Energy

How Modern Human-Driven Climate Change began with European colonisation, mass slavery and the ‘great dying’ of the 16th century

By Mark Maslin and Simon Lewis | – The toppling of statues at Black Lives Matter protests has powerfully articulated that the roots of modern racism lie in European colonisation and slavery. Racism will be more forcefully opposed once we acknowledge this history and learn from it. Geographers and geologists can help contribute to this […]

Green Energy

In 2020, Wind and Solar could cover nearly Six Months of Germany’s Annual Power Demand

Benjamin Wehrmann

(Clean Energy Wire) – The amount of electricity produced with renewable energy sources in Germany within one year could theoretically power the country for 172 days, energy provider E.ON has calculated. Germany’s “Green Energy Day” thus would be on 20 June in 2020 – 47 percent of the whole year, and more than two weeks […]

Libya

Libya: Is the Russia-Turkey Conflict Heightening over Oil-Rich Sirte?

Nikola Mikovic

Belgrade (Special to Informed Comment) – The Libya’s civil war intensifies as Russia and Turkey are expected to negotiate the fate of strategically important coastal city of Sirte. The control of the oil rich province, as well as Jufra airbase, seems to be a top priority for both, Moscow and Ankara. Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip […]

Libya

The Turko-Russian War for Oil and Gas in Libya Intensifies

Nikola Mikovic

Belgrade (Special to Informed Comment) – Frenemies Russia and Turkey have put their conflict in Syria on hold, but they have intensified their rivalry in another proxy conflict. In Libya, clashes between Moscow-backed Libyan National Army (LNA) and Ankara-backed Government of National Accord (GNA) escalated, as the US Africa Command accused Kremlin of deploying military […]

Climate Crisis

New German Coalition Gov’t Turbocharges Renewable Energy

Clean Energy Wire

By Julian Wettengel | – ( Clean Energy Wire ) – The German government has agreed to remove key hurdles to the rollout of renewable energies that had begun to slow the country’s landmark energy transition. The deal between chancellor Angela Merkel’s conservative CDU/CSU alliance and its coalition partner, the Social Democrats (SPD), settles disputes […]

Climate Crisis

Frankenfuel: The Market is done with Big Oil and Coal, but will they Lumber on with Gov’t Subsidies?

John Buell

Southwest Harbor, Maine (Special to Informed Comment) – Are the big oil stocks headed for collapse? Citizens as diverse as climate activist and 350.org founder Bill McKibben and CNBC finance guru Jim Cramer seem to think so. Here is Cramer as reported by Axios in early February even before the historic plunge in crude prices.\ […]

Climate Crisis

Coronavirus Effect: In One Year, Share of Coal in German Public Power Supply Cratered to 16% from 30%

Clean Energy Wire

By Freja Eriksen | — ( Clean Energy Wire) – Coal’s share in Germany’s net public power production fell to around 16 percent in April 2020, shows data by Fraunhofer ISE’s Energy Charts. The institute’s Energy Charts project does not include data on the amount of power the generating facilities consume themselves to operate, or […]

Climate Crisis

Oil’s Götterdämmerung: Why Covid-19 could Hasten the end of Fossil Fuels

Sustainability Times

( Sustainability Times) – Last week the oil market took another plunge that saw the price of one barrel of West Texas Intermediate (WTI) fall 8 percent to $10.45 on Tuesday.. Last Monday, WTI crashed by 25 percent and rocked the market, yet the decline was relatively minor compared to what happened two weeks ago […]

Epidemics

Russia: Could the Coronavirus Crisis Loosen Vladimir Putin’s Grip on Power?

Nikola Mikovic

Belgrade (Special to Informed Comment) – The COVID-19 pandemic has already opened the gates for a huge global economic crisis. Russia will not be spared, and its economy is expected to suffer at least until the world oil market stabilizes. How will that affect Vladimir Putin’s popularity? The geographically largest country in the world already […]