Things are moving so fast. Most of us are so busy. This slide show offers one person's precis-for-the-busy of the last three months in the related dramas of climate change, energy transition, big tech and the future of civilisation. I hope it is useful. For the powerpoint version, with source urls, see www.jeremyleggett.net.

1. 2018 Q1:
An eclectic chronology in pictures and charts
of developments in climate, energy, tech
and the future of civilisation

2. 7th Jan
2016
2nd Jan
2018
2017 was the hottest year on record without an El
Niño, by far, and the second hottest ever
Source: NASA

3. “I too have a Nuclear Button, but it is a much bigger &
more powerful one than his, and my Button works!”
7th Jan
2016
2nd Jan
2018
Trump on Twitter, responding to Kim Jong Un mentioning in a new year
speech that the North Korean button was on his desk at all times

4. 7th Jan
2016
3rd Jan
2018
Russia’s gas exports to Europe rise to record high
for second consecutive year in 2017
Up 8.1% to 193 billion cubic metres
Gazprom, the monopoly supplier, now supplies 40% of European gas

5. 7th Jan
2016
3rd Jan
2018
Wind supplies record 43.6% of Denmark’s
electricity, with no grid problems
Target is 50% with a further 30% from solar, biomass and other
renewables - 80% in all by 2020

6. 7th Jan
2016
3rd Jan
2018
More than half Norway’s new car sales electric or
hybrid in 2017 for the first time
Norway targets 100% EV new car sales by 2025

7. 7th Jan
2016
4th Jan
2018
One of UK’s largest energy investors warns too
many companies are ignoring the energy transition
“We know there are still management teams - and boards - with their
heads stuck in the sand”: LGAM CIO in FT

8. 7th Jan
2016
4th Jan
2018
Court challenge to Arctic oil drilling
in Norway defeated

9. Two hardware bugs, worst ever, found on virtually all
computers, laptops, tablets and smartphones
7th Jan
2016
4th Jan
2018
They are in chips for CPUs. “Meltdown” is patchable. “Spectre” is not.
Class actions against Intel et al are pending. So is hacker exploitation.

10. 7th Jan
2016
4th Jan
2018
Coral reefs head for ‘knock-out punch’ as bleaching
episodes return ever more frequently
From once every 25-30 years in the early 1980s to an average of once
every 6 years today: International scientists team publishing in Science

11. 7th Jan
2016
4th Jan
2018
Oceans suffocating as huge dead zones quadruple
since 1950, Smithsonian-led scientific team warns
Fossil fuel burning is the cause of the large-scale deoxygenation: warmer
waters hold less oxygen.
Where the heat
from global
warming goes:
Source:SkepticalScience

12. “The leveraged economy blows up in 2018”:
Steve St Angelo on SRSrocco Report
7th Jan
2016
4th Jan
2018

13. 7th Jan
2016
5th Jan
2018
Saudi Arabia shortlists Acwa and Marubeni over
record-breaker Masdar for 300MW solar
Original Masdar/EDF bid was $17.8 MWh.
Acwa bid $23.4 and Marubeni bid $26.6 …Acwa later awarded contract

14. 7th Jan
2016
7th Jan
2018
Growth of Shell’s oil and gas operations in the next
decade will depend on shale production: CEO
With “a little bit of help from the oil price going up, we now see that we
can significantly accelerate investment into this opportunity”

15. Apple investors call for action over iPhone
‘addiction’ among children
7th Jan
2016
8th Jan
2018
Owners of $2bn of stock including CalSTRS make a range of suggestions
for controls, oversight, and access to data on use.

16. US plans to loosen constraints on nuclear weapon use
and develop more ‘usable’ warheads
7th Jan
2016
9th Jan
2018
Leak of policy review shows return to first strike thinking
of the Reagan years.

17. 7th Jan
2016
10th Jan
2018
New York sues big oil companies for climate change
damage and “deliberate deception”
ExxonMobil leads rebuttals: “a complete fabrication that was conceived,
paid for, and executed by anti-oil and gas activists”
Mayor Bill de Blasio

18. 7th Jan
2016
10th Jan
2018
NYC becomes largest US city planning to divest its
pension funds from fossil fuels: $5 bn out of $189 bn
Financial future of police officers, teachers and firefighters is “linked to
the sustainability of the planet,” Comptroller Scott Stringer says

19. A swarm of armed home-made drones attacks
two Russian military bases in Syria
7th Jan
2016
11th Jan
2018
13 drones, each with small bombs. No damage or casualties.
Attack blamed on Turkish supported rebels.

20. 7th Jan
2016
11th Jan
2018
Leaked IPCC report on 1.5˚C Paris target puts
remaining budget at 580 Gt for a 50% chance

21. 7th Jan
2016
11th Jan
2018
Unusually clear air in Beijing as action
on smog begins to bite
PM2.5 emissions fell around Beijing during Q4 2017 vs Q4 2016,
despite recovering growth and higher energy usage

22. 7th Jan
2016
13th Jan
2018
Renewable electricity will be consistently in lower
range of undercutting fossil fuels by 2020: IRENA
e.g. Expect global weighted cost of utility-scale solar PV to fall from
$0.10/kWh in 2017 to $0.03 in 2018, and to average $0.06

23. 7th Jan
2016
13th Jan
2018
ACWA Power becomes first utility-scale generator
to adopt SolarCoin
One SolarCoin for every MWh of solar energy produced … 2GW claimed
by Acwa = 2 million coins per year = $5m at today’s price of $2.5
Price $2Market cap $82m
coinmarketcap.com

24. 7th Jan
2016
13th Jan
2018 Shell buys stake in US solar developer Silicon Ranch
43% for $217 million. The company has 880 MW of projects underway in
14 states and a development pipeline of 1 GW.

25. Apple CEO Tim Cook:
“I don’t want my nephew on a social network”
7th Jan
2016
16th Jan
2018

26. 7th Jan
2016
19th Jan
2018
Nissan launches a solar power management system
for homes in partnership with Solarcentury

27. 7th Jan
2016
21st Jan
2018
Lloyd's of London to divest from coal
over climate change
“It would behove the industry
to look very closely at where all
capital is invested. Fossil-fuel-
related operations should be
eschewed, and solar energy
and energy-efficiency projects
favoured.”
Dr Jeremy Leggett
Report presented at
Lloyd’s of London
February 1993

28. 7th Jan
2016
22nd Jan
2018
Global solar lighting sales actually fell in 2017
…despite $600 m in “impact” investment 2016 &
2017

29. 7th Jan
2016
22nd Jan
2018
Global solar lighting sales actually fell in 2017
…despite $600 m in “impact” investment 2016 &
2017

30. Inequality gap widens as 42 people
hold same wealth as 3.7bn poorest
7th Jan
2016
22nd Jan
2018
Oxfam survey of 70,000 in 10 countries shows nearly two-thirds of
people – 72% in the UK – want urgent action to close rich / poor gap.

31. 7th Jan
2016
23rd Jan
2018
If RE100 were a country, it would be 24th biggest
in the world in terms of electricity use
122 members now. Their demand for renewable electricity is up 49%. 25
of them achieved 100% by end 2016. 4x PPA increase in a year.
Source: RE100 Progress and Insights report

32. Elon Musk lines up $55bn payday if he grows Tesla's
market cap from current $59bn to $650bn
7th Jan
2016
23rd Jan
2018
Payment is graduated: 12 agreed increments en route
Only Apple (908bn), Alphabet and Microsoft are worth more today.

33. George Soros: Facebook and Google are a “menace”
to society and must be regulated
7th Jan
2016
26th Jan
2018
He fears merger of their surveillance with that of states, leading to
“a web of totalitarian control the likes of which not even
Aldous Huxley or George Orwell could have imagined”

34. 7th Jan
2016
26th Jan
2018
CEO Sundar Pichai: Like fire, “AI is really important
…but we have to be concerned about it.”
Artificial intelligence will have more impact on the
world than fire or electricity, says Google boss

35. 7th Jan
2016
28th Jan
2018
China builds 40 MW floating solar plant
above an abandoned coal mine
The mine collapsed after an explosion, and a lake formed over the site.
A 150 MW project is due on the same site May 2018.
Anhui province, China

36. 1940: 6 in 7 barrels used by Allies
in WW2 come from the US
1950: Car use and oil imports
soar
Nov 1990
Peak
1977
Alaska
2008:
Fracking
in shale
2014 Price
collapse
…recovery
7th Jan
2016
31st Jan
2018
Shale pushes US oil output above 10 mbd:
to heights last seen in 1970

37. 7th Jan
2016
1st Feb
2018
China dwarfs other nations manufacturing batteries,
with a pipeline >3x rest of the world combined

38. 7th Jan
2016
1st Feb
2018
CATL aims to use a $2bn IPO to expand and become
the world’s No. 1 battery cell maker

39. 7th Jan
2016
3rd Feb
2018
Exxon publishes its climate risk assessment: growth
through 2040 while burning almost unfettered
Current reserves of 20 BBOE will need replacing with a further 35 BBOE
…and all of this 55 BBOE is burnable with a 2˚C scenario, they say
Energy mix 2016 to 2040
Average annual
growth rate: 0.9%
Growth rates 2016 to 2040

40. 7th Jan
2016
4th Feb
2018
Direct air capture plus “air-to-fuels”: new
development in Gates-funded project
CO2 extracted is now being combined with hydrogen split from water
with clean electricity. Industrial scalability is unknown as yet.
DAC test site, Squamish, Canada

41. 7th Jan
2016
5th Feb
2018
World's largest home virtual power plant by far on
the way in S. Australia using Tesla solar & batteries
50,000 homes each with 5 kW and a 13,500 kWh Powerwall 2
= 250 MW and 650 MWh …a fossil power plant …but bills 30% lower

42. 7th Jan
2016
5th Feb
2018
EIA 2017 shale oil projection “highly to extremely
optimistic, and are very unlikely to be realized”: PCI
$ hundreds of billions in
debt to do this much
$7.7 trillion needed to drill 1.29 million wells
In EIA’s projected production

43. “Quantum computers may be more of an imminent
threat than AI”
7th Jan
2016
5th Feb
2018
IBM, Google, Microsoft and Intel say that they are getting close to
making quantum computers work

44. Former Google and Facebook workers launch
campaign to fight tech addiction
7th Jan
2016
5th Feb
2018
Brainchild of the Center for Humane Technology, led by former Google
designer Tristan Harris & former Facebook advisor Roger McNamee.

45. IBM develops an AI that can predict psychosis with
relative precision using only a person's speech
7th Jan
2016
5th Feb
2018
Computational Psychiatry and Neuroimaging group back-casts against
2015 dataset that matched speech patterns with later psychosis.

46. 7th Jan
2016
6th Feb
2018 BP CEO Bob Dudley: “Its not a race to renewables”
Only $0.5 bn of its $15-16bn capex will be invested in clean energy.
DAC test site, Squamish, Canada
Not like in
2000 then…
A BP “Beyond
Petroleum”
advert, 2000

47. 7th Jan
2016
6th Feb
2018
French Ministers and EC demand EU only make trade
deals with nations that ratify Paris Agreement
So far 156 of 197 signatories have ratified.
Those yet to ratify include US, Russia, and Turkey.

48. 7th Jan
2016
6th Feb
2018
The US shale boom has been “a Ponzi scheme since
day one” doomed to collapse as fast as it has grown
So argues @SRSroccoReport, based on the buildup of debt
as evidenced in data collated e.g. by the FT above.

49. 7th Jan
2016
6th Feb
2018
ACWA Power wins 1st ever Saudi utility-scale RE
project with world record price of $23 MWh
The first procurement in the Saudi national renewables program aiming
to produce 9.5 GW of renewable energy by 2023 as a first phase.
ACWA’s 260 MW Shuaa project in Dubai

50. 7th Jan
2016
6th Feb
2018
“How Tesla's big battery is bringing Australia’s
gas cartel to heel”
RenewEconomy: gas companies manufacture shortages to hike prices
for frequency control …and the big battery kicks in much cheaper

51. 7th Jan
2016
6th Feb
2018
Carbon Tracker explains carbon budget assumptions
behind the varying published budgets
Variables: Time frame, energy-only or total-carbon, degree of non-CO2
GHG mitigation, split of coal-oil-gas, CCS & net-negative assumptions

52. 7th Jan
2016
6th Feb
2018
“Back in 2008, we were barely writing about PV
...and storage was nowhere to be found”
“The Solar Century: The past, present, and world-changing future
of solar energy” – book published 2009
“Vision 4: Solar photovoltaics at
grid parity everywhere, years
earlier than most expected”
“Vision 5: Energy storage plants
throughout the smart grid
…many of them also vehicles”

53. Test flight footage of Autonomous Drone Vehicle
posted on YouTube by Chinese firm Ehang
7th Jan
2016
10th Feb
2018
1,000 flight tests completed, senior Chinese officials already
transported, can carry a single person up to 10 miles at 80mph.

54. Tech companies own a trillion-dollar offshore “cash
pile” that is actually a giant bond portfolio
7th Jan
2016
11th Feb
2018
10 companies hold 80% of this. They are “the new investment banks”,
using their own low-interest debt to buy high yield corporate debt.
Rana Foroohar in the
Financial Times

55. 7th Jan
2016
12th Feb
2018
“A Powerful Mix of Solar and Batteries
Is Beating Natural Gas”
e.g. California PURC requires PG&E to use batteries over gas / Arizona PS
Co opts for a First Solar solar-battery project cheaper than gas
The Way Humans Get Electricity Is About To Change Forever

56. 7th Jan
2016
12th Feb
2018
Carbon Tracker response to ExxonMobil: better than
anything they have done yet on climate risk, but….
What price do you expect for current reserves in a demand-constrained
Paris world? What capital goes to replace reserves, and at what risk?
Big unanswered questions on value at risk, says 2017
Business Green NGO of the Year 2017

57. “Unilever warns Big Tech to drain online
ads ‘swamp’”
7th Jan
2016
12th Feb
2018
“As one of the largest advertisers in the world, we cannot have an
environment where our consumers don’t trust what they see online.”
Keith Weed, CMO
Who had a €7.7 bn
budget in 2017
…world’s second biggest

58. 7th Jan
2016
13th Feb
2018
Rare effort to sum finances of fracking in the USA
since dawn of the shale gas boom
Prof David Smythe for TEDx: income has been half costs plus borrowing
…and rapid production declines won’t allow bonds to be repaid
Unconventional well finances 2007 – 2016 inclusive
350
70
227
647
Historic income (gas sales) 1
Drilling / completion cost 2
Royalties, leases, interest etc 3
Issuance of debt – junk bonds 4
324
$ billion

59. 7th Jan
2016
13th Feb
2018
UK government accused of dishonesty
in regulation of fracking by eminent geophysicist
Prof David Smythe: risk in fault leakage covered up, & definitions of
“conventional” & water volume bent to misclassify fracked wells.

60. 7th Jan
2016
13th Feb
2018
Leaked IPCC report: 1.5˚C 66% chance target
“already out of reach”

61. 7th Jan
2016
15th Feb
2018
First ship takes direct route across Arctic ice
cap…and it is an LNG carrier

62. 7th Jan
2016
15th Feb
2018 Netherlands bans fracking
Shale gas “not an option”, economics minister tells parliament.

63. 7th Jan
2016
15th Feb
2018
ExxonMobil sues its suers, alleging a conspiracy to
suppress its freedom of speech on climate
At least 30 people and organizations are targeted, including the
attorneys general of New York and Massachusetts.

64. Bill Gates warns Silicon Valley of
technology’s dangerous potential
7th Jan
2016
15th Feb
2018
“There’s always the question how much technology is empowering a
small group of people to cause damage.”

65. “Only the EU can break Facebook and Google's
dominance”: George Soros
7th Jan
2016
15th Feb
2018
Reasons: “more far sighted” social policies, stronger privacy & data
protection laws, tighter monopoly laws, “no problem giants” of its own.
Margrethe Vestager
EU Competition Commissioner

66. “A space revolution: do tiny satellites threaten
our privacy?”
7th Jan
2016
15th Feb
2018
With its fleet of 1920 satellites, Planet can take daily photographs at
high resolution of every spot on the planet.

67. Special counsel indicts Russians for illegally
influencing the US presidential campaign
7th Jan
2016
16th Feb
2018
13 Russian nationals and 3 Russian organizations join 4 former Trump
aides on criminal charge sheet.

68. Facebook ordered to stop collecting user data
by Belgian court, or face fines of up to €100m
7th Jan
2016
16th Feb
2018
A battle which began in 2015, with evidence Facebook’s tracking of all
visitors without explicit consent used cookies breaching EU law.

69. 7th Jan
2016
20th Feb
2018
BP projects demand for oil & gas in 2040 +/- same
as today even with fast transition to RE and EVs
Oil demand in 2040 higher than today’s even with an ban on petrol
engines by 2040 and a “renewables push”.

70. 7th Jan
2016
20th Feb
2018
“Oil majors see their chance in staid world
of utilities”
Significant deals ($bn) in renewables show oil majors following in the
steps of utilities in recent years ….but still at low levels of total capex.

71. Patagonia “grows every time it amplifies
its social mission”
7th Jan
2016
21st Feb
2018
…which it last did the day after Donald Trump was elected US President.
Listed No. 6 World’s Most Innovative Companies 2018.
CEO Rose Marcario

72. 7th Jan
2016
23rd Feb
2018
California Court rules Trump administration must
enforce Obama methane leak rule on gas industry
Preliminary injunction granted against the Interior Department’s BLM,
blocking November action that tried to delay enforcement for a year.

73. 7th Jan
2016
23rd Feb
2018
Sonnen adds EVs to its battery
aggregation 'community'
The company’s linking of now c.8,000 battery systems, in a scheme
launched in 2015, is already the world's largest Virtual Power Plant.
Performance of the
sonnencommunity

74. 7th Jan
2016
26th Feb
2018
Floaters, drones and power-kites will soon be the
offshore wind ‘norm’, says Catapult

75. We need a global cyberwar treaty,
says the former head of GCHQ
7th Jan
2016
21st Feb
2018
Richard Hannigan: “I think the worrying thing is that international
relations at the moment mean that people don't feel constrained.”

76. 7th Jan
2016
27th Feb
2018 43 cities are now 100% renewable powered
The 43 are mostly in Latin America. Of 570 cities reporting to CDP, 101
are 70% or more renewable powered, compared to 42 in 2015.

77. 7th Jan
2016
27th Feb
2018
Driverless cars given green light to operate
without human occupants in California
Fifty companies, including Alphabet, Uber, Apple, GM, Ford and Toyota
are already testing self-driving cars in the state.

78. 7th Jan
2016
27th Feb
2018
“Fundamentals do not matter to new breed of
oil speculator”
The net-long position has swelled to a record of 1bn barrels equivalent
“…helping sustain prices above $60 a barrel”.

79. 7th Jan
2016
28th Feb
2018
Public investment in warmer homes in England
cut by 58% since 2012
32,000 excess winter deaths p.a. in the UK, c. 9,700 due to cold homes.
England has the 2nd worst record of 30 EU countries.

80. Oxford PV aims for a product, using perovskite to
enhance silicon PV cells, ready for market by 2019
7th Jan
2016
28th Feb
2018
Typical solar cell efficiency of 21-22% today can be lifted to c.25% with a
perovskite layer …potentially unspoolable from a printer like paper.

81. UK running out of gas, warns National Grid
during 'beast from the east' cold spell
7th Jan
2016
1st Mar
2018
Industrial may face shutdowns. Ineos agrees to cut consumption and
says this makes the case for UK shale gas production.
Power price
also spikes:
from the usual
£45-50 MWh
to £990 MWh
Within-day gas price, pence per therm

82. GE unveils 12MW offshore wind turbine,
Heliade-X …world’s largest, for deployment 2021
7th Jan
2016
1st Mar
2018
Big Ben
96m
London Eye
135m
Heliade-X
260m
Eiffel Tower
390m
Chrysler Building
319m
67 GWh p.a., 45% > best-in-class current turbine, = 16,000 homes
107m blade, 20m longer than today’s longest.

83. First phase of world’s largest solar park
inaugurated in Karnataka, India
7th Jan
2016
1st Mar
2018
600 MW of 2 GW, ($2.5bn), rest expected by end of year.
Unique: government takes on a lease from farmers owning land.
Pavagada Solar Park

84. Mexico grows ever close to being a net oil importer
with PEMEX $18 bn loss pushing debt to $96bn
7th Jan
2016
1st Mar
2018
“We must remember when Egypt switched from being a net exporter to
net importer of oil; the Arab Spring occurred the very next year.”

85. DSM was Dutch State Mining. “Doing Something
Meaningful” is now more appropriate, CEO says.
7th Jan
2016
1st Mar
2018
Fieke Sijbesma announces excellent results exceeding both business
and sustainability targets. “….Our purpose is sustainability.”

86. Volkswagen sets out “we knew nothing” defence
against investor lawsuit over dieselgate
7th Jan
2016
1st Mar
2018
VW writes 329 page defence arguing nobody at board level was aware
of the fraudulent nature of the software until the EPA’s notice.

87. Russia to deploy ‘unstoppable’ nuclear weapons
says Putin
7th Jan
2016
1st Mar
2018
“Avangard” ICBM flying 20x the speed of sound, hypersonic air-launched
“Dagger” missile, plus long-range torpedo & cruise missiles.

88. US shale gas production since January 2015:
60% from Marcellus, Permian and Utica
7th Jan
2016
2nd Mar
2018
Barnett, Fayetteville and Eagleford are in terminal decline.

89. Shale gas represents 64% of US dry gas production
7th Jan
2016
2nd Mar
2018
Marcellus provides 24% of US production and
38% of shale gas production.

90. Industry
Electricity
Scotland, on track for 48% emissions reductions
by 2020, publishes national plan for 2032
7th Jan
2016
2nd Mar
2018
Renewables 50% of energy needs by 2030 (no new petrol & diesel
vehicles by 2032). Campaigners say buildings target v. unambitious.
MtCO2e cut on 1990 level
Buildings
Transport
LULUCF
Agriculture
…en route to
90% cut by 2050
in proposed
climate bill
Waste

91. Tight oil is a marginally profitable business at best:
73% of companies lose money
7th Jan
2016
3rd Mar
2018
Capex v cash from operations based on 10K full 2017 filings

92. Tight oil is a marginally profitable business at best:
73% of companies lose money
7th Jan
2016
3rd Mar
2018
Capex v cash from operations based on 10K full 2017 filings

93. “Siberian gas delivery to UK offers relief
after cold blast”
7th Jan
2016
3rd Mar
2018
Shell to collect the cargo from a Russian LNG icebreaker, and carry to the
UK LNG terminal at Milford Haven for regasification & input to grid.
Sabetta LNG facility, Siberia

94. Government “pours doubt” on shale gas industry
“even as UK faces gas shortage”
7th Jan
2016
3rd Mar
2018
Old estimate of just 125 wells by 2025 “out of date”, one minister says. 3
weeks ago another put regulatory brakes on a well in North Yorkshire.

95. IEA and OPEC chiefs warn of global oil supply crunch
after 2020 without major investment in production
7th Jan
2016
3rd Mar
2018
Industry yet to recover from 25% drop in investment 2015-16, and IEA
foresees +/- no increase ex-USA in 2018 ….& 104 mbd demand by 2023.
Output loss from post-peak conventional crude oil fields
Ageing oil fields lose > 3 mbd per year despite slowing decline rates
OPEC
Non OPEC
2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017
0
1
2
3
4
5
mbd

96. Algorithms played a major amplifying role role in
the recent stock market volatility
7th Jan
2016
3rd Mar
2018
Exchange-traded funds - not reflecting company fundamentals, tradable
in fractions of a second - now account for c.30% of US stock trades.

97. Senior Shell and Eni executives face prospect of jail
for bribery as NIgerian bribery case opens in Italy
7th Jan
2016
4th Mar
2018
Claudi Descalzi, Eni’s serving CEO, is one of the executives charged:
a first. 13 people charged, including 5 Eni and 4 Shell executives.

98. Donald Trump praises Xi Jinping's President-for-life
power grab & says….
7th Jan
2016
4th Mar
2018
“Dictators are always arrogant. It’s a disaster for political civilization.”
Qiao Mu, exiled Chinese journalism professor.

99. “Nanobots kill off cancerous tumours as fiction
becomes reality”
7th Jan
2016
4th Mar
2018
A US/Chinese team shrinks tumours in mice inhibits their spread by
injecting nanometre-sized bots made of folded DNA.

100. “We are close to manufacturing working robots that
can be fabricated to walk right out of a 3D printer”
7th Jan
2016
4th Mar
2018
“Systems will soon be reading and synthesising massive amounts of
written information, including entire libraries of books.”

101. Pension funds “widely misunderstand” fiduciary
responsibility / climate risk, UK government admits
7th Jan
2016
5th Mar
2018
DWP: “Recent research has suggested that a lack of attention and
outright misunderstanding remain widespread among trustees.”

102. Sunrun overtakes Tesla as number one in US rooftop
solar and seeks $500m debt financing for growth
7th Jan
2016
6th Mar
2018
c. 15% growth in 2017 in a market contracting after 16 consecutive years
of growth. 323 MW installed.

103. Nissan and E.On form strategic partnership
aiming at free power for all EVs via V2G
7th Jan
2016
6th Mar
2018
Bi-directional charging technology will allow customers to draw energy
from the grid to power EVs and also ‘sell’ energy back to the grid.

104. 6000
5000
4000
3000
2000
1000
Fossil fuel groups risk wasting minimum $1.6 trillion
capex 2018 – 2025 if Paris Agreement implemented
7th Jan
2016
7th Mar
2018
Source: IEA, Rystad Energy, Wood Mackenzie, Carbon Tracker analysis
Scenarios: 1.75˚C 2˚C 2.7˚C
(50% probability) (IEA B2DS) (IEA SDS) (IEA NPS)
2018–2025capex$bn
Capex: $3.3 tn $4.8 tn
Thermal coal: $60 bn at risk
Gas: $230 bn at risk
Oil: $1,300 bn at risk

105. Former Petrobras CEO found guilty of corruption
and jailed for 11 years
7th Jan
2016
7th Mar
2018
Part of a sweeping investigation into corruption known as Lava Jato, or
Car Wash. Politicians, businessmen and other former senior executives
of Petrobras and its contractors have been convicted.

106. U.S. government loses bid to halt Oregon children's
climate change lawsuit against it and oil majors
7th Jan
2016
7th Mar
2018
Federal Appeals Court refuses to dismiss the lawsuit without addressing
the government’s alleged “knowing decision to poison the air.”

107. Tech billionaires are allocating insufficient funds to
the fight against cyber crime: Hewlett Foundation
7th Jan
2016
7th Mar
2018
Larry Kramer, President: Its an arms race, using their creations,
threatening disaster just like the nuclear arms race that began in 1950s.

108. China’s CO2 emissions grew 1.4% in 2017
after 3 years flat or falling
7th Jan
2016
8th Mar
2018
Official statistics show much lower than commonly estimated growth
in both coal consumption and CO2 emissions.

109. “Stop reasoning with the oil majors and sell their
shares instead”: Tom Sanzillo writing in the FT
7th Jan
2016
8th Mar
2018
“The shareholder engagement process increasingly
looks like a cynical exercise” where they just talk to buy time.
Tom Sanzillo, former first deputy
comptroller of New York State

110. Shell to bet billions on US shale by bidding for
retreating loss maker BHP's shale division
7th Jan
2016
8th Mar
2018
The Charge of The Light Brigade
A $10 billion offer, jointly with US private equity group Blackstone.

111. Eternal Blue, the NSA “spy tool that hacked the
world”, still creates cyber havoc a year after its leak
7th Jan
2016
8th Mar
2018
Many networks and machines remain unpatched against it. It will be a
go-to tool for attackers for years to come, cybersecurity experts say.

112. Latest Ineos shale drilling application rejection
makes 7 out of 8 shale drilling plans rejected in 2018
7th Jan
2016
8th Mar
2018
And it now takes on average 58 weeks to (maybe) get a planning
decision on the drilling of a vertical well, up from 13 weeks 5 years ago.

113. Scientists find fake news reaches users up to 20
times faster than factual content on Twitter
7th Jan
2016
8th Mar
2018
Truth rarely reaches more than 1,000 people. The top 1% of false-news
cascades reach up to 100,000 people. Real people disseminate > bots.

114. Eon/RWE deal “ends the era of integrated utilities”
7th Jan
2016
11th Mar
2018
Complex asset swap leaves E.On as Europe’s largest operator of grids
and retail, and RWE number 2 renewables generation.

115. Renault-Nissan aims for next generation
solid-state battery car in 2025
7th Jan
2016
12th Mar
2018
Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi alliance has invested in solid-state startup
Ionic Material via its $1bn new-innovation venture fund.

116. Arnold Schwarzenegger to sue oil companies
for first degree murder
7th Jan
2016
12th Mar
2018
“This is no different from the smoking issue. The oil companies knew
from 1959 on …that (global warming) would kill.”

117. The first people to live in 3D-printed houses
are likely to be in the developing world
7th Jan
2016
12th Mar
2018
8 months to build a community of 100 homes, at c. $6k each.
With a 3-D printer, less than 4 months: a home a day at c. $4k each.
As successfully tested by charity
New Story in Austin, Texas

118. Can the world's oil refineries adapt to US shale oil?
….it is lighter than the oil that most are geared for
7th Jan
2016
13th Mar
2018
Critics point out that in a 100 mbd world, the open market for light
crudes is closer to 15 mbd.
Global refinery crude slate
% change between 2017 and 2020
Light Medium Heavy
Source: Wood Mackenzie
“The dirty secret of US shale oil is
not many people want it”
Bill Barnes, Pisgah Partners

119. 3 of 6 LNG shipments to UK so far in 2018
have come from Russia
7th Jan
2016
14th Mar
2018
Meanwhile, UK - Russia relations plunge to a new low
with nerve-gas poisoning of ex spy on UK soil.

120. Statoil plans to change its name to Equinor,
reflecting shift in strategy toward renewable energy
7th Jan
2016
14th Mar
2018
CEO Eldar Sætre: “For us, this is a historic day”. ….But the company still
only expects to be investing 15-20% of capex in renewables by 2030.

121. “Hackers have self-driving cars
in their headlights”
7th Jan
2016
15th Mar
2018
The number of connections will rise exponentially …but the multiplicity
of sensors favours digital burglar alarms.

122. Cyberattacks have turned potential control of US
power plants over to Russia, DHS reports
7th Jan
2016
15th Mar
2018
Russian cyberattacks surged last year, starting three months after
Donald Trump took office, the Department of Homeland Security says.

123. EVs cleaner than ICE cars, even taking into account
emissions from natural gas, coal
7th Jan
2016
15th Mar
2018
MPG equivalent of the entire supply chain for the average EV.
Numbers vary with the energy mix in a region’s electricity supply.
Versus average
economy of regular
cars: c. 28 mpg

124. Mark Zuckerberg has a “rat-catching” team to keep
a lid on leakers, even of internal cultural discussions
7th Jan
2016
16th Mar
2018
An employee tells the Guardian about these “secret police”:
“It’s horrifying how much they know ….they’ll squash you like a bug”.

125. 50m Facebook profiles harvested unlawfully by
Cambridge Analytica, Whistleblower tells Guardian
7th Jan
2016
17th Mar
2018
Christopher Wylie says Steve Bannon used CA for “microtargeted” FB
ads during Trump campaign. CA CEO lied to UK MPs about FB data use.

126. Largest solar farm in western hemisphere
completed in Mexico: 750 MW
7th Jan
2016
19th Mar
2018
NEXTracker project for Enel Green Power at Villaneuva.

127. The Next Phase of the Energy Transformation:
platform thinking in a network of networks
7th Jan
2016
19th Mar
2018
Navigant envisages an Energy Cloud, wherein winners are “platform
orchestrators” moving away from a “siloed asset-focussed mindset”.
Six factors for success
in energy cloud
platform orchestration,
according to Navigant
Navigant Research
estimates that the
urban transformation
and smart cities
platforms will enable a
market worth more
than $1.5 trillion over
the next decade for
smart services across
urban energy, buildings,
mobility, and other city
operations.

128. Christopher Wylie explains formative role in creating
a “cultural weapon”, & how it was done
7th Jan
2016
17th Mar
2018
“We exploited Facebook to harvest millions of profiles. And built
models to exploit that and target their inner demons.”

130. Cambridge Analytica CEO captured selling tactics,
beyond microtargeting, for swinging elections
7th Jan
2016
19th Mar
2018
Alexander Nix: “These are things that don’t necessarily
need to be true as long as they’re believed.”

131. Edward Snowden: Facebook is a surveillance
company rebranded as social media
7th Jan
2016
19th Mar
2018
“They are not victims. They are accomplices.”

132. Self-driving Uber car kills pedestrian in Arizona
7th Jan
2016
19th Mar
2018
A woman carrying a bicycle walks across the road, and the car does not
slow down from 40 mph. Uber suspends all testing.

133. Subsidy-free renewable energy projects set to soar
in UK, analysts say, largely killing off new gas plants
7th Jan
2016
20th Mar
2018
Aurora Energy Research: Onshore wind and solar both viable without
subsidies by 2025, unlocking £20bn of investment by 2030.
Solarcentury roof for Sainsbury

134. Low-cost storage breakthrough means wind and
solar can become dispatchable as soon as 2020
7th Jan
2016
20th Mar
2018
Siemens Gamesa & Stiesdal Storage Technologies reveal a “pack bed” of
rock, superinsulated, for storing heat, for later conversion to electricity.
Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy (SGRE),
1.5MW demonstration project under
construction near Hamburg, Germany

135. As global energy demand grew 2.1% in 2017, CO2
emissions rose 1.4% to historic high of 32.5 Gt
7th Jan
2016
21st Mar
2018
“We are far from being in line with the climate targets set in Paris”: Fatih
Birol, IEA Executive Director.
Flat
Global energy-related CO2 emissions 2000 - 2017
Source: IEA

136. Consumption of oil (1.6%, 1.5 mbd), gas (3%) and
coal (1%) all grew in 2017
7th Jan
2016
21st Mar
2018
Renewables saw the highest growth rate, meeting a quarter
of global energy demand growth in the year.

137. Macron urges EU not to do a trade deal with US
if Trump quits the Paris Agreement
7th Jan
2016
22nd Mar
2018
“We would be mad”, French President tells a Brussels conference on
sustainable finance. He gets a standing ovation.

138. Microsoft makes largest US corporate solar PPA:
315 MW in Virginia
7th Jan
2016
22nd Mar
2018
The deal brings its total of directly contracted renewable power to
1.2GW. Goal: 60% renewable share at its data centres by 2020.

139. “Wild New Materials of the Future Will Be
Discovered With AI”
7th Jan
2016
22nd Mar
2018
The number of scientific papers has grown exponentially in recent years,
spanning multiple applications. “We are only at the beginning.”

140. New French law requires solar panels or plants for
all new buildings’ rooftops
7th Jan
2016
23rd Mar
2018

141. Climate change cited in rejection of a UK planning
application for the first time: an opencast coal mine
7th Jan
2016
23rd Mar
2018
The deal brings its total of directly contracted renewable power to
1.2GW. Goal: 60% renewable share at its data centres by 2020.
Communities Secretary Sajid Javid: Highthorn project would have “very
substantial significance” for climate change.

142. Second Cambridge Analytica whistleblower makes
firm’s blueprint for Trump victory public
7th Jan
2016
23rd Mar
2018
Brittany Kaiser says CEO Nix lied about doing no work on Brexit data.
That oil billionaires funded CA rigging of Nigerian election. And and.

143. Brexit whistleblower says Vote Leave broke law
on spending limits, and destroyed evidence.
7th Jan
2016
24th Mar
2018
They funneled £650k to Cambridge Analytica creation AIQ for dark arts
ads. He gives files to the Electoral Commission & police.
Shahmir Sanni
Secretary & Treasurer,
BeLeave

144. “Europe's $38 Billion a Year Carbon Market
Is Finally Starting to Work”
7th Jan
2016
26th Mar
2018
The deal brings its total of directly contracted renewable power to
1.2GW. Goal: 60% renewable share at its data centres by 2020.
“…the biggest of more than 45 systems working worldwide
…the best performing energy commodity this year”.

145. Shell publishes a global energy scenario
“meeting the goals of the Paris Agreement”
7th Jan
2016
26th Mar
2018
In 2050, the Sky scenario has oil at 88% of today’s use, gas 93%, and coal
62%: “a rapid energy transition,” Shell says.
Oil
Gas
Coal

146. China announces it has already met its
2020 Paris climate goal
7th Jan
2016
27th Mar
2018
Target: CO2 emissions as a unit of GDP down 40-45 % wrt 2005 by 2020.
Achievement: down 46% by end 2017, 5.1% down year-on-year.

147. Case for coal and gas plants is “crumbling” as wind,
solar and battery costs plunge
7th Jan
2016
28th Mar
2018
Bloomberg New Energy Finance says its latest conclusions
have “chilling” implications for fossil generators.
• Global LCOE falls 18% YOY for
both onshore wind and PV in
first six months of 2018
…to $55/MWh and $70MWh
respectively
• Offshore wind down 5% to
$118/MWh
• 79% fall in lithium-ion battery
costs since 2010

148. At least 7 new gigawatt-size battery factories will
come onstream in Europe by 2020
7th Jan
2016
28th Mar
2018
LG, Samsung, Tesla/Panasonic, Daimler, Northvolt, TerraE will be
producing 80GWh a year within a decade: > 3x 2017 global production.

149. HMG’s settlement with solar companies re 2011
feed-in tariff cuts has cost taxpayers £60 million+
7th Jan
2016
28th Mar
2018
Details of out-of-court damages settlement (with 10 companies that did
not go bankrupt), 3 days before trial, leaked to the solar trade press.

150. Apple's Cook slams Zuckerberg and Facebook's
business model, calling for regulation
7th Jan
2016
28th Mar
2018
Apple could make a “ton of money” but “We’re not going to traffic in
your personal life. Privacy to us is a human right, a civil liberty.”
“I wouldn’t be in
his position”

151. “Russia and the west’s moral bankruptcy”
7th Jan
2016
28th Mar
2018
Edward Luce: Unlike most western democracies, the US and UK permit
anonymous ownership. Annual laundering: c.$300bn in US, $125bn UK.
“Estimates of Mr Putin’s
personal wealth range
from $50bn to $200bn”

152. “It seems that Whitehall’s infatuation with civil
nuclear energy is in fact a military romance”
7th Jan
2016
29th Mar
2018
So argue researchers at the Science Policy Research Unit. They find
evidence of desperation to keep expertise for submarine reactors alive.

153. Wind and solar make more electricity than nuclear
for first time in the UK
7th Jan
2016
29th Mar
2018
Official Q4 2017 figures: gas 36.12TWh, wind and solar 18.33 TWh
nuclear 16.69TWh.
(including
biomass)
(including
biomass)
Source: DBEIS

154. David Cameron laments “painfully slow” fracking
progress in UK
7th Jan
2016
29th Mar
2018
He tells American Fuel & Petrochemicals Manufacturers’ conference
that c. 10 wells in Europe vs 10’s of thousands in us is “pathetic”.

155. “How Volkswagen Walked Away From a
Near-Fatal Crash”
7th Jan
2016
29th Mar
2018
Scientists at MIT “estimated the extra pollution generated by its rigged
cars will eventually contribute to > 1,200 premature deaths.” But…

156. Facebook logged SMS texts and phone calls
without explicitly notifying users
7th Jan
2016
29th Mar
2018
FB claims that “uploading this information has always been opt-in only”.
But the Guardian finds it wasn’t, for a whole year, before 2016.

157. Data show explosive emergence of AI in
the business world in just 2 years
7th Jan
2016
29th Mar
2018
As companies “flail” trying to figure out what to spend money on in AI,
only 1 in 20 are “extensively” using it as yet.
Number of M & A deals in AI
Mentions of AI and
machine learning in
earnings calls of public
companies
Source: Bloomberg data in Economist graphs

158. “Wary shale investors warn against drilling
at all costs”
7th Jan
2016
1st Apr
2018
Says one: “If you outspend cash flow on stupid investments & destroy
capital, I’m not just going to be mad at you, I’m going to punish you…”

159. Underwater melting of Antarctic ice far greater
than thought, ESA satellite altimetry study finds
7th Jan
2016
2nd Apr
2018
The base of ice has shrunk by 1,463 square km 2010 to 2016, an area the
size of Greater London. The implications for sea-level rise are dire.
Section through ice sheet in 2010 Section through ice sheet in 2016

160. The corrupt hide billions in shell companies. US &
UK Beneficial Ownership Registries could stop them
7th Jan
2016
3rd Apr
2018
So suggest Panama Paper journalists Frederik Obermaier and Bastian
Obermayer. The registries would show “ultimate beneficial owners”.

161. “Russia’s $55bn pipeline gamble on China’s
demand for gas”
7th Jan
2016
3rd Apr
2018
“Russia’s first eastern pipeline is the most striking physical manifestation
of President Putin’s diplomatic pivot towards China”.
It is a bet that China’s green energy tech won’t grow exponentially.