A look behind the headlines and the stories that matter in climate and energy from the UK and the rest of the world.
Energydesk
The UK's Department of Energy and Climate change has commissioned a report by energy consultants Poyry which shows that despite the crashing carbon price and Germany's nuclear phase-out Germany, Spain and Holland are not planning any new coal plants. Why bother? Well if Other European countries were going back to black, so to speak, we'd be under pressure to do the same.
UK
UK energy firms SSE and Centrica may be losing interest in the UK's muddled power market and investing their money in Ireland instead. The Times reports that SSE, Centrica and Scottish Power are amongst the likely bidders for Ireland's state owned electricity and gas supplier Bord Gáis Energy.
But whilst a lack of investment may worry the government Oxford Energy's Jonathan Stern argues it is misleading to claim the 'lights are about to go out' as pretty every headline writer has done some time in the last year.
And Jim Pickard - of the FT - notes on Twitter that the lobbying firm headed up by the Conservative election strategist Lyndon Crosby has some interesting clients - including the Australian Petroleum and Production association. It comes after the government was accused of not being sufficiently transparent about Crosby's links to the Tobacco industry.
Europe
Business Green's James Murray argues that lobby group Business Europe is misrepresenting British businesses - including the CBI - by consistently arguing against European measures to strengthen action on climate change. Businesses, he says, need to take on this "Neanderthal" corporate culture.
The news comes Business Green also reveals that we are expecting another vote on moves to strengthen the EU's flagging carbon market 'within weeks'.
At the same time Reuters reports that EU leaders are planning to discuss how to limit the impact of rising energy costs - compared to the US - on EU industrial competitiveness. One option being discussed is to develop Europe's own 'indigenous sources of energy' - code for fracking.
Utility giants E.On and Statcraft have both announced plans to shut their EU gas plants - because of the low price of coal and almost non-existent price of carbon.
Rest of the world
Methane emissions from coal mines escaped regulation from the US Environmental Protection Agency, which said U.S. budget cuts didn’t leave it with the resources to determine if the pollution is a significant risk.
Global markets, and even US and UK property prices are hitting new highs - with predictable impacts on the global price of oil. A global asset boom in the midst of generalised stagnation in the developed world is not necessarily a good thing.
Climate
The Arctic Ocean is absorbing carbon dioxide at a far greater rate than was previously thought, threatening fish stocks and the livelihoods of indigenous peoples - according to a report by the Norwegian Institute of Ocean research.
David Appell in the excellent Yale forum on Climate Change and the Media looks at the increasing claims that global warming has slowed down and concludes there really isn't that much to explain.
