Sir, Regarding ‘EU agrees billions to fund renewables, CCS‘: A study recently published by NOAH Friends of the Earth Denmark shows that when CCS [carbon capture and storage] is observed over time and across the sectors where it is planned to be applied – when we watch the whole film as opposed to a single [...]

Sir, Regarding ‘Electric cars push needs ‘careful thinking’‘: Misconceptions with respect to electric vehicles (EVs) and their acceptance by Joe Public abound. The recent comments by the International Energy Association (IEA) typify this. PWR contrasts the comment: “A careful study of customer preferences is crucial to avoid a situation where infrastructure and vehicles are built [...]

Sir, Regarding ‘Brussels to play down ‘carbon leakage’ threat‘: We should call the bluff that industry is playing on carbon leakage. It would be more in our interests to encourage inefficient, energy-intensive, EU ETS-subsidised [European Emissions Trading Scheme] companies to exit Europe, because it could: 1) Reduce the EU’s carbon footprint rapidly and significantly. 2) [...]

Sir, Regarding ‘Brussels pushes for electric cars‘: The European Commission (EC) released a communication on 28 April in response to a request from the Spanish Presidency to prepare a report on Clean Fuel Vehicles, focusing specifically on electric vehicles (EVs). Spain now produces as much as 30% of its electricity from renewable sources, including solar [...]

Sir, Regarding ‘Belgian anti-wind campaigners vent fury at EU‘: In support of those who are proponents of alternative energy and recognising fully that wind farms degrade substantially the Belgian countryside which I adore, I suggest that these people have a point. Wind farms significantly detract from the appeal of the countryside by degrading the visual [...]

Sir, Regarding ‘Industry chief: Biofuel from waste can reduce landfill‘: At last we hear some good news from an enterprising source. How welcoming to read such positive comments. The move from Finland is not an isolated one in Europe. I have also heard that GeneSyst teams in Europe will be starting work on several major [...]

Sir, Regarding ‘MEPs want farm policy to ease climate change‘: The ambition to make the CAP more climate friendly is commendable. The EP draft report, presented by Stéphane Le Foll, has clearly recognised the challenge to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases from agriculture and to increase carbon storage in the soil. However, one must not [...]

Sir, Regarding ‘France plans transitional CO2 tax for big emitters‘: Polluting atoms should stay in the soil. Simultaneously a dead stop would be inhumane. Therefore the countries of the planet should initiate a uniform international tax proportional to the amount of extracted carbon and uranium atoms (which is easy to calculate and measure.) The extractor [...]

Sir, Regarding ‘Greens embrace enzymes in climate change fight‘: This is a serious issue and is much like that of genetically-modified organisms. Using enzymes to disrupt biomass is tantamount to opening up the proverbial ‘Pandora’s box”. You do not know the consequences and you do not know where it will end. It is all very [...]

Sir, Regarding ‘Hedegaard eyes tougher emission cuts from transport‘: We need urgent and clear goals for the electrification of public transport, because combustion cars and buses destroy the climate, pollute the air and damage human health. The conversion of combustion buses (diesel buses) to electric would be finished in a year. Meanwhile, protests against combustion [...]