“The UK’s Massive Tree-Planting Campaign Isn’t Moving Fast Enough”

One of Europe’s least-forested countries has a plan to fight climate change. That’s much easier said than done.

The UK’s Tree-Planting Campaign Is Falling Behind – Bloomberg

Compared with most of its neighbors, the UK is relatively treeless, its woodlands felled centuries ago and never replanted. Just 13% of its territory is covered by forest, compared with roughly a third or more in France, Germany and Spain. The UK has set a goal of reaching net-zero carbon emissions by 2050. Even the most ambitious scenarios don’t call for a complete end to fossil fuel use, so meeting the target will be impossible without finding ways to capture carbon from the atmosphere.

“Macron Says He and Biden Will ‘Fix’ US Climate-Subsidy Conflict”

French President Macron Says He and Biden Will ‘Fix’ US Climate-Subsidy Conflict – Bloomberg

French President Emmanuel Macron said he and Joe Biden agreed to “fix” a dispute over the US president’s Inflation Reduction Act, which includes new subsidies for North American-made electric vehicles that allies have criticized.

“COP27 Approves Last-Ditch Deal for Historic Climate Damage Fund”

COP27 Approves Last-Ditch Deal for Historic Climate Damage Fund – Bloomberg

The COP27 climate talks in Egypt, which came close to collapse in the closing stretches, ended with an early-hours deal to create a fund to pay poorer countries for the harm caused by climate change.

“G7 launches climate ‘Shield’ fund, some countries wary”

G7 launches climate ‘Shield’ fund, some countries wary By Reuters (investing.com)

A G7-led plan dubbed “Global Shield” to provide funding to countries suffering climate disasters was launched at the U.N. COP27 summit on Monday, although some questioned the effectiveness of the planned scheme.

Clean Energy Has a Tipping Point, and 87 Countries Have Reached It

Clean Energy, Electric Cars Are Hitting Tipping Points for Global Mass Adoption (bloomberg.com)

Solar power, electric cars, grid-scale batteries, heat pumps—the world is crossing into a mass-adoption moment for green technologies.

“Shell Rethinks Filling Stations for the EV Era With Chargers, Snacks, and No Gas”

Electric Vehicle Charging Stations Become a Focus for Shell – Bloomberg

Drivers filling up at the Shell station on Fulham Road in southwest London can get coffee, sodas, snacks, and basic groceries such as milk and eggs. One thing that’s not on offer: gasoline. Since January the station has been all-electric, with the old gas pumps replaced by 10 rapid chargers set under soaring wood awnings where people can plug in and top up. “It gives us all a glimpse into the future of mobility,” says Istvan Kapitany, who oversees Shell’s global retail operations.

“Wild Animal Populations Have Declined 69% in 50 Years, Says WWF”

Stark Drop in Wildlife Numbers Is an Emergency for Nature – Bloomberg

The world’s populations of wild mammals, birds, amphibians, reptiles and fish have declined by more than two-thirds on average since 1970, according to a grim new report on biodiversity loss. 

“New Zealand Proposes Taxing Cow Burps, Angering Farmers”

New Zealand Proposes Taxing Cow Burps, Angering Farmers – Bloomberg

New Zealand’s government on Tuesday proposed taxing the greenhouse gasses that farm animals make from burping and peeing as part of a plan to tackle climate change.

“Billionaire Patagonia Founder Gives Company Away to Fight Climate Change”

Billionaire Patagonia Founder Gives Company Away to Fight Climate Change – Bloomberg

Patagonia founder Yvon Chouinard and his family are giving away ownership in the outdoor apparel company he created almost fifty years ago to a trust and a non-profit devoted to fighting the environmental crisis.

“Chipmaking’s Next Big Thing Guzzles as Much Power as Entire Countries”

“Smaller and more energy-efficient semiconductors increasingly require so much electricity that Asia is going to have a tough time quitting fossil fuels.”

Energy-Efficient Computer Chips Need Lots of Power to Make – Bloomberg

The machines needed to make the world’s most advanced semiconductors are miracles of modern engineering. Known as extreme ultraviolet lithography systems, or EUVs, they bathe silicon wafers with waves of light invisible to the human eye, burning patterns into materials on the wafer’s surface that need to be exact within a few nanometers.  To create the specialized light, EUVs vaporize molten tin with lasers, then use mirrors to focus the radiance into thinner wavelengths. Only one company in the world— ASML Holding NV of the Netherlands—makes the bus-size devices, which cost more than $150 million and consist of 100,000 separate components.