Ecomimicry: enriching urban landscapes
Why are the ‘green’ areas in our cities often so uniform? Why are they ‘blandscaped’, to create virtually uniform green spaces that are devoid of local character or distinctiveness? Just attractive to look and easy to manage, but devoid of valuable biodiversity? We could do otherwise, by ecomimicry. Urban monocultures In The Conversation this week,
Meat alternatives on the rise
Around the world, meat consumption is on the rise. People eat more meat as they become more affluent. But meat alternatives are becoming popular. They are fashionable; and their environmental footprint is much lower than that of meat. Moreover, their quality is becoming better. Will they contribute to reaching the goals of climate policy? We
Solar and wind energy: increasing recognition
This month, before publication of their NZE2050 scenario, the International Energy Agency considerably upped its forecast for solar and wind energy. Even after the major upward revision already done in its World Energy Outlook 2020. Solar PV is now ‘the cheapest source of electricity in history’. And more pleasant surprises may be underway. A recent
Towards net zero carbon emissions
In an unprecedented move, the International Energy Agency (IEA) published its NZE2050 scenario this month: towards net zero carbon emissions in 2050. Required for a climate strategy that limits the rise of global temperatures to 1.5oC. NZE2050 marks a major IEA policy reorientation. The agency finally recognizes that solar and wind energy could become the
Cheap energy storage speeds up
Costs of producing renewable energy keep coming down; and technologies for cheap energy storage keep evolving. Therefore, the eternal problems with solar and wind energy appear to be more and more outdated (‘what to do if the sun doesn’t shine and the wind doesn’t blow’). In the past, we already devoted our attention to this
Renewables versus nuclear – a choice already made
The most important low-carbon energy sources, renewables and nuclear, compete for investment funds. But if we are not mistaken, the dice have already been thrown in this contest of renewables versus nuclear. Renewables have won. Although it might still take a decade or more for parties involved to agree on that. In two articles, we
Energy policy: don’t just choose low-carbon – create a new energy system
A recent article in Nature Energy confirms what we might have surmised already: renewable sources are much better at creating a low-carbon energy future than nuclear power. They do need quite another electricity infrastructure. But grid companies quickly learn how to change their energy policy, and create a new system that fits well these new
Plastic recycling: urgent, but a major problem
Suddenly, articles on plastic recycling pop up everywhere. Spurred on the one hand by continued growth in plastics production; and on the other hand by the ever growing problem of plastic waste. Scientists foresee that in 2050, there will be more plastic waste than fish in the oceans – if present trends continue. Something needs
