The Inflation Reduction Act

The ninth issue of Bloomberg Green’s magazine is here. After the hottest summer on record, and now with another devastating war, we’re in need of some positive news about the state of the planet and its people.

While the back page of the magazine is focused solely on developments toward a greener world, this issue is mostly about water — which has become an asset and a threat as the planet warms. Take, for example, archaeologists in Virginia who are battling rising seas and flooding to study and save the remains of North America’s first permanent English colony. This story, and some others, are already available to read online.

We’re less than seven weeks away from the UN’s COP28 climate conference. Big-name finance chiefs are expected to return in force to the summit — where lenders will be under pressure to do more than talk. In Mexico, climate expert Claudia Sheinbaum is one of the top contenders in the race to become the country’s president, though it remains to be seen if her election could help halt the oil-rich nation’s rising emissions.

Meanwhile, American airlines — despite their soaring rhetoric — have been falling behind their European counterparts in deploying sustainable jet fuel. If that makes you question other companies’ claims of sustainability, you can read our helpful FAQ on how to spot greenwashing.

Now, on to the good climate news...

Climate Bill: The Gift That Keeps on Giving

A year after President Joe Biden signed the Inflation Reduction Act, the most significant climate law in US history, data show that investments for a new green economy are pouring in: $110b in private investment, 51 new or expanded plants for producing solar panels, 91 new factories for making batteries and about 170,000 clean energy jobs.

China Crushes Renewable Energy Target

Some good news about the planet
An aerial view of a floating solar farm situated on an inundated sink hole of a nearby coal mine in Huainan, China on May 15, 2023. Photographer: Qilai Shen/Bloomberg

China is on track to almost double its current wind and solar capacity by 2025 and blow past the country’s clean power target five years early, according to Global Energy Monitor. The nation has announced or begun construction on enough projects that its total wind and solar capacity is likely reach 1,371 gigawatts by 2025, the research company said in a June report. That would vastly exceed a goal President Xi Jinping set in late 2020 of having 1,200GW of panels and turbines by 2030.

‘Climate Dads’ Show Their Nerdy Love for the Planet

Parents and students commute to school on bicycles in Portland, Oregon on June 15, 2023. Photographer: Thomas Teal/Bloomberg

Studies show men are taking on more child-care responsibilities, and as they spend time with their kids, they’re factoring climate change into their parenting decisions. Climate dads are a growing phenomenon: fathers who are obsessed with home solar panels, steer their kids away from plastic toys and campaign for safer biking routes.

Tougher Carbon Offset Rules

It’s getting tougher to greenwash. Companies that buy carbon offsets from the voluntary market to counterbalance their greenhouse gas emissions now have guidelines describing what they can and can’t claim about purchased credits. The rules, published by the Voluntary Carbon Markets Integrity Initiative, aim to tighten the climate claims companies make in the face of sham boasts, abuse and illusory credits.

Green Bonds Take the Lead

For the first time, companies and governments are raising more money in the debt markets for environmentally friendly projects than they are for fossil fuels. Almost $350 billion was raised from green bond sales and loan arrangements in the first half of this year, compared with less than $235 billion of oil-, gas- and coal-related financing, according to data compiled by Bloomberg News. The ratio was roughly $300 billion green versus $315 billion fossil fuels in the same period last year.

Montana Court Sides With the Kids

Plaintiffs arrive for the nation's first youth climate change trial at Montana's First Judicial District Court on June 12, 2023 in Helena. Photographer: William Campbell/Getty Images

Youth climate activists won a lawsuit against Montana in August that could set a sweeping precedent. They challenged a state law that limits climate change considerations during the environmental reviews of proposed fossil fuel projects. The court ruled the law violated the plaintiffs’ right to a clean and healthful environment as guaranteed in the state’s constitution.

Rail Transport Looks to AI to Cut Diesel Use

A Canadian startup has developed artificial-intelligence-enabled software to help locomotive engineers make small driving adjustments that can save diesel fuel. These sorts of changes could help freight and passenger trains cut into the roughly 100 million tons of planet-warming gases they release into the atmosphere every year.

Shipping Sets Sail to Lower CO2
 

Pyxis Ocean, retrofitted with WindWings, setting sail for its maiden voyage in August. Source: Cargill

This summer a bulk carrier chartered by commodity giant Cargill Inc. finished a maiden voyage from Shanghai to Singapore powered, in part, by wind. The ship was retrofitted with two steel and composite-glass “sails” that saved tons of fuel per day.

Africa’s First Gigantic Battery Factory

Morocco inked a deal with a Chinese manufacturer to build an EV battery factory with an annual capacity of 100GW.

EVs Are Poised For Mass Adoption

A Bloomberg Green analysis finds that car markets in 23 countries have passed a critical tipping point — 5% of new sales are fully electric vehicles. This threshold signals the start of mass adoption. The same trajectory has been noted in the past with LED lightbulbs, mobile phones, televisions and other successful new technologies.

There are now about 4,800 public fast-charging stations in the US. More than a quarter of those stations — around 1,300 — were switched on in the 12 months ending on July 31, according to a Bloomberg Green analysis of federal data. A number of these new charging spots are in rural areas, expanding the reach of the Great American Electric Road Trip.

More from Green
The executive in charge of the world’s biggest fusion-energy experiment is trying to rehire retired engineers, who possess knowledge that’s critical to advancing an unfinished reactor in southern France. The 35-nation International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor, or ITER, is seeking to reboot the fusion project after its supply chains were disrupted by war and pandemic. Delays mean ITER’s efforts to harness the mechanics of the Sun’s clean energy on Earth could be overtaken by more nimble startups.

“What it takes to integrate a facility like ITER and design it from scratch has been lost,” said Pietro Barabaschi, ITER’s director general. “The knowledge is available somewhere but it is not consolidated. We have to get some retired people on board again.”

Wall Street is financing coal again. Some banks and investors are flirting with new models for bringing the world’s dirtiest commodity back into mainstream finance.

Scientists say some wind farm impacts are a mystery. An influential panel of advisers wants the US to back more research into how offshore wind farms affect food sources for whales.

The only good news about smoke. A new study finds that toxic gases from wildfire smoke often find their way indoors, but straightforward cleaning can significantly reduce the risks.

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