Rhein on Energy and Climate

Not everything has become dark on the climate front after the disappointing outcome of the Copenhagen Climate Talks three months ago. In procedural terms, the Mexican hosts of the Cancun meeting in November/December have multiplied their contacts with main players to insure a more successful outcome. But more important, there many signs that the business,… » read more

Posted by Eberhard Rhein

Less than two months after the Copenhagen Climate Conference Congress the US Administration has taken three major decisions on its future energy policy: • A 10 percent increase of its nuclear capacity President Obama has signed an $ 8 billion loan guarantee for the first two new nuclear reactors to be built in 30 years.… » read more

Posted by Eberhard Rhein

The most recent FAO report on the “State of Food and Agriculture” contains a comprehensive analysis of the profound changes that have taken place in the livestock sector during the past 30 years. These transformations have outpaced the capacity of governments and societies to provide the necessary policy and regulatory framework to ensure an appropriate… » read more

Posted by Eberhard Rhein

The international community has failed to address climate change. And there is no prospect for it being more successful in the near future. Nobody expects the ministerial meeting (COP 16) scheduled for the end of the year in Cancun to lead to a substantive breakthrough. The time has come for a more thorough reflection on… » read more

Posted by Eberhard Rhein

The decision by Areva, the French engineering company with a turn-over of some € 12 billion and employing 75 000 people around the world, to buy Ausra, a tiny US start-up company with less than 100 employees, is likely to give a further boost solar thermal power generation, after the launch of DESERTEC by a… » read more

Posted by Eberhard Rhein

For those fighting to preserve the earth’s climate, the second decade of the 21st century has begun with two bad news: · UN member countries will not honour the deadline of February 1st, by which to submit their climate targets for 2020, as “agreed” in the “Copenhagen Accord”. That might be the beginning of the… » read more

Posted by Eberhard Rhein

Since the introduction of the common currency, the 16 member countries, that have presently adopted the Euro, form an informal group within the EU institutional framework where they discuss their specific concerns on monetary and fiscal policies. This has often been very useful. The Lisbon Treaty has therefore formally confirmed the Euro group. Backed by… » read more

Posted by Eberhard Rhein

At the Commission Hearings by the EP, January 15, the new Climate Commissioner, Connie Hedegaard, has pleaded in favour of continuing to rely on the UN machinery as the way to reach an international agreement on climate change. After two years of unsuccessful preparations, in the UN framework, for the Copenhagen Climate Conference, this is… » read more

Posted by Eberhard Rhein

In December 2008 the EU has decided onto providing at least 20 percent of its energy needs – the equivalent of 30 percent of its electricity consumption – supply from renewable sources by 2020 latest. To that end, it will need to generate about one third of its electricity from renewables. This is anything but… » read more

Posted by Eberhard Rhein

As of January 1st, the new Brazilian climate legislation (“National Policy on Climate Change Act”) has entered into force. It fixes ambitious targets. By 2020 green house gas emissions should be 39 percent lower than “business as usual”, which should bring back Brazil‘s emissions back to 1994 levels. To reach this objective, Brazil must first… » read more

Posted by Eberhard Rhein