|
Justin Rowlatt, BBC News
There is continuing coverage of Ørsted’s decision to cancel current plans for a “huge windfarm” off the coast of East Yorkshire, reports BBC News. The Danish company’s Hornsea 4 project had a potential capacity of 2.4GW, which would have made it one of the biggest offshore windfarms in the world, it adds. “The decision to halt work on the project is a major blow to the government’s plan to quadruple the UK’s offshore wind capacity by the end of the decade to help create a virtually fossil-fuel-free electricity system”, reports the Guardian. The UK currently has around 15GW of offshore wind and Hornsea 4’s size would have provided almost 7% of the additional capacity needed for the UK’s 50GW 2030 target, reports the Times. Ørsted has said it will "evaluate options for future development" at the site, having already secured seabed rights, a grid connection agreement and planning permission from the government, reports BusinessGreen. Politico quotes a spokesperson for the Department of Energy Security and Net Zero, who says the government will “work with Ørsted to get Hornsea 4 back on track” and adds that there is still a “strong pipeline of projects to deliver clean power by 2030”. The company cites the “deteriorating global business environment for renewables” for its decision, reports Reuters. It adds that the Danish company's market value has “fallen by around 80% from its 2021 peak as costs have risen, supply chains have been disrupted and US president Donald Trump's opposition to offshore wind has sapped investor confidence”. The story is also covered by Bloomberg, the Daily Mail, Press Association and others.
In other UK news, Spanish energy giant Iberdrola has secured a £600m loan from the UK’s National Wealth Fund, reports the Financial Times. The money will go to upgrading the electricity network, helping to accommodate changes in the coming years due to the growth of renewable energy, reports Bloomberg. In particular, it will speed up seven of ScottishPower’s priority transmission grid upgrade projects including the Eastern Green Link projects, helping to transport renewable power from Scotland to England, adds Reuters. Plans to build a new hydro-electric facility next to energy company Drax’s existing Ben Cruachan site, near Dalmally in Argyll, have been put on hold, reports BBC News.
Elsewhere, Reform UK’s “green energy assault” in Lincolnshire will put £1bn in local investments and more than 12,000 jobs at risk, reports the Guardian. According to new analysis from the Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit (ECIU), the party’s plans to block, as it claims, “net stupid zero” infrastructure, including solar farms, pylons and battery storage systems will significantly hit jobs in the region, it adds. British Steel is recruiting 180 new members of staff “less than a month after the government stepped in to save 2,700 jobs at the Scunthorpe-based company”, reports the Times. Oil and gas company Harbour Energy has announced plans to cut its workforce by a quarter, reports Reuters. The company, the UK’s largest oil and gas producer, expects to cut 250 jobs in Aberdeen, reports BBC News. This follows the company announcing 350 UK onshore job losses in 2023, it adds. Harbour criticised the “punitive” fiscal regime in the oil and gas sector, as well as the pace of progress on carbon capture projects, reports the Times.
Jana Tauschinski and Attracta Mooney, Financial Times
New data shows that the monthly average global temperature topped the “1.5C warming level” for 21 out of the past 22 months, reports the Financial Times. The European planetary data service Copernicus has found that April was the second-hottest recorded at 14.96C, or 1.51C above the estimated 1850-1900 average, it adds. As such, April was just 0.7C cooler than the record set in 2024, while the global average temperature over the past year was 1.58C above the pre-industrial level, it continues. “The continued warming comes as efforts to tackle global warming caused by greenhouse gas emissions are set back by competing pressures on governments to respond to trade, defence and other economic demands”, adds the Financial Times.
In other science news, a new study has concluded that the world’s wealthiest 10% are responsible for two-thirds of global heating since 1990, reports the Guardian. (The study has been summarised in depth by Carbon Brief.) The study – the first to quantify the impact of concentrated private wealth on extreme climate events – argues that “the way in which the rich consume and invest has substantially increased the risk of heatwaves and droughts”, reports Al Jazeera. The finding is also covered by Agence France-Presse, the Times of India, Yale 360, the Independent and others. Separately, the Independent covers a study that finds that 100 million children born in 2020 are expected to face “dangerous” extreme heatwaves during their lifetimes. (The study is also covered in full by Carbon Brief.)
Barney Jopson, Financial Times
Spain’s prime minister Pedro Sánchez has told parliament that he will not deviate a “single millimetre” from his commitment to renewable energy following last week’s "catastrophic blackout” in the country, reports the Financial Times. Sánchez hit back at critics who have tried to blame the blackout on the country’s dependence on wind and solar power, although he acknowledged that the cause of the incident is still unknown, it adds. (Carbon Brief has examined everything that is currently known about the event.) Speaking to parliament, Sanchez said: “We are not going to deviate a single millimetre from the energy road map we have planned since 2018. Not only are renewables our country’s energy future, they are our only and best option. They are the only way to reindustrialise Spain.” Sanchez also took aim at nuclear-power advocates, who he said were using the blackout as an excuse for a “gigantic manipulation exercise”, reports the Daily Telegraph. He added: “Not a single serious study says nuclear power is essential for Spain.” Portuguese grid operator REN has announced it will allow utilities to resume imports of electricity from Spain, but the transmission capacity will be limited to around a third of what it was before the blackout that hit both countries, reports Reuters.
Karen Zraick and Shawn Hubler, The New York Times
A coalition of US states has sued the Trump administration, arguing that it has unlawfully withheld billions of dollars allocated by Congress for electric vehicle (EV) charging stations across the US, reports the New York Times. Led by Washington, Colorado and California, the lawsuit focuses on the 2021 bipartisan infrastructure law that provided $5bn to states to build stations, with 71 having been built so far and many more in development, it adds. “The lawsuit, filed in the US District Court for the Western District of Washington in Seattle, states that federal agencies have unlawfully frozen those funds and halted approvals for new stations, depriving states of critical resources and damaging the growing electric-vehicle industry”, the article continues. Of the $5bn allocated, an estimated $3.3bn is still available, reports the Associated Press. Yesterday, Rob Bonta, California’s attorney-general, accused Trump of stripping away billions in federal funding and working to “roll back environmental and climate change protections”, reports the Financial Times. “California will not back down, not from Big Oil, and not from federal over-reach,” he said in a statement, the article adds.
In other US news, according to a report by Environment America, renewables have tripled over the past decade, but $8bn in projects is now at risk, reports the Guardian. Trump is proposing a reorganisation to the Environmental Protection Agency targets divisions, including Energy Star, a “widely popular program designed to help lower energy costs for American households”, reports the Los Angeles Times. According to the New York Times, Paul Gunning, the director of the EPA office of atmospheric protection, told staff: “The Energy Star program and all the other climate work, outside of what’s required by statute, is being de-prioritized and eliminated”. Experts have warned that the end of the program could raise energy bills and comes “amid the president’s hatred of water-conserving showers”, reports the Guardian. Separately, the Guardian covers a study which has found that smoke from “climate-fueled fires” in the US have contributed to 15,000 deaths over 15 years.
In other EV news, Tesla has seen its shipments decline for the seventh consecutive month, reports Bloomberg. The company’s China-made EV sales fell 6% in April, adds Reuters. In the UK, the company sold just 512 cars in April, reports the Times.
Hallie Gu, Bloomberg
The upcoming “hot and dry” weather will pose risks to wheat production in China’s Henan province, which accounts for nearly a third of the nation’s total wheat output in 2024, Bloomberg reports. The outlet adds that the weather condition “comes just ahead of a harvest season” and could potentially disrupt Beijing’s attempts to “bolster food security during a trade war with the US”. Weather China and Xinhua also warn of looming extreme weather.
Meanwhile, state-run newspaper China Daily reports that China is now “strategically positioned to tap into ‘new-type’ energy storage”, which is expected to exceed 30 gigawatts (GW) in 2025. A new policy on “strengthening the safety management of electrochemical energy storage” has been issued, BJX News reports. Elsewhere, Nikkei Asia reports that seven leading Chinese solar panel manufacturers have reported a “combined net loss” in 2024 for the first time since 2017. In the first quarter of 2025, China’s utilisation rate of wind power and solar power reached 93.4% and 93.8%, respectively, according to BJX News. Bloomberg reports that Tesla’s shipments from its Shanghai factory have “declined for a seventh consecutive month”.
Finally, Chinese president Xi Jinping has arrived in Moscow for a four-day visit, the Guardian reports, adding that Xi is expected to discuss issues including the “planned Power of Siberia 2 gas pipeline, which could carry 50bn cubic metres of gas a year from Russia to China”.
Damian Carrington, The Guardian
The UK government is funding “real-world” geoengineering experiments around the world, reports the Guardian. “They will test sun-reflecting particles in the stratosphere, brightening reflective clouds using sprays of seawater and pumping water on to sea ice to thicken it,” the article continues. The government-backed Advanced Research and Invention Agency (Aria) says it is looking to get the “critical missing scientific data” that, as the newspaper describes, is “vital” as the Earth approaches “several catastrophic” climate tipping points. Aria has received nearly £60m in funding from the government for projects such as solar radiation management, despite concerns from critics who argue it could impact weather patterns, health and distract from decarbonisation, reports BBC News. The 21 projects being pur | 