Articles by
Craig Morris
German public became educated, not fearful, after Chernobyl
By
Craig Morris
Overall, Chernobyl led to an educated German public, not a fearful one, as this book attests.
German PV auctions reach record low price, but most bids still lose
By
Craig Morris
It’s not hard to understand why the German government is happy about its pilot PV auctions. . . But prices would also have come down to the same extent with feed-in tariffs.
Nuclear written off before Chernobyl
By
Craig Morris
Chernobyl allowed the nuclear sector to claim that uninformed hippies blocked nuclear by spreading irrational fear. The claim not only overlooks Wall Street, but also supposes a level of influence that the environmental movement never had. Had Chernobyl not happened, we would all know that Wall Street, not fearful environmentalists, abandoned nuclear – in ‘76, not ‘86.
First stirrings of call for ban on non-EVs in Germany
By
Craig Morris
Don’t add Germany to the list of countries officially considering banning sales of cars running on gasoline or diesel just yet. But several prominent people are pushing the government to take steps in this direction
California has too much coal and nuclear
By
Craig Morris
A political arrangement is being passed off as a technical issue. Stop protecting nuclear and coal; get rid of baseload.
Two German states already 100 percent renewable net for electricity
By
Craig Morris
In 2015, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern and Schleswig-Holstein generated more renewable power than households and businesses in each state consumed.
Energiewende: killing the right industries
By
Craig Morris
Overall, some things in the Energiewende are going well; others, less so. But we have only just begun: the Energiewende is a generational project, with 35 years left until 2050.
Wind turbines ruin the view from Kaiserstuhl – not
By
Craig Morris
In short, anyone who claims that these wind turbines are spoiling the view from Kaiserstuhl is very sensitive indeed, not to mention highly selective. Perhaps because Kaiserstuhl is arguably the birthplace of the Energiewende, there is no anti-wind campaign in the area that I am aware of. One other reason, however, may simply be that it’s very hard to see the turbines.
German and UK PV markets slow down
By
Craig Morris
Germany added a mere 50.4 megawatts of solar in February, but much of that was simply newly registered, not newly built. The UK market, Europe’s biggest last year, also slowed down considerably.
What’s the hottest selling turbine in Germany?
By
Craig Morris
On the left, we see turbine types for which permits were granted last year; on the right, those actually built in 2015. In other words, the ones on the left point into the future more than those on the right do.
Why people come together in community projects
By
Craig Morris
People come together in cooperatives to do the right thing, get to know each other, and create a sense of community. Some of these projects focus on profits, especially those in the energy sector, but most don’t (think of fire brigades, sport clubs, kindergartens, etc.).
Global energy transition conference bigger than ever
By
Craig Morris
Undersecretary Rainer Baake praised the German government’s implementation of auctions, in which markets set prices but the government sets the volume – and the German government is using the policy to slow down renewables in the power sector.
