Globally, electricity generation was the cleanest it has ever been in 2022, according to energy analyst, Ember. In its latest report, now in its fourth edition, Ember says clean sources of generation, including nuclear and hydro, accounted for 39% of total generation
Innovation forms the very foundation of science-based industries like chemicals, pharmaceuticals and renewable energy. And the bedrock of that innovation is research and development (R&D). While research-based institutions and industry can provide that R&D, it requires an appropriate environment in which to flourish.
As a major energy consuming industry, chemicals have suffered from extremely high costs due to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and the consequent pressures on the global economy and key customer industries.
Each January, business leaders and politicians from across the world gather in Davos, Switzerland, for the World Economic Forum (WEF), to look at what the coming year may hold for the global economy. And 2023 is no exception, with a focus on the inflation that is hitting every national economy, driven by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine just after the 2022 WEF and its impact on energy costs, as well as the ongoing problem of Covid and decarbonisation.
It is now almost a year since the world was plunged into an energy crisis by the Russian invasion of Ukraine. But this crisis might become the potential turning point for world climate – with the move away from fossil fuels gaining momentum as society looks at the route to energy security and also decarbonisation.
Responsibility, international solidarity, openness, inclusion, mobility, flexibility and predictability. They are words that will already be familiar to all of us engaged in the international scientific community. So perhaps it’s not too surprising that they are also the watchwords selected by a recent report on the Ukraine crisis.
COP-27 is on us, and the organisers have stated their objectives: The hope is that COP27 will be the turning point where the world came together and demonstrated the requisite political will to take on the climate challenge through concerted, collaborative and impactful action. Read the leader article by Sharon Todd, SCI's CEO.
The energy crisis continues to cause global disruption, pushing inflation rates across many countries to levels not seen for many years. Governments are scrambling to raise interest rates to stop the rise, however interest rates are a blunt instrument, with limited impact on the cause of the inflation but substantive knock-on effects.
The US biotech sector has seen major upheaval and contraction over the first half of 2022, which is only just beginning to reverse. The pace and the numbers of employees affected over such a short period has been described as unprecedented by many observers.
We are now halfway to COP27 and three years after the UK set its Net Zero target. Meanwhile the UK, along with the rest of Europe, is facing a winter of extraordinary fuel bills as a result of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and its impact on the world energy markets. So where does the UK currently stand?