Energy

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – AFP reports that Denmark’s parliament has just committed to building an artificial island off its shores that will be home to hundreds of huge wind turbines. It is the largest construction project in Denmark’s history, and will be as big as 80 football fields. It will be protected on three […]

Climate Crisis

How Defeating the Planet-Killing Keystone XL Oil Pipeline built a Bolder, Savvier Climate Movement

Waging Nonviolence

By Nick Engelfried | ( Waging Nonviolence) – When President Biden rescinded a crucial permit for the Keystone XL pipeline last week, it marked the culmination of one of the longest, highest-profile campaigns in the North American climate movement. The opposition to Keystone XL included large environmental organizations, grassroots climate activist networks, Nebraska farmers, Texas […]

Fossil Fuels

China’s National Carbon Market has Just Launched: How it Could be a Climate Game Changer

China Dialogue

By Huw Slater, Wang Shu and Dimitri De Boer | – ( China Dialogue) – With the new market having opened on 1 February, experts offer a take on how it may impact China’s industries and emissions trajectory China’s national carbon market started operating on 1 February, as mandated by a key regulatory document. Although […]

Solar Energy

Top Three Ways Solar Power can Help Low-Income Families

The Conversation

By Galen Barbose, Eric O’Shaughnessy, and Ryan Wiser | – Until recently, rooftop solar panels were a clean energy technology that only wealthy Americans could afford. But prices have dropped, thanks mostly to falling costs for hardware, as well as price declines for installation and other “soft” costs. Today hundreds of thousands of middle-class households […]

Climate Crisis

Biden’s Green Energy Plans are just Market Wisdom: Norway’s Investment Fund just Dumped $6 Bn. in Oil Stocks

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Some have questioned how realistic Biden’s plans are to move the US rapidly off fossil fuels. In fact, it is the fossil fuels that are unrealistic. Burning petroleum and coal are bad for everyone’s health and destined to make earth swelteringly hot, with lots of climate catastrophes and extreme weather. […]

Djibouti

City-State or Empire? The United Arab Emirates Seeks dominance in the Horn of Africa

Middle East Monitor

By Usman Butt | – ( Middle East Monitor) – Since the 2011 Arab Spring the United Arab Emirates has been taking an active role in a number of hotspots from Egypt, Libya to Yemen. The Gulf nation has spent $26 billion annually on its defence budget since 2016 and this is expected to increase […]

Featured

Israeli Scientists make Strides toward Recyclable Perovskite Solar Panels

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Solar panels have plummeted 80% in price during the past decade, but they are still relatively expensive and depend on mined silicon. They are also a big waste challenge, since they aren’t recyclable and they have toxic chemicals in them. Silicon panels last up to 30 years, but gradually lose […]

Climate Crisis

All Hands on Deck: Biden plans to fight climate change in a way no U.S. president has done before

The Conversation

By Bill Ritter Jr. | – Joe Biden is preparing to deal with climate change in a way no U.S. president has done before – by mobilizing his entire administration to take on the challenge from every angle in a strategic, integrated way. The strategy is evident in the people Biden has chosen for his […]

Germany

In Turnaround, New Onshore Wind jumps 50% in Germany adding 1.4 Gigs; Sector generates 20% of country’s Electricity

Clean Energy Wire

By Kerstine Appunn Benjamin Wehrmann | – ( Clean Energy Wire ) – Onshore wind power – the cornerstone of Germany’s decarbonisation plans – has suffered from chronically low additional installations in the past years. The industry seems to have achieved a turnaround in 2020, connecting almost 50 percent more turbines to the grid than […]