2015 marks an important year for international climate politics. The challenge is to find ways in which economic growth can be decoupled from greenhouse gas emissions and fossil fuel consumption. In some parts of the world, this decoupling trend is already happening, as a recent Heinrich Boell Foundation study finds.
All posts tagged: China
A view from Southern Africa on the nuclear issue
South Africa has the only nuclear power station on the continent. Now, the second biggest economy in Africa, and the most carbon polluting, plans to add another six or eight to the fold. But the cost could run into the trillions – larger, even, than the annual national budget, explains SA-based science writer Leonie Joubert.
Germany’s energy transition is not an island of its own
The restructuring of the energy system in one of the world’s leading industrialized nations is undoubtedly a highly ambitious undertaking. There is no blueprint for this energy transition that would offer a simple step-by-step procedure to follow. In that sense, the Energiewende is an open learning process and pilot project at the same time, one that is being observed internationally with a mixture of hope and skepticism. However, there is one thing that the German energy transition is certainly not: an island of its own that isolates Germany’s energy economy. On the contrary, a quick overview of the world’s state of affairs with regard to energy shows that the global energy transition is now picking up speed, as Ralf Fücks points out.
Asia at the crossroads: will it choose old energy – or turn to the new?
Asia is at a critical moment in its energy development. Hundreds of millions of people across Asia will be gaining access to modern electricity systems for the first time in the coming years. The question is: will they be supplied with power from traditional central plants, or by low-carbon, distributed power systems? According to David Fullbrook, senior consultant with DNV GL Energy’s Clean Technology Centre in Singapore, people in Asia would benefit greatly from a transition to clean energy. But he notes that this will only happen if policymakers chart a clear course towards such a future.
Emerging economies surge forward with renewables
Why is renewable energy adoption in the world’s emerging economies growing nearly twice as fast than in industrialized nations? Laurie Guevara-Stone summarizes a hopeful report that shows that renewables are already the cheapest source of electricity in a number of emerging markets today, helping to bring affordable and sustainable electricity to everybody.
The future of energy leaning towards decentralization
Tesla’s announcement of batteries for power storage caused a lot of turmoil last week. Kartikeya Singh analyses the significance of the product for the power market and sees it as part of a global trend towards energy decentralization.
World Energy Council (WEC) survey finds Energiewende not model for the world
The results of the survey published in German in February were made available in English (PDF) last month. They show overwhelming international skepticism towards the German Energiewende. Craig Morris says the findings are in line with the WEC’s tradition of skepticism towards renewables. And a comparison of previous WEC surveys on the Energiewende is illustrative.
More coal plants are being cancelled than built
The era of global coal expansion is coming to an end. Since 2010, the number of canceled coal projects across the world outstrips those that are completed at a rate of two to one. Still, too much power continues to be made from coal if mankind wants to achieve the 2 °C global temperature limit, argues Sophie Yeo.
First in class, but not best in class – The EU’s proposal for the 2015 climate conference in Paris
The EU recently agreed on its contribution (INDC) to the global climate change agreement, which is due to be adopted in Paris in December. It is worth noting that the EU is the first of the major economies to present its offer for the Paris agreement. Nevertheless, the extent to which the offer paves the way to an ambitious climate deal in Paris is questionable indeed, as Silvia Brugger reports.
China’s energy transition 1.0 or 2.0: How can it trigger a greater share of renewable energy?
While China is encouraging the increase in renewable energy following Germany’s example, Germany has – in recent months – been focusing its energy discussions increasingly around the need to reform its electricity market. This experience can offer highly valuable lessons for China and other countries for the time when these too have to begin designing their energy systems to account for larger shares of intermittent renewable energies. The current Chinese Energy Transition 1.0 is not sufficient to allow for a much greater share of renewables in the energy system, explains Yang Yu.