Since COP15 it is clear to see that businesses or national regulators are not waiting for a global agreement, they are pushing ahead with initiatives geared towards accelerating a low-carbon economy.

What gives us hope for the future is to see how far we have come in recent years. We have already seen the birth of the clean tech sector in major economies like US, China, Korea who have not necessarily been at the forefront of climate change. What takes us to the next level will be regulatory certainty, a price on carbon and, as result of that,...

Why we are in stress about the energy, and the climate change? Is the only but big problem the usage of energy influencing the atmosphere? Of course, there is interaction between energy usages and climatic phenomena. However, this is bilateral interaction. I mean how the energy usages affect the climate (and also the matter) then climatic phenomena effect the energy what we have in our hands by an inverse but similar way, so the climatic variations are new energy sources and they are clean indeed.

I want to touch two points of view to bring...

The Copenhagen Climate Talks (COP15) failed to “seal the deal” and produce a comprehensive, enforceable and legally binding action plan to address dangerous changes to our global climate system. For some countries, a legally binding climate agreement would have been a “kick-up the backside” - providing the impetus to move swiftly to a low carbon economy.

It is now left to those countries that have declared their commitment to tackling climate change to be the driving force towards developing clean energy. In particular, those nations...

Science has shown that human activity is causing an imbalance in the atmosphere and life as we know it is under threat. The Private sector therefore has a basis to change technology development criteria in favour of lower carbon intensity. In a way failure of the COP15 negotiations is an indicator of failure of industry leaders in convincing policy makers that carbon emissions can be reduced without compromising national economies. Responsibility remains for industry and commerce leaders to press for global policy improvements that would support...

COP15 was the end of the road for conventional international policy-making. From the first global issues conference in 1972 to COP15 in 2009 decision-makers were effectively asking, “Can we resolve global challenges with the same compartmental thinking and planning that we’re accustomed to?” The answer: nice try but no way.

Non-compartmental thinking, or systems thinking, is already the basis for understanding more about climate buffers and positive feedbacks. A systems approach to climate policy is also achievable if we avoid just one...

COP15 failing can ambiguously enough be regarded as a strong driver towards green growth. Exactly as in fashion, art or architecture, it is namely not only traditional fits that lead to success. The impact of contrast can be at least as promising. And has contrast ever been stronger than between COP15 and people’s expectations, or, now, the COP15 below zero level, and the drivers that are coming up?

COP15 can hardly be called a success. But was COP15 ever regarded – with unanimous consent – as the saving beacon towards the 2010 onwards...

One of our challenges in this century is how can we achieve a low-carbon society. It is acknowledged that moving towards a low-carbon society needs a clean energy system together with green lifestyle. Clean energy system will require deploying cleaner energy technologies at both supply and demand sides which emit zero or very low GHG emissions on an unprecedented scale. At the supply side, a number of known technological options have such characteristics. Some are already well established while others are at an earlier stage of development. At the...

After Copenhagen many individuals realize, that we cannot wait for a global agreement to start developing an energy system based on renewable energy and efficiency instead of fossil energy, because waiting for a global agreement would mean, that the slowest defines the speed of the progress.

Therefore individuals, municipalities, regions, nations but also NGO’s and companies are challenged to move rapidly towards a sustainable energy system. In Europe, also the new targets 20:20:20 will push the development towards more renewable energy. If...

It is difficult not to call the outcome of the Copenhagen conference a failure from a political perspective. But it is unclear how much this has shifted the environment for investments in low carbon technologies. Copenhagen is not the first example of wavering and fragile legislative and regulatory commitments to climate change and clean energy.

While theoretical arguments clearly support government intervention in the climate change space through measures on both the supply and demand side, government intervention is rarely if ever the result...

The drive for clean energy will come from consumers themselves, at least in Africa. What is becoming abundantly clear is that Africa's best chance for true, universal energy access is not through major grid systems like in Europe and North America but through small-scale, decentralised energy systems. These smaller systems are community-based, and it is that community-level ownership that will drive demand. And because dirty fuels aren't easily accessible in rural areas, these energy systems will be based on what's available locally—biogas and...

The push towards clean solutions will be determined by the amount it is going to serve our own interest. If this "interest" can be translated and measured into monetary terms, people are going to feel a sense of urgency. In addition, this "interest" has to represent a certain rationale.

Sadly, "Green" & "Clean" has become a valuable marketing tool, which is rather used for nice appearances in making business look good, instead of making a true difference being truly good.

Sustainability is that other magic word which can be found on every...

The push towards developing clean energy will not be driven by one factor only, no two people have the same reason for doing the same thing. A variety of factors will drive the shift to a clean fuel economy:-

1. "Sustainable development makes business sense" will be the predominant mantra. The Sustainable Energy and Environment Division (SEED) of TECOM Investments (in Dubai) is implementing a Sustainable Development Policy comprising of 5 pillars of activities, namely: development of certified green buildings, implementation of energy and water...

“It will be the same people that have been doing so thus far. Copenhagen is just a stop on the journey. It will be the research community telling what they know and continuing to work together with other researchers in a cooperative way and to engage with other disciplines, governments, industry and the community. It will be the local, city level and national governments continuing to establish trend breaking futures with their communities, understanding the latest research, mentoring each other and providing a suitable investment climate for...

Shouldn’t the question be: “What will drive the push to reduce coal, oil and gas production?” By prefacing the question with “After COP15” the implicit assumption is that there must be a drive or a push to reduce carbon emissions – it’s not going to come from global leaders, so where will it come from? There are a range of actions that might reduce CO2 and green house gas emissions, and a rather ineffectual one is a focus on policy or pricing to drive development of “clean” energy.

Clean energy is expensive energy. The...

COP15 has highlighted the issues around galvanising disparate groups into action on an issue that is surrounded by potential ambiguity. Stakeholder groups including nations, regional communities, corporations, political groups and activists all have and are entitled to have their own perspectives on the situation. Likewise, the situation itself is far from clear to many people with uncertainty about cause, effect and best options for resolution if indeed such options exist.

In the meantime, the majority of us simply get on with dealing with the...

Nothing will be more effective at driving for clean energy than expensive fuel costs. Oil has been drifting back up to about $80 BBL currently. When it hit $140 it creative massive interest and demand. When it drifted below $60 people lost interest again. Now back at $80 and likely to hit $100 or more again it will spark interest again.

The only thing that will sustain a push is viable competitive technologies and complete transparency on climate data. The "climategate" debacle really did have people question the validity of the IPCC reports....

Congress is helping solar, wind, oil, gas, natural gas, geothermal, tidal, ocean energy, biofuels, coal, the electricity industry, and many other parts of the energy industry. It surely makes sense also to help out the nuclear industry given the logic of helping out other parts of the energy industry in so many ways. One of my biggest problems with the way this is being done is that our energy policies often seem more like a Jackson Pollack painting than a logical and strategic construct focused in the long run toward improving our energy, economic,...