Page 5 - Fossil Fuel

Zero-emission cars can tackle air pollution, cut oil imports: Tata Motors

Only zero emission cars can contribute towards a reduction in air pollution, cutting burgeoning fuel imports and attaining net zero targets, according to Tata Motors Passenger Vehicles Managing Director Shailesh Chandra. Amid demands from a certain section of the industry to cut taxes levied on hybrid cars, Chandra said that such vehicles do not align with the key national objectives of achieving net carbon-zero target, improving air quality levels, and reducing fossil fuel imports. He noted that hybrid and CNG technologies in cars help in improving fuel efficiency and meeting emission-related regulatory compliances but cannot be compared with pure battery electric vehicles. In an interaction with PTI, Chandra said that the government already supports hybrid vehicles in terms of lower taxation and there is no need to bring those at par with electric vehicles. He noted that hybrid cars cannot be compared with EVs as they essentially run on polluting "fossil fuel". Chandra said that

India to rely on coal power until it becomes developed country: Yadav

India is committed to meeting the energy needs of its people and will continue to rely on coal power until it achieves developed country status, Union Environment Minister Bhupender Yadava said on Tuesday. Responding to a question at a press conference here, the minister also said India resisted pressure from developed countries to end the use of fossil fuels at the UN climate conference in the United Arab Emirates. He said India is committed to meeting the energy needs of its people and this cannot be done by just "importing oil and gas". "While we are increasing our renewable capacity, we will also have to rely on coal power until we achieve the objective of a developed India," he said. India relies on coal for about 70 per cent of its power generation and aims to add 17 gigawatts of coal-based power generation capacity in the next 16 months. Yadav said India "strongly resisted" the rich nations' call for limitations on new and unabated coal power generation. "We said you cannot

India resisted pressure from developed nations to phase out of fossils: Min

India resisted pressure from developed countries at the climate conference in the United Arab Emirates to end the use of fossil fuels, Union Environment Minister Bhupender Yadav said on Tuesday. Addressing a press conference here, the minister said India is committed to meeting the energy needs of its people and this cannot be done by "just importing oil and gas". "While India is committed to increasing its renewable energy capacity, we will have to rely on coal power until we achieve the objective of developed India," he said. The minister said India accounts for 17 per cent of the global population but its contribution to global carbon emissions is just four per cent. "Poverty eradication is a priority for many nations. So, we did not accept the pressure from developed countries (for a fossil fuel phase-out)," Yadav said. The minister said developed nations, which account for a large part of historical emissions (since the start of the industrial revolution), are required to prov

How to assess the outcome of COP28

This year's UN Climate Conference, hosted by a petrostate and led by a fossil-fuel CEO, defied expectations with new commitments

Fossil fuel-based energy also essential for India: President Murmu

President Droupadi Murmu on Thursday said the dependence on fossil fuels is definitely decreasing, but fossil fuel-based energy is also essential for India. India has always worked as a responsible country in the field of clean energy, Murmu said, addressing the National Energy Conservation Awards 2023 function here. "But we have also been making it clear from time to time that the dependence on fossil fuel is definitely decreasing but fossil fuel-based energy is also essential in our country," she stated. India is promoting clean coal technologies so that the processes of coal extraction and use become more efficient and environment friendly, she noted. It is the result of our commitment towards the environment that India has moved from 30th to 7th place in the ranking of the Climate Change Performance Index in a period of ten years, she said. The President opined that the health and happiness of all of us lie in the conservation and good health of nature. "If we make optimal ..

Making history, COP28 nations agree to 'transition away' from fossil fuels

Coal singled out for phasedown; India calls for climate equity and justice

Unexpected progress

COP28 agrees to 'transition away' from fossil fuels

UN COP28: Delegates sign deal to 'transition away' from fossil fuels

Negotiators at United Nations COP28 climate talks agreed on Wednesday that the world must transition away from planet-warming fossil fuels, a significant step toward shifting how the world is powered but one filled with questions about how soon and who will pay for the transition. COP28 President Sultan al-Jaber gaveled through the text at a plenary session in Dubai after more than two weeks of discussions that saw nations try and figure out a way for the world to stay in line with limiting warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit) since pre-industrial times. Countries were split between those wanting strong language on a phase-out of fossil fuels and others who wanted some way to continue burning oil, gas and coal. The new compromise had been floated early Wednesday after a global rallying cry stronger than proposed days earlier, but with loopholes that upset critics. The new proposal doesn't go so far as to seek a phase-out of fossil fuels, which more than 100 natio

COP28: Nations inch closer to historic deal on fossil fuel transition

After nearly two weeks of hectic negotiations, countries on Wednesday were on the verge of reaching a historic deal on a 'transition away from fossil fuels' while emerging economies like India and China strongly opposed the targeting of coal. This marks a step back from the earlier proposal of a 'phase-out of fossil fuels' that drew sharp criticism from many countries in the Global South and oil-reliant economies like Saudi Arabia. A draft cover decision of the Dubai climate talks released early in the morning called for a "deep, rapid, and sustained" reduction in planet-warming greenhouse gas emissions in line with 1.5 degree Celsius pathways in a "nationally determined" manner, taking into account the Paris Agreement and their different national circumstances, pathways, and approaches. It lays an eight-point plan to achieve this, including a "transition away from fossil fuels" in energy systems in a "just, orderly and equitable manner", accelerating action in this decade, to achie

Lopsided COP28 boon for India's growing coal and crude oil appetite

India supports changes in global stocktaking text, but weak stand by rich nations to help the fossil fuel economy in the country

Climate talks enter last day with no agreement in sight on fossil fuels

Hopes for finishing a critical climate summit on time were fading early on Tuesday as countries were still far apart on key issues, including an agreement on what to do about the fossil fuels that are causing dangerous global warming. The United Nations-led summit known as COP28 was scheduled to end around midday after nearly two weeks of speeches, demonstrations and negotiations. But the climate talks often run long, and Monday's release of a draft agreement angered countries that insist on a commitment for rapid phase-out of coal, oil and gas. Instead, the draft called for countries to reduce consumption and production of fossil fuels, in a just, orderly and equitable manner. Tina Stege, climate envoy for the Marshall Islands, ridiculed the document as a meaningless wish list that questions the science" and said it doesn't address the Paris agreement goal of limiting warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 Fahrenheit) to stave off the worst effects of climate change. Earth is on its w

COP28 summit: Draft climate deal stops short of fossil fuel 'phase-out'

First global stocktake on Paris Agreement recognizes current emissions reductions not enough

New COP28 draft text does not mention phasing out of fossil fuels

The relevant section of the text said that parties recognize "the need for deep, rapid and sustained reductions in GHG (greenhouse gases) emissions and calls upon Parties to take actions

UN officials, activists ramp up urgency as COP28 enters final days

Visibly tired and frustrated top United Nations officials urged climate talks to push harder for an end to fossil fuels. Time seems to be running out both in the talks in Dubai and for action that could keep warming at or below the internationally agreed-upon threshold. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres returned to the summit on Monday and said it was time to go into overdrive, to negotiate in good faith, and rise to the challenge. He said negotiators at the COP28 summit in particular must focus on the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions and climate justice. He said the global stocktake the part of talks that assesses where the world is at with its climate goals and how it can reach them should phase out all fossil fuels in order to reach the goal of limiting the rise of global temperatures to 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit) compared with pre-industrial times. That phase-out was, he said, a central aspect" for the summit to be considered a success. "We can't k

'COP28 decisions only as strong as what least-ambitious nations accept'

It's the killer detail in international climate talks: Consensus. With nearly 200 nations of different sizes, economies, political systems, resources and needs, they all have to find common ground if they are going to save the one common ground they share planet Earth. Consensus is frequently used to weaken efforts to curb climate change and experts say that's by design, dating back to oil interests and the first United Nations climate negotiations. Some veteran politicians would like to change it, while others embrace it as the only fair way to get things done. Whatever decision is taken can only be as strong as what the least ambitious (nations) are prepared to accept, said climate talks historian Joanna Depledge of Cambridge University. And we've seen that over the years. US Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, a Democrat from Rhode Island, said the practise of requiring near-unanimity could be fatal: A small, self-interested minority of states cannot be allowed to block the progress ...

Work faster, be flexible: 11th-hourr push for fossil fuel deal at COP28

Draft paper lists adaptation targets for 2030 but disagreement lingers

At COP28, sticking points remain on fossil fuels and adapting to climate

Negotiators have been urged to narrow down their options so they can agree on how to save Earth from disastrous levels of warming and help vulnerable societies adapt to weather extremes as the clock runs down on United Nations climate talks. COP28 President Sultan al-Jaber told journalists Sunday afternoon that negotiators were making good progress, just not fast enough. Am I satisfied with the speed and the pace? al-Jaber said, as protesters could be heard nearby calling for the end of fossil fuels. The answer is no. ... Time has come for us to shift gears. Time has come for us to deliver. There some were signs negotiators were moving forward on Sunday: A new draft agreement on global adaptation goals which will determine how poor countries will brace themselves for climate change-fuelled weather extremes like drought, heat and storms was released. The draft text expresses concern over the gap between the money needed for adaptation and how much countries are getting, but it ...

COP28 climate summit: Negotiators turn back to future of fossil fuels

The United Nations climate conference on Friday began its final week with negotiators expected to zoom in on the future of fossil fuels on a dangerously warming planet. Thursday was a rest day, a bit of quiet before talks at COP28 grow even more intense. Negotiators will work to finalize a key document called the Global Stocktake. It evaluates the world's climate change progress since the 2015 Paris agreement and what needs to be done now to avoid blowing past its goal of limiting warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 Fahrenheit) compared to preindustrial times. You start off very hopeful, euphoria, COP28 CEO Annan Amin said. Things are happening. Then the negotiations get hard and people start spreading rumours and conjecture and a little bit of depression, and then things start to come up again. And the clarity of the negotiations process becomes clearer. Then you have the political engagement, and that's where the real intensity and excitement comes from. A draft of the Global ...

Phasing out fossil fuels among options on table for COP28 climate talks

"Absolutely not," he said when asked in a TV interview in Riyadh whether his country, the world's top oil exporter, would be happy to see the language added

Carbon emissions in India to increase by 8.2%, 4% in China in 2023: Study

Carbon emissions in India are projected to increase in India by 8.2 per cent in 2023, and by 4 per cent in China, according to an international research. Global emissions from coal, oil and gas are all projected to increase by 1.1, 1.5 and 0.5 per cent, respectively, even as they are predicted to decline in the EU and the USA by 7.4 and 3 per cent, respectively, the research team that included the University of Exeter, UK, and 90 other institutions globally said in its report. The Global Carbon Budget report, produced by more than 120 scientists, provides an annual, peer-reviewed update, building on established methodologies, the researchers said. The report projects total global carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions, arising out of both fossil fuels and land-use change, to be 40.9 billion tonnes in 2023. Of these, 36.8 billion tonnes would be from fossil fuels, up 1.1 per cent from 2022. Atmospheric CO2 levels are projected to average 419.3 parts per million in 2023, more than 50 per cen