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September 10, 2008
In the cacophony of the new Cold War rhetoric, it is hard to grasp the real geopolitical significance of the August “warlet” between Georgia and the new Russian petro-empire. But some analysts have hit the nail on the head: this was not a war for freedom and democracy but a return to the future of… » read more
August 29, 2008
I sincerely hope Barack Obama will become the next US President but his acceptance speech at the Democratic Convention last night did not convince me that he will be the One solving our global climate and energy crisis. Obama’s keynote address was big on changing the political culture in Washington and rescuing the American Dream… » read more
August 8, 2008
Contrary to global warming which is barely an issue in the presidential campaign, energy policy and the dream of weaning America off its “addiction” to foreign oil has become one of the main battlegrounds between candidates Obama and McCain. But do they really understand what is at stake? High oil prices and a 4 dollar… » read more
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Climate change, Energy and Climate Change, energy security, Sustainable Development, US climate policy |
The renowned Dutch Clingendael International Energy Programme foresees more future turbulence in the oil markets, an energy crunch by 2010 and potential oil rationing in the Western world. Here are some of the most interesting conclusions of the highly recommended “Oil Turbulence in the next decade” essay: The “oil crunch” predicted by the International Energy… » read more
July 1, 2008
Looking back at the first half of the year, I can only conclude that my doom-and gloom predictions for 2008 were unfortunately spot on. With stock markets continuing their dive down and oil prices exploding upward, this year could indeed turn out to become the “annus horribilis” I feared. To be honest, things look even… » read more
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Energy and Climate Change, energy security, European Union, financial crisis |
June 24, 2008
It is often assumed that climate and energy security policies are complementary and that therefore measures in one area are also good for the other. This assumption might be correct in certain cases (driving less will be good for climate and will make us less dependent on imported oil), but there are more and more… » read more
It is often assumed that climate and energy security policies are complementary and that therefore measures in one area are also good for the other. This assumption might be correct in certain cases (driving less will be good for climate and will make us less dependent on imported oil), but there are more and more… » read more
April 17, 2008
Why is it so hard to accept that our planet’s economy has limits? The puerile excitement of so-called energy experts about Brazil’s new “gigantic” oil find is yet another proof that the world and its media remain in denial about our worsening sustainability crisis. “Surprise discovery off coast of Brazil may confound the oil and… » read more
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energy security, Peak oil, resource depletion, Sustainability |
April 10, 2008
Jeremy Bentham and Jeroen Van de Veer presented Shell’s latest scenarios Scramble and Blueprints to Brussels policymakers on 7 April. Their visions for the future look pretty grim although they were not very upfront about it and their plea for big government hand-outs for carbon capture and storage raises a lot of questions. The scenarios… » read more
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Carbon capture and storage, coal, Energy and Climate Change, energy security |
When one follows the international news scene closely, it looks like there are two different worlds being reported about: one where the housing and credit crisis is being played out against a background of inflation fears and worries about a global economic slowdown; the other where spectacularly rising energy and commodity prices underline the energy/climate… » read more
March 10, 2008
The EU is unprepared for future conflicts over energy resources, according to a new report written for the meeting of EU leaders on 13-14 March. The report, seen by the Guardian, predicts that global warming might lead to energy wars, mass migration, failed states and political radicalisation. The report highlights the “scramble” over natural resources… » read more
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Arctic, Energy and Climate Change, energy security, resource wars |
February 28, 2008
When investments banks start to talk openly about a future oil supply crunch, there is reason to get really worried. According to the Wall Street Journal, Deutsche Bank recently joined the club of high-level energy experts who think the world will never see production levels above 100 million barrels per day. The Bank is now… » read more
February 25, 2008
In a recent interview with EurActiv, Jeremy Rifkin expressed his belief that “Europe can lead the third industrial revolution”. In the closing debate of this year’s European Business Summit, the American author repeated his admiration for the EU’s policies but added cautiously that “the EU might well tell the right narrative, but the US could… » read more
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Energy and Climate Change, energy security, European Union, Sustainability |
February 10, 2008
How do you communicate the need to take urgent climate change actions when your citizens are enjoying the warmest winter in ages with temperatures which save them a lot of money in energy consumption? This was one of the interesting questions I discussed with government communicators, EU information officers and aspiring journalists during my two-day… » read more
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Energy and Climate Change, energy security, Global Warming, nuclear, renewable energy |
February 4, 2008
The Wall Street Journal reported today that three of the biggest US investment banks are getting cold feet about financing new coal power plants as they expect US policy-makers to introduce a carbon capture-and-trade system in the future. The environmental standards which the three banks will lay down could mean that coal plants without carbon… » read more
January 28, 2008
One week after it presented its new energy/climate change package (see my post of 23 Jan), the EU is holding its annual Sustainable Energy week. Just as in last week’s proposals, the use of renewable energy will be in the spotlight. Two sessions on Monday will be dealing with the role of renewables in respectively… » read more
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Business and climate change, Energy and Climate Change, energy security, European Union |
January 10, 2008
A system-wide financial crisis, food insecurity, supply chain disruptions and climate and energy chaos are the four major global risks for the coming year according to a report released on 9 January by the World Economic Forum. The report “Global Risks 2008” comes two weeks before the yearly WEF meeting in Davos and highlights most… » read more
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Energy and Climate Change, energy security, global governance, Sustainable Development |
January 6, 2008
The victory of Barack Obama in last week’s Iowa elections came as a big surprise for the EU elites who had already put all their money on a new Clinton Presidency. If Obama continues his winning streak on Tuesday on New Hampshire, European policymakers and lobbyists will have to learn more about the positions of… » read more
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Energy and Climate Change, energy security, US climate policy |
According to the Independent, the UK government will today announce what amounts to a real renewables revolution. In a remarkable U-turn, Gordon Brown’s government wants all households in Britain to be powered by off-shore windfarms in 2020. It could mean building 7000 wind turbines along the coast of the UK. Read further articles about this… » read more
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Energy and Climate Change, energy security, renewable energy, Wind energy |
December 5, 2007
Here, that is, in our own “developed” world and not only in those countries which are traditionally being identified as “developing” countries (the now politically incorrect “third world” in the past). As the economic growth successes and the consumption abundance of our developed countries have been bought on the back of rapid over-exploitation of the… » read more
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Energy and Climate Change, energy security, resource depletion, Sustainability, Sustainable Development |
