Smart energy infrastructure and an entrepreneurial spirit will play an important role in driving energy transitions around the world. Cem Özdemir, Co-Chairman of the German Green Party, traveled to San Francisco to witness how innovative solutions are driving low-carbon development in the Bay Area. Here he explains how California could serve as a model for German start-ups.
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Electric vehicles will drive Germany’s Energiewende
Transportation in Germany accounts for around 20 percent of total carbon dioxide emissions. With 95% of fuel used in the transportation sector derived from fossil fuels, there is much room for improvement. According to Giovanni Dubon, the solution to this is electrifying the transportation sector.
No business case for lots of wind and solar
In recent years, the increasing competitiveness of wind and solar power has been widely hailed. But there is a cloud to this silver lining – power production does not match power demand. As a result, the actual value of wind and solar power will decrease as we get more of it. Craig Morris says policymakers should pay attention.
The German feed-in tariff is a revenue-raising instrument, not a subsidy
Foreign observers sometimes think that the German feed-in tariff is a subsidy that comes out of the federal budget. In reality, it’s a levy that helps to raise revenue for communities and a model that should be copied, as R. Andreas Kraemer points out.
The Green Peace Dividend – Why green technologies matter for international security
Violent conflicts and security crises around the world have many different causes and effects. The vast majority of them, however, are in one way or another related to energy policy. Yet making this link apparent to policy makers has been challenging. Experts from the foreign policy, security and energy communities have been reluctant to fully grasp the security implications of promising green energy technology and market developments, argue Rebecca Bertram and Charlotte Beck.
Energy transition – a view from Kenya
For many rural Kenyans, it’s too expensive for households to pay to be connected to the national electricity grid. Some communities, who live near the right kinds of rivers are opting for a cheaper, more sustainable option: small scale hydro plants, to power lights, charge mobile phones, and pick up on the airwaves. South Africa-based science writer Leonie Joubert takes a closer look at a thriving model for community development.
Tackling climate change will reap benefits for human health
Curbing climate change could be the biggest global health opportunity of the 21st century. But if we choose not to act, we could reverse all the progress made by economic development in the last 50 years towards improving global public health. Roz Pidcock summarizes the findings of a new Lancet report.
The common goals of the Pope and clean energy
With the release of his encyclical “Laudatio Si”, the pope has called people around the world for swift action against climate change and for environmental protection. Paul Stinson is glad that at this critical moment in time, the Pope is helping to change the tone of the global conversation.
Focusing on the “energy” part in Energiewende
Recent developments in Germany have largely been centered on the transformation of electricity production, but to meet its stated targets, Germany needs to double down on efforts in the areas of transportation, heat and energy efficiency, as Boyan Dobrev points out.
German government adopts watered-down carbon plan
The plan to implement a sort of national carbon emissions trading scheme specifically to clamp down on electricity from lignite is now officially dead. Last night, the German government adopted a different plan with a broader focus. Aside from the coal sector, no one seems to like it. Craig Morris investigates.