Wind, oil and aid: Everything to know about the environment this week

The Biden Administration has approved two new solar projects in the California desert and is working on permit applications for 50 more clean energy facilities, it announced on Tuesday.

The rapid intensification that turned this week's Typhoon Rai into the strongest storm to hit the Philippines this year surpassed all predictions, forecasters said, leaving nearly 400 people dead and almost a million displaced. While it's unclear exactly how global warming is affecting the intensification of such storms, the UN's climate change agency has found it is "likely that the frequency of rapid intensification events have increased over the past four decades" as temperatures rise.

The European Commission plans to finish next year its long-awaited rules on whether to label gas and nuclear energy as climate-friendly investments under EU green finance rules, its environment policy chief said on Monday.

Global oil demand roared back in 2021 as the world began to recover from the coronavirus pandemic, and overall world consumption potentially could hit a new record in 2022 - despite efforts to bring down fossil fuel consumption to mitigate climate change.

Ocean freight costs are likely to remain high in 2022 as investors and regulators scramble to accelerate decarbonization of the shipping industry and companies grapple with green financing, sources say. Shipping, which transports about 90% of world trade and accounts for nearly 3% of the world's CO2 emissions, is under growing pressure from environmentalists to deliver more concrete action including a carbon levy.

A new analysis has shown the impact of milder wind speeds across Europe. Windmills across the bloc generated less electricity which worsened a crunch that sent power prices to record highs as utilities had to buy more coal and scarce, costly, natural gas.

Devastation from tornadoes that slammed parts of the United States this month will push the insurance industry's 2021 bill for weather-related claims well above the predicted $105 billion, industry experts said, and premiums should rise on worries that climate change will drive more severe weather.

The United States needs to do a better job vetting which carbon capture projects to support with public funds and improve its oversight once the projects are underway, a government agency watchdog said on Monday.

Norway has granted 1 billion Norwegian crowns ($111 million) in support for three projects to produce emissions-free hydrogen and ammonia, aiding a transition to a low-carbon economy, the government said.

EU countries will be allowed to pump more money into green projects in climate, energy and the environment, while state support for fossil fuels will face more hurdles to be approved by Brussels, the European Commission said on Tuesday.

The Commission, which vets national governments' state aid to check that it does not distort competition in the European Union single market, set out the upgraded competition rules aimed at helping countries meet climate change targets.

The EU aims to cut its net greenhouse gas emissions 55% by 2030 from 1990 levels and eliminate them by 2050. That will require huge low-carbon investments, including extra energy sector investments of 350 billion euros ($395 billion) a year this decade.

"Although a significant share will come from the private sector, public support will play a role in ensuring that the green transition happens fast," EU competition chief Margrethe Vestager said.

The new rules expand the areas where countries can offer support, including clean transport and energy efficiency in buildings.

The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has finalized new rules that will reduce tailpipe emissions through 2026, improving efficiency by 28.3% and avoiding 3.1 billion tons of greenhouse gas emissions through 2050.

The new rules will make it cheaper to drive and save consumers billions at the gas pump - reducing US gasoline consumption by more than 440 million barrels through 2050, a 15% reduction in US gasoline consumption.

But EPA says it will lead to more driving - meaning more congestion, and additional road deaths - since per-mile driving costs will decline, and $50 to $100 billion less in federal gas taxes collected through 2050.