Welcome ! As a young French Marketing professional with a Master's in International Management I have been selecting since January 2007 the latest headlines and best researches on sustainable development, climate change, cleantech and the world energy sector. Sounds great ? Don't hesitate to subscribe now !
Here is my latest post on Cleantechies : “The European Environment Agency published in November a report on the cost, the toll, of air pollution due to industrial facilities to the European Union. “
” And the costs are staggering as the 10,000 facilities induced up to 102 and 169 billion euros in 2009 alone. However, a small number of these plants are responsible for the vast majority of this pollution. “
As usual to keep reading the article, please check it out there. I hope you will like it and look forward to reading your comments.
I have been advocating housing insulation back to 2006 when I was writing my Master’s thesis at Audencia Nantes Management School. Then I discovered the huge potential of insulating French buildings.
Since then I have been dreaming that one day politicians, leaders, and other people in charge would finally understand that weatherizing the million of appartments that need it around the world is THE right move.
It seems that my call has been heard, or more plausibly that some important people in the higher European spheres share my belief. Continue »
To GreenTech Media : “ Germany installed more than 2 gigawatts of solar in the month of December alone. (…) Installations for the full year will be nearly 7 gigawatts according to the German Solar Industry Association (BSW).”
The article goes further : “ According to the BSW, solar power contributes approximately three percent of the German electricity supply, with a goal of 10 percent by 2020. “
The European leader in renewables installed in a single month more solar photovoltaic capacity than the whole United States of America installed in a whole year ! Continue »
These are great news, just in time for the current climate talks taking place in Durban as to a new report from Bloomberg, global investments in renewables are surpassing for the first time ever the amounts invested in fossil fuels.
With economies of scale and scope, both solar energy and wind power are getting cheaper and cheaper, making them already seriously compete with much dirtier energy sources.
As a result, last year over $187 billion (141 billion euros) were invested in renewables and only $157 billion (118 billion euros) in fossil fuels. This is only the beginning. Continue »
Incandescent light bulbs are a relic of the past, a vastly inefficient past. Modern alternatives like CFLs and LEDs consume five to ten times less energy. For these reasons, the European Union or Australia have already phased them out.
More countries will be doing the same, namingly the United States and China. The latter will start banning 100-watt bulbs in October 2012. Last year over a billion of these bulbs were sold in the People’s Republic.
To Grist : ” The ban will save China 48 billion kilowatt hours of power per year. Which, if I’m doing my math right, is the equivalent of almost 100 nuclear reactors or large coal-fired power plants. “
Here are two good news. First : this seems too good to be true as such a fact would sure lead to a bigger role of climate change in politics all around the 27 nations of the European Union.
According to an article from the Guardian : ” Europeans believe that dangers of climate change represent a more serious problem than the current financial turmoil, according to a new poll. ”
But wait, there is more. To the latest figures from the European Commission, the Union decreased its emissions by 15.5 percent since 1990. And we keep clinging to 20 percent cuts… Continue »
Yesterday I was fortunate to attend a conference given by Nathalie Kosciusko-Morizet – known here by her initials, NKM - the incumbent Minister for Ecology and Sustainable Development of France.
Green causes are going forward in France as she is at the top of this most important Minister and I am sure that the many achievements of the Grenelle de l’Environnement are just the beginning for a more sustainable France.
During the Q&A session after the conference, I was able to ask her opinion on how the European Union could go for more ambitious emissions reduction targets. Continue »
To the Huffington Post : ” Defying growing global skepticism over the use of atomic energy, (the Czech Republic) is planning to dramatically increase the country’s nuclear power production.
” (…) Other former Soviet bloc nations, now in the European Union, are following the Czechs’ lead on nuclear power – reflecting diverging economic needs between east and west. ”
” Slovakia is currently building more nuclear facilities. And Poland has engaged in talks with firms about know-how and technology for its first nuclear installation to be completed by 2030. ” Continue »
Here is another post I wrote on Cleantechies : ” While I was visiting my family in the Region of Lorraine – North Eastern France – I came across two distinct news illustrating the possible future of the region, and in a way, of the whole country. ”
” The first one is about dirty polluting fossil energy as to Elixir Petroleum, an Australian company, there would be massive quantities of shale oil and gas in Lorraine’s soil. ”
As always with guest posts, to keep reading, please check out their website. I look forward to reading your comments and thoughts there.
According to Reuters : ” China will invest 2 trillion yuan (about $313 billion or 230 billion euros) to promote a green, low-carbon economy in the next five years, a senior economic planning official was quoted on Sunday as saying. ”
The article goes on : ” (…) The green economy plan includes setting up 100 bases for demonstrating resource utilisation and launching low-carbon pilot programmes in five provinces and eight cities “
I guess all this money will help China become the first economic power even quicker thanks to cleantech. Meanwhile both the United States and the European Union are doing a track-stand on these issues…
