David Hone

The ongoing debate in Europe about the current state of the Emissions Trading System (ETS) and the low carbon price outlook is gaining momentum and importantly gaining advocates for action. In response, Commissioner Hedegaard announced a much earlier than planned review of EU auctioning, which could potentially pave the way...

Energy policy development over the last decade has shown one thing for certain, governments the world over are persistent in their desire to alter the energy mix and/or at least begin to manage emissions. Whether this is purely for environmental reasons or for concerns about energy security or perhaps...

With a new report from the IPCC on managing the risks associated with extreme weather and continued weather phenomena attracting media attention, it is important to attempt to get to grips with the science and statistics behind this rapidly emerging field of research. Back in January 

The IEA's World Energy Outlook (WEO) is an annual tradition, the result of much work, data analysis and presentation. A formative volume is produced for all to read and digest, but few of  us have the time to do so in the detail required. As such we rely to some...

Over the weekend the UK Secretary for Energy and Climate Change, Ed Davey, announced plans to secure a continuing role for natural gas in the UK power generation sector. Mr Davey noted;

"Gas will continue to play a vital role in a low-carbon economy. Modern gas-fired power...

Climate change is one of those subjects that is awash with data, leading to an almost endless capacity for analysis and ultimately conclusion drawing. The same data can be used to create different analytical output and a single analysis can lead to more than one conclusion. This comes about not...

The above was the title of a panel debate hosted by the UK newspaper, the Daily Telegraph, late last week. There is a short write up in the Saturday edition of the newspaper. I was fortunate to participate in this, alongside Oliver Letwin MP, Minister of State (providing...

The external release of documents relating to the activities of the Heartland Institute has raised many questions, but an important issue that is now in the open again relates to the teaching of climate change in schools. How should this be handled and what should be taught? Is there justification...

An opinion piece that appeared in the Wall Street Journal (Europe) on Tuesday (a few days earlier in the USA) presented the views of sixteen scientists on the issue of climate change under the heading "No Need to Panic About Global Warming". Unfortunately there isn't much in...

Through 2010 and 2011 in particular, weather extremes seemed to dominate the headlines. Extreme drought, rainfall, flood and wind all played a role in making the period one of the most expensive in terms of damage to infrastructure. In some locations there was also significant loss of life. It...

Anyone who followed COP 17 in Durban would have noticed that the UNFCCC and its Executive Secretary, Christiana Figueres, are active Tweeters. But one tweet in particular opens up a key issue facing the UNFCCC - what exactly is its remit? The tweet in question came during COP17 and said:

After two busy weeks, the Durban COP was extended by a full day and then went well into a second, with long nights of negotiation along the way. Eventually a deal emerged which has polarized both the media and blogsphere between being the salvation of mankind or the quick route...

With delegates, energy/environment  ministers, business representatives and NGO leaders arriving in Durban for COP 17, attention again turns to the pressing issue of actually reducing global emissions.

The latest UNFCCC conference comes against the backdrop of two grim statistics of recent weeks - the record year on year (2009...

I have just been at the inaugural Global Green Growth Forum (3GF) in Copenhagen. This was a high level event, opened by the Crown Prince of Denmark and the new Danish Prime Minister, then following the initial panel discussion there was an introductory keynote by United Nations...

The script of former Vice President Al Gore's recent Climate Reality global web event started with the words, "Somewhere there may be an Earth where . . . . . . isn't happening" and went on to fill the blank...

As global natural gas production has risen and shale gas in the US impacts on the energy outlook for that country in particular, there has been increasing discussion about the impact of natural gas on climate change. Several scientific papers have recently been released questioning the carbon dioxide benefits of...