Articles by openDemocracy

Nuclear September 29, 2022

Nuclear power is clean, safe and cheap. We need it to stop global heating

I’m a climate activist. The arguments made against nuclear power today are the same arguments I was making a decade ago, and I was wrong…

Climate Change August 25, 2022

Exclusive: Influential UK net-zero sceptics funded by US oil ‘dark money’

Net Zero Watch says it won’t take cash from fossil fuel investors – but we discovered a funder with millions in oil An influential Tory-linked…

Articles Innovation Renewables

Salt and a battery – smashing the limits of power storage

We have all been there. The rectangular icon in the top right-hand corner of the screen turns red and flashes to indicate you’re almost out of battery. But the problems with batteries go far beyond this kind of minor inconvenience.…

Articles Nature & Environment

The fight against deadly soot

The health risks from tiny airborne particulate matter may soon face stricter federal regulation. But improving air quality remains a complex challenge. This September a Louisiana judge derailed Formosa Plastic’s Sunshine Project, the largest industrial development ever proposed in the…

Articles Climate Change Policy & Strategy

Hopeful signs of climate culture shift at COP27

This month, the United Nations hosted its annual “Conference of the Parties” (COP) in Egypt to discuss how to move the global community forward in the face of climate change. Now in its 27th year, the international meeting attracted familiar…

Articles Fossil Fuels

Sustainable district heating gives hope to the Romanian city of Motru

It’s not often that a town in a coal dependent region leaps to a fully renewable district heating system. Sometimes it is not even technically possible; other times, decision makers are just too rooted in ‘how we’ve always done things…

Articles Smart cities

Looking backward to move forward: sustainable alternatives to automobiles

Imagine a future where private automobiles have gone the way of the horse and buggy. For everyday trips, you hop on and off community-owned bikes dispersed throughout the area to get to your nearby goal or to cheap, reliable public…

Articles Policy & Strategy

Copper lock

Decarbonisation. Solar. Wind. Green hydrogen. Electric cars. Energy storage. The main keywords of EU energy policies are the same as the USA, China, India, Brazil and Australia. The difference is the strategy – if you have one or not. It’s…

Articles Innovation Policy & Strategy

Commodity bonds as a development tool

Bonds with fuel pellets as the commodity are a surprisingly good example, but that is the finale of this item. First, the intro: Commodity bonds may be used as a development tool, especially by smaller countries not in the Eurozone,…

Articles Coal

The role of coal power in China’s energy transition

China is the leader and continues to lead the world in renewable energy, especially wind and solar installation. According to the China Electricity Council (CEC), by the end of October 2022, China’s renewable energy installation saw a remarkable 97GW rise,…

Articles Hydrogen

New routes for hydrogen storage

Hydrogen is the primary candidate to take on the long-term role of energy storage in a system that relies heavily on non-programmable renewable sources such as solar and wind. But even though hydrogen is environmentally friendly, produces no emissions and…

Articles Last Exit

Rossdale Power Plant

The Rossdale Power Plant is one of the most important pieces of industrial heritage in Alberta (Canada). Power was first generated on the site in 1902. The Rossdale plant was the only electrical facility in Edmonton until 1970, when it…

The Lost Bayou: Grand Bayou

Grand Bayou, LA. At one time, it was a lively community of close-knit families, until they were forced to leave. ©2020. Garde Voir Ci magazine. Nicholls State University Department of Mass Communication.

World Rainforest Day

Rainforests cover only 2 percent of the planet’s surface area but are responsible for more than 25% of all Western medicine and house more than 50% of the world’s plant and animal species.