Ros Davidson

Articles by Ros Davidson. Visit Ros’ bio. Follow on LinkedIn

17 min
07/December/2023

Green Delta

 A hydrogen production and storage project in Utah is gaining attention in the United States. Its success could act as a catalyst for similar sites across North America
12 mins
11/May/2023

The next industrial revolution

 The major economies of China and the US have identified storage capacity as an industrial priority and are redesigning their markets to incentivise growth. The rest of the world’s economies are trying to compete but will instead need to ride the pair’s coattails to benefit
14 min
07/November/2022

Mobilise funds now to avoid the big cheques

 The cost of the energy transition as it stands is astronomical. But the returns are even greater. The longer investment targets are missed and policy frameworks are neglected, the pathway to a decarbonised economy becomes longer and more expensive. Added support for the developing world is also needed
14 min
13/October/2022

The strange case of small modular reactors

 A small but bullish band of researchers are developing small modular nuclear reactors (SMRs) to provide firm low-carbon electricity in a decentralised, flexible power system. But time to make an impact on the energy transition is running out
14 min
08/September/2022

The dawn of the second-hand market for batteries

 As the first generation of EVs begins to reach the end of its operational life, the car market is examining what to do with the batteries held within. With the demand for batteries set to increase in transport and other sectors, experts are examining how recycling and reusing old batteries can continue to support the energy transition
13 min
19/November/2021

Trusted messengers

 Governments are increasingly legislating for the building of new net-zero housing. But improving the green credentials of the existing housing stock is a much more difficult path to navigate. Now communities are being empowered to clean up their homes through collective action
14 min
07/September/2021

United States baulks at the political cost of a carbon price

 As major markets around the world add various forms of carbon tax, in the United States a country-wide price on carbon is a political non-starter
14 min
23/June/2021

The grid in search of a brain

 Around 50% of the shift from fossil fuels to renewable forms of energy has been a digitised transition to 2020, says Energinet, Denmark's power system operator. As the world digitises further, the already vast volumes of data will only increase in mass. Advances in Artificial Intelligence technology and machine learning tools provide ways of processing this tsunami of data into a new world order
7 min.
26/March/2021

Battery powered transportation is not yet as green as it should be

 While electric vehicles have proved to be better for the environment than those running on fossil fuel, their production leaves a bigger carbon footprint than making an internal combustion engine equivalent. How batteries for EVs are produced and for how long they last are decisive for making the shift to electric transport as carbon light as possible
8 min.
19/February/2021

Battery supply chains the oil pipelines of tomorrow

 For savvy investors, upstream opportunities in the EV battery market are opening up, driven by forecasts of soaring demand. Raw materials are plentiful, but mining and refining capacity of the minerals needed for high-grade vehicle batteries is under pressure, say market researchers
15 min.
06/January/2021

Charging ahead with electric vehicle infrastructure

 Three concerns are said to be hindering the uptake of electric passenger cars—high purchase cost, fear of a flat battery, and lack of charging infrastructure. But cost has fallen, the range of car batteries now rivals that of a full tank of fuel and recharging a depleted battery when the need arises is proving to be easier than expected
14 min.
13/November/2020

Oil and gas face adapt or decline moment

 To maintain investor interest, oil and gas firms need to be seen to be going green
13 min.
Natural gas has not yet reached its peak in the US, but the summit is in view17/September/2020

Fossil gas is losing its grip in America too

 Natural gas has not yet reached its peak in the US, but the summit is in view
4 min.
20/July/2020

Carrots not sticks created Norway’s electric vehicle paradise

 Norway has a high penetration of electric vehicles achieved by tax breaks and investment instead of restrictions
11 min.
06/July/2020

Trump will delay but not destroy an electric car future for America

 The United States, the home of the car, has yet to make the kind of market impact with electric vehicles (EVs) as it did with the internal combustion engine
5 min.
20/May/2020

The dirty British energy secret

 The UK is often cited as a leader in the transition to a clean energy economy, even though some British public money still flows to oil and fossil gas projects overseas
5 min.
20/May/2020

China: the elephant in the coal room

 China has pledged to peak carbon emissions by 2030 at the latest, but its economic plan for 2021-2025 is expected to approve the building of more coal-powered plants
15 min.
20/May/2020

Finance dries up for coal, but flows on for oil and gas

 COVID-19 may have reduced emissions in the short-term, but much more needs to happen to slash fossil fuel use to meet climate targets
7 min.
03/April/2020

Stimulus funds can transition economies away from climate wrecking activity

 The coronavirus is a deadly human tragedy, causing untold grief and pain. It is also rocking the world’s economies as people lose income and businesses struggle to stay afloat. Yet there are lessons to be learned for the climate crisis
3 min.
06/February/2020

Norway – where materials matter

 Oslo, the capital of Norway, has big climate action ambitions. Among initiatives to achieve them it is instigating regulations to cut carbon emissions associated with buildings under construction and during their operational life spans
3 min.
03/February/2020

Vancouver trailblazes on embodied carbon

 The Canadian city of Vancouver is leading efforts in North America to slash emissions released in the production of building construction materials, setting itself a 40% by 2030 reduction target
12 min.
30/January/2020

Embodied carbon the new frontier

 The world’s building stock is forecast to double in size by 2050 to house a global population of 11 billion. If climate neutrality is also to be met by this date, the construction industry will have to significantly slash emissions from the materials it uses
12 min.
19/December/2019

California shows the way on building electrification

 The argument for natural gas as a bridge to a cleaner renewable future has grown weaker as the case for electrification as the most efficient way to decarbonise has grown
5 min.
11/October/2019

A common language can unite energy saving efforts

 New York City has been testing a pilot version of a tool developed to estimate emissions from its buildings, potential refits, costs and benefits
6 min.
The deep retrofit of the Empire State Building showcases efficient use of energy, but more will be needed26/September/2019

Better to dance with than challenge an 800 pound gorilla

 The deep retrofit of the Empire State Building showcases efficient use of energy, but more will be needed
15 min.
25/September/2019

New York legislates to end era of dirty big buildings

 City achieves global first with aggressive retroactive climate rules for building stock
9 min.
Technological innovation is key to the wind industry reducing reliance on rare earth materials from China22/August/2019

Wind industry prepares for “bottlenecks and price hikes” in rare earth metals

 Technological innovation is key to the wind industry reducing reliance on rare earth materials from China
12 min.
11/July/2019

American Green New Deal faces gridlock

 Political and physical barriers will make it difficult for US Democrats to turn proposals for a Green New Deal in to reality
7 min.
New Mexico’s ways of managing a just transition for the climate and workers is being watched closely across the US03/June/2019

How a just transition for US coal workers is becoming reality

 New Mexico’s ways of managing a just transition for the climate and workers is being watched closely across the US
15 min.
As the world’s fifth largest economy and a pioneer of environmental laws and policy, all eyes are on California as it turns its attention to freeing its buildings of emissions. Ensuring new houses are equipped with solar panels and that they use no more renewable energy than they consume over the course of the year are top of the list, but existing houses and commercial buildings are also in line for an overhaul as part of the state’s bid to be carbon neutral by 204518/April/2019

World watches as California goes for net zero buildings

 California’s policies on the decarbonisation of buildings can become a model of what works in a thriving economy and what measures should be adopted more broadly in the US and beyond
5 min.
12/April/2019

Parisian radiators with brains

 Qarnot, a small company based outside Paris, France, is developing computing products that generate heat close to the end user
11 min.
Not one of the hyper-scale data centres, where thousands of servers are hosted in the same place, in the US use waste heat in a significant way10/April/2019

Tepid support for reusing waste heat from data centres

 Using waste heat from large data centres to heat homes and offices may seem like a no-brainer, but making a business case for getting heat from out-of-town data centres to urban areas at a correct temperature is complicated and costly

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