Marco te Brömmelstroet, Associate Professor in Urban Planning at University of Amsterdam and head of the Urban Cycling Institute, visited Berkeley with a delegation of grad students studying transportation systems. Known as “The Cycling Professor,” he sat down to talk about how the Netherlands became the bicycling capital of the world and how other communities can (or can’t) follow suit. Ben Paulos asks for details.
Author: Ben Paulos
Local clean energy fund is a bright spot in US election results
Portland, Oregon, will take $30 million a year from large corporations and spend it on climate protection. Support for the city’s most vulnerable populations is at the heart of the plan. Ben Paulos outlines planned initiatives.
Next stop on the climate party circuit – Katowice, Poland
The UN Climate Summit kicks off today in Poland. These events are always full of promises and deals. Bentham Paulos takes a look back at the promises made at September’s summit in California to see what the Poland meetings will mean for future progress.
Global push for electric vehicles moves forward despite US chaos
The move toward electric vehicles is making steady progress worldwide, as companies and countries align behind aggressive growth targets. But a renewed battle between California and the Trump Administration on vehicle policies is throwing North American plans into turmoil. Ben Paulos takes an in-depth look.
Puerto Rico disaster opens the door to distributed energy
Localized energy systems are more resilient than a traditional grid, and offer solutions to power outages around the world. Ben Paulos takes a look at microgrids, minigrids, and how Puerto Rico could get to 100% renewable energy.
Community choice energy drives renewable growth in California
Community choice aggregation (CCA) is a tool to encourage local control of energy systems that can drive significant growth in clean energy. In California, communities are using CCA to invest in renewable energy; in other US states, it’s a different story. Ben Paulos takes a look.
Converting renewable power to other low-carbon products
With wind and solar booming, researchers are looking for ways to turn electricity into other products, to cut carbon and integrate renewables into the power grid. Power-to-X could go a long way towards these goals, says Ben Paulos.
Washington State leaves coal behind, but not its workers
Centralia, USA faced disaster when its local coal plant run by TransAlta closed. But after getting a permit to build a natural gas plant on the same site, the company has committed $55 million for community development. Ben Paulos explores at the transition away from coal in Washington State.
Germany and California look beyond the power sector to cut carbon
As their electricity systems grow cleaner, both Germany and California are looking for additional ways to cut global warming emissions. But cleaning up the transportation and heat sectors has proven to be more challenging than cleaning up power plants. Ben Paulos takes a look.
US cities and states step forward on climate as Trump steps back
As the Trump Administration steps back from climate action, states, cities, and corporations in the US are stepping up. Ben Paulos take a look at American groups in Bonn, and the city-level action in Austin, Texas as an example of climate leadership.