Across Europe, information and communication technologies are optimizing clean-energy systems by making them more connected, intelligent, efficient, reliable, and cheaper. Germany and France lead the pack.
Author: Paul Hockenos
Angry Weather: Attribution Bolsters Climate Science
The implications of weather-attribution methodology, which pins individual extreme weather events to human-induced global warming, are vast.
The EU’s New Plastics Economy is Breaking Ground
Europe is doubling down on efforts to curtail plastics production and waste. There’s much other continents can replicate – and plenty of room for improvement.
Waste-to-Energy’s Days are Numbered. Applaud!
Circumventing landfills by turning garbage into energy sounds like a win-win proposition. But the incineration of garbage has high carbon emissions and produces other dangerous toxins. Waste-to-energy (WtE) plants may be necessary for the very last of unrecyclable waste, but we do not need more of them to accomplish this. Already recycling has cut into their feed supply – and should, hopefully, put them out of business.
Poland’s Białowieża forest: an endangered carbon sink and biodiversity reserve
Poles tend to see the ancient forest of Białowieża as home to extraordinary wildlife. For the climate conscious, the old-growth wilderness that straddles the Polish-Belarus border is a vast carbon sink. Both camps are incensed that the Polish government wants, again, to log the UNESCO World Heritage site. Forests elsewhere in Europe are under threat, too. Paul Hockenos conducted interviews with locals from Białowieża Forest in Poland.
Germany’s high-risk clean-energy balancing act
As coal-fired and nuclear power plants go dark, Germany needs to find ways to balance the grid when weather-dependent renewables cannot get the job done. German and European experts are considering three options. The most promising is the rapid rollout of renewables combined with demand management, diversified storage, and regional smart grids.
World’s Smart Cities Show How They Do it Themselves
Toronto’s former mayor shines light on best practices in cities from San Francisco to Tokyo in his new book “Solved: How the World’s Great Cities Are Fixing the Climate Crisis”. He argues that innovative transitions to low-emission cities are not just possible, or planned, but are already success stories.
Must Community Producers and Big Energy in Europe Clash?
Small-scale energy collectives want to play a prominent role in transitioning Europe’s energy supply to renewables. But the epic size of this challenge requires large companies with deep pockets and technology that can balance the grid. But do we really have to choose?
Book review: ‘How to Avoid a Climate Disaster’ by Bill Gates
Bill Gates gets a lot right in his new book ‘How to Avoid a Climate Disaster. The Solutions We Have and the Breakthroughs We Need’. Nuclear power, however, doesn’t need to be part of the solution. A review by Paul Hockenos.
Copenhagen’s Legendary Wind Park Middelgrunden at a Crossroads
The world’s largest wind farm two decades ago may not survive as a co-operative. At least this is what the Danish energy industry says. The co-op’s founders remain defiant – and optimistic. Paul Hockenos has the story.