What struck me during my two stays in Germany is that recycling was already pretty important in everyday lives. Indeed, the country is already recycling or reusing 70 % of its waste. (the proportion in the United States is of only 33 %.) Earth911.com explains how the country achieved such a performance : “In 1996, …
Italy is currently in the news more because of Berlusconi’s taste for orgies but little is written on the expansion of solar photovoltaic there. However, there is much to write as it installed 6,000 MW of solar PV capacity in 2010 alone. To Cleantechies : ” 7 GWs of PV power will yield well over …
Do you remember my post for Cleantechies on offshore wind in France ? It is now official : ” This week French officials are announcing a plan to install six hundred wind turbines capable of producing 3,000 megawatts of energy. “ The wind turbines will be located in five main sites between Saint-Nazaire and Dieppe/Le …
It is now official : France dives into offshore wind Read More »
Good news everyone ! To Cleantechies : ” The European Union will exceed its target of meeting 20 percent of its energy needs from renewable sources by 2020 (…). Twenty-five of the 27 EU nations will meet or exceed their national targets. “ This comes from a report from the European Wind Energy Association which …
For my latest article on CleanTechies I decided to go back to writing on my home country, France, and this for a good reason. It had been three months I hadn’t done so. Here is the introduction : ” The French Round Table on sustainability known as the Grenelle de l’Environnement is now three years …
To the AFP (via Grist) : ” The European Union’s energy chief Wednesday unveiled an ambitious 10-year trillion-euro energy investment plan for a single E.U. energy network to cut fossil fuel imports and fight climate change.” On its way to cut its emissions by 20 percent by 2020 and increase the share of renewables to …
I previously noted that biofuels are more a problem than a solution. It seems I was right as to the Institute for European Environmental Policy, the European Union biofuel expansion plans are worse than burning fossil fuels. As TreeHugger notes: “ Over the next decade the extra biofuels used in the EU will be on …
Here is a new post for CleanTechies : “Yesterday the German Chancellor, Angela Merkel, announced a bold plan to slash the use of fossil fuels by 2050. The plan calls for renewable energy to supply 60% of the country’s energy needs by 2050. As the environment minister Norbert Röttgen stated, it is “the most ambitious …
Here is another article on CleanTechies : ” Feed-in tariffs for industrial installations in France decreased by 12 percent beginning on September 1st. This move was done to prevent overheating in the sector. According to the French Minister for Ecology, Energy, Sustainable Development and Town, Mr. Jean-Louis Borloo, the objective of having 5,400 MW of …
France cuts solar PV feed in tariffs by 12 percent Read More »
To a new report from the Clean Air Task Force coal will kill an estimated 13,200 people this year in America. It will also cause 9,700 hospitalizations and some 20,000 heart attacks. All this will cost $100 billions in additional health care bills. These are staggering figures that clearly show that even without carbon dioxide …
Coal will kill 13,200 people in the US this year Read More »
