European Union

Energy, the European Union and Russia

The ongoing tensions between Ukraine and Russia is an excellent occasion for the European Union to assess its dependence from foreign fossil fuels, especially oil and natural gas from the Russian Federation. As Kees van der Leun noted on his Twitter last week, the EU buys to Russia over half a billion euros of oil …

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The European union already benefits from renewables

Here is another opinion piece I wrote for Cleantechies : ” There is a question that currently puzzles me : why is the European Union so unambitious on climate and energy goals ? “ ” We have seen recently that the European Commission unveiled plans to cut carbon emissions by 40 percent by 2020 and …

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European Union to cut emissions by 40% by 2030

Here is my latest article for Cleantechies, this time focusing on the quite disappointing move from the European Union to cut its emissions by 40 percent by 2030 ( compared to 1990 levels). Here is the introduction : ” The European Union has long been regarded as a leader on climate change. Now it appears to …

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The energy transition already creates jobs

The energy transition from our model based on a huge majority of polluting fossil fuels to a model based on cleantech technologies such as energy efficiency and renewable energy sources will require a lot of money. Indeed, we have seen recently that up to a trillion dollar would be needed every year to do so. …

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Renewable energies increased slowly in 2013 in France

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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European Union could agree to 45 percent cuts by 2030

For my last 2013 post for Cleantechies, I wrote about how the European Union is working on its climate change projects for 2030. It is considering 35 to 45 percent greenhouse gases emissions reduction compared to 1990 levels. As I am stating there, this would be a bit unambitious as the European Union has already …

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Poland could halve coal consumption by 2030

Here comes another article for Cleantechies, this time focusing on a problem plaguing many nations, coal. This fossil fuels does indeed provides a large part of the electricity there. Here is the introduction : ” Poland – as many East European nations – relies very heavily on coal as 90 percent of its electricity comes …

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More and more French households burn wood for heating

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 …

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Global CO2 emissions increase slowed down in 2012

What better kind of news than good ones ? So let’s start this month of November by something that will cheer you up as the fight against climate change and rising temperatures may well soon be reaching a turnaround moment. To a brand new report from the Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency, global carbon dioxide emissions …

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France simply won’t give into fracking

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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