Commentary Czechia and Italy are leading the charge against EU carbon pricing, derailing last week’s EU leaders’ summit. But their resistance runs deeper than politics: Czech lignite dependence and Italian gas interests shape each position. Yet both countries also host thriving clean-tech industries, such as heat pumps, that remain underrepresented in national debates. Ahead of the European Commission’s post-2030 climate proposal, amplifying these voices could offer a path to compromise. A commentary by Emil Sondaj Hansen and Emmanuel Molding Nielsen (Think Tank Europa), Davide Panzeri (ECCO Climate) and Tomáš Jungwirth Brezovsky (Association for International Affairs).
All posts tagged: Czech Republic
Atomic fission without borders: the looming threat of Germany’s nuclear neighbours
Germany’s citizenry now no longer lives with the threat of a nuclear accident happening within its own borders. But five of the nine states – France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Switzerland and the Czech Republic – along its periphery host nuclear power plants. And Germans, many of whom still remember the radioactive cloud from the Chernobyl meltdown wafting over central Europe in the spring of 1986, know that a mishap at one of these aging stations would imperil them as well. Paul Hockenos reports. Read More
The Czech Coal Commission: When Will the Heart of Europe Stop Fouling the Air?
Partially inspired by Germany’s version, the Czech Coal Commission met for the first time earlier this summer. Though it’s creation was largely driven by the mass student protests that have fundamentally transformed the Czech debate on climate policy, only two of its nineteen members are from environmental organizations. With its final report due in less than a year, it’s still unclear if the commission will decide upon a coal phase out date or a surge in renewables instead of new nuclear power. To learn more, Klára Schovánková, head of the ecology program at Heinrich Böll Foundation’s Prague office, interviewed Coal Commission member, Jiří Koželouh, who also heads the energy program at Hnutí Duha, Friends of the Earth Czech Republic.
Student protests helped to set Prague’s Climate Ambitions in motion
It happened quickly and quietly. Within only two minutes, Prague City Assembly members managed to discuss and approve a local obligation to reduce CO2 emissions by 40 % by 2030 during a meeting last September. Of the 58 assembly members present, 40 voted in favor and nobody was against. Petra Kolínská takes a look
The nuclear legacy nobody wants
Czech nuclear reactors have so far produced at least 4000 tons of highly radioactive waste. If the number of reactors grows, so will the amount of waste produced. The government has long declared itself in favor of developing nuclear energy even as it still does not know how to solve the nuclear waste problem. Martin Sedlák takes a look.
The age of Czech solar power: after years of stagnation, is a rebirth imminent?
No other energy resource in the Czech Republic has been as discussed in the media and political debate as solar has been in recent years. The technology entered the Czech energy sector in 2010 with a big initial bounce, but its development stagnated during the next decade. Those interested in Czech photovoltaic technology are now attempting to revive it, says Martin Sedlák.
How should the Czech Republic split its energy assets?
The Czech government follows the example of the German RWE-Innogy to legitimize the split of CEZ into nuclear and non-nuclear parts. Jan Ondrich takes a look.
How can the Czech Republic pay for new nuclear?
Plans for a new nuclear power plant in Czech Republic are currently on the brink of collapse. Jan Ondřich explains the remaining options.
Is the Czech energy sector about to become the “Wild East”?
Anybody following the Czech political debate about the future of the energy sector here must be confused. Sometimes it seems we have woken up back in 1985. Martin Sedlák attempts to give a sense of the current context of that debate.
The Czech nuclear vision
The Czech Republic’s new government has made one of its central promises to build new nuclear reactors. Most administrations have made similar pledges, but new ground has not been broken since 2004. Martin Sedlák asks: can the government succeed this time?