Coal and climate change

Edwards, Gareth A. S.

doi:10.1002/wcc.607

Cited by 39 publications

(29 citation statements)

References 101 publications

(149 reference statements)

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Coal is thus a heavily contested resource, the subject of protests and conflicts across India: because coal combustion causes global heating and local pollution detrimental to human health, because the working conditions in coal mines are terrible, and because land and water and thereby livelihoods are appropriated for the expansion of the coal complex ( Oskarsson and Bedi, 2018 ; Kohli and Menon, 2016 ; Ghosh, 2016 ). Coal extraction and combustion play a pivotal role in the climate crisis and stopping these processes is crucial for socio-ecologically just sustainability transformations ( Edwards, 2019 ). Conflicts over coal are part of a broader environmental justice movement in India, claiming autonomy and socio-ecological well-being in the face of the country's growth trajectory ( Roy and Martinez-Alier, 2019 ; Randeria, 2004 ).…”

Section: India's Contested Coal Complexmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Globally, much of growth in renewables is in biofuels and waste: here, traditional uses of firewood in countries currently expanding their fossil energy systems is an important component ( Schaffartzik and Fischer-Kowalski, 2018 ). To speak of a transition to renewables at such a time is both premature and potentially misleading ( York and Bell, 2019 ; Edwards, 2019 ). It seems that renewables are contributing to, rather than challenging the fossil energy system ( York and Bell, 2019 ).…”

Section: Introduction: the Paradox And The Logic Of Extracting Coal Imentioning

confidence: 99%

“…With the fossil energy system and the use of coal in it expanding rather than contracting amidst the climate crisis, “there is a critical need for normatively engaged and reflective work on coal in the context of climate change” Edwards, 2019 , p.12) , and, with this article, we aim to make a contribution toward this need. We focus on the development and the role of the coal complex (more on this below) in India.…”

Section: Introduction: the Paradox And The Logic Of Extracting Coal Imentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Talk renewables, walk coal: The paradox of India's energy transition

Roy

Schaffartzik

2021

Ecological Economics

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Coal is on the rise in India: despite the devasting impacts of the climate crisis, the awareness for land and forest rights, and political talk of a coal phase-out. In this article, we demonstrate that despite the renewables-led rhetoric, India is in the midst of a transition to (not away from) greater use of coal in its fossil energy system and in the electricity system in particular. We investigate this paradox by combining socio-metabolic and political-ecological analysis of the Indian coal complex. Our framework integrates material and energy flow data as characterizing the Indian fossil energy transition, indicators on the development and structure of the coal industry, and studies of ecological distribution conflicts around coal. The dominant claim to expansive use of coal and the competing counterclaims are indicative of underlying power relations which can also be witnessed in other countries. In India, they extend into the conflicted development of renewable energy including hydropower, in which the land dispossession, exclusion, and injustices associated with the expansion of the coal complex are reproduced. We conclude that the current energy transition – in which coal continues to play a dominant role – is neither sustainable nor just.

show abstract

Section: India's Contested Coal Complexmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introduction: the Paradox And The Logic Of Extracting Coal Imentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introduction: the Paradox And The Logic Of Extracting Coal Imentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Talk renewables, walk coal: The paradox of India's energy transition

Roy

Schaffartzik

2021

Ecological Economics

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…The counter-arguments provide opportunities for intensified and more polarized debate between protagonists, forcing sharper public deliberation. Divestment, in this way, provokes a wider 'contest for legitimacy' (Ayling, 2017;Edwards, 2019). As the debate ranges further across institutions we can see a process of climate politicization extending across society.…”

Section: Divestment Campaignsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…From 2009, with the failure of the UN Copenhagen summit, climate activists had become increasingly disenchanted with state-led global climate policy. Instead they sought to address the problem 'at source' and to target the global fossil fuel industry: instead of 'parts per million' the new focus was on 'unburnable carbon', a term coined by the NGO Carbon Tracker in 2011 (Carbon Tracker, 2011;Edwards, 2019).…”

Section: Socializing Climate Risk?mentioning

confidence: 99%

From climate change to economic change? Reflections on ‘feedback’

Goodman

Anderson²

2020

Globalizations

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

'Feedback' from climate change into the economy is critical. But what kind of 'feedback'? Given capitalist structures and interstate rivalry in the global economy, there is little in the way of overall planning, and certainly no effective power to act for capitalism 'in general'. The fossil fuel bloc is deeply embedded in the economy, and is not afraid to press its advantage; the emerging renewable economy is gaining strength, but remains subordinate. Yet intensifying climate change and failing climate policy are creating new political pressures. This article addresses efforts to target fossil fuel corporates through divestment campaigns and argues the main 'feedback' to date is socio-political. It tracks how the threat of climate policy translates into 'transition risk' for investment strategy, and produces a growing loss of confidence in fossil capital. In this, we argue the climate contradictions of capitalist society have destructive effects but offer transformative potential. KEYWORDS Capitalism and climate; climate movements; fossil fuel sector; transition risk; divestment With decades of climate science we are fully aware of the impact of the global economy on climate change. There is, as we know, a direct correlation between global economic growth on the current carbon-intensive model, and rising global temperatures and associated climate disruption. But what is the impact of climate change on the economy, and what prospect is there for feedback to force economic decarbonization? On the face of it, with greenhouse gas emissions growing unabated and only limited decoupling of economic growth from emissions (Cohen et al., 2018; Global Carbon Project, 2019), the answer to that question has to be 'very little'. Persistent failure points to a deepseated contradiction between the current logic of economic development and socio-ecological stability. The structures of capitalist society are riven with internal contradiction, and these have both destructive effects and transformative potential. There is no significant self-adjustment underway; instead, socio-political feedback is forcing new forms of 'transition risk' into the fossil fuel economy, disrupting it in new and potentially transformative ways. The growing politicization of carbon-intensive development has indeed generated new economic antagonisms and transformations. A widening gulf has emerged between the fossil fuel economy and emerging renewable economies, sparking conflicts that reach from the streets and social media, to state structures, and to the centre of finance capital. Thirty-five of the world's largest banks have together invested US$2.7 trillion into fossil fuels since the Paris Agreement (Banktrack, 2020). Yet even J.P. Morgan, by far the largest investor in fossil fuels at about $70 billion annually has privately acknowledged that the globe is set on a 3.5°C trajectory of warming with no solution in sight and no ability to understand the economic impacts (Mackie & Murray, 2020, p. 13). Climate antagonism is

show abstract

The Power of Silk Technology for Energy Applications

Strassburg

Zainuddin

Scheibel

2021

Advanced Energy Materials

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The energy demands that support modern industries and lifestyles are largely fulfilled by the burning of fossil fuels, [1] whose greenhouse gas by-products are a major contributing cause of global warming. [2] It has become clear that the combustion of fossil fuels at the current scale is unsustainable and more sustainable alternative energy sources must be explored to offset the contribution of fossil fuels. [3] Solar energy has an important role to play in this transition. Solar irradiation available on Earth's surface per hour far exceeds the annual global energy demand. [4] However, adaptation to solar energy has been slow due to a number of factors, such as rare or hazardous raw materials, high sensitivity to water, and short life spans. [5] Compared to the fossil fuel, which can be burned on demand, solar irradiation is subject to fluctuations caused by many factors such as weather conditions, time of the day, time of the year, and latitude. [6] Because storing solar radiation in its original form, that is, electromagnetic waves, is prohibitively difficult, its conversion prior to storage is necessary. Biological systems developed 3.5 billion years ago [7] as a process to use sunlight to drive chemical reactions through photosynthesis. Specifically, oxygenic photosynthesis, which occurs in most plants, algae, and cyanobacteria, converts carbon dioxide from the atmosphere into carbohydrates. These carbohydrates form dense and portable packets of chemical energy that can be released through cellular respiration whenever needed.The first step in following nature's example in turning light energy to chemical energy was enabled with the discovery of the photovoltaic effect by Edmond Becquerel in 1839, [8] in which the current generated by an electrochemical cell increased upon exposure to light. The first photovoltaic cells in the 19th century were based on pure metal species and exhibited low efficiencies. [9] Major efficiency improvements came in the 20th century with the incorporation of semiconductor materials into photovoltaic cells but they remained bulky and difficult to manufacture. [9] A breakthrough came in the 1980s with the advent of thin film solar cells which largely solved this problem. [9] Despite many advances, solar cells have a limited lifetime, and once their efficiencies have dropped to a no longer useful level, disposal becomes an issue due to the difficulty of recycling component materials. In addition, energy storage is often a major concern due to the limited number of hours per day photovoltaic devices are exposed to solar irradiation. Thus, Silk fibers are a remarkable material made of proteins possessing excellent mechanical properties that match or even outperform, in some aspects, high performance fibers such as Kevlar and steel. Silk proteins can be further produced recombinantly, allowing the possibility for genetic modification, enhancing silks' already impressive range of benefits. Thus far, little research has explored the possibility of incorporating silk-based materials in el...

show abstract

Coal and climate change

Cited by 39 publications

References 101 publications

Talk renewables, walk coal: The paradox of India's energy transition

Talk renewables, walk coal: The paradox of India's energy transition

From climate change to economic change? Reflections on ‘feedback’

The Power of Silk Technology for Energy Applications

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About