A few months ago, South Africa looked set to shackle itself to a cripplingly expensive fleet of Russian nuclear power stations. Overblown coal development was ongoing, and attempts to get private renewable power plants feeding into the grid were stalled due to state-aligned vested interests. By February, all that has changed, writes Leonie Joubert.
Year: 2018
India’s energy transition: potential and prospects
Touted as the world’s third largest emitter of greenhouse gas, India is steadily on its way to transition from fossil fuels to renewable energy. The targets that the country has set itself are closer to being achieved and even surpassed. Sadia Sohail explains the newest study on India’s energy policy.
Free public transport: best practices worldwide
As Germany mulls over the option of making public transportation free, it’s worth taking a look at towns across the globe that have already done so. Craig Morris investigates.
Free public transportation in Germany?
The German government has proposed making trams and buses in selected cities free in order to reduce pollution. The healthiest thing about the idea is the debate it has created. Craig Morris adds an idea of his own.
Southeast Asia: hotspot for renewables or dumping ground for coal?
In the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), renewables contributed 8% to final energy consumption in 2014. Since then, the share renewable energy has only slightly increased whereas fossil fuel-powered generation is the main source for new power plants. Lars Blume and Nguyen Thi Hang illustrate why momentum in Southeast Asia is changing.
It’s always windy somewhere: balancing renewable energy in Europe
There are many steps we can take to deal with the flexibility of renewable energy: better storage, smart meters, lowering demand via efficiency. But what about getting wind to help balance out the grid in Europe? John Timmer of ArsTechnica looks at harnessing weather patterns for the energy transition.
Life after coal
In Germany’s Appalachia, the last coal mine is closing. Local residents were skeptical at first, but jobs in technology and renewables, as well as social cohesion are helping the energy transition move forward.
Cape Town in crisis
Cape Town is dealing with one of the biggest climate change-linked water crises to face a modern city. This should serve as our wake-up call: we must transition to a new, shared way of organising around increasingly stretched resources, writes Leonie Joubert.
Negative power prices: good or bad?
The New York Times says they are “positive for energy users.” But Germany’s newspapers Handelsblatt and Der Spiegel say that Germans are paying neighboring countries to take excess power off their hands. Who is right? Craig Morris investigates.
Katowice: A European coal capital goes green
Nowhere in the EU is smog more suffocating than in southern Poland. This year, the polluted Polish mining city Katowice will host the COP24 climate conference. Ahead of that, change is in the air — and on the ground. Richard Fuchs takes a look.