savings could amount to hundreds of dollars per year for an average household. What’s more, it’s a long-term play, since heat pumps that most people will consider installing have an average lifespan of 10 to 15 years, according to Rewiring America. 

    Electricity costs also tend to be more stable, insulating consumers against gas price volatility, said Joshua Skov, a business and government consultant on sustainability strategy who also serves as an industry mentor and instructor at the University of Oregon. 

    “While there’s an upfront cost, millions of homeowners would save money with a heat pump over the life of the device,” he said. “You’ll save even more with the federal government covering a chunk of the upfront cost.” 

    Inflation Reduction Act incentives

    The Inflation Reduction Act — an expansive climate-protection effort by the federal government — includes multiple incentives to lower the cost of energy-saving property improvements. These incentives significantly exceed what’s available to homeowners today, said Jono Anzalone, a lecturer at the University of Southern Maine and the executive director of The Climate Initiative, which empowers students to tackle climate change.

    For low-income households, the Inflation Reduction Act covers 100% of the cost of a heat pump, up to $8,000. For moderate-income households, it covers 50% of your heat pump costs, up to the same dollar limit. Homeowners can use a calculator — such as the one available from Rewiring America — to determine their eligibility. 

    If you’re considering multiple green home improvements, keep in mind that the law’s overall threshold for “qualified electrification projects” is up to $14,000 per household. 

    Federal tax credits for homeowners

    For those who exceed the income threshold for a rebate, there’s the option, starting Jan. 1, to take advantage of the nonbusiness energy property credit, commonly referred to as 25C, said Peter Downing, a principal with Marcum LLP who leads the accounting firm’s tax credits and incentives group.

    Homeowners can receive a 30% tax credit for home energy efficiency projects such as heat pumps. In a given year, they can get a credit of up to $2,000 for installing certain equipment such as a heat pump. This credit will expire after 2032, according to the Congressional Research Service.

    There can be another tax credit to homeowners who purchase a geothermal heat pump, which is a more expensive, but longer-lasting option on average. Homeowners can receive an uncapped 30% tax credit for a geothermal heating installation, according to Rewiring America, which estimates an average geothermal installation costs about $24,000 and lasts twenty to fifty years. That means the average tax credit for this type of pump will be around $7,200, Rewiring America said. 

    The ventilation system of a geothermal heat pump located in front of a residential building.

    Picture Alliance | Picture Alliance | Getty Images

    Rulemaking is still underway for the Inflation Reduction Act. But it is possible eligible consumers will be allowed to receive both a rebate and a credit, Downing said. But the math is not likely to be as straightforward, based on previous IRS guidance on energy rebates backed by the federal government. Say a consumer is entitled to a 50% rebate for a heat pump that costs $6,000. For purposes of the tax credit, the remaining $3,000 could be eligible for a 30% tax credit, resulting in a possible credit of $900, he said.

    State and local financial support

    States, municipalities and local utility companies may provide rebates for certain efficient appliances, including heat pumps. “Check with all of them because there are so many different levels of programs, you really need to hunt around,” said Jon Huntley, a senior economist at the Penn Wharton Budget Model who co-authored an analysis of the Inflation Reduction Act’s potential impact on the economy.

    Also be sure to check back frequently to see what new state, local and utility-based incentives may be available because programs are often updated, Golden said. Reputable local contractors should also know about locally available rebates, he said.

    Many installers have aggressive financing packages to make heat pump installation more feasible, Anzalone said.

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  • Renewables to overtake coal and become world’s biggest source of electricity generation by 2025, IEA says

    Renewables to overtake coal and become world’s biggest source of electricity generation by 2025, IEA says

    Wind turbines in the Netherlands. A report from the International Energy Agency “expects renewables to become the primary energy source for electricity generation globally in the next three years, overtaking coal.”

    Mischa Keijser | Image Source | Getty Images

    Renewables are on course to overtake coal and become the planet’s biggest source of electricity generation by the middle of this decade, according to the International Energy Agency.

    The IEA’s Renewables 2022 report, published Tuesday, predicts a major shift within the world’s electricity mix at a time of significant volatility and geopolitical tension.

    “The first truly global energy crisis, triggered by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, has sparked unprecedented momentum for renewables,” it said.

    “Renewables [will] become the largest source of global electricity generation by early 2025, surpassing coal,” it added.

    According to its “main-case forecast,” the IEA expects renewables to account for nearly 40% of worldwide electricity output in 2027, coinciding with a fall in the share of coal, natural gas and nuclear generation.

    The analysis comes at a time of huge disruption within global energy markets following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February.

    The Kremlin was the biggest supplier of both natural gas and petroleum oils to the EU in 2021, according to Eurostat. However, gas exports from Russia to the European Union have slid this year, as member states sought to drain the Kremlin’s war chest.

    Read more about energy from CNBC Pro

    As such, major European economies have been attempting to shore up supplies from alternative sources for the colder months ahead — and beyond.

    In a statement issued alongside its report, the IEA highlighted the consequences of the current geopolitical situation.

    “The global energy crisis is driving a sharp acceleration in installations of renewable power, with total capacity growth worldwide set to almost double in the next five years,” it said.

    “Energy security concerns caused by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine have motivated countries to increasingly turn to renewables such as solar and wind to reduce reliance on imported fossil fuels, whose prices have spiked dramatically,” it added.

    In its largest-ever upward revision to its renewable power forecast, the IEA now expects the world’s renewable capacity to surge by nearly 2,400 gigawatts between 2022 and 2027 — the same amount as the “entire installed power capacity of China today.”

    Wind and solar surge ahead

    The IEA expects electricity stemming from wind and solar photovoltaic (which converts sunlight directly into electricity) to supply nearly 20% of the planet’s power generation in 2027.

    “These variable technologies account for 80% of global renewable generation increase over the forecast period, which will require additional sources of power system flexibility,” it added.

    However, the IEA expects growth in geothermal, bioenergy, hydropower and concentrated solar power to stay “limited despite their critical role in integrating wind and solar PV into global electricity systems.”

    Read more about electric vehicles from CNBC Pro

    Fatih Birol, the IEA’s executive director, said the global energy crisis had kicked renewables “into an extraordinary new phase of even faster growth as countries seek to capitalise on their energy security benefits.”

    “The world is set to add as much renewable power in the next 5 years as it did in the previous 20 years,” Birol said.

    The IEA chief added that the continued acceleration of renewables was “critical” to keeping “the door open to limiting global warming to 1.5 °C.”

    The 1.5 degree target is a reference to 2015′s Paris Agreement, a landmark accord that aims to “limit global warming to well below 2, preferably to 1.5 degrees Celsius, compared to pre-industrial levels.”

    Cutting human-made carbon dioxide emissions to net-zero by 2050 is seen as crucial when it comes to meeting the 1.5 degrees Celsius target.

    Earlier this year, a report from the International Energy Agency said clean energy investment could be on course to exceed $2 trillion per year by 2030, an increase of over 50% compared to today.

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  • Parking lots are becoming as important as cars in climate change efforts

    Parking lots are becoming as important as cars in climate change efforts

    Vcg | Visual China Group | Getty Images

    It’s not just cars that will be going through energy transition in the years ahead. The parking lots where EVs recharge are a growing focus of construction efforts linked to climate change and carbon reduction.

    A law approved in France last month requires that parking lots with 80 or more spaces be covered by solar panels within the next five years. For the biggest parking lots, those with more than 400 spaces, three years has been granted to have at least half of the parking lot’s surface area covered by solar.  

    Similar renewable energy design ideas are expected to gain more market share in the U.S. if not necessarily through a federal mandate.

    “You’ll see a lot of the same stuff that you’re seeing in France and other countries, but it probably won’t necessarily play out the same way, in terms of federal action versus state action,” said Bill Abolt, vice president and lead of energy business for infrastructure consulting firm AECOM.

    As local and state governments create mandates for renewable energy deployment, and the federal government takes an incentive-based approach to encourage climate technology through measures like the Inflation Reduction Act, major corporations are making their own commitments to solar power.

    Target, Home Depot, Walmart and renewable energy

    Target revamped one of its California stores with solar panel carports this spring. Home Depot is making efforts to have all of its stores use only renewable energy by 2030, while Walmart hopes to achieve this by 2040. These efforts won’t only come through producing renewable power on-site —  procurement of renewable energy from utility-scale projects is among strategic options to meet these goals — but investing in solar power for store locations will become more prevalent.

    “You have a lot of significant companies that have stepped up and made commitments to renewable energy and similar things with local governments and institutions. So, there’s no doubt that that level of investment has accelerated the development of technology, the deployment of more cost effective solar,” Abolt said.

    The cost to install solar has dropped by more than 60% over the past decade, according to the Solar Energy Industries Association.

    “There’s no doubt that the cost curve of solar gets better and better all the time and will continue to do so. Private business has done a lot, and we’re seeing even more private investment likely to happen as a result,” Abolt said.

    Global commercial real estate company CBRE is partnering with renewable energy company Altus Power to work with clients including many Fortune 500 companies on solar projects.

    “The topics that are top of mind for these corporations right now are decarbonization and energy efficiency and energy resiliency,” said Lars Norell, co-founder and co-CEO of Altus Power. “The No. 1 answer is building-sited clean energy,” he said.

    Norell said it has now become possible for businesses of all sizes to consider renewable energy projects.

    “Something that Walmart or IKEA or Amazon does, smaller family-owned businesses come to us and say ‘Should we do the same thing? Could our roof hold solar?’ The answer in almost all those cases is absolutely yes,” he said.

    Public expectations and pressure from boards are key factors in why major corporations tend to act quicker than smaller companies when it comes to renewable energy. “In many cases, smaller companies don’t have quite such an audience that is expecting them to act, but many of them are acting sort of out of self-interest or because they would like to save money,” Norell said.

    Solar power and commercial real estate

    Solar carports and rooftop solar are the primary solar designs being adopted in the world of commercial real estate.

    “We find that there is almost no debate around the wisdom of putting solar in a parking lot,” Norell said. “We believe that rooftop solar and carport solar are going to be easier for most communities to not only accept but embrace as a way to make clean energy.”

    In recent years, an increasing number of solar projects have been built over commercial parking lots, and state governments have created incentives specifically for solar carports, including the 2018 Solar Massachusetts Renewable Target, and the Maryland Energy Administration Solar Canopy Grant Program, which provides funding to incentivize the use of solar carports and parking garages, with EV chargers included on site. It has provided up to $250,000 per solar carport project, creating an incentive for commercial businesses to invest in the projects.

    “Increasing power prices and more government support, like in France where they mandated it, we think will mean that more parking lots are going to have carports,” Norell said.

    Commercial retail centers and logistics buildings are prime targets for solar. Commercial retail centers, like grocery stores, consume higher levels of energy and often feature big parking lots. Logistics buildings like warehouses feature large rooftops that are optimal places to implement rooftop solar energy.

    Altus Power forecasts that most buildings will have a solar power system over the next decade.

    With the growing production and consumption of EVs — the International Energy Agency reported that U.S. electric car sales doubled in market share to 4.5% in 2021, reaching 630,000 EVs sold — solar-powered commercial businesses become more beneficial to consumers requiring EV chargers in parking lots.  

    The same will be the case for warehouses and distribution centers.

    “Once we start getting good at having electrical-powered van fleets and trucks, all those trucks come to those logistical buildings, and that’s an excellent spot to put up fleet chargers, so that when the truck is busy … we take the opportunity to charge its electrical battery as well,” Norell said. “We can charge it with clean electricity because we’re making solar power on the roof, and that’s then going into the truck.”

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  • Coal-fired plant imploded in New Jersey for battery array

    Coal-fired plant imploded in New Jersey for battery array

    LOGAN TOWNSHIP, N.J. — A former coal-fired power plant in New Jersey was imploded Friday, and its owners announced plans for a new $1 billion venture on the site, where batteries will be deployed to store power from clean energy sources including wind and solar.

    The move came as New Jersey moves aggressively to adopt clean energy, including its push to be the East Coast leader in offshore wind energy.

    Starwood Energy demolished the former Logan Generating Plant, with the head of New Jersey’s Board of Public Utilities pushing a ceremonial button; the actual explosives used in bringing the structure down were triggered by a licensed demolition contractor.

    Logan is one of two former coal-fired power plants that the company decided in March to shutter and tear down under an agreement with the state and a local utility. The other is the former Chambers Cogeneration Plant in Carneys Point, which has yet to be dismantled.

    They were the last two coal-fired power plants operating in the state until they closed three months ago, and both will host battery storage projects, said Himanshu Saxena, CEO of Starwood, a Greenwich, Connecticut, private equity investment firm specializing in energy infrastructure projects.

    “This is the end of coal in this state,” Saxena said.

    The closures are part of the latest wave of coal-burning units to be retired as states try to fight climate change by requiring more carbon-free sources of electricity.

    “Wind doesn’t always blow; solar doesn’t always shine,” he said. “We need systems where you can store the energy. You have to build battery storage products.”

    The plant, on the banks of the Delaware River in the Philadelphia suburbs of southern New Jersey, began operating in 1994.

    Shortly before 11 a.m. Friday, an emergency siren sounded, indicating the imminent detonation of explosives placed strategically at the base of the plant’s smokestack and in a larger nearby building.

    A series of loud blasts rang out, and concussive waves of pressure radiated from the site as the structures began to crumble into a heap of smoke and dust.

    Saxena said he has a long history with power generation and environmental concerns.

    “I worked at a coal plant in India; there were no scrubbers,” he said, referring to emissions-control equipment. “You went in with a white shirt and came out with a black shirt.”

    Environmental and public interest groups including the Sierra Club pushed Atlantic City Electric to end an agreement that locked rate-payers into what the Sierra Club termed above-market electricity rates, and to end the operation of the two plants.

    “More utilities need to recognize the changing landscape and that they have a responsibility to reduce carbon pollution,” said Ramon Cruz, national president of the Sierra Club, adding he hopes the deal will be a model for other states and companies.

    Atlantic City Electric estimates that termination of the agreement will save ratepayers $30 million through 2024.

    ———

    Follow Wayne Parry on Twitter at www.twitter.com/WayneParryAC

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  • Coal-fired plant imploded in New Jersey for battery array

    Coal-fired plant imploded in New Jersey for battery array

    LOGAN TOWNSHIP, N.J. — A former coal-fired power plant in New Jersey was imploded Friday, and its owners announced plans for a new $1 billion venture on the site, where batteries will be deployed to store power from clean energy sources including wind and solar.

    The move came as New Jersey moves aggressively to adopt clean energy, including its push to be the East Coast leader in offshore wind energy.

    Starwood Energy demolished the former Logan Generating Plant, with the head of New Jersey’s Board of Public Utilities pushing a ceremonial button; the actual explosives used in bringing the structure down were triggered by a licensed demolition contractor.

    Logan is one of two former coal-fired power plants that the company decided in March to shutter and tear down under an agreement with the state and a local utility. The other is the former Chambers Cogeneration Plant in Carneys Point, which has yet to be dismantled.

    They were the last two coal-fired power plants operating in the state until they closed three months ago, and both will host battery storage projects, said Himanshu Saxena, CEO of Starwood, a Greenwich, Connecticut, private equity investment firm specializing in energy infrastructure projects.

    “This is the end of coal in this state,” Saxena said.

    The closures are part of the latest wave of coal-burning units to be retired as states try to fight climate change by requiring more carbon-free sources of electricity.

    “Wind doesn’t always blow; solar doesn’t always shine,” he said. “We need systems where you can store the energy. You have to build battery storage products.”

    The plant, on the banks of the Delaware River in the Philadelphia suburbs of southern New Jersey, began operating in 1994.

    Shortly before 11 a.m. Friday, an emergency siren sounded, indicating the imminent detonation of explosives placed strategically at the base of the plant’s smokestack and in a larger nearby building.

    A series of loud blasts rang out, and concussive waves of pressure radiated from the site as the structures began to crumble into a heap of smoke and dust.

    Saxena said he has a long history with power generation and environmental concerns.

    “I worked at a coal plant in India; there were no scrubbers,” he said, referring to emissions-control equipment. “You went in with a white shirt and came out with a black shirt.”

    Environmental and public interest groups including the Sierra Club pushed Atlantic City Electric to end an agreement that locked rate-payers into what the Sierra Club termed above-market electricity rates, and to end the operation of the two plants.

    “More utilities need to recognize the changing landscape and that they have a responsibility to reduce carbon pollution,” said Ramon Cruz, national president of the Sierra Club, adding he hopes the deal will be a model for other states and companies.

    Atlantic City Electric estimates that termination of the agreement will save ratepayers $30 million through 2024.

    ———

    Follow Wayne Parry on Twitter at www.twitter.com/WayneParryAC

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  • In new role as G-20 chair, India set to focus on climate

    In new role as G-20 chair, India set to focus on climate

    BENGALURU, India — India officially takes up its role as chair of the Group of 20 leading economies for the coming year Thursday and it’s putting climate at the top of the group’s priorities.

    Programs to encourage sustainable living and money for countries to transition to clean energy and deal with the effects of a warming world are some of the key areas that India will focus on during its presidency, experts say. Some say India will also use its new position to boost its climate credentials and act as a bridge between the interests of industrialized nations and developing ones.

    The country has made considerable moves toward its climate goals in recent years but is currently one of the world’s top emitters of planet-warming gases.

    The G-20, made up of the world’s largest economies, has a rolling presidency with a different member state in charge of the group’s agenda and priorities each year. Experts believe India will use the “big stage” of the G-20 presidency to drive forward its climate and development plans.

    The country “will focus heavily on responding to the current and future challenges posed by climate change,” said Samir Saran, president of the Observer Research Foundation, a New Delhi-based think tank. The ORF will be anchoring the T-20 — a group of think tanks from the 20 member countries whose participants meet alongside the G-20.

    Saran said that India will work to ensure that money is flowing from rich industrialized nations to emerging economies to help them combat global warming, such as a promise of $100 billion a year for clean energy and adapting to climate change for poorer nations that has not yet been fulfilled and a recent pledge to vulnerable countries that there will be a fund for the loss and damage caused by extreme weather.

    He added that India will also use the presidency to push its flagship “Mission Life” program that encourages more sustainable lifestyles in the country, which is set to soon become most populous in the world.

    When outgoing chair Indonesia symbolically handed the presidency to India in Bali last month by passing the gavel, Prime Minister Narendra Modi took the opportunity to promote the program, saying it could make “a big contribution” by turning sustainable living into “a mass movement.”

    The impact of lifestyle “has not received as much attention in the global discourse as it should,” said RR Rashmi, a distinguished fellow at The Energy Research Institute in New Delhi. He added that the issue “may get some prominence” at the G-20 which would be a success for the Indian government, but critics say the focus on lifestyle changes must be backed by policy to have credibility.

    India has been beefing up its climate credentials, with its recent domestic targets to transition to renewable energy more ambitious than the goals it submitted to the U.N. as part of the Paris Agreement, which requires countries to show how they plan to limit warming to temperature targets set in 2015.

    Analysts say nations’ climate ambitions and actions — including India’s — are not in line with temperature targets.

    Many of India’s big industrialists are investing heavily in renewable energy domestically as well as globally, but the Indian government is also preparing to invest in coal-based power plants at the cost of $33 billion over the next four years.

    At the U.N. climate conference last month, India — currently the world’s third largest emitter of greenhouse gases — proposed a phaseout of all fossil fuels and repeatedly emphasized the need to revamp global climate finance. The country says it cannot reach its climate goals and reduce carbon dioxide emissions without significantly more finance from richer nations, a claim which those countries dispute.

    Navroz Dubash, author of several U.N. climate reports and professor at the Centre for Policy Research, said that a key question for many countries is how “emerging economies address development needs and do it in a low carbon pathway” with several in the global south, like India, pointing to a need for outside investment.

    As the chair of the G-20, India is a good position “to say what it will take for us to develop in ways that don’t lock up the remaining carbon budget,” Dubash added, referring to the amount of carbon dioxide the world can emit while still containing global warming within 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 Fahrenheit) compared with preindustrial levels.

    “Developing countries are making a convincing case that green industrial policies are actually quite dependent on having public money to throw at the problems,” said Dubash. Some experts say more than $2 trillion is needed each year by 2030 to help developing countries cut emissions and deal with the effects of a warming climate, with $1 trillion from domestic sources and the rest coming from external sources such as developed countries or multilateral development banks.

    “This public money can also be a way of getting in private money, which is what the U.S. has done in its Inflation Reduction Act,” Dubash added. The U.S.’s flagship climate package that passed earlier this year includes incentives for building out clean energy infrastructure.

    The G-20 will also be looking closely at alternative means to getting climate finance, experts say. The group could potentially take a leaf out of the Bridgetown initiative proposed by the prime minister of Barbados, Mia Mottley, which involves unlocking large sums of money from multilateral development banks and international financial institutions to help countries adapt to climate change and transition to cleaner energy.

    ORF’s Saran said that as G-20 chair India can help move forward the conversation on the initiative. Developing countries are often charged higher rates of interest when borrowing from global financial institutions. Rejigging global finance to make renewable energy more affordable in the developing world is key to curbing climate change, Saran said.

    The idea has recently gained traction amongst developed nations, with France’s Macron recently vocalizing his support.

    “A large share of emissions will come from the developing world in the future,” Saran said. “If we make it easier for them to shift to clean energy, then these emissions can be avoided.”

    ———

    Follow Sibi Arasu on Twitter at @sibi123

    ———

    Associated Press climate and environmental coverage receives support from several private foundations. See more about AP’s climate initiative here. The AP is solely responsible for all content.

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  • China ‘played a great game’ on lithium and we’ve been slow to react, CEO says

    China ‘played a great game’ on lithium and we’ve been slow to react, CEO says

    This image, from March 2021, shows a worker with car batteries at a facility in China.

    STR | AFP | Getty Images

    China is leading the way when it comes to lithium — and the rest of the world has not been quick enough to respond to its dominance, according to the CEO of American Lithium.

    Speaking to CNBC’s “Squawk Box Europe” Monday, Simon Clarke discussed how China had secured its position of strength within the industry.

    “I just think the Chinese have — I mean you have to take your hat off, they’ve played a great game,” he said.

    “For decades, they’ve been locking up some of the best assets across the world and quietly going about their business and developing knowledge on building lithium-ion technology, soup to nuts,” he added. “And we’ve been very slow to react to that.”

    He added that the U.S.’ Inflation Reduction Act, and a number of other measures, meant people were “starting to wake up to it.”

    Alongside its use in cell phones, computers, tablets and a host of other gadgets synonymous with modern life, lithium — which some have dubbed “white gold” — is crucial to the batteries that power electric vehicles.

    Read more about China from CNBC Pro

    China is certainly a dominant force within the sector.

    In its World Energy Outlook 2022 report, the International Energy Agency said the country accounted for roughly 60% of the world’s lithium chemical supply. China also produces three-quarters of all lithium-ion batteries, according to the IEA.

    With demand for lithium rising, major economies are attempting to shore up their own supplies and reduce dependency on other parts of the world, including China.  

    The stakes are high. In a translation of her State of the Union speech, delivered in September, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said “lithium and rare earths will soon be more important than oil and gas.”

    As well as addressing security of supply, von der Leyen also stressed the importance of processing.

    “Today, China controls the global processing industry,” she said. “Almost 90% … of rare earth[s] and 60% of lithium are processed in China.”

    Read more about electric vehicles from CNBC Pro

    With the above in mind, a number of companies in Europe are looking to develop projects centered around securing supply.

    Paris-headquartered minerals giant Imerys, for example, plans to develop a lithium extraction project in the center of France, while a facility described as the U.K.’s first large-scale lithium refinery is set to be located in the north of England.

    Looking ahead, American Lithium’s Clarke forecast continued geopolitical competition within the sector.

    “There’s a real initiative to wrest back some of the supply chain from … China,” he said.

    “I think China is in such a dominant position, it’s going to be very hard to do that. But … I think you’re starting to see that approach happening.”

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  • Climate, politics double threat as Tigris-Euphrates shrivels

    Climate, politics double threat as Tigris-Euphrates shrivels

    DAWWAYAH, Iraq and ILISU DAM, Turkey — Next year, the water will come. The pipes have been laid to Ata Yigit’s sprawling farm in Turkey’s southeast connecting it to a dam on the Euphrates River. A dream, soon to become a reality, he says.

    Over 1,000 kilometers (625 miles) downstream in southern Iraq, nothing grows anymore in Obeid Hafez’s wheat farm. The water stopped coming a year ago, the 95-year-old said.

    The starkly different realities are playing out along the length of the Tigris-Euphrates river basin, one of the world’s most vulnerable. River flows have fallen by 40% in the past four decades as countries along its length — Turkey, Syria, Iran and Iraq — pursue rapid, unilateral development of the waters’ use.

    The drop is projected to worsen as temperatures rise from climate change. Both Turkey and Iraq, the two biggest consumers, acknowledge they must cooperate to preserve the river system. But a combination of political failures, mistrust and intransigence are conspiring to prevent a deal on sharing the rivers.

    The Associated Press conducted more than a dozen interviews in both countries, from top water envoys and senior officials to local farmers, and gained exclusive visits to controversial dam projects. Internal reports and revealed data illustrate the calculations driving disputes behind closed doors, from Iraq’s fears of a potential 20% drop in food production to Turkey’s struggles to balance Iraq’s and its own needs.

    “I don’t see a solution,” said former Iraqi Prime Minister Haidar al-Abadi.

    “Would Turkey sacrifice its own interests? Especially if that means that by giving more (water) to us, their farmers and people will suffer?”

    Turkey has been harnessing the river basin with a massive project to boost agriculture and generate hydroelectricity, the Southeast Anatolia Project, or GAP by its Turkish acronym. It has built at least 19 dams on the Euphrates and Tigris, with several more planned for a total of 22. The aim is to develop Turkey’s southeast, long an economic backwater.

    For the farmer, Yigit, the project will be transformative.

    Until now, his reliance on well water only permitted half his lands to be irrigated.

    But now that the irrigation pipes have reached his farm in Mardin province, his entire 4,500 acres will be watered next year via the Ataturk Dam on the Euphrates.

    In contrast, Iraq — which relies on outside sources for nearly all its water — grows more worried with every drop diverted upstream.

    In 2014, its Water Ministry prepared a confidential report warning that in two years, Iraq’s water supply would no longer meet demand, and the gap would keep widening. The report, seen by the AP, said that by 2035, the water deficit would cause a 20% reduction in food production.

    The report shows Iraqi officials knew how bleak the future would be without the recommended $180 billion in investment in water infrastructure and an agreement with its neighbors. Neither has happened.

    Decades of talks have still not found common ground on water-sharing.

    Turkey approaches the water issue as if it were the river basin’s benevolent owner, assessing needs and deciding how much to let flow downstream. Iraq considers ownership shared and wants a more permanent arrangement with defined portions.

    In a rare interview, Turkey’s envoy on water issues with Iraq, Veysel Eroglu, told the AP that Turkey cannot accept to release a fixed amount of water because of the unpredictability of river flows in the age of climate change.

    Eroglu said Turkey could agree to setting a ratio to release — but only if Syria and Iraq provide detailed data on their water consumption.

    “That is the only way to share water in an optimal and fair manner,” Eroglu said.

    Iraq refuses to provide its consumption data. That’s in part because it would show the widespread water waste in Iraq and the government weakness that makes managing water nearly impossible.

    Government attempts at rationing the waning water causes outrage in southern Iraq. In August in southern Dhi Qar province, for example, tribal leader Sheikh Thamer Saeedi and dozens of protesters tried to divert water from a Tigris tributary to feed his barren lands after authorities failed to respond to his pleas for water.

    The attempted diversion nearly sparked violence between local tribes before security forces intervened.

    Iraq blames one Turkish infrastructure project in particular for these woes: the Ilusu Dam, on the Tigris.

    Before Turkey began operating the dam in 2020, all the waters of Tigris flowed into Iraq. Now how much water comes down depends on Ankara’s consideration of Iraq’s month-to-month requests for a minimum flow, weighed against Turkey’s own hydropower needs.

    Turkey contends it is unfairly scapegoated. The AP was given an exclusive tour of the dam facility in October by Turkey’s State Hydraulics Works, known by the Turkish acronym DSI, and given figures for the first time detailing flow rates and electricity production over two years.

    A decade ago, Iraq received an average flow of 625 cubic meters of water per second from the Tigris. Today, the rate averages only 36% of that, Iraqi water ministry officials say.

    Data provided by DSI shows that Turkey respected a request made by Iraq that it release at least 300 cubic meters per second down the Tigris during summer months when shortages are common.

    But Iraqi officials say depending on such ad hoc arrangements make planning difficult.

    “They can cut water, they can release water. We urgently need a water agreement just to satisfy Iraq’s minimum requirements,” said Hatem Hamid, head of the National Centre for Water Resources Management.

    For example, with dire shortages anticipated in 2022, Hamid cut the state agriculture water plan in half and reduced fresh water flows to Iraq’s marshlands, to minimize salinity. But water-stressed Iran also diverted flows from tributaries feeding the marshes. The result was an environmental emergency and hundreds of dead livestock.

    Back in Obeid Hafez’s farm, the land is barren.

    Portraits of Hafez’s forefathers hang in his spartan living room. With his sons gone to seek work in the cities, there will be no one to till the land after him.

    “Life has ended here,” he said.

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