June 8, 2019

Weekend reads: Climate changes hit bottom line; All carbon emissions in one chart

It's the weekend! Kick back and catch up with these must-read articles from around the web:

Companies See Climate Change Hitting Their Bottom Lines in the Next 5 Years (New York Times)  Many of the world’s biggest companies, from Silicon Valley tech firms to large European banks, are bracing for the prospect that climate change could substantially affect their bottom lines within the next five years, according to a new analysis of corporate disclosures. Under pressure from shareholders and regulators, companies are increasingly disclosing the specific financial impacts they could face as the planet warms, such as extreme weather that could disrupt their supply chains or stricter climate regulations that could hurt the value of coal, oil and gas investments.

All the World’s Carbon Emissions in One Chart (Visual Capitalist) Two degrees Celsius may not seem like much, but on our planet, it could be the difference between thriving life and a disastrous climate. Over two centuries of burning fossil fuels have added up, and global decision-makers and business leaders are focusing in on carbon emissions as a key issue. This week’s chart uses the most recent data from Global Carbon Atlas to demonstrate where most of the world’s CO₂ emissions come from, sorted by country.

To get a high-renewable electric grid, build more solar and wind than needed (Phys.org)  The famous inventor Edwin Land said, "It's not that we need new ideas, but we need to stop having old ideas." He seemed to be telling us that solutions lie just beyond our old habits of thinking. Cities, states and countries around the world are committing to clean energy economies that run on very high levels—even 100%—of renewable energy. In New York state alone, four competing bills target 50% to 100% renewables by or before 2040. Realistically, only two renewable energy resources are large enough to meet these very high-penetration objectives on the supply side in the U.S.—solar (by far) and wind.

US energy storage market sees 232% year-on-year growth (Utility Dive)  The U.S. energy storage market set a growth record in Q1 of this year, deploying 148.8 MW, a 232% increase from Q1 2018, and a 6% jump from Q4 2018, according to the latest Wood Mackenzie U.S. Energy Storage Monitor. Behind-the-meter storage made up 46% of Q1 2019 deployments, representing a 138% growth from Q1 last year and a 36% increase from the fourth quarter of 2018. Meanwhile, front-of-the-meter deployments dropped 10% from last quarter, but still quintupled their growth from Q1 last year.

VW Goes Back To The Future In New Ad Campaign To Put Dieselgate in Rear-View (Forbes)  Volkswagen of America has kicked off a new ad campaign with a new New York ad agency designed to move the brand forward and hopefully upward after the diesel engine scandal that has weighed down the company for the last four years. In a nod to the 1960's glory of both the VW brand and its advertising, the company licensed Simon & Garfunkel’s “Sounds of Silence.” The ad, which debuted on the NBA Finals Wednesday night, depicts a design engineer reacting to a radio report about the diesel scandal, but then getting back to his work to design what became the I.D. Buzz concept car that is becoming a new iteration of the classic Microbus electric vehicle.

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