This was the big news of the week in the cleantech sphere, Google has bought Nest Labs for a massive $3.2 billion (2.34 billion euros). Nest is famous for its smart thermostat, which I wrote about in November 2011. Google is thus investing massively in the smart connected home market. As Cleantechies remarks, the company […]
Google invests $3.2 billion in Nest Labs Read More »
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
Renewable energies increased slowly in 2013 in France Read More »
Solar saw another record year in 2013, with as much around 35 GW of capacity installed according to IHS. China and Japan leaded the world in 2013 with 8.6 and 6.3 GW respectively. This is especially staggering once you know that in 2008 and 2009 yearly installations were below ten gigawatts. Solar photovoltaic is in
The future is solar : 49 GW to be installed in 2014 Read More »
According to El Pais, Nicaragua and its six million inhabitants could get 90 % of its electricity from renewables by 2020. To date, the country is already getting 58 percent of its electricity from clean sources. Enjoying huge amounts of sun and wind it could also benefit from large reserves of geothermal energy. Indeed, if
Nicaragua develops its renewable energy potential Read More »
For the past weeks I have collected quite an impressive amount of articles on Australia, as its recent elections have brought to power a Conservative Prime Minister, Tony Abbott. A climate denier backed by fossil fuels interests, Mr Abbott is willing to axe the country’s carbon tax. As the Guardian reported, this would cost the
Could Australia axe its carbon tax ? Read More »
What do you get when energy efficiency meets a local renewable energy source ? You get great news from my home country. My latest Cleantechies article is focusing on how firewood is gaining traction in France in an interesting way. ” According to a recent study from the French ADEME, wood burning is more and
More and more French households burn wood for heating Read More »
According to new data from the US Energy Information Administration (EIA, how confusing…), the national energy-related carbon dioxide emissions declined by 3.8 percent last year, thus reaching their levels of 1994 while the economy grew. Many factors contributed to this drop in emissions. Among them are a warmer winter, a more efficient economy (notably new
United States emissions decreased by 3.8 percent in 2012 Read More »
It is that time of the month again : here is my selection of the most interesting and note-worthy news of September in the climate, energy and sustainability spheres. Each of them could have been the subject of an article. Given this selection I believe it is safe to say we are reaching tipping points
Worth an article : My September 2013 tweets Read More »
As TreeHugger reports, Mexico is willing to drastically increase the share of renewable energy sources in its electricity mix. While currently accounting for less than 15 percent, they will be pushed to represent over 35 percent by 2026. Most of current renewables in the country are coming from hydro as solar and wind energies account
Mexico to go for 35 percent renewables by 2026 Read More »
Annie Leonard, of Story of Stuff fame did it all again and presented another great video on how we have to and can change the world. Called The Story of Solutions, it focuses on changing the end-game of MORE to a one focusing on BETTER. We have seen it already, working on ever increasing the
Annie Leonard presents the Story of Solutions Read More »
