Green Energy

( Tomdispatch.com ) – He lived over 1,000 years ago, but King Canute’s life still has some important lessons for our own time. After conquering England, Denmark, Norway, and part of Sweden, he forged a vast North Sea empire that made him, by the year 1030, the greatest of all the Viking kings. At that […]

China

China’s Power Sector Emissions fall 5.8% in Q1, as Renewables rapidly Replace Coal

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Lauri Myllyvirta writes at Carbon Brief that China’s CO2 emissions over-all fell by 1% in the past 12 months, and by 1.6% in the first quarter of this year compared to Q1 of 2024. In the first quarter of this year, moreover, power sector emissions fell a dramatic 5.8 percent. […]

Corporations

Donald Trump’s Feverish Lust for Green Energy Resources isn’t about the Climate

Joshua Frank

( Tomdispatch.com ) – Ancient oak trees rise above gigantic boulders scattered across a high desert mesa in Arizona’s Tonto National Forest. This is Oak Flat (Chi’ chil Bildagoteel), a sacred site for Native Americans, including the Western and San Carlos Apache. And like many other lands across the West, it’s under grave threat from multinational […]

Climate Crisis

South Africa’s Ambitious Renewable Energy Masterplan involves Solar Manufacturing

The Conversation

By Ricardo Amansure, Stellenbosch University (The Conversation) – About 85% of South Africa’s electricity is produced by burning coal. The country’s move to renewable energy means that the coal industry will be phased out. To this end, the South African cabinet recently approved the country’s first renewable energy masterplan, which sets out what’s needed to […]

Featured

Solar Power doubling every 3 Years; 41% of world Electricity now Low-Carbon

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – It may be that Trump can slow the advance of renewables, including solar energy, in the United States. That would be a shame for the US, because consumers will have to pay more for electricity, the grid will be dirtier, and the country will fall farther behind China in the […]

Featured

European CO2 Emissions keep Plummeting, as 47% of Electricity is Green

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – The 27 countries of the European Union, with a population of about 450 million, produce 3.9 billion metric tons of carbon dioxide every year, helping heat up and destabilize the global climate. This is according to the new EU report on energy dated 2025. But the good news is that […]

Featured

Germany: A Not-So-Green Departing Government, A Future Coalition even Less Ambitious on Climate?

Marc Martorell Junyent

Zwickau/Munich (Special to Informed Comment; Feature) –– When Germans voted in a national election in September 2021, 33% of the population considered that the environment and climate were among the two main problems Germany was facing. In a poll from January 2025, one month before last weekend’s election, only 13% of the population held the […]

Featured

For First time, US is at 42% Zero Carbon Electricity, as Solar Surges by 49 GW

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – The Business Council for Sustainable Energy Factbook is out, and it has good news for the environment despite the dark shadow being cast by a climate denialist White House. The good news is that the incredible advance of solar power generation has boosted renewable sources of power to 24% of […]

Asia

As Trump Shutters US Offshore Wind, Asia’s Renewables Promise Cheaper Manufacturing, Trade Surpluses

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Trump has halted the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management from granting new offshore wind licenses. This move will gut the growing US offshore wind industry, though it does not necessarily affect already-granted licenses. Gavin Maguire at Reuters explains the outcome of this policy will be high energy costs for Americans, […]