European Union

Europe keeps dominating in solar PV installations

According to Smart Planet : ” Almost three-quarters of all new solar systems worldwide were installed in Europe in 2009. ” Indeed out of the 7.4 GW installed last year, 5.8 GW were located in the European Union. Out of this, a whopping 3.8 GW were installed in Germany. That’s right, Deutschland alone is behind …

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Renewables outpace other fuels in Europe and US

To the UNEP : ” In 2009, (…) both the US and Europe added more power capacity from renewable sources such as wind and solar than from conventional sources like coal, gas and nuclear. “ But this is not all as the United Nations give us more details : ” Renewables accounted for 60 % …

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Portugal’s bold renewable energy policy

To CleanTechnica : ” Five years ago, when 17% of Portugal’s energy came from renewable energy – about like California now – the government made a bold decision to aim for 45% during the next five years – by 2010.” And it worked : the country is due to reach this most ambitious goal by …

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Why it’s time to increase electricity prices

One of the main facts of the latest World Energy Outlook is that energy efficiency “is the largest contributor in reducing the emissions of greenhouse gases , accounting for over half of total abatement by 2030.” This means that it has more impact than renewable energies, nuclear power and clean coal combined. But energy is …

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China has per capita emissions higher than France

This was a shock to me. To TreeHugger : ” According to an assessment of per capita carbon emissions by the Netherlands Environmental Agency, China now emits on a per person basis more than France. ” While emissions in France in 2009 were 6 tons, those in China were 6.1 tons -up from 2.2 tons …

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Siemens’ European Green City Index

Europe is often considered at the forefront of the environmental scene as the EU keeps working on energy efficiency, renewables, biodiversity and other related issues. However not all countries are equal and so are their capital cities. Siemens published a study – the European Green City Index – which “measures and rates the environmental performance …

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SNCF, à nous de vous faire préférer le train ?

The French National Railways want us to believe their service is so good you will ditch your car and take only trains. At first I thought so as the SNCF indeed enabled me to avoid a tonne of CO2 emissions in 2008. But between their often prohibitive tariffs and their repetitive and long-lasting strikes I am …

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Who’s winning the clean energy race ?

The PEW environment group published a fantastic study on the cleantech investment in the G20 in 2009. The largest economies, both developped and developping are very different in this economic sector. China overtook the United States in cleantech investments with more than $34 billion while the latter dedicated less than $19 billion. The European Union …

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Europe to meet its renewable energies goals

These are good news, to the European Commission : “The EU will surpass its target to consume 20 percent of its energy from renewable energy by 2020, according to national forecasts submitted to the European Commission.” Out of the 27 members, 12 may exceed their national targets domestically. But this isn’t the only good news …

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