Energy

By Isabella Kaminski | – ( China Dialogue ) A fossil fuel non-proliferation treaty (FFNPT) initiative was formally launched last September by a coalition of academics, lawyers and activists. It’s modelled on the landmark UN Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons agreed in the 1960s, and is built around the same three pillars: non-proliferation, […]

Germany

Germany’s State Rails, already 61%-renewables Fueled, to add 190 GWh of North Sea Wind toward being 80% Green by 2030

Clean Energy Wire

By Charlotte Nijhuis | – ( Clean Energy Wire) – State-owned German railway company Deutsche Bahn and utility RWE extend their renewable energy contract with an additional 190 gigawatt hours (GWh) of offshore wind power annually, the railway writes in a press release. The contract will run for a period of fifteen years from 2025. […]

Joe Biden

Remaking America: Biden to put $100 bn. into High Capacity Grid to Move Electricity from Wind and Solar Farms to Cities

The Conversation

By James D. McCalley | – Many kinds of extreme events can disrupt electricity service, including hurricanes, earthquakes, floods, wildfires, extreme heat, extreme cold and extended droughts. Major disasters can leave thousands of people in the dark. The Texas deep freeze in February knocked out 40% of the state’s electric generating capacity. During such events, […]

Climate Change

How Solar technologies can speed up vaccine rollout in the Global South

The Conversation

By Cyrus Sinai and Rob Fetter | – There’s hope that some industrialised countries will achieve near-universal vaccination against COVID-19 in the coming months. Yet the effort to vaccinate even the most essential workers in developing countries has only just begun. By current estimates, achieving herd immunity (to current strains) will require at least 75% […]

European Union

Over objections of Dem Hawks, Biden agrees to indirect Talks with Iran in Vienna to return to the 2015 Nuclear Deal

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – AFP reports that an arrangement was reached at Friday’s teleconference in Vienna between the current signatories to the 2015 Iran nuclear deal to mediate indirect talks between Iran and the United States next week. State Department spokesman Ned Price said that the US had agreed to participate in the discussions […]

Germany

Green hydrogen could reduce CO2 emissions by up to 25 million tonnes in German Ruhr region

Clean Energy Wire

By Charlotte Nijhuis | – Green hydrogen technology can help reduce emissions from industry, transport and heating in the German Ruhr region up to 72 percent by 2050 compared to 2018, the private industry-sponsored German Economic Institute (IW) shows in a report commissioned by the Ruhr Regional Association (RVR). The IW looked at six different […]

European Union

UN Security Council to meet with Iran without the US in quest to Restore 2015 Nuclear Deal breached by Trump

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – The European Union announced yesterday that today, Friday, Iran will meet by video with the current signatories to the 2015 nuclear deal or Joint Collective Plan of Action (JCPOA) with a view toward returning the parties to compliance. The US under Trump withdrew in May, 2018. The Biden administration welcomed […]

Joe Biden

Biden’s Commitment to powering 20 mn Homes with Offshore Wind is a US Energy Revolution

The Conversation

By Erin Baker and Matthew Lackner | – The United States’ offshore wind industry is tiny, with just seven wind turbines operating off Rhode Island and Virginia. The few attempts to build large-scale wind farms like Europe’s have run into long delays, but that may be about to change. The Biden administration announced on March […]

Climate Crisis

As Biden seeks 30 gigawatts in Offshore Wind, Report shows this source could Generate all US Electricity

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – President Biden has announced an enormous offshore wind corridor. So report Juliet Eilperin and Brady Dennis at WaPo. I wrote earlier this month about the 84-turbine Vineyard Wind project off Massachusetts, which has just been permitted, which will generate 800 megawatts. Biden wants to generate nearly 40 times as much […]