Alternative Energies

Sometimes it's best to start with the end, and in the case of the European Future Energy Forum in Geneva, the end of the day began with some Alpine greatest hits and a large dollop of melted cheese.Read more

Hearing one of the senior directors at Volkswagen describing future cities with no cars parked on the street was one of the highlights of the European Voice Innovation Forum in Brussels earlier this week.Read more

Since the industrial revolution our planet has grown richer and its inhabitants healthier and longer-lived. The great challenge is how to continue that trend, encourage the same stable growth in the developing world, while also answering the global call to action to cut greenhouse gas emissions and reduce our impact on climate change.

Which energy sources will we be using in 2050? How does that compare to the current situation? Which clean energy source is forecast to see the greatest growth by mid-century, and which current energy source is forecast to see a downturn by 2050?

Discussion: Which energy sources will we be using in 2050?

Related Content:

Discussion -- Which technology innovations will meet the world’s energy challenge?

Live Debate -- Not in my backyard? Can Europe win public acceptance for low-carbon infrastructure projects?

Video Library

This month we travelled to Hamburg to record part of the forthcoming Comment Visions programme around the theme of energy in 2050, and so we thought it would be interesting to share a few photos from the shoot.Read more

Our producer Jeremy Wilks caught up with his interviewees backstage of the June 2011 programme. Here are bonus videos for Clean Energy Innovation.Read more

Our buzzword this month is 'innovation', and we already have a great discussion underway on how the spirit of human ingenuity can be applied to clean energy. But I'd like to add another buzzword to that list, a new word, a kinda cool-sounding word, and that's smartness.Read more

This month's programme on the challenges and opportunities of biofuels production was a great opportunity to go to the front line of this fast moving sector, writes Comment Visions producer Jeremy Wilks.Read more

Who knew there would be a biofuels angle to the Royal Wedding?Read more

Biofuels are in an ambiguous position in the field of sustainable energy, and in this programme we focus on their production in an effort to understand how they can be made, what impact they have on the environment, and how they should develop in the future. Dismissed outright by some environmentalists as a polluting threat to the natural environment, biofuels are also championed by others as a necessary product to feed demand for low-carbon fuels in shipping, aviation and road freight.

Discussion: What are the opportunities and challenges in biofuels production?

Related Content:

Live debate: De-carbonised transport: with or without biofuels?

Programme: The thorny question of biofuels

Discussion: What would it take to unlock the full potential of biofuels?

Background

The European Commission published its new transport white paper, a strategic document that sets the tone of EU transport policy for the next decade. The main stated objective of the white paper is to make transport more sustainable, from an economic, social and environmental point of view.

Over the past decade, the environmental dimension of transport policy has grown in importance, as climate change mitigation has risen to the forefront of EU priorities.

Transport accounts for 27% of greenhouse gases (GHG) emissions, a share that is set to grow. If current trends are left unchecked, growth in transport emissions could even offset reductions achieved in other sectors. If the EU is to de-carbonise its economy by 2050, this issue will have to be addressed.

Commissioner Kallas recently stated that the Commission would probably aim at a reduction of GHG emissions from 50% to 70% by 2050, compared to 1990 levels, by halving Europe’s transport sector’s reliance on oil. Linked objectives include a pledge to fully de-carbonise urban mobility, a shift of most long-distance inland freight to rail and inland waterways, and a shift of most medium-distance passenger transport to these same modes.

To achieve this, the Commission is betting heavily on technologies, with the hope that a shift to greener and smarter transport will help to establish a competitive low-carbon economy, deliver green jobs and change users’ habits.

Beyond research and development, the deployment of new technologies will depend on political will and financial resources. With investment in transport infrastructures at an all-time low, and in a context of shrinking public resources, how can this be achieved? Is the private sector ready to step in? Are national governments ready to commit? Will citizens follow?

Comment:Visions convened a high level panel of experts to debate the future of European tranport.

Related Content:

None...