Rhein on Energy and Climate

When talking about climate change we usually think of electricity, passenger cars, airplanes, but hardly ever of heavy-duty trucks. That is a mistake, for heavy-duty trucks account for a substantial share of C02 emissions from the transport sector, which is second among the key emitters after electricity. So far only Japan has introduced heavy-duty truck… » read more

Posted by Eberhard Rhein

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

Subsidies on petroleum products and fossil energy have become a deeply rooted vice in many countries across the globe, especially oil-rich ones. They can be quite expensive, absorbing two to ten percent of GDP in a dozen countries resorting to this fallacious political favour. They constitute a hidden economic and environmental burden to the respective… » read more

Posted by Eberhard Rhein

After months of internal debate the Commission has presented EU climate goals for 2030. The green lobby has called them inadequate,while utilities, heavy industry and most member states are prepared to give their blessing. Assuming that the European Council will endorse them at its June session, the EU will be the first group of countries… » 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

At the December 2013 European Council Meeting, EU heads of government pledged to pursue the enlargement of the EU and the eurozone. The list of candidates is quite long. The next challenge for the EU is the accession of Serbia, Montenegro, Bosnia, Albania, Macedonia and Kosovo – six small, mostly multinational countries of the Western… » read more

Posted by Eberhard Rhein

In October 2004 the European Union has introduced a new company statute, the Societas Europaea (SE), to facilitate business operating in several EU countries without having to adapt their company statute to the law of the host countries. By doing so EU legislators had hoped to encourage EU companies to open subsidiaries in other EU… » read more

Posted by Eberhard Rhein