interview
A scientist’s opinion: interview with Théo Wittersheim from the Shift Project on their report about Europe’s energy exposure
Could you elaborate on the technical foundations of your methodology, particularly what makes it novel compared to existing approaches, and which data sources were used to validate your approach? Théo Wittersheim: Our methodology is based on two core principles: analysing dependencies from the perspective of physical flows (for instance, barrels of oil, tonnes of steel, ...
A scientist’s opinion: interview with Ugnė Keliauskaitė from Bruegel on Europe’s energy dependency
The views expressed here are from Ugnė Keliauskaitė and do not necessarily reflect those of the think tank Bruegel. Do your findings suggest that Europe is shifting from fossil fuel dependency towards new forms of dependency, for example on critical materials or external clean energy supply chains? Ugnė Keliauskaitė: China dominates global production of the ...
Why technology alone won’t secure Europe’s rail future
Rail transport carries only a modest share of passengers and freight across the EU, yet it is widely regarded as one of the most important tools available for meeting Europe's climate targets. The European Union has spent decades building a Single European Railway Area but persistent gaps in governance, infrastructure investment and cross-border coordination continue ...
The future of automated vehicles in the EU: Interview with Prof. Michael Botsch and Prof. Werner Huber
Technology can take over an increasing amount of tasks when it comes to driving a vehicle - like braking or steering. The European Union is currently implementing and possibly reviewing some aspects of its regulation in the field of automated, connected and also self-driving vehicles, while vehicle manufacturers are increasingly putting more models on the ...
A scientist’s opinion: interview with Kati Koponen on removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere
Kati Koponen is senior scientist at VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland. She’s among the authors of a report commissioned by the European Parliament's Committee on Industry, Research and Energy on the role of Direct Air Capture (DAC). What are the major carbon dioxide capture technologies currently in use worldwide – and what are their ...
A scientist’s opinion: interview with Sabine Fuss on removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere
Sabine Fuss is an economist and head of research department at the Potsdam Institute of Climate Research Impact. To start, there are multiple ways to remove carbon dioxide (CO2) from the atmosphere, and several terms are often used: carbon dioxide removal (CDR), carbon capture utilisation and storage (CCUS), direct air capture (DAC), bioenergy combined with ...
A scientist’s opinion: interview with geophysicist and glaciologist Professor Jørgen Peder Steffensen on ice core research
Similar to tree rings, ice cores contain distinct layers representing each year's snowfall. These annual layers act as a natural archive, not just of Earth's past climate, but also of the history of humanity. Jørgen Peder Steffensen, Professor of ice-core-related research at the Centre for Ice and Climate at the Niels Bohr Institute at the ...
A scientist’s opinion: interview with photographer Lukasz Larsson on visual storytelling
In 2022, the award-winning photographer Lukasz Larsson spent three weeks on Greenland’s ice sheet with researchers from the East Greenland Ice-Core Project (EastGRIP). During his stay, he documented life at the camp and learnt all about drilling, processing and analysing ice cores to better understand past climate events and forecast future ones. In this interview ...