James Wood

China’s carbon emissions may have peaked If so, it is a significant, symbolic moment

It's not hard to find gloomy climate news right now.

But sometimes it's helpful to look past the Trumpian political melodrama.

And this news, if true, matters way more for the future of our climate than anything Trump has done or will do.

www.economist.com/china/2025/0...

Haway the Lads! Every few years, Sunderland marches on London and absolutely takes it over. And I love it 🔴⚪️

Lol at the EU Competitiveness Council saying it wants "lower energy costs" AND "e-fuels for cars".

Lads, you're really gonna have to pick between the two...

He also gave us televised snooker but once again people sadly just focus on a single small part of his career.

Royal Mail halves number of domestic flights Grounding of flights on 18 domestic routes estimated to save 30,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions a year

Nice work Royal Mail!

This is cool. The surest way to reduce aviation emissions is to reduce flights.

www.businessgreen.com/news/4412336...

97% of business leaders back the renewables transition 97% of business leaders back the renewables transition according to landmark poll. It's clear, the shift from fossil fuels to renewables-based electricity isn’t just necessary, it’s a strategic busine...

Team Facts is fighting back against Team Vibes 💪

Vibes: People don't like net zero
Facts: 89% of people want more climate action
www.theguardian.com/environment/...

Vibes: Net zero is bad for business
Facts: 97% of businesses support climate action
www.wemeanbusinesscoalition.org/blog/97-of-b...

Rich 'should be forced to fly less so poor families can go on holiday' Emma Pinchbeck, chief executive of the Climate Change Committee, has said flying should be considered a luxury, but that it would be unfair to price lower income families out of air travel.

Making green planes & fuels will increase the overall cost of flying.

It will have a lot of benefits too, but how to fairly share out these costs across society is a key question for governments.

A frequent flyer levy is definitely a good option to explore...

www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article...

The objections to airport expansion are obviously not about one tree & the PM is obviously too busy today to put out silly tweets like this. His spin doctors are letting him down. We've had enough childish demagoguery from the White House without Downing Street following suit.

St Pancras plans for direct trains from UK to Germany The London station's owner and Eurotunnel hope to expand routes to Cologne, Frankfurt and Switzerland.

This is great news to reduce the need for air travel, though I hope the trains are competitively priced so that it makes it as cheap (if not cheaper) than air travel
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

UK forecasts small role for green airline fuel by 2040 despite Reeves’ claims Government’s models suggest Sustainable Aviation Fuel will take years to make significant impact

One silver lining of this Heathrow kerfuffle is that it shines a spotlight on "sustainable" aviation fuel ("SAF").

The Chancellor says "SAF" is a “game-changer” in the debate. The government's own data says otherwise: on.ft.com/4gKfXEW

Great primer on "SAF" from AEF: www.aef.org.uk/2023/11/16/s...

Trump voters are not the obstacle to climate action many think they are Climate change is not just about facts. It is wrong to dismiss the disengaged on the grounds that they are out of touch with reality.

A useful reminder that just because lots of people have voted for a climate denier, it does not mean they themselves are climate deniers. It just means other things in their lives are more important for their vote.

Salience matters just as much as sentiment.

theconversation.com/trump-voters...

Some of the holes in the Heathrow expansion argument highlighted in the Telegraph www.telegraph.co.uk/business/202...

Rachel Reeves hints at support for Heathrow third runway An announcement is expected next week, as part of major speech on plans to boost the economy.

The reason the aviation industry talks so much about SAF has nothing to do with actual decarbonisation.

It's about creating sufficient hype and *perception* of climate action, to justify expansion.

That smart politicians still fall for this is sad, if not surprising.

www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

3️⃣ Get the UK's first domestic zero emission commercial routes up and running by 2030, starting on a path to fully electric/zero emission domestic connectivity (by air, rail and road).

2️⃣ Invest in modernising regional airports across the four nations with state of the art facilities to service electric and hydrogen planes. This will keep the UK connected both internally and with our nearest neighbours, with clean, modern planes.

1️⃣ Drive growth by turbocharging R&D in cutting edge zero emission planes. We have an early lead (Cranfield, Ecojet, ZeroAvia), which could be a huge growth opportunity, or could be lost. The UK has a strong revealed comparative advantage in aerospace, so this would have positive economic spillovers.

Instead they could...

Climate group says Heathrow expansion would be ‘catastrophic’ Climate charity Possible said the ‘huge increase in emissions’ from a third runway ‘won’t help our economy’.

3️⃣ Expanding these airports will send Labour's progressive supporters flocking to the Greens www.independent.co.uk/business/cli...

ROBERT HARDMAN: 'Starmer the Farmer Harmer' chanted the rural army ROBERT HARDMAN: You could hardly have asked for a more old-fashioned protest outside the gates of Downing Street.

2️⃣ Labour is still strong in London, bleeding support elsewhere, especially in the rural economy www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article...

Losing altitude The economics of air transport in Great Britain

1️⃣ Airport expansion only drives growth in London. It drains GDP everywhere else in the UK neweconomics.org/2023/07/losi...

🧵 on rumours the UK govt is poised to greenlight expansion of Gatwick, Heathrow & Luton...

Olive Ave & Harriet St, Altadena. Credit: Elliott Browne

Power lines.

Altadena in the wake of the #EatonFire

A heavy frost and chilled hues at the Northern Spire, a bridge which spans the River Wear in Sunderland.

A touch of frost at Sunderland's Northern Spire as the sun gradually starts adding warmer hues to the cold blue palette.
Construction of the new River Wear crossing began in May 2015 with the official opening in August 2018.
#england #sunderland #winter #sunrise #landscape #photography

A lot of not-arsed-ness about our first round cup exit(s).

Our second string should be strong enough to beat Stoke (and Preston’s) second string.

We all carp about RLB not using the bench enough, but cup games are where bench players get minutes and grow confidence.

Needs sorting next year 🔴⚪️

Rich must pay for others to go green, says EU environmental pioneer ‘Green Deal’ architect Frans Timmermans warns of boost to radical right from rising costs

'Rich must pay for others to go green, says EU environmental pioneer' on.ft.com/421GHwU

This chimes with @moreincommonuk.bsky.social research published last year www.moreincommon.org.uk/our-work/res...

Rich people fly a lot. The trick is to get them to contribute without squeezing family holidays.

French airlines screaming blue murder about a modest tax hike (mainly on wealthy frequent flyers).

I do wonder, if a govt is 100% committed to a new aviation tax, why not go all in?

The airlines *always* go bananas. So if you're going to spend political capital, why not get a decent cash return?

Respect 👏

From nuts to kelp: The 'carbon-negative' foods that help reverse climate change Eating low-carbon foods helps reduce emissions, but some foods actually suck up carbon from the atmosphere for good, leaving the climate in a better place. Could we eat more of them?

Love the idea of carbon negative food 🥜

www.bbc.co.uk/future/artic...

I'd heard hard shelled shellfish, like mussels and oysters, can also be carbon negative. Anyone got the details on that?

Analysis: UK’s electricity was cleanest ever in 2024 - Carbon Brief The UK’s electricity was the cleanest ever in 2024, Carbon Brief analysis shows, with CO2 emissions per unit falling by 2/3 in a decade.

Good news klaxon 🎉

In 2024 the UK has...

✅ Phased out coal power
📉 More than halved fossil fuelled power vs 2014
📈 More than doubled renewable power vs 2014
💨 Produced almost as much wind power as gas power - with wind set to overtake gas this year

www.carbonbrief.org/analysis-uks...

Like most of us here, trying out This Place after drifting away from The Other Place.

On The Other Place I had separate profiles for work stuff and personal stuff. Experimenting here with re-combining my personae into one complete whole.

Expect climate ramblings interspersed with Mackem rantings.