Remember that the elections for the European Parliament are this coming week, June 6-9th. To help citizens to make informed choices on which political parties to lend their vote next week, CAN Europe cooperated with a number of climate and environmental organisations to create the EU Parliament Scoreboard – a tool which analyses European Parliament voting records of the last five years to provide an overview that scores all the national political parties based on their voting performance. To know how to vote, here is a useful link. Now make sure you vote!
Politico (behind a paywall) writes about what to expect from a more right-wing European Parliament. Concerning energy, it mentions that energy is one of the most sensitive issues in this election, largely because of the fuel crisis following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Renewables is mentioned: “Despite faster-than-expected progress in deploying renewables across the EU, the European clean tech industry is taking a battering at the hands of competitors like China and the U.S., sparking fears for jobs and security of supply.” There is no mention of energy efficiency or the demand side.
As we prepare for COP29 in Azerbaijan in November, remember there is a global call to the UNFCCC to include cultural heritage, the arts and creative sectors in climate policy. Check out the call from the Climate Heritage Network to put culture at the heart of climate action.
In planning travel over the upcoming weeks, here is some useful news to help you along:
Lonely Planet provides 6 of the best European train routes for summer 2024.
For the best hikes in Europe in 2024, there are many good suggestions on the 57 hours website. For those who want to combine hiking with food and wine, check out the Hedonistic Hiking website.
5 stunning spring cycling destinations in Europe are recommended on the Get Your Guide website.
There is always the option of virtual tourism at the Xplore Nature Channel. There are now 130 videos. Find out more about the channel here. Why not start with a nature walk in Spain to Fonts de l’Algar Waterfalls.
For those visiting the United States, there is a good photo exhibit. Widening the Lens: Photography, Ecology, and the Contemporary Landscape is now on display at the Carnegie Museum of Art in Pennsylvania until 12 January 2025.
Laozi also romanised as Lao Tzu (Trad. 6th century BC – Trad. 5th century BC), the semi-legendary ancient Chinese philosopher, author of the Tao Te Ching, the foundational text of Taoism, provides a valuable message this week to reflect on: “If you do not change direction, you may end up where you are heading.”
EiD welcomes your views about this week’s selection of posts on the zero-carbon energy transition:
- New EEA assessment on Europe’s bathing waters
- Beyond GDP
- “Misinformation about climate science that has sowed uncertainty”
- New way to recycle cement from demolished concrete buildings
- Understanding how to make better energy storage devices
- Large language models such as ChatGPT are some of the most energy-guzzling technologies of all
- German government commits to CCS and hydrogen
- Analysts expect the market to rapidly expand in the years ahead for ‘mass timber’
- Reports found many offsetting schemes do nothing to mitigate the climate crisis and biodiversity loss
Please send your comments on any of the posts. Please follow us on X at @EnergyDemand and @rodjanssen. Please recommend EiD to your friends and colleagues.
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Energy in Demand - Sustainable Energy - Rod Janssen 