Bob Leonard - Climate Risk Manager • 04.10.2017
Rushing to catch up after decades of stagnation, China built a gargantuan collection of cities the size of nations with barely a pause to consider their toll on the environment, much less the future impact of global warming. Today, the region is a goliath of industry with a population exceeding 42 million. But while […]
Bob Leonard - Climate Risk Manager • 04.05.2017
Big oil is starting to challenge the biggest utilities in the race to erect wind turbines at sea. Royal Dutch Shell Plc, Statoil ASA and Eni SpA are moving into multi-billion-dollar offshore wind farms in the North Sea and beyond. They’re starting to score victories against leading power suppliers including Dong Energy A/S and Vattenfall AB in competitive […]
Bob Leonard - Climate Risk Manager • 04.03.2017
Welcome to Ashton Hayes — the small English town that’s casually leading the way toward carbon neutrality. “Carbon neutrality” is a fancy way of saying that Ashton Hayes is working toward reducing its carbon footprint until it produces as much energy as it uses. Members of the community started implementing small changes in their daily […]
Bob Leonard - Climate Risk Manager • 03.31.2017
Germany is embarking on an innovative project to turn a hard coal mine into a giant battery that can store surplus solar and wind energy and release it when supplies are lean. The Prosper-Haniel coal mine in the German state of North-Rhine Westphalia will be converted into a 200 megawatt pumped-storage hydroelectric reservoir that acts […]
Bob Leonard - Climate Risk Manager • 03.27.2017
Dozens of U.S. cities are willing to buy $10 billion of electric cars and trucks to show skeptical automakers there’s demand for low-emission vehicles. Thirty cities including New York and Chicago jointly asked automakers for the cost and feasibility of providing 114,000 electric vehicles, including police cruisers, street sweepers and trash haulers, said Los Angeles Mayor […]
Bob Leonard - Climate Risk Manager • 03.24.2017
Former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg boarded a trans-Atlantic flight to meet with Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo and French President Francois Hollande. Perhaps in an effort to ease minds across the pond, the group discussed the progress cities are making on climate change, including in the United States. Bloomberg insisted that American cities and businesses have […]
Bob Leonard - Climate Risk Manager • 03.22.2017
This post, written by Planetary Ethicist and This Spaceship Earth co-founder Tim Rumage, can be read in its entirety on Tim’s blog: http://planetaryethicist.com/ I grew up in a family that said grace at dinner. We were thankful for the bounty of food. We never said anything about water. We would go to the water, be it […]
Bob Leonard - Climate Risk Manager • 03.20.2017
Energy storage is a favorite technology of the future – for good reasons. Many people see affordable storage as the missing link between intermittent renewable power, such as solar and wind, and 24/7 reliability. Utilities are intrigued by the potential for storage to meet other needs such as relieving congestion and smoothing out the variations in […]
Bob Leonard - Climate Risk Manager • 03.17.2017
Reforms to the coal industry are central to Beijing’s climate campaign. The US and China had become critical partners on climate, crucially joining last year to endorse the Paris climate accord. In the face of US retrenchment on climate change, China can play a key role in implementing Paris. China’s aggressive push has put it on […]
Bob Leonard - Climate Risk Manager • 03.15.2017
“I agree that the effects of a changing climate — such as increased maritime access to the Arctic, rising sea levels, desertification, among others — impact our security situation. I will ensure that the department continues to be prepared to conduct operations today and in the future, and that we are prepared to address the […]