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Why David Suzuki skipped COP26 — and where he sees glimmers of hope in climate action

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Canada’s COVID-19 measures proved we can respond

quickly to a global crisis, says The Nature of Things host

CBC Radio · Posted: Nov 07, 2021 4:00 AM ET | Last Updated: 9 hours ago

Environmentalist David Suzuki, seen in Ottawa in June 2019, says he was invited to the COP26 summit in Glasgow, but chose not to attend. (Sean Kilpatrick/The Canadian Press)

In recent years, David Suzuki's warnings about the dangers of climate change have become ever more dire, a feeling echoed at the COP26 summit in Glasgow, Scotland, right now.

"We don't have time to fool around any longer," the scientist, author and host of CBC's The Nature of Things recently told Piya Chattopadhyay, host of The Sunday Magazine.

Suzuki said he was invited to attend COP26, but declined.

"I simply didn't bother to answer because, first of all, I've given up flying [on] jet planes, and I didn't see that [the summit] is going to make any difference," he said.

So far at this year's summit, world leaders have pledged a variety of climate measures, including working to curb deforestation and methane emissions. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau called for a global carbon tax, which he says would dramatically reduce the use of fossil fuels.

• Have questions about COP26 or climate science, policy or politics? Email us: ask@cbc.ca. Your input helps inform our coverage.

The announcements didn't carry much weight for Suzuki, who believes the pledges don't go far enough.

"We've already had 25 meetings. The urgency now is perceptible."

Despite his pessimism about the conference, he did see a glimmer of climate hope in other contexts, including the rapid global response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

"When COVID-19 hit, suddenly, tens of billions of dollars were being spent by the government. And my question was, where the hell did all this money come from? Money wasn't an issue," he said.

"Canadians stayed cooped up in their apartments, stayed at home. They changed their behaviour in a radical way."

Canada's dubious record

To be sure, Canada's efforts to curb the pandemic haven't been a consistently smooth ride, but the country has fared relatively well.

Suzuki is far more disappointed by the country's track record on climate change, particularly its role in meeting the Paris Agreement targets established six years ago.

Suzuki is a scientist, author, activist and host of CBC's The Nature of Things. (James Murray/CBC Still Photo Collection)

"When Trudeau was elected, he went to Paris immediately in 2015…. We all cheered at last. Great," Suzuki said. "Two and a half years later, he bought a pipeline."

In 2015, the government committed to lower its greenhouse gas emissions to 30 per cent below 2005 levels by 2030. It has since raised that target to 40 to 45 per cent, aiming for net-zero emissions by 2050.

However, since the Paris Agreement was signed, Canada's emissions have grown the most of any G7 nation.

'Dream candidate' for environment minister

Suzuki did praise Steven Guilbeault, the new minister for the Environment and Climate Change, calling him a "dream candidate" for environmentalists.

"He is a known activist and he understands what the issues are," Suzuki said.

Guilbeault's appointment has drawn some criticism precisely because of his past as a climate activist. Alberta Premier Jason Kenney said the announcement sent a "very problematic message" to his oil-producing province.

Guilbeault responded by saying he has no "secret agenda" in his new position.

"We're not trying to cap production. We will be capping the amount of pollution that comes from those sectors," he said.

But that's not good enough for Suzuki. "You're damn right we have to cap it, and we've got to ensure that Guilbeault and Trudeau understand that," he said.

Activism at COP26

Suzuki is now 85, and the bright-eyed enthusiasm of his early years as an environmentalist has started to fade. Despite key wins against projects like proposed dams, oil drills and deforestation, he still sees those kinds of battles being fought today.

"These were skirmishes, because the underlying challenge was the way we look at the world," he said.

He pointed to the 1993 protests and blockades against clear-cut logging in Clayoquot Sound, B.C. Over 850 people were arrested in what CBC dubbed the "War of the Woods."

"Thirty years later, kids in Fairy Creek are fighting for the same issue," Suzuki said, emphasizing that companies need to "stop logging our old-growth forests."

• Q&A
  'I want to puke': David Suzuki reacts to O'Regan's nuclear power endorsement

• THE NEXT CHAPTER
  David Suzuki on the world we are creating for our grandchildren

Suzuki has been encouraged by protesters and activists who have gathered in Glasgow this month, noting the "powerful impact" made in particular by Greta Thunberg to help galvanize a new generation of environmentalists

Trust in nature

Despite the challenges of a global response to climate change, Suzuki sees the most hope in nature itself.

For example, he pointed to the resurgence of wild sockeye salmon populations in the Fraser River a decade ago, after their numbers dropped from about 25 to 30 million to "barely a million" in 2008.

"I remember turning vividly to my wife and saying, 'That's it,'" he recalled. "A year later, we got the biggest run of sockeye salmon in 100 years. I mean, nobody knows what the heck happened, but nature surprised us."

Suzuki said that what really gives him hope "is that nature will be far more generous than we deserve."

---

Written by Jonathan Ore. Produced by Andrea Hoang.

Coastal erosion: The climate challenge wearing away at Europe’s shores

Issued on: 07/11/2021 


The port town of Marsaxlokk in Malta is at risk from coastal erosion 

© Andreas Solar, AFP

Text by: Joanna YORK

Coastal erosion is tipped to be on the agenda at the COP26 climate conference on Monday. In Europe sea levels could reach 37cm by 2080, causing land loss that threatens infrastructure, livelihoods and heritage sites.

As climate change causes sea levels to rise around the world, typically it is small island nations that sound the alarm at events like COP26.

Last week, Prime Minister of Barbados Mia Mottley told attendees at the conference in Glasgow that a 2-degree Celsius rise in global temperatures would cause an increase in sea levels equivalent to a “death sentence” for the Caribbean island. Tuvalu Foreign Minister Simon Kofe stood knee-deep in the sea around the South Pacific island to illustrate the scale of the problem as he filmed a video statement to send to the summit.


Tuvalu's Simon Kofe recording a video message for COP26

But in Europe too, climate change is having a dramatic impact on the shoreline as rising seas mean waves hit the coast at higher levels, and increasing storms and changes in wind direction join forces to wear land away.

Part of the problem is that coastal populations and human infrastructure is increasing around the world, even though the coastline naturally fluctuates, Larissa Naylor, professor of geomorphology and environmental geography at the University of Glasgow, told FRANCE 24. “The issue is that we’ve fixed the coast and we’ve fixed assets at the coast. Around Europe we’ve got hotels, roads, houses, railways along a boundary that is fluid.”

Naylor says rising sea levels add an “extra layer” to factors already at play. For example, if a spring tide happens to coincide with a storm, the added complication of rising seas amplifies the overall impact. “As climate change accelerates there’s going to be much more loss and damage in these coastal contexts. Society will increasingly be impacted,” she says.

Livelihoods and infrastructure at risk

This is happening faster in some areas than others.

On the Yorkshire coast in north-east England an annual average of four metres disappear each year, but last year figures from the local council showed that in a two-mile stretch, 10 metres disappeared in just nine months. Some 20 homes are thought to now be at risk of falling into the sea.

In Ireland, Irish Rail last month announced plans to invest millions to counter “alarming” rates of erosion near coastal railway lines, Irish daily The Journal reported.

Further south, livelihoods are at stake. A 2017 Greek study found that up to 88 percent of all the country’s beaches -- essential to the national tourism economy -- could be completely eroded by the end of the century, with large scale land losses also predicted in seaside resorts in France, Spain, Portugal, Italy.

Even so, data giving an overview of the situation on the continent is lacking. The last European Union study of coastal erosion dates back to 2004, when it found all countries with sea access in the EU were experiencing some form of coastal erosion and 20 thousand kilometres of coastline faced serious impacts.

Although rising seas and coastal erosion are a global problem, it poses a unique risk in Europe due to the continent's high ratio of shoreline to land. Yet there is no Europe-wide strategy for fighting coastal erosion and many nations do not have cohesive plans, instead leaving regional governments to work out -- and fund -- their own solutions.

This is partly because public awareness of the issue is lower than for issues like flooding, but also because tackling the problem means a change in approach, from fighting land loss to accepting it.

Naylor is a specialist in rocky coastlines that naturally erode more slowly than sandy beaches but are still disappearing. “And once the rocky coastline goes, you can’t glue it back on,” she says. It is an impact that cannot be reversed or reduced, but needs to be accepted and adapted to. “We’re not necessarily ready to do that as a society,” Naylor says.

Accepting the inevitable

Some places have already started to do this. In Quiberville-sur-Mer in Normandy, Mayor Jean-François Bloc told FRANCE 24 that in order to protect infrastructure close to the water’s edge, the city used to rely on concrete fortifications at the bottom of its cliffs and a long, concrete drainage ditch separating the beach from the town, but these needed to be rebuilt and strengthened after each big storm.

“As the water rises, and as the storms get stronger and stronger due to global warming, it's clear that this is not enough anymore,” he said. “We will not be able to keep going like we were indefinitely.”

Now the town plans to simply accept that the coast is moving, and to let erosion happen, by relocating houses close to the coastline.

Further south on the French Atlantic coast, the town of Saint-Jean-de-Luz is trialling a similar plan to manage coastal erosion of 25cm a year. Local officials have committed €6.4 million to moving at-risk campsites, restaurants, bars and a water purification station to safer inland locations.

>> See also: Normandy village takes a gamble on letting in the rising sea

This approach brings its own challenges, Naylor says. “How do we fund the moving of communities? How accepting are the communities inland of these people coming into their space?”

As the scale of the issue grows, the difficulties of moving communities will have a greater impact on European countries' existing infrastructure and spending. She says: “The committee on climate change report for England has said that in 2018 there were 8,000 properties at risk of erosion in England and by 2100 it’s going to be 100,000. That will be the same in other parts of Europe with soft coasts. How do we manage that as a society?”

Protecting against change

Another option is building to protect existing land using what Naylor describes as a “traditional conventional hard engineering approach” or “greener, nature-based solutions”.

In Malta, the capital city Valletta dates back to the 16th century and is one of 42 World Heritage Sites at risk of coastal erosion in the Mediterranean. Ten kilometres away the town of Marsaxlokk has opted for the first solution. Last month officials announced a €2 million effort to limit erosion by installing 70 metres of groynes – temporary structures made of limestone bricks.

The limestone barrier will extend out from the dock into the sea, forming a protective wall to catch sand and other sediment that would otherwise be washed away from the shore.

This is similar to a technique used in Holland, where 12 million cubic metres of sand are used to replace what gets washed away from the coastline. While groynes last up to 25 years, the sand must be replaced every year as the problem worsens. It is expected that greater volumes of sand will be needed, meaning greater costs.

Such systems can also be built in a more eco-friendly way to make them habitable for local species. Earlier this year Portsmouth, UK, announced plans to build a two kilometre sea defence wall that is habitable for rocky shore species, making it the largest structure of its kind in the UK. The issue here is the costs involved. “It isn’t just the cost of building it, there’s repair and maintenance costs as well. It’s phenomenal, eye-watering amounts of money,” says Naylor.

She adds, “We’re not necessarily costing all the economic benefits over a long enough time. Yes, you can rebuild a wall now and it might only be a metre or two higher than the wall before, but what happens in 80 years’ time? Who pays then? We need some requirements to start looking at long-term climate risk.”

Adaption, loss and damage

She is hopeful such issues may be raised at COP26 on Monday, November 8, when talks are dedicated to adaptation, loss and damage.

One example she points to as successful is a recent project in Edinburgh to build blocks of flats on the water’s edge. Instead, the contractors agreed to install a coastal park as a buffer between the sea and the new buildings. This meant making space for nature and for erosion and accepting that, “by accommodating erosion you lose some land”.

Putting this kind of change in attitude on the agenda and introducing government frameworks promoting such measures is crucial, Naylor says. "Adaptation really needs to come up the agenda and be on an equal pegging to mitigation. If that happened it would help things like the need to adapt to coastal erosion become more mainstream."

As a recent study from the World Meteorological Organisation found that the rate sea rises have doubled to 4.4 since 1993, one thing that is certain is that more thoughtful and long-term solutions will be needed.

Fundamentally, Naylor says, it comes down to “making decisions now that don’t commit future generations to huge amounts of loss and damage”.

Chasm opens between COP26 words and climate action

While negotiators are in Glasgow as part of a UN-led process to implement the Paris Agreement -- including the goal of limiting temperature rises to between 1.5 and 2 degrees Celsius -- British organisers have their own list of priorities 

DANIEL LEAL-OLIVAS AFP

Issued on: 07/11/2021 -

Glasgow (AFP) – COP26's first week saw keynote pledges to end deforestation, phase out coal, and mobilise trillions for green investment. But observers say there is a gulf between host Britain's proclamations and the emissions cuts that must be achieved.

Mohamed Adow, director of the Nairobi-based climate think tank Power Shift Africa, told AFP that there had been "two realities" at the global climate conference in Glasgow.

"One is the world of press releases by the UK Government announcing a host of initiatives such as 'an end to coal', which suggest all is well and we've as good as cracked the climate crisis," he said.

"The other reality is outside this PR bubble. The climate deals in cold hard facts."

The conference aims to implement the Paris Agreement -- including the goal of limiting temperature rises to between 1.5 and 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels.
British organisers are pushing to solidify 1.5C as the summit's unequivocal temperature target.

They have also pushed for their much-repeated priorities -- "coal, cars, cash and trees" -- shorthand for actions to phase out polluting fuels and internal combustion vehicles, provide money to help the world decarbonise, and protect forests.

There was movement toward that end at COP26 this week.

A COP26 spokesman said there had been "real momentum for climate action" including "commitments on ending our reliance on coal, increasing climate finance, tackling deforestation and plans to cut emissions."

But experts say there is actually a glaring disconnect between what some called "inflated, rehashed pledges" and genuine progress on reducing fossil fuel emissions.

End of coal?

On Wednesday, for instance, COP26 president Alok Sharma announced: "A 190-strong coalition has today agreed to phase out coal power".

Business Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng tweeted: "The end of coal is in sight."

The 190 figure was given to the media under embargo on Tuesday night, but a list of signatories was not released until the following day.

It contained only 77 new signatories, including 46 countries, on top of others that had already signed on to a previous alliance to end coal.

Out of these, COP26 organisers said 23 countries had issued new pledges to phase out coal during the summit, including major users South Korea and Vietnam.

But in the list of countries with new commitments obtained by AFP, 10 nations use no coal at all in their energy mix, according to data from the Ember climate think tank.

All told, national signatories to the COP26 coal pledge account for around 13 percent of global output.

- Unprecedented? -

On Monday, Downing Street said that countries representing 85 percent of global rainforests had signed an "unprecedented" pledge to end deforestation by 2030.

But it was similar to the 2014 New York Declaration on Forests, signed by 40 countries and more than 150 organisations and indigenous groups, to strive to end deforestation, also by 2030.

An assessment this year on the declaration's progress found that out of the 32 biggest forest nations, only India had translated the pledge into concrete action.

Damian Fleming, deputy lead at WWF's Global Forest Practice, said the COP26 deforestation pledge was "unprecedented in scale... but not in ambition."

"We have been here before. Yet since (the New York declaration) a forested area greater than the size of France has been deforested," he said.

"The pledges are coming fast and furious. But they all seem to be just business-as-usual wearing a green cloak of trees," Doreen Stabinsky, Professor of Global Environmental Politics at the College of the Atlantic, told AFP.

"There aren't enough trees on the planet to just keep blindly carrying on emitting."

- How much? -

Finance is a crunch issue at COP26, with developing nations demanding rich emitters make good on decade-old promises to provide $100 billion a year to help them cope.

That figure is a drop in the ocean compared to the estimated $4 trillion needed annually to decarbonise the economy by 2050.

On Wednesday, former Bank of England governor Mark Carney said that a net-zero alliance made up of hundreds of lenders with assets totalling $130 trillion on their collective portfolios was ready to help the global transition to carbon neutrality.

"The money is here if the world wants to use it," said Carney.

But observers noted that fund investors only needed to allocate a small percentage of capital to green projects to qualify as net-zero lenders, nor were they restricted from investing in fossil fuels.

That means only a fraction of the $130 trillion actually goes to green projects.

- 'Pinch of salt' -

Experts say an accord by more than 100 nations to slash methane emissions by 30 percent by 2030 could have a real impact on short-term heating.

And India, the fourth biggest emitter, announced its intention to ramp up renewables and reach net-zero by 2070.

International Energy Agency head Fatih Birol said this week that the pledges announced at COP26 -- if fully implemented -- could see warming limited to 1.8C.

He stressed however that this required "governments to turn their pledges into clear and credible policy actions and strategies today".

British sources are already trailing the 1.8C figure as a possible COP26 achievement.

But scientists say it is based on vague net-zero plans with few or no short-term emissions targets.

A senior diplomat told AFP that "most of the net-zero pledges are void of content".

Countries such as Australia and Saudi Arabia announced net-zero goals with "no plans to implement them and emissions going massively in the wrong direction," Simon Lewis, professor of global change science at University College London and the University of Leeds, told AFP.

"It's logical to take all pledges and convert them into a best estimate," he said.

"But you've got to take it with a huge pinch of salt and an enormous banner saying: Warning! This is unlikely to happen."

The UN says that the latest round of net-zero commitments will see emissions rise 13.7 percent by 2030. To be 1.5C compliant, they must fall 45 percent by then.

Daniel Willis, from Global Justice Now, said COP26 had "failed to adequately address the climate crisis".

He said the summit had instead produced "inflated reporting of financial sums, rehashed spending pledges spun as new, and bizarre claims that leaders have managed to limit warming to 1.8C based only on pledges without action."

© 2021 AFP

U.S. Shale Patch Reports Blowout Earnings

By Alex Kimani - Nov 06, 2021, 

• U.S. shale drillers have posted strong Q3 earnings as a result of rising crude prices
• Large shale drillers in the U.S. are slow to increase production, and instead focus on shareholder returns
• 
  
• 2022 production guidance remains very modest for most large shale drillers

 

Nearly 60% of S&P 500 companies have reported third-quarter 2021 earnings, and the energy sector has again emerged as a standout performer.

According to the latest FactSet data, the Energy sector is reporting the second-largest positive (aggregate) difference between actual earnings and estimated earnings (+15.9%), behind only the Financial sector. 

Within this sector, Phillips 66 (NYSE:PSX) ($3.18 vs. $1.90), Chevron (NYSE:CVX) ($2.96 vs. $2.20), and Valero Energy (NYSE:VLO) ($1.22 vs. $0.92) have reported the largest positive EPS surprises.

However, the U.S. Shale Patch has emerged as the class valedictorian.

After a turbulent period characterized by mounting debts, dwindling cash flows, and awful share performance, the U.S. shale patch has roared back to life with the current earnings season, proving that the worst is finally behind the rearview mirror. Earnings are on tap this week for U.S. independent oil producers, with Continental Resources (NYSE:CLR), Devon Energy (NYSE:DVN), Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG), EOG Resources (NYSE:EOG), and Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) all reporting stellar Q3 2021 earnings.

Here's a peek into how shale producers have been faring this earnings season.

#1. Continental Resources

Continental Resources (NYSE:CLR), the shale driller owned by one of the richest and most prominent shale wildcatters, Harold Hamm, has reported strong Q3 numbers that, nevertheless, failed to meet Wall Street's expectations.

Continental Resources has reported Q3 revenue of $1.34B, good for 93.5% Y/Y growth but $70M below the Wall Street consensus. Adjusted net income clocked in at $437.2 MM while GAAP EPS of $1.01 missed by $0.20.

With oil prices consolidating above $80 per barrel, the majority of shale producers are solidly profitable, and many are returning excess cash to shareholders in the form of hiked dividends. Continental Resources has followed suit by hiking its dividend 33% to $0.20, but has also gone off the beaten path–the company is finally taking a stake in North America's biggest oil field.

Continental has announced plans to acquire 92,000 net acres in the Permian Basin from Pioneer Natural Resources Co. for $3.25 billion. The company will pay cash for the assets in the Delaware Basin, a subregion of the massive Permian.

Until now, CLR has focused on the Bakken shale in North Dakota, where it's the largest operator. But with output from other U.S. oil fields flatlining or declining, the Permian's multi-layered tiers of oil-soaked rock offer new avenues for growth. According to Continental, its new Permian assets will pump the equivalent of about 50,000 barrels of oil a day, and generate an extra half-billion dollars in annual free cash flow at current commodity prices.

CEO Bill Berry has revealed that the company has been exploring a potential Permian deal for 20 years, but until now, it "never thought the time was right or the economics were right."

Wall Street is hardly convinced.

CLR shares have tanked nearly 9% after announcing the deal, with Siebert Williams downgrading the shares to Hold from Buy with a $55 price target, cut from $69.  The firm says the deal raises serious questions regarding Continental's M&A strategy, and the lower potential shareholder capital returns over the near future.

Meanwhile, Leo Mariani, an analyst at Keybanc Capital Markets Inc., says the market may not like the idea of CLR getting into a new basin at this point in the commodity price cycle.

Despite the latest selloff, CLR still boasts a 174% gain in the year-to-date.

#2. Devon Energy Devon Energy (NYSE:DVN) has returned its Q3 scorecard that easily beat on both top-and bottom-line expectations. The Oklahoma-based shale producer reported revenue of $3.47B (+224.3% Y/Y), $1.08B higher than the consensus, while net earnings of $838M represented a vast improvement from the $92M loss the company reported for last year's corresponding quarter. Meanwhile, the company reported Q3 GAAP EPS of $1.24 vs.($0.25), beating by $0.31.

Q3 production soared 87% Y/Y to 608K boe/day, with production expenses declining 1% to $9.91/unit driven by operational efficiency gains and the benefits of scalable production growth in the Delaware Basin.

The company expects Q4 output of 583K-601K boe/day and expects to maintain FY 2022 production of 570K-600K boe/day, with $1.9B-$2.2B in capital spending on its upstream operations.

Devon's free cash flow generation increased 8-fold from the fourth quarter of 2020 to $1.1B, while the balance sheet strengthened with cash balances increasing by $782 million to a total of $2.3 billion.

Related: Aramco CEO: Underinvestment In Oil Is A ‘’Huge Concern’’

Devon Energy increased its fixed-plus-variable dividend payout by 71% to $0.84/share and also authorized a $1B stock buyback program. The company says the top priority for its free cash flow generation will continue to be the funding of its fixed-plus-variable dividend and distribute up to 50% of the remaining free cash flow to shareholders through a variable dividend.

DVN shares are up 176% YTD.

#3. Diamondback Energy

Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG) has posted Q3 revenue of $1.91B (+165.3% Y/Y) beating Wall Street's consensus by $430M while GAAP EPS of $3.56 beat by $0.73.

The company's Q3 2021 average production clocked in at 239.8 MBO/d (404.3 MBOE/d), with Q3 2021 Permian Basin production averaging 223.0 MBO/d (374.3 MBOE/d).

Q3 2021 cash flow from operating activities came in at $1,199 million; Operating Cash Flow was $1,131 million while Free Cash Flow was $740 million.

Diamondback has announced a commitment to return 50% of free cash flow to stockholders beginning in Q4 2021. To this end, the company raised its dividend 11% to $0.50 per share, marking the second consecutive quarterly increase after hiking by 12% in the second quarter. The company's board has also authorized a $2 billion share repurchase program as part of this commitment.

For the full year, FANG expects production to clock in at 222 - 223 MBO/d (370 - 372 MBOE/d), up from its previous guidance of 219 - 222 MBO/d (363 - 370 MBOE/d). The company has also lowered its full-year 2021 cash CAPEX guidance to $1.49 - $1.53 billion, down 4% at the midpoint from $1.525 - $1.625 billion previously.

FANG shares have rallied 133% YTD.

#4. EOG Resources

EOG Resources (NYSE:EOG) has reported Q3 revenue of $4.78B (+103.4% Y/Y), beating by $430M while net income of $1,095M represented a big jump from a $42M loss recorded in Q3 2020. Meanwhile, GAAP EPS of $1.88 narrowly missed by $0.01 but was a big improvement from last year's $0.07 loss.

EOG generated $1.4 billion of free cash flow and announced that capital expenditures came near the low end of guidance range driven by sustainable cost reductions.

EOG said total company crude oil production of 449,500 Bopd was above the high end of the guidance range due to better well productivity. 

EOG Resources has declared a $0.75/share quarterly dividend, good for an 81.8% increase from prior dividend of $0.41. The company also declared a special dividend of $2.00 per share, payable on December 30; for stockholders of record on December 15.

"Our high-return investment program... has positioned the company to step up our cash return to shareholders,should also be taken as a signal of our confidence that we can continue improving in the future. EOG has never been in better shape. Our high-return business model is sustainable for the long term, underpinned by a deep inventory of double premium drilling locations," EOG CEO Ezra Yacob told shareholders during the company's earnings call.

#5. Occidental Petroleum

Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) has become the latest shale patch producer to post an easy earnings beat on the strength of high oil and gas prices. The Texas company–which eschews wildcatting in favor of an oil recovery model–reported Q3 Non-GAAP EPS of $0.87 beats by $0.20 while GAAP EPS of $0.65 was in-line with expectations. 

OXY reported that cash flow from continuing operations clocked in at $2.9 billion, capital spending was $656 million, while free cash flow excluding working capital came in at over $2.3 billion.

The company exceeded production guidance midpoint by 15 Mboed, despite the impact of Hurricane Ida, with production of 1,160 Mboed from continuing operations. Meanwhile, OxyChem generated record earnings and increased total year pre-tax guidance to $1.45 billion

Occidental also announced that it had completed its large-scale divestiture program with the sale of Ghana in October; repaid $4.3 billion of long-term debt and retired $750 million of interest rate swaps.

OXY shares have gained 95% YTD.

By Alex Kimani for Oilprice.com

Global powers could suffer financially in the move away from fossil fuels - study

Low carbon initiatives affect more than just the climate. Some countries have much to gain, while others face great economic risk.

By EMILY CRASNICK

JERUSALEM POST  
Published: NOVEMBER 6, 2021

WIND TURBINES pictured in the Golan Heights.
(photo credit: REUTERS)

For years, the choice to move away from fossil fuels has been a costly one, causing many countries to delay implementing environmental policies and leaving others to pick up the tab. A recent study by the universities of Exeter, Cambridge, the Open University and Cambridge Econometrics shows that this is no longer the case. There is much to be gained from a shift toward renewable energy, environmentally and economically.

The global transition from fossil fuels to renewable energy is well underway, and it’s now apparent that getting on board may actually be the most effective approach for countries to both combat climate change and save money. As environmentally-friendly policies are implemented in an increasing number of countries, the choice to continue relying on fossil fuels may come with more consequences than a changing climate alone. Exactly what risks or rewards a country faces will depend on its relationship with fossil fuels.

Countries can be divided into one of three categories. For those that are heavily reliant on the import of fossil fuels, such as those in the European Union and China, moving toward greener policies has many benefits. Decarbonization for these countries means an opportunity to redirect financial resources toward the innovation of new technologies and jobs on a domestic level.

At the same time, oil-rich countries that rely on the export of fossil fuels, such as Saudi Arabia, can reduce negative impact on their own economies from decreased global demand for fossil fuels by preemptively flooding the market at a reduced cost.

Countries like the US, Canada and Russia are regarded as “large uncompetitive exporters” and stand to lose the most from continued reliance on fossil fuels. In a market flooded by exports from other oil-rich countries, these large exporters would be unable to compete. Stranded oil assets combined with lack of investment in new technology could lead to industrial decline as certain economic activity and job sectors dependent on the fossil fuel industry become obsolete. Redirecting efforts toward the creation of new low-carbon technology would help to mitigate the negative economic impact.

A man walks past a advertising in relation with the UN Climate Change Conference (COP 26) where world leaders discuss how to tackle climate change on a global scale, near the conference area in Glasgow Scotland, Britain October 30, 2021. (credit: REUTERS/YVES HERMAN)

“As the economy transforms, if you do not decarbonise, you are shooting yourself in the foot.” Professor Jorge Viñuales, of the University of Cambridge and co-author of the study, said. “The key question is how to do it in the specific conditions of your country.”

“The disruptive nature of the low-carbon transition makes untenable a macroeconomic strategy based on ‘business-as-usual,” said Dr. Pablo Salas, from the University of Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership (CISL).

“Supporting low-carbon innovation is the only way to maintain long-term competitiveness in a decarbonizing economy."

Resource-Rich, Canada Grapples With Key Commodity Shortage: Workers

November 7, 2021 EnergyNow Media

CALGARY, Alberta, Nov 5 (Reuters) – Canada’s economic recovery from the pandemic is being hampered by labor shortages across industries ranging from energy to aviation to agriculture, forcing companies to consider multiple salary hikes and offer other perks.

Statistics Canada data on Friday showed the national unemployment rate hit a 20-month low in October. The shortage of skilled and unskilled workers threatens to hurt economic growth and fuel inflation, which is already at an 18-year high.

“Talent is an issue in every sector, at every level of the value chain, in every part of the country, and there’s no silver-bullet-fix at hand,” said Leah Nord, a senior director at the Canadian Chamber of Commerce.

Industry groups blame the shortage partly on COVID-19 unemployment benefits that alleviated the need for some people to work, and increased demand for better work-life balance among younger workers as older employees retire.

One solution, companies say, is to raise the numbers of temporary foreign workers. The federal government and several provinces are working on possible changes that would shorten the process to bring such workers to Canada and raise the maximum number of temporary foreign workers allowed to work per facility, said Richard Vigneault, spokesman for Quebec pork producer Olymel. The company is looking for 3,000 workers to add to its 14,000-member workforce, he added.

In the energy services sector, which is entering its busiest time of year as the winter drilling season gets underway, a shortage of labor has propelled firms to boost wages 10% since June, according to the Canadian Association of Energy Contractors (CAOEC).

To attract workers, companies are also offering more flexibility in the hours they operate.

Canada’s oil and gas sector contributes about 5% to national GDP and CAOEC Chief Executive Mark Scholz said the labor crunch could leave companies unable to capitalize on soaring energy prices.

Precision Drilling (PD.TO), Canada’s biggest rig contractor, is offering referral bonuses and incentives to recruiting teams to help address worker shortages, CEO Kevin Neveu said.

“I’ll tell you, it’s a big challenge right now,” Neveu told a third-quarter earnings call.

Suzanne Benoit, president of aerospace trade group Aero Montreal, said some Canadian companies are considering whether to raise salaries twice in the same year to retain workers.

“They feel obliged, or the people will leave,” Benoit said on the sidelines of the organization’s recent supply chain summit in Montreal, the country’s aerospace hub.

“It’s a perfect storm in the sense that there is inflation, a shortage of workers and the aging of the population,” she added.

The agriculture sector has long struggled to hire enough workers to pick fruits and vegetables. But this year is also seeing shortages of butchers and truck drivers, said Debra Hauer, manager of labor market intelligence at the Canadian Agricultural Human Resources Council.

Staffing shortages may improve as the government transitions people off its main emergency income support program and onto traditional unemployment benefits.

But some sectors could see extended shortages, including in the oil sands’ next maintenance season in early 2022.

“There are just not enough people to go around,” said Hugh MacDonald, business manager for the Boilermakers Lodge 146 union in northern Alberta. “Next spring, I don’t know what we’re going to do.”

Additional reporting by Allison Lampert in Montreal; Editing by Dan Grebler

How space solar panels could power the Earth with 24/7 clean energy

It's always sunny in space.

Monisha Ravisetti

CNET
Nov. 6, 2021 

Could space-based solar power change the world one day?

Getty Images

Solar power has been a key part of humanity's clean-energy repertoire. We spread masses of sunlight-harvesting panels on solar fields, and many people power their homes by decorating their roofs with the rectangles.

But there's a caveat to this wonderful power source. Solar panels can't collect energy at night. To work at peak efficiency, they need as much sunlight as possible. So, to maximize these sun catchers' performance, researchers are toying with a plan to send them to a place where the sun never sets: outer space.

Theoretically, if a bunch of solar panels were blasted into orbit, they'd soak up the sun even on the foggiest days and the darkest nights, storing an enormous amount of power. If that power were wirelessly beamed down to Earth, our planet could breathe in renewable clean energy, 24/7.

That would significantly reduce our carbon footprint."The real virtue of space solar power is the ability to deliver solar energy day and night."
Michael Kelzenberg, California Institute of Technology

Against the backdrop of a worsening climate crisis, the success of space-based solar power could be more important than ever. The state of the climate is in the spotlight right now as world leaders gather in Glasgow, Scotland, for the COP26 summit, which has been called the "world's best last chance" to get the crisis under control.

CNET Science is highlighting a few futuristic strategies intended to aid countries in cutting back on human-generated carbon emissions. Next-gen tech like space-based solar power can't solve our climate problems -- we still need to rapidly decarbonize our energy systems -- but green innovation could help achieve the goals of the Paris Agreement: Limit global warming to well below 2 degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit) by the end of the century.

An unlimited supply of renewable energy from the sun might help us do that.

From science fiction to fact

For decades, space solar power has lived in the minds of science fiction lovers and scientists alike.

In the early 1900s, Russian scientist-mathematician Konstantin Tsiolkovsky was steadily churning out a stream of futuristic designs envisioning human tech beyond Earth. He's responsible for conjuring things like space elevators, steerable rockets and, you guessed it, space solar power.

Since Bell Labs first invented the first concrete "solar panel" in the '50s, international scientists have been working to make Tsiolkovsky's sci-fi fantasy a reality. They include Japanese researchers, the United States military and a team from California Institute of Technology spearheading the Space Solar Power Project.

Space solar power "was investigated extensively in the late 1960s and the 1970s, sort of in the heyday of the Apollo program," said Michael Kelzenberg, senior research scientist on the project.

Unfortunately, due to the materials' weight and bulk, the era's technology wasn't advanced enough to cost-effectively achieve the feat. It would've been exceptionally difficult to send classic solar panels to space via a rocket without breaking the bank.

"The distinctively unique and defining feature of the Caltech approach is a focus on reducing the component mass by 10 to 100 times," said Harry Atwater, the project's principal investigator. "This is essential to reducing both the manufacturing and the launch costs to make space solar power economical."

A structural prototype of Caltech's lighter solar panels. Caltech/The Space Solar Power Project

A sky full of solar panels

Instead of employing a rocket to transport traditional solar panels to space, the Caltech team advocates a new type of panel that's lighter, more compact and foldable. They suggest dispatching into orbit a large number of these airy, mini solar panels resembling tiles.

Each individual tile has everything it needs, like photovoltaics, to harvest solar energy. When connected in space, the little squares essentially make a giant renewable energy mine floating around Earth.

Though the team has been looking at a range of composites to create the ideal ultralight structure, some are actually less effective when compared with Earth-based solar panels. But Kelzenberg notes that in space, "effectiveness" earns a new meaning.

"The increase in effectiveness really comes from the fact that by putting them in space, they get plenty of intense sunlight because the sunlight doesn't have to come through the atmosphere," he said. "They also get sunlight, basically, 24 hours a day."

Each small solar panel is a part of something much, much bigger.

Caltech/The Space Solar Power Project

When the sun shone on these panels, they'd absorb bundles of direct current, or DC, energy. In the team's mechanism, that energy would get translated into radio frequencies. The next step would be to bring that power down to Earth.

That would happen, according to the team, through microwave radiation. Radio frequency energy would be beamed toward our planet onto areas reminiscent of solar fields in the desert. But in place of what are typically solar panels, these regions would contain receivers with antennas that collect the harvested energy.

It's basically wireless energy transfer, something Nikola Tesla famously alluded to in the late 19th century.

Using such radiation, Kelzenberg says, allows the system to operate in rain and fog, at night and during gentle storms, only risking disruption by the most severe weather. However, one question often raised about wireless radiation patterns is whether they would adversely impact vegetation or features of the land.


Atwater says that isn't a concern.

"The power density received on Earth would be equivalent to the power density in sunlight on a sunny day," he explained. "And systems for space solar power can be designed to be intrinsically safe in this regard."

As an extra safety precaution, Kelzenberg says, familiar measures can be taken, like cordoning off the receiver zone. Cellphone towers, which use a similar form of wave communication, do the same.

After the Earth-planted receivers retrieved the energy in the form of radio frequencies, they'd work with a ground station to convert it back to DC energy, which would then be transformed into alternating current power, or AC power, fed into the utility grid, Atwater said. 

Wireless energy transfer could help bring us 24/7 clean energy.

Caltech/The Space Solar Power Project

It's a complex process, but that last bit, the AC power, is the regular old electricity that runs through your house's sockets to charge your iPhone and give life to your laptop. Voila.

Beam the Earth up, Scotty

"Our first space flight to demonstrate space solar power component technology is now scheduled for late 2022, on a commercial spacecraft," Atwater said.

Though the team won't be launching the real deal, they'll be conducting an experiment that'll demonstrate the feasibility of the technologies on a smaller scale. It'll be a makeshift, simpler form of the invention. They'll even be sending a number of solar cells that've never seen the vacuum of space before.

But one day, if space-based solar power becomes a reality, it could change the world.

Not only would it help power remote areas and balance out the power grid to prevent outages, it could also send energy to mining operations on other planets.

"Space solar power can be deployed to remote areas on Earth where there is not an existing utility grid; it could also be used to generate baseload power on the moon or Mars via a similar scheme of orbital power generation and beaming to the surface," Atwater explained.

Most importantly, the energy humans could generate via 24/7 sun power would be enough to meet the climbing demands of our planet and even replace nuclear or coal power. "It represents a source of 'baseload' power that is continuously available, unlike solar panels on Earth," said Atwater.

Added Kelzenberg, "That's why we think that it can play an important role in going to a fully carbon-neutral power grid in the future."

Of course, there's a long road ahead. Even if the team's 2022 experiment is successful, there are manufacturing costs to consider, as well as legal questions about taking up orbital space (there may be governmental restrictions). Questions around the practicality of replacing known power grids with space-solar power plants will also remain.

But at the end of that path, we may find something golden.

"I think certainly we can agree that getting a cheap solar panel and putting it on the ground is going to cost a lot less than launching one into space," Kelzenberg said. "But the real virtue of space solar power is the ability to deliver solar energy day and night."

First published on Nov. 5, 2021 at 1:00 p.m. PT.