The Jolt: Pylon pressure

Here are some of the main climate and energy stories making the news around the world:

• India’s government is reportedly working on a plan to push developed countries to target net-negative emissions by 2050 instead of net-zero. This is part of a bid to allow developing countries to burn fossil fuels for longer.
• EU environment ministers meet today to try and broker agreements on emissions standards for heavy duty vehicles and a joint negotiating position for the bloc to take to November’s COP28 climate summit.
• European energy ministers meet 17 October to try and agree on updated electricity market rules. Contracts for difference are the major sticking point.s.

• Russian president Vladimir Putin will meet Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping tomorrow in what is Putin’s first trip outside of the former Soviet Union this year. Energy is expected to be high on the leaders’ agenda.
• New Zealand’s general election this past weekend looks set to install a coalition government that may seek to overturn a ban on new offshore oil and gas exploration that was imposed in 2018. Check out the latest episode of the Policy Dispatch for more on New Zealand.
• The United States government revealed that seven hydrogen hubs are set to receive $7 billion in funding under the infrastructure law. Two of the hubs will include a focus on nuclear-sourced pink hydrogen, which is produced using nuclear power. Check out our latest article about this issue.
• Mongolia signed an agreement worth €1.6 billion with France that will allow a French nuclear fuel company to operate a uranium mine. The deal also includes a cooperation agreement on using satellites to search for lithium deposits.

• Electricity grids are a major part of the ongoing energy transition and are a global issue. Electrifying sectors that were previously powered by fossil fuels requires a big rethink and massive investments in grid infrastructure.
• Eurelectric’s Kristian Ruby says that Europe is in a good place in terms of our current needs but that upcoming objectives and targets will require much more planning and investment.
• The European Commission will publish a new grids action plan in November that will aim to spell out what needs to be done on grids and how it can be achieved.
• Tomorrow, the International Energy Agency will release a first-of-its-kind report on the global outlook for grids. Stay tuned here for that publication.
  

“Without transmission, there’s no transition”

• From a geopolitical point of view, grids are a hot topic. Ukraine successfully disconnected its infrastructure from Russia’s following last year’s invasion and ongoing work to do the same for the Baltic States has also been galvanised.
• The United States is getting serious on grids too. Kristian Ruby doubts that the impact of the Inflation Reduction Act will yet have trickled down to the sector, but it is very clear that North America is closely aligned with Europe on grid issues.