Germany

Is it really about nuclear OR renewables ?

I recently wrote a lengthy comment to an article on CleanTechies. Since it took me some time to write, I think I might share it with you : I never understood people stating it’s either nuclear or renewables as to me we need both. Now I don’t understand the “false choice” of nuclear or fossil […]

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16 GW of solar PV capacity added in 2010

According to Reuters : ” The world added about 16 gigawatts of new solar photovoltaic (PV) power in 2010, double the growth seen a year earlier, the European Photovoltaic Industry Association told Reuters on Monday.” Out of these 16 gigawatts, Europe is behind the vast majority of the growth with an impressive 13 gigawatts. Out

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How Germany recycles and reuses its waste

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,

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Germany unveils bold energy plans

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

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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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Europe must cut its CO2 emissions by 30 percent

This is the message published today in three leading European newspapers by the Environment Ministers of the United Kingdom, Germany and France, respectively Mr. Chris Huhne, Dr Norbert Röttgen and Mr. Jean-Louis Borloo. This bold call for action changes from the traditional European Union’s message which clings to cutting emissions by 20 percent by 2020.

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Recycling by the numbers

The New Ecologist proposes a series of interesting figures on recycling. Here are some of them : The recycling industry is worth $160 billion and employs globally 15 million people. Recycling aluminium needs only five percent of the energy needed to mine and refine the same quantity of new aluminium. The top 5 recycling countries

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The top 10 coal-burning countries

We all know it : coal is by far the most greenhouse gases emitting energy source. It is also a major air pollutant. For these two reasons it is the environmental enemy #1. (cf The Economist’s cover, back to 2002) However, many countries like China, India, Germany or the United States are still relying importantly

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