Archive for The Politics
January 3, 2007 at 4:58 pm · Filed under The Politics
For oil traders returning to trading pits on Wednesday, the new year begins with something that hasn’t preoccupied them in years: OPEC production cuts. After years of maintaining an open-taps policy, the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries has started restraining production to keep oil prices high in the face of a faltering global economy and an unseasonably warm winter in the Northern Hemisphere. With a military confrontation with Iran and other geopolitical concerns receding to the back burner, analysts say the extent to which OPEC complies with its output restraint will go a long way in determining whether oil prices stay above $60 a barrel this year after ending last year flat for the first time in five years. More
January 2, 2007 at 10:52 pm · Filed under Green Tech, The Politics
I can’t open a newspaper or listen to a debate programme these days without hearing that environmental thinking is becoming a global megatrend. To quote one newspaper analytics (translated from danish):
“Because environmantalism is based upon ethical values it has the power to embrace all parts of society and become a truly global megatrend.”
First time I heard the word megatrend mentioned was in A. Giddens Runaway World. Here he was talking about globalism as a megatrend and he also mentions “the third way” in politics as a megatrend.
December 22, 2006 at 1:42 am · Filed under Green Tech, The Politics
The EU and the USA have signed a new Agreement to continue the ENERGY STAR programme for office equipment for another five years. The Agreement features energy efficiency criteria for computers, copiers, printers and computer monitors, and is expected to yield 30 TWh electricity savings – the approximate equivalent of the electricity demand in Hungary – in the EU over the next three years. ENERGY STAR is part of the Commission’s strategy to better manage energy demand, contribute to the security of energy supply and mitigate climate change.
The new Agreement was signed by the Finnish Presidency of the EU and the US Environmental Protection Agency in Washington yesterday. The initiative was welcomed by EU Member States as the programme also provides them with valuable data on the efficiency of office equipment, which they can subsequently utilise in their own public procurement initiatives.
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December 19, 2006 at 12:30 pm · Filed under Money and Finance, The Politics
Europe can green the globe by pushing trade partners to eliminate tariffs on clean and renewable power technology, EU trade chief Peter Mandelson said Monday.
“It should be possible to agree a zero percent deal for these key goods,” Mandelson said in a podcast posted on the Web site of the European Commission’s trade department.
He said he was writing to Pascal Lamy, the head of the World Trade Organization, to ask him to spearhead this push as the world was faced with the “urgent challenge” of greening the growth of rapidly expanding economies China, India and Brazil.
Europe had a lot to gain in getting ahead of the curve on technologies and services that attempt to tackle climate change and European companies are already exporting wind farms and solar panels to China, he said.
China worries environmentalists by building one coal-powered electricity plant a week to feed its booming economy, adding to the carbon emissions that cause climate change.
“We can … export the tools and expertise to tackle climate change worldwide,” he said, stressing that other countries could also win, citing India’s growing exports of low-power water heaters and China trading wind-powered electricity generators with Africa. More at ENN
November 15, 2006 at 5:16 pm · Filed under Climate, The Politics
Breaking news: UN Climate Conference 2009 will be held i Copenhagen. Nothing much more to report about that.
Haven’t seen Al-I-used-to-be-the-next-president-of-USA-Gores movie yet? Here is a 44 min. interview/documentary about him made this summer:
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November 14, 2006 at 12:40 am · Filed under Climate, The Politics
The German environment research organization has just released their Climate Performance Index 2006 at the UN Climate Conference in Nairobi. The list only includes the 56 industrialized countres that each emits more than one percent of the global CO2.
Iceland wins this time, but they are cheating by using geothermal heating systems. We got the entire report as pdf in the reseach section. Link.
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November 10, 2006 at 8:31 pm · Filed under Bio Fuel, The Politics
The European Union will probably miss a 2010 target to use more alternative fuels, the second time it will fall short in five years, said Hans van Steen, an EU official in charge of promoting renewable energy.The EU wants biofuels to account for an average of 5.75% of transport fuel by 2010, Van Steen told the F.O. Licht World Ethanol Conference in Amsterdam today.
The EU set a target of 2% for 2005, and member states averaged 1%, he said. Biofuels are made from corn, sugar or vegetable oils. “We can’t count on member states getting to where they want to be, based on their previous performance,” said Van Steen, from the renewable energy unit at the
European Commission’s Energy and
Transport Directorate General. The 25-nation EU wants to use less fuel derived from crude oil or natural gas to improve energy security and independence, limit greenhouse gas emissions and support farmers, Van Steen said. Half of all new cars sold in Europe run on diesel, of which there is a shortage, and more than half of greenhouse gas emissions come from transport. The 2% target was only achieved by Sweden and Germany, Van Steen said. He added in a separate interview that the two countries and France were the only ones likely to meet the 2010 objective.
November 10, 2006 at 2:45 pm · Filed under Green Tech, The Politics
Renewable energy and environment is back on the political agenda in Denmark. The coming election is warming up and it is clear that a main theme will be energy. While the opposition has suggested that Denmark in 2020 should be 50% supplied with renewable energy primeminister Anders Fogh believes that 20% should be targeted for. That discussion has been on very general terms and it has not been discussed how to reach the goals, what sectors should take the lead to reach the mark etc. Today I called professor Henrik Lund from Aalborg University, Department of Development and Planning, to ask him if the political promises are doable. He had another focus that turned out to more interesting:
“I think that the important thing here is that nearly all parties in parlament agrees that when we have used our own sources of oil and gas, the only solution is to become 100% supplied by renewable energy. When it is done and how we reach the 20 or 50% milestones is a matter of discussions and political field work, but when we all agree upon 100% renewable energy a strong message is send to the investors and companies that will lead this development. This is unique.”
The oilfields in the sea west of Denmark will run dry in the next 30 years meaning that Denmark before 2040 will be one of the first countries in the world based solely on renewable energy.
I can´t tell you more right now, this is a actually a part of a story I write for a magazine :-/
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