Articles 2020

UN says a global ‘backlash’ against climate action is being stoked by fossil fuel companies

A new study finds that the mining and processing of the metal critical to EV batteries and renewable energy storage projects depletes and contaminates surface water, often in already vulnerable communities.

Het wereldwijde gebruik van fossiele brandstoffen bereikte in 2023 een nieuw record. Dat blijkt uit een rapport van het Energy Institute, de Britse beroepsorganisatie voor werknemers in de energie-industrie. Ook de uitstoot van de energie-industrie was nog nooit zo hoog.

Foundational innovation in cloud technology and artificial intelligence will require more energy than ever before—shattering any illusion that we will restrict supplies.

Sharp declines in critical mineral prices mask risks of future supply strains as energy transitions advance - News from the International Energy Agency

This essay takes up and extends an analysis of the ambitions of the energy transition presented during the conference entitled “L’erreur fondamentale de la transition”, held in Lausanne in December 2022, at the annual Switzerland ShiftersDay. The intervention questioned the conceptualization of energy transition, given possible inaccuracies, or errors in the categorization of reality. It is not certain that the energy contained in the wind, solar radiation, or atoms is equivalent to hydrocarbon energy for human societalneeds. Although all energies are theoretically convertible into one another, the assumption that any type of energy can always be replaced by another is likely to prove false. An energy transition based on the substitution of energies would then be inconceivable.

Decarbonization efforts and sustainability transformations represent highly contested socio-political projects. Yet, they often encounter various forms of depoliticization. This article illuminates how a grand socio-ecological challenge like the energy transition gets depoliticized by an unusual suspect, namely Germany's Green Party. Based on a qualitative content analysis of Green Party programs, party conventions, and additional documents published between 1980 and 2021, this article traces how the Green Party has depoliticized the energy transition over time, emphasizing a shift from radical societal change to ecological modernization. The changing stance of the German Greens on the country's energy transition reflects more profound changes of a future society the party collectively envisions through their energy and climate change agenda. These changes result from a struggle between moderates advocating incremental political reforms and radicals aiming for more fundamental and systemic societal change.

Une coalition internationale d'activistes va manifester jeudi dès 08h00 aux abords de l'Atomium, en marge du premier "Nuclear Energy Summit", a annoncé Greenpeace EU dans un communiqué.

Le Premier ministre Alexander De Croo était l’invité de Maxime Binet sur LN24 ce jeudi 21 mars 2024. A l'occasion du premier "Nuclear Energy Summit" en Belgique, il a insisté sur la présence du nucléaire dans un mix énergétique décarboné en Belgique.

Global investment in the clean energy transition grew by 17% in 2023, showing resilience despite geopolitical tensions, high interest rates, and inflation. But was it enough to keep the world on track to hit net zero by 2050? To answer this question, we compare 2023 clean energy investment by sector with what’s annually needed to reach net zero by 2050, in partnership with the National Public Utilities Council.

Le navire-laboratoire Energy Observer, premier navire capable de produire son propre hydrogène, fait escale cette semaine en Floride, dans le sud-est des États-Unis, dernier pays qu'il visitera avant de revenir en France pour achever un tour du monde entamé en 2020.

Small modular reactors (SMRs) have been the subject of endless hype in recent years but in fact, no SMRs have ever been built, none are being built now and in all likelihood none will ever be built because of the prohibitive costs. SMRs are defined as reactors with a capacity of 300 megawatts (MW) or less with serial factory production of reactor components (or ‘modules’). No SMRs have been built, but dozens of small (<300 MW) power reactors have been built in numerous countries, without factory production of reactor components.

L'énergéticien allemand Siemens Energy a annoncé jeudi être en discussions avec l'Etat allemand pour obtenir des garanties afin de l'aider à surmonter ses problèmes dans l'éolien, ce qui a provoqué un plongeon du titre en Bourse.La direction du groupe "mène des discussions préliminaires avec diverses parties, notamment les banques (...) et le gouvernement fédéral" en vue d'obtenir "un volume croissant de garanties", a-t-il indiqué dans un communiqué.

Forecast downturn still ‘nowhere near steep enough’ to limit temperature rise to 1.5C, says watchdog

When attempting to quantify future harms caused by carbon emissions and to set appropriate energy policies, it has been argued that the most important metric is the number of human deaths caused by climate change. Several studies have attempted to overcome the uncertainties associated with such forecasting. In this article, approaches to estimating future human death tolls from climate change relevant at any scale or location are compared and synthesized, and implications for energy policy are considered. Several studies are consistent with the “1000-ton rule,” according to which a future person is killed every time 1000 tons of fossil carbon are burned (order-of-magnitude estimate). If warming reaches or exceeds 2 °C this century, mainly richer humans will be responsible for killing roughly 1 billion mainly poorer humans through anthropogenic global warming, which is comparable with involuntary or negligent manslaughter. On this basis, relatively aggressive energy policies are summarized that would enable im

BP, Shell, and TotalEnergies found to be leading a multi-pronged influencing campaign that could lock in fossil gas across both continents, with push back coming from more renewables-focused European energy players.

News of fusion has the effect of temporarily permitting people to shed the anxiety and embrace the dream all the more strongly.

L'énergéticien allemand Siemens Energy a réévalué lundi à 1,6 milliard d'euros le coût des charges dévoilées en juin, lié aux défaillances dans des composants d'éoliennes produits par sa filiale Gamesa, ce qui se traduit par une perte record de 3 milliards d'euros au troisième trimestre."Les coûts attendus pour remédier aux problèmes de qualité (des éoliennes ndlr) ont été pris en compte au 3ème trimestre, les charges pour dépenses futures s'élevant à 1,6 milliard d'euros", a indiqué le groupe dans un communiqué lundi.

The CEO of one of Infosys' other major clients, Shell, also joined Rishi Sunak's new business council two weeks ago.

Energy firms have made record profits by increasing production of oil and gas, far from their promises of rolling back emissions