How do we get to a low fossil-fuel system by 2030 in Central and South-East Europe? The latest IRENA report outlines a new scenario - for lower cost fossil fuels are displaced with renewables. This is a summary of the podcast interview with members of the IRENA, CESEC report team.
Michael LaBelle
5 posts
The energy policies adopted during the current decade (1970s) will determine the range of social relationships a society will be able to enjoy by the year 2000. Ivan Illich, 1974 Mapping the energy consumption since the 1970s indicates we chose a high consumption route with low social benefits. An equitable energy transition requires observation of overall consumption of our energy resources. Regardless of energy technologies, whether powered by fossil fuels or the sun’s rays, social inequality is dependent on society’s ability to ensure an equitable consumption of resources. Certain groups, whether divided by country, region or social strata, need to […]
What is a good ‘energy citizen’? The European Commission is now using this term, and the definition gives understanding for how people participate in shaping their energy systems. Breffni Lennon, a researcher at University College Cork, is a co-author of an article with a partial answer to this question. In this episode of MyEnergy2050 podcast, we delve into what it means to be an energy citizen and why citizen participation is essential for a successful energy transition. People, he states, are much more aware and understanding of the energy system than policymakers often give them credit. He proposes policy and […]
What is energy? This broad question is one I tackle each day. And for each person, it means different things. In the social sciences, I like to say it is the way we go about our day. How we live, how we move, and what we consume. It is not only in the physical consumption and use of energy, but how the environment around us responds to our habits, desires, and ways of living. The task to represent what energy is, and what this means through a cultural lens just became harder for me. Now, after finishing my book, ‘Energy […]
The tremendous economic and security gains the United States made in domestic oil and gas production in the past 10 years fostered a global power rebalancing. The withdrawal of the US military from the Middle East corresponds to the rising US self-sufficiently in oil and gas. Shale oil and gas underpin this dramatic reconfiguration. According to Tina Soliman Hunter, Professor of Energy, Environment, and Resources Law, at Macquarie Law School, University of Macquarie, this disengagement may now end. The once spurned US military protectorate of the Middle East may hold renewed value to ensure a global economic recovery and benefit […]