Headwinds for Wind: Can We Still Reach the NZE 2030 Target?
Last week, we took a dive into solar PV additions in 2024, placing them against the 2030 NZE benchmark to see how far we’ve come. This week, we turn our eyes to wind power. It’s important to start from the same reference point: under the IEA’s Net Zero Emissions scenario, 2,742 GW of installed wind capacity (onshore […]
Solar Surge Revisited: Are We Closing in on the 2030 Net Zero Target?
More than a year ago, our weekly Climate Shocker studied the global solar PV capacity additions for 2023 and how they stacked up against the Net Zero Emissions (NZE) targets for 2030. With 2024 well behind us and new data available, it felt like the right moment to revisit those numbers and assess where we […]
The Pragmatic Climate Reset: What It Could Mean for Belgium
Michael Liebreich, well known as the founder of Bloomberg New Energy Finance and a leading energy opinion-maker, has last summer stirred debate with his call for a “pragmatic climate reset.” His argument lands at a moment when climate policies are losing traction across several countries, with political pushback mounting against high costs and ambitious targets. Far from […]
How the insurance sector could become the first bottom-up driver of climate action
While (increasingly smaller) parts of the global population still question whether climate change is real, or at least how much it matters for their daily lives, one sector is already feeling its effects directly. The insurance industry exists to measure and price risk, and the steady rise in natural disasters is starting to disrupt that […]
Peak Coal: Still a Question, Not an Answer
Each year, the International Energy Agency publishes its World Energy Outlook, outlining plausible trajectories for the global energy system. Since the signing of the Paris Agreement in 2015, those trajectories have consistently been trying to pinpoint ‘peak coal’: the moment when global consumption would reach its maximum and begin an irreversible decline. Yet almost a […]
In Sync or In Trouble? Lessons from the Iberian Blackout
At midday on Monday, the Iberian Peninsula experienced one of the most significant electricity blackouts in recent memory. Both Spain and Portugal were affected by a sudden, widespread power outage that, at its peak, left an estimated 14 gigawatts of demand unmet – roughly the equivalent of 14 Belgian nuclear reactors going offline at once. […]
Einstein Telescope: Unlocking a High-Tech Ecosystem by Listening to the Universe
This week, the publication of Ortelius’ long-awaited report on the socio-economic impact of a Flemish contribution to the Einstein Telescope received significant media attention. As interpretations varied widely across publications, this article aims to contextualize key findings and highlight their relevance for Flanders. The Einstein Telescope is an advanced gravitational wave observatory designed to detect and analyze […]
Balancing the Costs of Energy: Transmission Tariffs and the Princess Elisabeth Island
Last week, headlines focused on the rising costs of the Princess Elisabeth Island and the potential knock-on effects on electricity bills. While concerns are understandable, the debate often misses the nuances of how electricity costs are structured for different consumer groups. Understanding Electricity Bills: Roads, Highways, and Toll Booths An electricity bill in Belgium is […]
Is the Belgian Duck Curve Growing Deeper in 2024?
Over the past few years, Belgium has significantly reduced emissions within the electricity sector by expanding its solar and wind energy capacities. However, with these advances comes the well-known challenge of managing intermittent energy sources—power generated only when the sun shines or the wind blows. This intermittency has led to the emergence of the “Duck […]
Five takeaways from the Global Market Outlook for Solar Power 2024-2028
SolarPower Europe recently released a comprehensive report presenting key insights and updates on the global solar PV sector. This Climate Shocker will guide you through the most significant findings from the report: