Rhein on Energy and Climate

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Three months ahead of the Copenhagen Climate Conference international attention risks being diverted to a side show: droughts, floods and rising sea levels, the unavoidable consequences of climate change. This is the wrong debate at the wrong moment. The UN should have killed this debate long ago instead of fomenting it. The central objective for… » read more

Posted by Eberhard Rhein

The newly elected Japanese candidate for prime minister has demonstrated political courage by raising Japanese climate targets for 2020. In his capacity as leader of the Democratic Party, he has indicated that Japan should reduce its C02 emissions by 25 percent over 1990 rather than only 8 percent, as proposed by his predecessor in government.… » read more

Posted by Eberhard Rhein

Against all odds, France is rapidly taking the pole position among EU member countries in the battle against climate change. It was under the French EU Presidency in the second half of 2008 that the EU succeeded in adopting its climate packing providing for a 20 percent reduction of its green house gas emissions by… » read more

Posted by Eberhard Rhein

Finally Russia seems to discover it has to do something about its shocking waste of energy. In a brutally frank speech to the Russian State Council at Archangelsk on July 2nd, President Medvedev has called upon his citizens to radically change their energy consumption habits: • Raising energy efficiency will have to be the no… » read more

Posted by Eberhard Rhein

Whatever conclusions will be adopted by the international community in Copenhagen it is imperative to insist on practical follow-up and effective measures to be taken by each of the 200-odd governments to obtain medium-term reduction of global C02 emissions. Too much time has been wasted on optimal targets for reducing green house gases, preparing for… » read more

Posted by Eberhard Rhein

The Copenhagen Climate Conference in early December risks failure because of the US inability to take more speedy and effective action for reducing its green house gas emissions. This prevents the EU and other developed countries like Japan, Australia, Canada and Russia from taking bolder action; and it will above all offer China and emerging… » read more

Posted by Eberhard Rhein

After the narrow vote by the Parliament, the Icelandic government has immediately submitted its formal application for EU membership on July 17th. The Council will be wise to wait until after the Irish referendum before inviting the Commission to prepare its opinion. Under optimistic assumptions one should assume negotiations to start as of 2010 and… » read more

Posted by Eberhard Rhein

The European Commission proposal to extend visa freedom to Serbia, Montenegro and Macedonia is to be welcomed. The European Council is expected to give its green light as soon as October so that the visa-free access to the EU can become effective by January 2010. The three countries had to work hard for it: issue… » read more

Posted by Eberhard Rhein

DESERTEC Takes Off

July 13 2009 may one day be remembered as the start of a new era in renewable energy development. At that date 12 European finance, engineering and electric companies signed a memorandum of understanding for the development of large-scale solar thermal electricity generation in the Sahara, from which to supply Mediterranean and European countries with… » read more

Posted by Eberhard Rhein