Energy

Belgrade (Special to Informed Comment) – Clashes between Azerbaijan and Armenia over the disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh threaten to destabilize the Caucasus. Turkey and Russia – the major foreign actors in this proxy conflict – are still not directly involved in bloodshed that erupted on September 27, although Ankara openly supports Baku by providing full […]

Germany

Renewables cover almost half of German electricity use in first 9 months 2020

Julian Wettengel

(Clean Energy Wire ) – Renewables covered about 48 percent of German power consumption in the first three quarters of 2020, preliminary data from energy industry association BDEW and the Centre for Solar Energy and Hydrogen Research Baden-Wuerttemberg (ZSW) shows, a 5-percentage point increase over the same period last year. On the one hand, the […]

Green Energy

We Predict: Electric Cars will be Cheaper than Gasoline Cars by 2025

The Conversation

By Venkat Viswanathan, Alexander Bills and Shashank Sripad | – Electric vehicle sales have grown exponentially in recent years, accompanied by dropping prices. However, adoption of EVs remains limited by their higher sticker price relative to comparable gas vehicles, even though overall cost of ownership for EVs is lower. EVs and internal combustion engine vehicles […]

China

France’s Macron declares Europe’s independence of Trump, stands by Iran Nuclear Deal

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – French President Emmanuel Macron declared independence of the United States and of China for Europe at the UN General Assembly on Tuesday, in the starkest “third way” bid for a French president since Charles De Gaulle withdrew from the military wing of NATO in 1965 and established France’s own nuclear […]

Donald Trump

No, Iran is not near having a Nuke: Trump source tries Iraq Big Lie Playbook on Reuters, The Independent

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – The Trump administration is running the same scam on the public that George W. Bush & Co. ran on Iraq in 2002. Some creepy Trump swamp creature emerged to whisper anonymously in the ear of Reuters, which should be ashamed of acting as its stenographer: “The unnamed official told Reuters […]

Arab World

The Pandemic and Oil

Conn M. Hallinan

Foreign Policy in Focus) – With oil prices down and wealthy countries bungling COVID-19, the pandemic has exposed the weaknesses that wealth papers over. During the reign of the Emperor Justinian I (527-565 AD), a mysterious plague spread out of the Nile Valley to Constantinople and finished off the Roman Empire. Appearing first in China […]

Climate Crisis

1 in 4 New Cars in Europe will be Electric by 2025 – Study

Clean Energy Wire

( Clean Energy Wire) – One in four cars produced in Europe in 2025 will be fully electric, a study by the Chemnitz Automotive Institute (CATI) has predicted. The researchers say factories across Europe will churn out more than two million electric cars by the middle of the decade, more than half of which will […]

Featured

Russia defies US Sanctions, presses Syria on Long Term Trade, Investment deal for Energy

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Russia and Syria are preparing to enter into a wide-ranging trade and investment deal, according to RT Arabic. Sunday night, Deputy Prime Minister Yury Borisov arrived in Damascus to meet with high Syrian officials. On Monday, Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov arrived, meeting with Syrian strongman Bashar al-Assad and his […]

Green New Deal

When the Pandemic ends, Put People and the Economy back to Work on Solar and Wind Farms and Electrified Transport

John Buell

Southwest Harbor, Me. (Special to Informed Comment) – Liberal Democrats and conservative Republicans share a problematic assumption: Once the Covid—19 pandemic is reduced to the harm level of the seasonal flu the economy can return to normal levels of at least moderate growth. Liberal Democrats would be more generous in providing the relief needed to […]