Zachary Davies Boren

In One Year, China Will Add More Solar Capacity Than Any Other Country Has — Ever

China’s investment in solar in 2017 is yet more evidence that the country is dead serious about being the world’s clean energy leader.

Zachary Davies Boren
November 28th, 2017
By Zachary Davies Boren
November 28th, 2017
A bus moves past by solar power and wind power farms in northwestern China's Ningxia Hui autonomous region, Oct. 10, 2015. (AP/Ng Han Guan)

It’s no secret China has been installing solar panels at a record-breaking rate — it’s been happening for years now. But in 2017 China took its solar drive even further, deploying more PV capacity in one year than any other country has — or at least had at end of 2016. Last week, Bloomberg New Energy Finance revised upwards its projection for new

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Total’s Report On Amazon Reef Drilling Reveals Oil Spill Risk To Nearby Countries

The Amazon reef itself also faces significant spill risk, with the modelling commissioned by Total showing there could be an up to 30% chance of oil reaching the reef.

Zachary Davies Boren
August 18th, 2017
By Zachary Davies Boren
August 18th, 2017
An activist with her hand painted black to symbolize the contamination of oil, takes part in a protest performance demanding measures to prevent oil spills, outside the national oil company in Lima, Peru, Aug. 22, 2016. (AP/Rodrigo Abd)

The controversial offshore oil project in the mouth of the Amazon river could pose significant spill risk to nearby countries, according to documents from drilling giant Total. The findings have led to the company to disown key parts of its own Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA). In a statement to Energydesk, Total said: “The countries and

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As UK Effectively Bans Onshore Wind Power, Study Shows It’s True Promise

Despite the dramatic cost gains made in recent years, onshore wind is no longer in the running for subsidies following a decision made after the UK’s Conservatives won the 2015 general election.

Zachary Davies Boren
July 24th, 2017
By Zachary Davies Boren
July 24th, 2017
The about 2,000 wind power stations in Sweden provided 7.1 TWh of electricity in 2012. Photo: Trons/Scanpix

The government has come under fire over its ‘short-sighted decision’ to effectively ban new onshore windfarms after the release of a report that shows they could actually produce the cheapest electricity in the country — even cheaper than gas. A new study from engineering firm ARUP – commissioned by ScottishPower – has calculated that new

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Oil Giants Admit Risk Of Spill In Drilling Project Near Amazon Reef

The reef – which is largely undocumented – is believed to be more than a thousand miles long, stretching from the southern tip of French Guiana to Brazil’s Maranhão State.

Zachary Davies Boren
July 4th, 2017
By Zachary Davies Boren
July 4th, 2017
People stand together to spell out a message that reads in Portuguese: "Defend the Amazon coral reef", on Copacabana beach in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, March 29, 2017. The event is a protest organized by the non-governmental environmental group Greenpeace against announced plans to explore for oil in the Amazon River Basin. (AP/Mario Lobao)

The controversial offshore oil drilling project in the mouth of the Amazon river could pose a significant risk to the mysterious nearby coral reef, according to documents filed by Total and BP. The Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) for drilling blocks shared by the European oil giants claims there is an up to 30% chance that a prospective

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What The Leaked EU-Japan Trade Deal Tells Us About Brexit

JEFTA will soon become the EU’s biggest ever free trade deal, covering a trade volume twice as large as CETA, the recently negotiated agreement with Canada.

Zachary Davies Boren
June 27th, 2017
By Zachary Davies Boren
June 27th, 2017
European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker, left, greets Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on arrival at the Europa building in Brussels, March 21, 2017. (AP/Virginia Mayo)

As Brexit talks begin in earnest, the European Union’s army of trade negotiators is finalizing what is set to become their biggest deal yet — JEFTA, a wide-reaching financial agreement with Japan. But hundreds of documents from the top secret deal – obtained and published over the weekend by Greenpeace Netherlands – have led to accusations that

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Australia’s Coal Export Industry Is Threatening The Climate Crisis

According to a new report, Australia’s ambitious coal export plans threaten to overwhelm any emissions gains made as part of the Paris climate agreement.

Zachary Davies Boren
June 9th, 2017
By Zachary Davies Boren
June 9th, 2017
An open cut coal mine in the Hunter Valley area of New South Wales, Australia. (Photo: Max Phillips/Jeremy Buckingham MLC)

Australia is powering a global surge in an especially polluting type of steel production, and exporting a massive amount of greenhouse gases — 88% as much as it produces domestically. According to a new report from Greenpeace Australia Pacific, the government’s ambitious coal export plans threaten to overwhelm any emissions gains made as part of

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UK’s Coalition Government Is Finally Kicking Coal To The Curb

The UK’s electricity mix looks very different today than it did seven years ago, when the Conservatives first entered a coalition with the Liberal Democrats.

Zachary Davies Boren
June 7th, 2017
By Zachary Davies Boren
June 7th, 2017
Contractors work on Europe's biggest floating solar panel array on the Queen Elizabeth II Reservoir near Walton-on-Thames in south west London, Monday, March 21, 2016. (AP/Matt Dunham)

Wind, solar and energy efficiency have replaced the vast majority of power previously provided by the UK’s coal fleet, a new analysis shows. Since the start of the coalition government in 2010, coal’s role in the generation mix has fallen to historic lows, culminating in the country’s first coal-free day since the 19th century earlier this

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