Green Energy

Ford Announces $3.5 Billion Next-Generation Battery Plant for its Electric Vehicles in Michigan, “to lead the EV Revolution”

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Ford Motor Co.’s CEO, Jim Farley, tweeted on Monday, “Today @Ford is announcing a $3.5B investment to build the first automaker-backed LFP battery plant in the U.S. bringing 2,500 jobs to Michigan. Good for America and our customers! All part of our $50B+ plan to innovate & lead the EV […]

Climate Crisis

IEA: Renewables plus Nuclear are able to meet 90% of Globe’s New Electricity demand Through 2025

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – The International Energy Agency, in a new report that is just out, estimates that 90% of new global electricity demand through 2025 will be met by low-carbon sources — renewables and nuclear. It is mostly renewables, but the report mentions the French bringing their reactors back on line and the […]

Democratic Party

What the Pundits Get Wrong about Biden and SOTU: People are Confident in his Policies even if they Don’t Think He is Charismatic

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – The State of the Union address contained no surprises. Joe Biden’s policies are by now a known quantity. It is remarkable, however, how much progress he made in implementing them in the first two years of his presidency. Those who saw the Republican Party become the party of “no” under […]

Climate Crisis

How California’s ambitious new Climate Plan could help speed Energy Transformation around the World

The Conversation

By Daniel Sperling, University of California, Davis | – California is embarking on an audacious new climate plan that aims to eliminate the state’s greenhouse gas footprint by 2045, and in the process, slash emissions far beyond its borders. The blueprint calls for massive transformations in industry, energy and transportation, as well as changes in […]

Climate Crisis

EU, IEA: Next 10 Years will See Greatest Industrial Transformation of our Times

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Six million workers are employed globally in the $217 billion green energy industry today. But in only 8 years, they will more than double to 14 million. Half of those jobs would be connected to “electric vehicles, solar PV, wind and heat pumps.” And the size of the industry will […]

Climate Crisis

Top 6 Ways 2023 could be a Pivotal Year for Climate Action

The Conversation

By Wesley Morgan, Griffith University | – (The Conversation) – Many people think of the annual UN climate talks as talkfests which achieve only incremental change, at best. Activist Greta Thunberg has described them as “blah blah blah” moments – grossly inadequate and too often hijacked by fossil fuel producers who would like the world […]

Climate Crisis

2022: Biden Policies Announce the End of the Beginning in Fight against CO2 Emissions

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – In the midst of World War II, on November 10, 1942, Winston Churchill said of the war: “Now this is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end. But it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning.” The year 2022 was disappointing for the stated American […]

Climate Crisis

How Putin’s War and small Islands are accelerating the global Shift to Clean Energy, and What to Watch for in 2023

The Conversation

By Rachel Kyte | – (The Conversation) – The year 2022 was a tough one for the growing number of people living in food insecurity and energy poverty around the world, and the beginning of 2023 is looking bleak. Russia’s war on Ukraine, one of the world’s largest grain and fertilizer feedstock suppliers, tightened global […]

Climate Crisis

Ukraine war: Putin has been weaponising energy for years, here’s what to look out for next

The Conversation

By Thomas Froehlich, King’s College London | – Not since the 1970s oil crisis has the west seen such a focus on energy security. Suddenly in 2022 it became a critical part of the battle for Ukraine. Russian attacks on energy facilities have left millions of Ukrainians without power during a freezing winter. Since it […]