Energy Security in the Contemporary World
A shared writing space on all things related to energy & security – Made in Sciences Po, Reims
After the disastrous earthquake and tsunami which hit Japan in 2011, causing a nuclear catastrophe, the country’s energy security, already flawed, was seriously weakened. Since the closure of almost all of its nuclear power plants, Japan is facing an energy’s security predicament. To restore lost power, the country turned more intensively to fossil fuels, a... Continue Reading →
Ecological, environmentally-friendly, and green… these are just some of the pretty words we use to paint a positive image out of renewable energy. Doing so is not wrong; after all, if we want to combat the adverse effects of fossil fuel use, framing renewables as something positive will only make us prefer it over other... Continue Reading →
SOLAR. FREAKING. ROADWAYS. Yes, you read it right. SOLAR. FREAKING. ROADWAYS. If you don’t get where I’m going with this, click here to watch a short explicatory video. If you don’t have approximately 419 seconds to spare, though, my explanation will do the trick. With their first prototype launched in 2010 and three modified... Continue Reading →
How Latin America is improving its energy efficiency – and breaking barriers at the same time. Chile has put renewable energy on the forefront of its agenda, tripling its share in renewables in the past 6 years. It is now perceived as a model for the use of renewables and is helping Latin America get on... Continue Reading →
“Floating wind turbines are not confined anymore to R and D” asserts Wind Europe, the European association for wind energy. Indeed, since the first floating wind turbines have been installed in 2016, it seems that new renewable energies are not projects anymore. Wind power gets more and more innovative, with new technologies being more efficient.... Continue Reading →
In the beginning, biofuels were thought to be the perfect substitute to oil as they combated greenhouse gas emissions and diversified fuel supply. However, public opinion has shifted in the last years. What could have gone wrong? The problem is that after some years, the production of biofuels started to show the negatives it entailed.... Continue Reading →
In 2018, the state of Illinois announced the enactment of the Illinois Clean Energy Jobs Act, with the highly ambitious aim of producing 100% clean energy by 2050. However, this past week, the mayor of Chicago, Rahm Emmanuel signed a resolution taking the act one step closer, passing legislation committing to run the city on... Continue Reading →
It is said that covering less than a quarter of the Sahara Desert with solar panels could power the whole planet with electricity. It is said that wind power being considered “one of the most promising new energy sources” could provide 20% of the US’s electricity by putting turbines on less than 1% of its... Continue Reading →
As climate change becomes increasingly visible, there is no question heat waves are becoming more prevalent. Last summer, Europe witnessed record-breaking temperatures in a heat wave that took millions by surprise.[1] For example, Scandinavia, a region not used to temperatures above the 30o C mark, saw temperatures extending above 32o C. As a result, the... Continue Reading →
For the 2020 US Presidential Elections, most democratic candidates have supported the “Green New Deal”, described by the Green Party as a plan to “convert the old, gray economy into a new, sustainable economy that is environmentally sound, economically viable and socially responsible”. This includes achieving net-zero greenhouse gas emissions and 100% renewable energy by... Continue Reading →
