solar power

News & Comments, Renewables February 20, 2018

Meet the new ‘renewable superpowers’: nations that boss the materials used for wind and solar

Imagine a world where every country has not only complied with the Paris climate agreement but has moved away from fossil fuels entirely. How…

Renewables, Solar November 30, 2016

Europe’s climate policy goals hinge on renewables, solar power

The Paris Agreement on climate change is an international commitment that can only be kept by the European Union if effective, consistent policy drives the…

Articles Coal Current Issue Policy & Strategy

Corridor of Power

For over a decade Pakistan’s growing economy has been held back by a chronic shortage of electricity; supply has often fallen short by over 20% as roll-out of new power plants persistently lagged behind a rapid growth in demand. This…

Articles Oil Policy & Strategy

The odd triangle

It used to be missiles; now it’s oil, but Cuba is still in crisis. Back in ’62 the so-called Cuban Missile Crisis triggered a 13-day stand-off between the United States and the Soviet Union when the latter decided to ship…

Articles Current Issue Last Exit

Humberstone and Santa Laura

Two former saltpeter refineries located in northern Chile, in the Atacama Desert. Founded in 1872, the Saltpeter works and the towns constructed around them became obsolete fifty years later, after two German scientists Fritz Haber and Carl Bosch, synthesized ammonia, which meant fertilizers could be produced more efficiently…

Articles Current Issue

Hywind and Dry

We are in Buchan Deep, where Scotland has given the green light to Hywind, a project that brought about the construction of the largest floating wind farm in the world off the coast of Peterhead. The Norwegian giant Statoil and…

Articles Current Issue Nature & Environment

Radon smoke is rising

Warning: “Radon is all around us. You are now entering a radioactive area.”. It could be the sign at your front door. Would you stay – or would you turn round into the open air? It is an invisible, odourless…

Articles Climate Change Current Issue

The web of life and climate change dualism

Imagine an intricate and infinite web. This web represents the interrelationship among all life forms both with each other as well as the rest of the planet. More than two centuries ago, the scientist originated the concept of both the web…

Articles Climate Change

How droughts have scarred Syria forever

What is the good, bad, and the ugly regarding climate change and Syria? The good is that the Syrian government has finally signed the 2016 Paris Climate Agreement. The bad is the climate-induced continuous droughts between 2006-2010 and the resultant…

Articles Climate Change

The stark link between climate and forced migration

The Global Climate Index for 2018 was published in early November and – like the ones before it – the index makes grim reading. The index analyses how countries have been affected by weather extremes such as storms, floods and…

Articles Coal

Coal may be Jurassic but technology is not

Coal’s unfortunate image as the dinosaur of power generation is not helped by the fact that the basic principles of a coal power plant have remained the same for over a century – heat from burning coal produces steam which…

Articles Innovation

Father and (Grand)son

Let the record play. The sound of an old vinyl is music to my ears. it comes from an ancient record player. “It’s not time to make a change.” “Hi Grandpa, the time has come! Today BBC News declared that global…