Author: Rod Janssen

Reviewing Germany’s transition to renewable energy

Deutsche Welle, Germany’s international broadcaster, has written an excellent review of Germany’s transition to renewable energy.   Assessing Germany's shift to renewables In Germany, the transition to electricity from renewable sources is occurring faster than originally planned. Critics question whether this reflects overambitious planning, which could endanger overall reform plans. Germany's fundamental rethinking of energy … Continue reading Reviewing Germany’s transition to renewable energy →

2012 – the year in graphs

The Washington Post asked many experts for the graph that they felt best explained 2012.  Two of the graphs relate to sustainable energy.  First, the nominee related to climate change was Bill McKibben, founder of 350.org. The second graph is by Michael Greenstone, professor of economics at MIT and Director of the Hamilton Project.  It … Continue reading 2012 – the year in graphs →

Increased self-generation of electricity in German industry

Deutsche Welle, the German international broadcaster, reports on an important trend in German industry  towards investments in self-generation. German firms invest in generating energy themselves An increasing number of German companies are in the process of decreasing their dependency on external energy suppliers by generating energy themselves. They're wary of the government's current course. More … Continue reading Increased self-generation of electricity in German industry →

Cars in Europe cause serious negative impact on environment

Peter Walker writes in the Guardian of recent research that shows the cost of cars to our environment. Car pollution, noise and accidents 'cost every EU citizen £600 (€750) a year' Researchers challenge view that drivers are overtaxed, saying they are subsidised by other taxpayers The perennial complaint from drivers that they are excessively taxed … Continue reading Cars in Europe cause serious negative impact on environment →

Fracking debate brings out interesting characters

Reuters provides a curious article on how fracking is getting to be big business by a wide range of celebrities in order to try and influence public opinion.  There certainly is a growing debate on fracking or not in the US.  Stay tuned, it could next happen in Europe. Insight: In Fracking Culture War, Celebs, … Continue reading Fracking debate brings out interesting characters →

Positive impact from home air conditioning

Juliet Eilperin recently wrote in the Washington Post about a new study that has analysed the impact of deploying air conditioning on a wide scale to reduce deaths from excessive heat.  While this is interesting indeed, it does not mention that maybe houses should be better built to integrate passive heating and cooling in order … Continue reading Positive impact from home air conditioning →

New article on energy efficiency product standards

Now that the Commission has published the Ecodesign working document for 2012-2014, our minds should be focussing more on how products can become more energy efficient. Noah Sachs recently published an article in Vanderbilt Law Review entitled “Can We Regulate Our Way to Energy Efficiency? Product Standards as Climate Policy.”    In the United States, regulation … Continue reading New article on energy efficiency product standards →

New survey on the state of implementation of energy efficiency policies in the EU

Energy Efficiency Watch 2 has recently published an extensive survey on the progress of energy efficiency policies and their implementation of national energy efficiency policies. More than 700 experts from all 27 Member States contributed to the survey between April 2011 and September 2012. More information on the survey is available here. You can download … Continue reading New survey on the state of implementation of energy efficiency policies in the EU →