France

European Investment Bank to provide France 750 million Euros for renewables

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I often have my home country, France, is beginning to lag dangerously on renewable energy sources and the energy transition, and this albeit I have witnessed interesting development. But could this change. As I wrote for Cleantechies : ” Covering European environmental and energy policies for Cleantechies got me thinking lately how France is lagging […]

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Light pollution is harming us all

/ Environment, Sustainable development / Leave a Comment

If you have been reading this blog for a few years, you know it : I am very much interested in astronomy and even happen to practice it from time to time. But this is becoming harder and harder globally because of light pollution. But is light pollution really a pollution ? YES, as it

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Air pollution killed 7 million people in 2012

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According to new figures released by the World Health Organization (WHO), both indoor and outdoor air pollution killed no less than seven million people around the world in 2012, making it the world’s largest single environmental health risk. “The risks from air pollution are now far greater than previously thought or understood, particularly for heart

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Crazy air pollution levels in Paris

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Last week and earlier this one, the French capital was hit by important levels of air pollution. The situation was so out of hand on Monday that the city of Paris decided to ban half the cars off the roads as TreeHugger reported. According to the local ADEME, France is a severe offender regarding air

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The energy transition has reached the French countryside

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While I was away for a few days in the Lorraine village where my mom’s family comes from, I noticed a few hints that the energy transition is already taking place and has reached even this quite secluded place. The first one was both solar thermal and photovoltaic panels sprouting on roofs. While I counted

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Five famous buildings with solar

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What the common point between famous buildings around the world such as the White House in the United States, the Vatican, the Taj Mahal in India, the Burj Khalifa in the United Arab Emirates and the Eiffel Tower in France ? You give up ? They are all at least partly powered by solar. This

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Renewable energies increased slowly in 2013 in France

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Here is my first 2014 article for Cleantechies, focusing on the slow growth of renewable energy in France. If wind power capacity is reaching 8,000 MW and solar PV is reaching 4,500 MW, progress has been slowing down considerably. Here is the introduction to the article : ” According to recent data from the French Ministry

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The value of a well insulated home

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While browsing Cleantechnica I found the answer of a key question I have been having ever since writing my Master’s thesis. French houses are leaky ” thermal collanders “ as 20 million accommodations have to be weatherized. Potential savings could be the equivalent of 200 TWh of electricity per annum, knowing that the total electricity

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I attended two sustainability events in Paris

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This Thursday I attended two events in Paris related to energy and environmental issues as well as on social corporate responsibility. The first event was a round-table on nuclear in France and the Energiewende in Germany. It was organized by the Green European Foundation, the Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung and the Fondation de l’Écologie Politique. The second one

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France simply won’t give into fracking

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For my second post on Cleantechies in less than a week, I bring good news from my home country, France, as it is stepping away from polluting, nefarious and dangerous fossil fuels : shale oil and gas retrieved via fracking. ” I reported previously here on Cleantechies that in 2011 France was the first country

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