TECN | Heinrich Böll Stiftung | Washington, DC Office

The Transatlantic Energy & Climate Network

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What Kentucky Can Learn from Germany's Energy Transition

"From Bundestag to Bluegrass" is a five-part web and radio series examining Germany’s energy transition—and its potential lessons for Kentucky—reported by Erica Peterson for WFPL News in Louisville.

By Erica Peterson

Articles and Publications

When the grid says 'no' to wind and solar power, this company's technology helps it say 'yes' again

Too much solar and wind power. Really? Is that possible? It’s a good problem to have, because if we’re going to beat climate change, we’re going to need way more low-carbon energy than we get now. But it’s still a problem for Germany.

By Peter Thomson

How do you catch the sun to make electricity at night? This German inventor has an answer

Solar power production has grown more than 25 times over the last decade in Germany, spurred largely by big incentives for small producers to get into the market. But sunshine and wind power are intermittent, so engineers and others are looking for ways to balance out the flow of these renewable power sources through new storage technologies.

By Peter Thomson

Renewable Energy in the Baltics and the Future of European Energy Security

On December 15, 2014, the Heinrich Böll Foundation hosted representatives of renewable energy associations from each of the Baltic states – Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania – in Washington. See interviews with them here about diversifying the energy mix to include more renewables.

Copenhagen Turns to Two Wheels and Takes Off

Today, 60 percent of people in Copenhagen's city core commute by bike. In the greater Copenhagen area, over 40 percent do. “It’s not something that’s in Copenhagen’s genes, or that we’re weirder or stranger than any other people on earth,” Kabell says. “Every city can do this.”

By Terrence Henry

The Carbon Bubble: Assessing the risks to investors in the EU and U.S. financial systems

On December 4, 2014, the Heinrich Boell Foundation hosted representatives from the Sustainable Finance Lab and Carbon Tracker for a transatlantic discussion about the possible financial risks of the carbon bubble. You can listen the recording of the discussion and find the event materials here.

How Denmark and Texas Became Wind Energy Kings

Standing on the shore of the Baltic sea a few miles outside of Copenhagen, Denmark, the view’s about what you’d expect. Rocky shore, grey horizon, a boat here or there. But this shore is special. Look up, and you’ll see — and hear — three giant offshore wind turbines cutting through the air. Each stands 500 feet tall, with three blades (each close to 200 feet long), spinning non-stop.

By Terrence Henry

What Spain Can Teach Texas About Solar Energy

About an hour’s drive outside of Sevilla, Spain’s old city, past grazing black-footed pigs and olive orchards, sits the Abengoa Solucar complex, and it’s truly a sight: Imagine cresting a hill and then all of the sudden seeing several large towers, over 500 feet high, with hundreds of beams of light striking them — solar rays from an army of mirrors arrayed in a circle on the ground below. They’re called heliostats.

By Terrence Henry

Pennsylvania Drills Wherever It Can

This fall the Heinrich Böll Foundation hosted a delegation of civil society representatives and journalists from Poland for a study tour to Washington, D.C., Pennsylvania and New York State to gain a better understanding of the effects that natural gas exploration have had on local communities along the Marcellus Shale. Tomasz Ulanowski, a reporter for the Polish daily newspaper Wyborcza, wrote this report.

By Tomasz Ulanowski

#TECN14 - EU Low Carbon Economy Tour: September 7-12, 2014

A select group of American energy policy experts, who are engaged in finding new, cross-party solutions for energy and environmental policy, visited Germany, Denmark and Sweden to study the economic and ecological benefits of Europe’s transition to clean energy. Check out our Storify about the tour!

Siemens Wind Sees Prairie Power Potential

2014 journalism fellow Andy Marso reports about investments by European companies in Kansas wind.

By Andy Marso

Kansas' Climate Change Debate Settled in Europe

As Kansas legislators argue about whether climate change is happening, European leaders act. Read the newest article by Andy Marso, a 2014 recipient of the Transatlantic Energy and Climate Network's Energy and Climate Media Fellowship.

By Andy Marso

Germany's Cautionary, But Hopeful, Renewable Energy Tale

On a recent Monday morning, Jan Peter Klatt sat in his office in Germany’s Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy and strained to hear a recording of an interview with Kansas Sen. Forrest Knox, R-Altoona. Knox was making one last unsuccessful pitch to repeal Kansas’ renewable energy standards by citing Germany, where he said the transition from fossil fuels to renewables was “de-industrializing” the nation. “It isn’t,” Klatt says. “And especially it wouldn’t be de-industrializing for the States (now). We have to differentiate between the past and the future.”

By Andy Marso

All TECN articles

Voices from the Ground – Rethinking Development Beyond US Aid

Call for Applications

Applications accepted on a rolling basis until July 20, 2025.

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A Human Security Imperative Should Guide Europe’s Policies for a Post-Conflict Syria

Capstone

As Syria enters a fragile post-conflict phase, Europe must embrace a human-security-driven strategy that centers inclusive governance, economic recovery, and the rights of refugees. The stakes, for Syrians and for Europe, are too high to remain reactive.

By Nail Nizamoglu

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Trump's Budget: Climate Losses, Welfare Cuts, and More Deportations

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Analysis

The Trump Administration’s new budget law is a back door to implementing major portions of the MAGA agenda. It could become one of the most destructive, anti-climate, anti-poor, and anti-working class pieces of legislation in US history and risks the country’s long-term economic stability.

By Teresa Eder, Drew Mitnick, Katharina Obser, Brendan O'Donnell, Carl Roberts and Hannah Winnick

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"Drag Nights Aren’t Just Parties, They Are Acts of Survival"

five draq queens hold the Kenyan and Namibian flags in front of the US Capitol

Interview

At WorldPride in DC, Namibian activist Omar van Reenen shares how drag, defiance, and solidarity fuel queer resistance—and why global support must move from charity to solidarity to confront rising anti-LGBTQIA+ backlash.

By Omar van Reenen

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Development Finance on the Brink–But Not Without Alternatives

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Commentary

As global development finance falters, the 4th International Conference on Financing for Development in Seville offers a chance to rethink the system. It’s time to move beyond donor fixes and center justice, local agency, and structural reform.

By Remo Gassmann

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Earlier Events and Publications

New!

What Kentucky Can Learn from Germany's Energy Transition

Articles and Publications

Wind Energy Development in Estonia: A TECN 2-Part Series

Marine Energy Development in Scotland: A TECN 5-Part Series

Offshore Wind Power: From Denmark to Virginia

Offshore Wind Power: No Promises for VA's Coast

On A Tiny Danish Island: Making Electricity Demand Meet Supply

On Denmark’s Road To Renewable Power

Grid Guinea Pigs On A Tiny Danish Island

The EU Low Carbon Economy Tour 2015 gets underway

The car of the future — the very near future — might be driven by the wind

When the grid says 'no' to wind and solar power, this company's technology helps it say 'yes' again

How do you catch the sun to make electricity at night? This German inventor has an answer

Renewable Energy in the Baltics and the Future of European Energy Security

Copenhagen Turns to Two Wheels and Takes Off

The Carbon Bubble: Assessing the risks to investors in the EU and U.S. financial systems

How Denmark and Texas Became Wind Energy Kings

What Spain Can Teach Texas About Solar Energy

Pennsylvania Drills Wherever It Can

#TECN14 - EU Low Carbon Economy Tour: September 7-12, 2014

Siemens Wind Sees Prairie Power Potential

Kansas' Climate Change Debate Settled in Europe

Germany's Cautionary, But Hopeful, Renewable Energy Tale

Voices from the Ground – Rethinking Development Beyond US Aid

A Human Security Imperative Should Guide Europe’s Policies for a Post-Conflict Syria

Trump's Budget: Climate Losses, Welfare Cuts, and More Deportations

"Drag Nights Aren’t Just Parties, They Are Acts of Survival"

Development Finance on the Brink–But Not Without Alternatives