Poland has some of the worst air quality in the European Union, and 2017 was marked by grassroot efforts to fight smog. It seems that the Polish government is slowly getting on board. Michał Olszewski asks: will Poland cut emissions in time, or will 2018 bring fines from the EU?
According to the most recent data, German retail power rates are the highest in the EU along with Denmark’s. The monthly power bill is, however, exaggerated in reports. Craig Morris investigates.
Although Latin America and the Caribbean have made progress in energy savings and efficiency in the last years, the region can do more to move towards sustainability. A review of the regional measures shows improvements, and reflects the challenges ahead. Emilio Godoy takes a look.
As their electricity systems grow cleaner, both Germany and California are looking for additional ways to cut global warming emissions. But cleaning up the transportation and heat sectors has proven to be more challenging than cleaning up power plants. Ben Paulos takes a look.
The up-front costs of energy efficient buildings and passive houses may be relatively high. But they are one of the most important ways to reduce energy use and thereby emissions – and, of course, energy bills. Justin Havre takes a look at how homeowners and businesses can act.
Renovating existing buildings and making sure new builds are fit for purpose are the crucial tenets of the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive (EPBD), which the European Parliament’s industry committee voted on last week. Sam Morgan of Euractiv.com takes a closer look.
According to the International Energy Agency (IEA), energy efficiency is the one energy resource that every country possesses in abundance and is the quickest and least costly way of addressing energy security, environmental and economic challenges. Stefan Jungcurt elaborates on recent initiatives which have sought to boost energy efficiency.
Polish coal is losing value on the global market and Poland’s grid may see serious blackouts. But instead of investing in other forms of energy, the government dips into taxpayer pockets to try and save the mining and energy market, Michał Olszewski reveals.
Sam Fankhauser and Sini Matikainen review what the manifestos of the Conservatives, Labour, and the Liberal Democrats contain on the environment. They argue that all three parties are committed to taking action, but there is a risk that climate change will be forgotten by a new government preoccupied with other issues.
In the first installment of this series we explored the basic facts about electricity production from biomass, and some pervasive myths about it. In the second, we delved into the complicated issues involved in accounting for the climate implications of biopower. In this installment, Ben Paulos explores the future of biopower.
