All posts tagged: Renewables


Time for the EU and UK to forge a global renewables alliance

In the first of a two-part report, Josh Matthews explains why the onus is now on the EU and UK governments to forge a global alliance for renewable energy. Part two will explore the incoming Labour government’s plans for Great British Energy, and why a just transition will need more targeted and aligned policy. Josh Matthews reports.

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The funding nightmares of Europe’s climate dreams

The urgency of the global climate crisis is driving Europe’s transition to a renewable energy system. However, the investment gap for adding renewable technologies and for updating its energy networks is gigantic. Seden Anlar stresses the need for new EU funding for climate goals and just transition.

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How Scotland can get its energy for renewables back

Scotland has been a pioneer in renewables, says Kirsten Jenkins. But the easy wins are over and the task of decarbonising Scotland’s economy is becoming steadily more difficult, as the row over net zero targets showed. Nonetheless, the potential to build on its record is clear and the obstacles are not insurmountable.

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100% renewables: the way forward to fix Europe’s energy and climate issues

When confronted with energy price explosions and the climate crisis, the EU cannot waste time and money on castles in the air. Instead of betting on unproven solutions far from market introduction, such as small modular reactors and the broad deployment of all kinds of carbon removal technologies, the EU should build on what works right now. Renewable energy sources have proven to be by far the most relevant and reliable solution. In our new 100% Renewable Action Plan for the next European Commission, the Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung European Union and Environmental Action Germany (Deutsche Umwelthilfe) describe what needs to happen after the 2024 European elections to harvest the benefits of renewables. Jörg Mühlenhoff reports.

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With renewables growing, nations at COP28 vow to triple rate of expansion

The adoption of renewables, especially wind and solar, continues grow — though certainly not fast enough. In 2022, solar and wind power accounted for an impressive 12% of electricity generated worldwide. According to Bloomberg New Energy Finance (BNEF) and the International Energy Agency (IEA) in 2023 solar adoption surged above 50 percent. Going forward, the IEA’s Net Zero Scenario (NZS) calls for an anticipated 25% growth rate for solar generation annually through by the end of the decade. To ensure this happens, during COP28 in Dubai, many nations agreed to set a goal of tripling renewable capacities by 2030. While certainly the world faces many challenges to hold to only 1.5 degrees of heating – as lead blogger Michael Buchsbaum relates, the necessary rapid build out of renewables looks like it’s starting to happen. Read More

From coal to renewables | The Global Energy Transition Podcast

The international response to Russia’s brutal February 2022 invasion of Ukraine has altered and transformed the energy transition, in some ways accelerating the move towards wind and solar generation but also forcing countries dependent on Russian fossil fuels, particularly European nations and the European Union as a whole, to search for and secure alternative supplies.

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