The Netherlands: home to wind mills, tulips… and one of the world’s ten largest fields of natural gas. But what was once seen as a blessing is increasingly viewed as a thing of the past. Craig Morris asks: is it time to break with the Dutch tradition of “pretty continuation”?
Archives
A just transition: the way forward for coal communities
The energy transition is not effective unless it can be a just transition, which provides for its communities. Nora Löhle explores how some German communities have worked together to keep jobs and pride in their area after coal is phased out.
Green for benefits
Luxembourg has been aiming to reach its 2020 energy objectives, but there are some difficulties in reducing emissions which come from being a small, transit country. Nonetheless, the government is implementing various strategies to improve efficiency and transportation. Nora Weis has the details.
Everything you always wanted to know about PV…
… but didn’t know where to ask. Today, Craig Morris presents Fraunhofer ISE’s update of its annual “Recent facts about photovoltaics in Germany.” In addition to German specifics, the review covers a lot of general info about solar power. For instance, how can we spread solar power production across more hours without storage?
Marginalizing the “strict-father” camp
In two recent posts, Craig Morris shed light on US linguist George Lakoff’s proposal for environmentalists to frame their issues properly. Today, he sums up why framing is too America-centric. He wishes everyone would copy Germany’s Vergangenheitsbewältigung – a faithfulness to the truth in combating alt-facts. And if you ever wondered how feminism benefits men, read on.
Selling the energy transition based on values
In a recent post, Craig Morris took a critical look at US linguist’s recommendations for “framing” the energy transition better. Today, he sheds light on how he, perhaps unintentionally, followed George Lakoff’s advice nonetheless for years to change perceptions about the Energiewende. It started with this website.
China’s citizens overwhelmingly want renewable energy
For several years now, China has been proving its critics wrong–coal use is peaking, and it has been agile in pursuing climate goals. The energy transition there is especially popular among residents of Chinese cities, Cynthia Shahan reports.
Netherlands: A silver lining for renewables?
Despite its beautiful windmills, the Netherlands doesn’t rank that high for renewable energy production, and might miss its 2020 target. The good news is that it has launched an ambitious campaign for zero-emission public transport by 2025. Henning Twickler and Kathrin Glastra explain how the Netherlands could help pave the way for a transportation transition.
Why auctions? Germany to cut renewables growth in half
On Tuesday, the German Wind Energy Association (BWE) published stats on new turbines in 2016. Both onshore and off, wind growth continues to be healthy. And PV was also added roughly in line to keep feed-in tariffs from rising. Craig Morris takes a look.
Twinterview with rogue US environmental accounts
On Monday, Feb 6, our Craig Morris held an interview on Twitter (#twinterview) with Alice Stollmeyer, who created the #Twistance list for rogue US accounts from environmental agencies who have been told to stop tweeting for the time being under the current US president. Below are some excerpts from the conversation (also Storified by Alice), which included the rogue Environmental Protection Agency, US National Parks, and PEER.org, a non-profit for environmental whistleblowers. Craig already has one clear conclusion that freedom fighters elsewhere understood long ago: the anonymity of Twitter, which drove him crazy up to now, can be a benefit for a resistance movement.