Energy

By Theodore J. Kury | – Americans often take electricity for granted – until the lights go out. The recent cold wave and storm in Texas have placed considerable focus on the Electric Reliability Council of Texas, or ERCOT, the nonprofit corporation that manages the flow of electricity to more than 26 million Texans. Together, […]

Climate Crisis

Dear Texas Gov. Abbott: Wind Turbines work fine in Antarctica and Alaska, you’re just too Cheap to Winterize them

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Texas governor Greg Abbott alleged that the massive power outages in his state demonstrated the unwisdom of moving to renewable energy, attempting to blame the crisis on the state’s wind turbines. Like most of the things Republican politicians say publicly, this allegation was a lie. Here’s a wind turbine working […]

Batteries

Number of residential solar batteries increases by 50% in Germany

Juan Cole

By Sören Amelang | – The number of battery storage systems linked to a residential solar pv array rose by around 50 percent in Germany in 2020 for the third year in a row. The country’s solar association BSW estimates there were 88,000 new residential installations, taking the total number of solar batteries in Germany […]

Climate Crisis

From Covid to Power outages in Ice Storms, the Texas Republican Party has created a Failed State

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – The Republican Party has had a lock on Texas politics for over two decades, and has reduced it to a failed state. Even Texans like Beto O’Rourke are making this observation. Millions are without electricity in the midst of one of the state’s worse winter storms ever. This massive failure […]

Iran

Is Biden risking new conflict with Iran by yielding to Dem Hawks and Neoconservatives?

Medea Benjamin and Nicholas J.S. Davies

( Code Pink) – As Congress still struggles to pass a COVID relief bill, the rest of the world is nervously reserving judgment on America’s new president and his foreign policy, after successive U.S. administrations have delivered unexpected and damaging shocks to the world and the international system. Cautious international optimism toward Biden is very […]

Germany

German President envisions Electric Cars as zero carbon ‘Smartphone on Wheels’

Clean Energy Wire

By Charlotte Nijhuis | – Clean Energy Wire / Süddeutsche Zeitung ) – To reach Germany’s climate goals the car industry needs to undergo a significant transformation, German president Frank-Walter Steinmeier said during a summit titled “Industry and climate action using the example of the automotive industry” that he organised in Berlin. On last Thursday […]

Denmark

Denmark to build Artificial Island for Wind Farms to Power the Whole Country

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – AFP reports that Denmark’s parliament has just committed to building an artificial island off its shores that will be home to hundreds of huge wind turbines. It is the largest construction project in Denmark’s history, and will be as big as 80 football fields. It will be protected on three […]

Climate Crisis

How Defeating the Planet-Killing Keystone XL Oil Pipeline built a Bolder, Savvier Climate Movement

Waging Nonviolence

By Nick Engelfried | ( Waging Nonviolence) – When President Biden rescinded a crucial permit for the Keystone XL pipeline last week, it marked the culmination of one of the longest, highest-profile campaigns in the North American climate movement. The opposition to Keystone XL included large environmental organizations, grassroots climate activist networks, Nebraska farmers, Texas […]

Fossil Fuels

China’s National Carbon Market has Just Launched: How it Could be a Climate Game Changer

China Dialogue

By Huw Slater, Wang Shu and Dimitri De Boer | – ( China Dialogue) – With the new market having opened on 1 February, experts offer a take on how it may impact China’s industries and emissions trajectory China’s national carbon market started operating on 1 February, as mandated by a key regulatory document. Although […]