After an unexpected and long battle about its energy transition law, the French Parliament finally adopted the bill on the transition énergétique on 22nd July, just months away from the decisive global climate conference COP21 in Paris. With this final decision in the third reading, the Assemblée Nationale (AN) brought the law proposal back to its origins from 2014 and eliminated some major roadblocks introduced by the conservative Senate. Kathrin Glastra summarizes the law’s goals and the next steps.
All posts tagged: Nuclear
What Mexico’s climate goals mean for the energy sector
As the first emerging economy, Mexico presented its INDCs for the COP21 in Paris earlier this year. Lillian Sol Cueva summarizes the good, the bad and the ugly.
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.
“5 megatrends” for a global energy transition
The WWF and German renewable power provider Lichtblick have joined forces to produce an overview of five ways in which the entire world is transitioning to renewables. Craig Morris reviews the five megatrends, which were published only in German.
The Green Peace Dividend – Why green technologies matter for international security
Violent conflicts and security crises around the world have many different causes and effects. The vast majority of them, however, are in one way or another related to energy policy. Yet making this link apparent to policy makers has been challenging. Experts from the foreign policy, security and energy communities have been reluctant to fully grasp the security implications of promising green energy technology and market developments, argue Rebecca Bertram and Charlotte Beck.
Is Germany reliant on foreign nuclear power?
It’s back again – the claim that Germany will rely on foreign base load, especially nuclear, in its energy transition. Craig Morris wonders why proponents of nuclear power understand the technology and markets so poorly.
Germany’s next nuclear plant closes for good
And then there were eight… This weekend, the Grafenrheinfeld nuclear plant in northern Bavaria will shut down permanently. It is the first nuclear plant to close since 2011.
Suppressed French report says 100% renewables is possible
Over the Easter break, French daily Le Monde reported that an official study for a conference to be held last week was being held back. The energy experts investigated a 100 percent renewable supply of electricity by 2050. Craig Morris got hold of a copy, which still lacks an executive summary. So he wrote one.
Energy – the seventh Sustainable Development Goal
The UN will include “access to affordable, reliable, sustainable, and modern energy” in their post-2015 sustainable development goals (SDG). Matthias Ruchser explains the concepts and takes a look at what Germany needs to do in the coming years to fulfill the goal, namely turning its electricity transition into a holistic energy transition.
French energy transition law: return to sender?
France’s energy transition law has been stalled due to disagreements between both chambers of parliament. While this outcome is disappointing, it might also help pass a more ambitious draft later this year, as Kathrin Glastra explains.