Rhein on Energy and Climate

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While the Government is busy rewriting legislation on the promotion of renewable energies a High-level Group of Scientists appointed by the German Parliament has come out with a radical proposal to abolish the legislation altogether. In recent years, the German legislation has increasingly come under attack because of its high cost for business and normal… » read more

Posted by Eberhard Rhein

In 2013 the London Subway, with 402 km the second longest subway system on earth after Shanghai, celebrated its 150th anniversary without being widely celebrated as a ground-breaking engineering event Today, mass transit systems like subways have become indispensable for urban passenger transport. Their numbers have risen continuously since 1863, from Istanbul to Paris, Berlin,… » read more

Posted by Eberhard Rhein

Humanity is set to produce some 2.5 billion (!) smart phones, tablets and computers in 2014: one device for every three inhabitants of the planet. Smart phones have become the indispensable means of communication, sharply boosting productivity in certain fields. This development is taking place without an active European contribution: European companies have largely abandoned… » read more

Posted by Eberhard Rhein

The new coalition in Berlin has defined detailed, though rather vague and ambiguous guidelines for its energy and climate policy. These are bound to have a bearing on EU policy which will be reviewed in 2014-15 during the preparations of the decisive Paris Climate Conference in 2015 (COP 21). The coalition had little choice but… » read more

Posted by Eberhard Rhein

European industry is afraid of losing its international competitiveness because of a rising gap between European and American gas and power prices. EU prices for gas, it is claimed, amount to just one third of US shale gas prices. This enormous price differential is bound to undermine the competitiveness of European energy-intensive industries. They will… » read more

Posted by Eberhard Rhein

The 21st century will enter history as the era of total “monetisation”. Every action, every achievement will be coined in monetary terms. With a small majority of 37 to 30 the socialist- dominated parliament of the tiny tourist paradise of Malta has just decided to sell its citizenship at a price of € 650 000.… » read more

Posted by Eberhard Rhein

Historically, governments in Western countries used to stay in office for four years, a heritage of two centuries US constitutional tradition. For the majority of EU member countries four years continue to be the norm, though some like UK, France and Italy have shifted to five years and others like Germany may consider doing so… » read more

Posted by Eberhard Rhein