The president and the parliamentary majority have recently taken two decisions that will significantly influence the development of the renewable energy industry in Poland. Although at the outset these legal changes seemed promising, their consequences now appear bound to be negative. Michał Olszewski explains.
All posts tagged: Coal
Will Germany reach its 2020 target for renewable power this year?
In the first half of 2016, 36.4 percent of the electricity produced in Germany was renewable according to preliminary data. The target for 2020 is only 35 percent – and that figure does not include power exports. Renewables seem to be cutting into both coal power and nuclear; gas is up. Craig Morris explains.
A struggle between coal and renewable energy in the Philippines
The struggle between coal-fired and renewable energy plants in the Philippines is heated. Pete Maniego Jr explains the resurgence of coal and the need for a renewable energy transition in order to meet the COP21 goals.
Opportunity to leapfrog into the renewable age – is India on the right track?
India is poised to show the value of renewable energies to developing economies. Its new targets, government programs, alongside other factors, seem to be moving India into a renewable energy age. Srinivas Krishnaswamy takes an in-depth perspective.
Berlin’s Renewable Energy Fiasco… Revisited
Although the Wall Street Journal has called the German energy transition a “fiasco,” Javier López Prol argues that renewables are clearly a success. Fossil fuels only seem cheaper as they externalize costs onto the environment, and that higher electricity costs are not the economic catastrophe that critics claim.
The case for ‘Gigawatts of Change’ in Egypt
Simon Ilse summarizes the new study “80 Gigawatts of Change” by the Egyptian Center for Economic and Social Rights (ECESR). Civil society groups can use study to compare social and ecological impacts, and use its findings as a tool for advocacy.
What comes after coal?
How do communities deal with the energy transition, in particular the loss of mining jobs? Ben Paulos takes a look at the documentary After Coal and two coal-dependent communities in Wales and Kentucky.
Vietnam needs a 21st Century electricity plan
In March this year, Vietnam’s government released its revised Power Development Plan VII, indicating how the country would meet its electricity needs between 2016 and 2030. The plan contained good and bad news. What Vietnam really needs is a electricity plan, suitable for the 21st century, Nguy Thi Khanh claims.
Has China’s coal use peaked? Here’s how to read the tea leaves
As the largest emitter of carbon dioxide in the world, how much coal China is burning is of global interest. According to the country’s National Bureau of Statistics, the tonnage of coal has fallen for the second year in the row. Nevertheless, there is one scenario in which coal use could easily go back up again: high oil and natural gas prices. Valeria J. Karplus explains.
Drip-feed them, baby, one more time!
The Polish mining industry needs to be drip fed yet again. Over the past 25 years, the coal sector has been receiving numerous subsidies from the government, amounting to at least US$35 billion. Michal Olszewski explains what is going on.