In Davos, calls for a circular, inclusive economy

The potential of oil & gas exporters to contribute to global decarbonization is vastly underappreciated. In the article linked below, I summarize our recent peer-reviewed paper showing how Norway (as an energy exporter) can help Germany (as an energy importer) to decarbonize rapidly, practically, and economically while maintaining attractive profit margins.  The key is to develop a local CCS industry (basically just oil & gas extraction in reverse) using the vast pool of relevant local expertise, and export a diversified mix of decarbonized energy products. Electricity and hydrogen can be exported to neighbouring countries, and a wide range of other easily tradeable and storable industrial products (exemplified by steel in our study) can access global markets, reducing risks from uneconomical green technology-forcing policies in neighbouring countries.

Plans to ban some of the most ‘environmentally damaging’ single-use plastic items in Scotland, including plastic cutlery and plastic straws, have been today (12 October) published for consultation.

In the middle of the Sahara desert on the western border of Algeria, refugee camps hosting tens of thousands of people rely completely on humanitarian aid: Water, food, and other basic supplies come in on trucks. Trash, on the other hand, doesn’t really leave; until recently, all the waste from the camps was dumped nearby in the desert into an ever-growing pile of plastic. But at a new recycling center at one of the camps, refugees are now turning that plastic trash into furniture and other products that they can use.  Precious Plastic, an organization with a DIY recycling system developed by a Dutch designer who wanted to make recycling more accessible, helped set up the center after the United Nations refugee agency, UNHCR, put out a call for solutions to help with the waste challenge at the camps.