Rem Koolhaas Has Grand Alternative Energy Plans for Europe

How exactly will Europe reduce its emissions 20% in ten years, as the EU Covenenant of Mayors wants to do? Renowned architect Rem Koolhaas has a few ideas up his sleeve.

While architects typically are not known for their grand policy proposals on climate change (sticking rather to the energy efficiency of single buildings), Koolhaas has proposed a series of sweeping, regionally-tailored alternative energy developments that will put the EU on the path towards sustainable energy and lower carbon emissions.

Koolhaas' plan aims to reduce overall European emissions 80% by 2050, an even more aggressive target than the Covenant of Mayors signed onto. The current political crisis of the EU, however, puts this plan that is contingent upon supranational cooperation into question.

Check out these graphics!

Before and after in Barcelona....

Via Inhabitat

EU Mayors Pledge to Cut CO2 20% by 2020 - A Step Towards Carbon Neutrality?

While European countries have typically been perceived as more environmentally progressive and more in favor of climate change legislation, the recent breakdown of the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen left much to be desired in political commitments to emissions reduction.

In a move that mirrors the earlier pledges of Seattle, Vancouver, Sweden and Denmark to become carbon neutral, the Covenant of Mayors (Europe's corollary to the American Mayors Climate Protection Center) has pledged to reduce overall carbon emissions 20% by 2020. Such a reduction in ten years is substantial, not least because the Covenant of Mayors represents over 500 European cities and over 120 million people in 36 countries, according to the Edie Legal Resource Center. One disticntion of the Covenant of Mayors is that rather than acting against official policy of the federal government, as the Mayors CPC was forced to do during the Bush Administration, the Covenenta of Mayors its itself an initiative of the European Commission and as such has the full range of EU expertise and funding at its disposal.

Like the United States, the EU has reconized the disproportionate role of cities in contributing to climate change. As over 80% of all energy is consumed in cities, this is where any efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions much start. Hopefully, this renewed committment by the EU to reduce carbon emissions will help spur greater investment in the green fleet technologies to create a large number of green jobs.

Via: Worldchanging

Electric Vehicle Charging Stations Making Headway in Europe

Yet another great development in building a solid infrastructure of electric vehicle charging stations! Dutch high-tech firm Epyon has developed a series of very commercially viable charging station for electric vehicles. While this is hardly the first such network of charging stations in Europe, it is one of the fastest and most user-friendly models we have seen.

According to Green Car Advisor, Epyon's stations are capable of fully charging the 9-person taxi-vans of Taxi Kijlstra, one of the largest taxi companies in the Netherlands, in only 30 minutes. Thereafter, the taxis can drive up to 100 miles before having to recharge again. A single Epyon EV charger can charge multiple vehicles at once, unique among the EV charging stations we have seen so far. Only further investment in electric vehicle charging networks (funding more stations) will create an environment in which the 100-mile limit of the electric charges is not such a hurdle for fleets and their drivers.

Via: Edmunds.com