Rhein on Energy and Climate

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At the last meeting of the UNFCCC in Doha in December 2012 the contracting parties have pledged to finalise negotiations on an international climate compact before the end of 2015 that should enter into force by 2020. This pledge will only become reality if the international community is prepared to adopt a radically new approach… » read more

Posted by Eberhard Rhein

The five-year mandate of the present European Commission President expires October 31th 2014. Contrary to the restrictive provisions concerning the President of the European Council and the members of the Court of Justice the Treaty on the European Union is silent on the possibility for Commission presidents and members to be reconfirmed. During the last… » read more

Posted by Eberhard Rhein

Egypt is again in urgent need of reform. It has failed to replace the Mubarak regime by legitimate governance; and its economy, that had shown a remarkable performance during much of the first decade is out of step, with high unemployment, rising inflation, high budget deficits and depreciation of its currency. It had no choice… » read more

Posted by Eberhard Rhein

Investments in the energy sector require long planning horizons. Companies need to plan investments decades ahead. To minimise inherent uncertainties they should be able to rely on a regulatory framework stretching far into the future. The EU energy policy framework with its three key targets – 20 per cent reduction of green house gas emissions,… » read more

Posted by Eberhard Rhein

Belgium and other West European countries have witnessed one of the most bizarre March ever. After a spring-like beginning it turned unusually cold in the second half of the month with icy north-eastern winds making the cold feel really icy. Many People who tend to identify climate change only with rising temperatures may feel confirmed… » read more

Posted by Eberhard Rhein

2012 has seen new records in newly installed solar and wind power capacity. Globally installed capacity has now reached almost 400 GW, of which 300 GW wind and 100 GW solar PV. In the last 10 years solar PV has expanded more rapidly than wind power, essentially due to a steep decline of module prices… » read more

Posted by Eberhard Rhein

Bees are in danger of global extermination, particularly in Europe and North America. Without bees Humanity will not be able to feed itself. Albert Einstein is on record to have said 100 years ago that Humanity would not survive more than four years if bees were to disappear, as they pollinate 70 per cent of… » read more

Posted by Eberhard Rhein

As expected, the Latvian government has put in its request for joining the Euro-zone as of January 2014. This is a courageous step considering that two thirds of the Latvian population are against the introduction of the Euro. Like all EU countries, with the exception of Denmark and UK, Latvia is obliged to introduce the… » read more

Posted by Eberhard Rhein

Germany is about to lose its image as the most climate-friendly EU member country. The precipitated closure by 2022 of all nuclear power plants has led to a costly expansion of PV and wind power capacity, fed by exorbitant feed-in tariffs for widely scattered small-scale electricity producers. The German support regime for PV power generation… » read more

Posted by Eberhard Rhein