Latest news with #MinistryforEcologicalTransition
Daily Mail
30-04-2025
- Politics
- Daily Mail
EXCLUSIVE Spain-Portugal blackouts will happen 'more and more' as Europe continues push for Net Zero, PETER HITCHENS tells SARAH vine in provocative new Mail podcast
The power outages that caused chaos in Spain and Portugal this week will happen 'more and more' across Europe as the continent increases its reliance on green energy, acclaimed broadcaster Peter Hitchens told the latest episode of the Mail's Alas Vine & Hitchens podcast. In conversation with co-host and columnist Sarah Vine, the author issued a grave warning over the gutting of power grids in the service of 'propaganda'. Millions were left without power in Spain and Portugal on Monday, with the cause of the sudden blackout yet to be established. Theories range from an unusual power surge to a Russian cyber-attack. 'This is likely to happen more and more, as we rely on wind and solar power', Hitchens said. 'It doesn't have the same punch in it that nuclear, coal and gas do. An awful lot of people should have protested at how our power system was gutted – believing all the propaganda and allowing this to happen. 'We shut down coal-fired power stations, which cost billions to build and were still perfectly functional. 'Did we put those stations on mothballs so, if times change, we can start them back up again? No: What did we do? We blew them all up. 'It's ridiculous – we are totally vulnerable.' Spanish authorities have denied any link between the power cut and their use of sustainable energy sources. They also refuted claims a cyber-attack was somehow able to shut down large swathes of their electricity grid. Vine concurred with her co-host, saying it was 'ridiculous' how reliant we are on devices that require complex systems to work. She said: 'Last week in the UK, they started shutting down the old copper wire telephone system. 'The plan is, by 2027, it will be completely gone – that's just madness. If we have a serious energy crisis, which is looking increasingly likely because of the drive to Net Zero or potential hacks, you're going to need your landline. 'You can't have a separate generator if you live in a terraced house. What are you going to do if you can't charge your car? It'll become completely useless. 'We've gone too far in the direction of relying on things that only work if they are plugged in.' According to Spain's Ministry for Ecological Transition, approximately 42.2% of Spain's electrical generation comes from renewable power sources. The government has set a goal for this figure to leap to as high as 74% by 2030. In the UK, renewable energy sources currently account for approximately 47% of the UK's electricity. 'We live in a country so completely dominated by dogma', Hitchens scathed.
Local France
04-04-2025
- Business
- Local France
How good are the French at recycling?
France had to pay the EU €1.6 billion in 2024 for failing to adequately process household plastic packaging, a report published last summer revealed. The report, by the General Inspectorate for the Environment and Sustainable Development in June 2024, highlighted 'major delays' in plastic and aluminium recycling . 'Collection targets … are not being met in two-thirds of the sectors for which data is available,' it said. The numbers France has, historically, done notably worse than other European countries when it comes to recycling. In 2020 it was one of only two EU nations – the other one was Malta – that failed to meet a target of recycling 22.5 percent of plastic packaging. France's recycling rate was 21.4 percent. The EU average at the time was 37.6 percent. Overall, France was estimated to recycle around 23 percent of its plastic waste – falling to as low as 14 percent in the greater Paris region. Nationwide, 42 percent of used plastic is burned and 35 percent ends up in landfill. Advertisement Like many wealthy nations, France also exports several thousand tonnes of plastic waste to other countries, notably in Asia – a practice that generates transport emissions and increases the risk of plastic pollution. A year before the report came out, delegates from 175 countries met in Paris for UN-sponsored talks aimed at reaching the world's first treaty on plastic pollution. France was one of the countries pushing at the cellophane summit for stronger measures to tackle the problem at source – by bringing down the amount of plastic produced, as well as what happens to it once it's thrown away. Plastic use But when it comes to plastic, recycling is only half the story - it's much better to produce as little plastic waste as possible. And here France does well and is not - in the global scheme of things - a major producer of plastic. The world's largest producer of plastic waste - by some distance - is China, followed by the USA. But France still uses some 4.8 million tonnes of plastics every year, according 2023 figures from the Ministry for Ecological Transition. Almost half of that, around 2.2 million tonnes, is plastic packaging. Industrial and commercial packaging makes up around 1.2 million tonnes, while the rest comes from products used directly by consumers. Anti-waste Since the 1990s, France has introduced a number of extended producer responsibility (EPR) schemes, which makes companies responsible for the waste management of products they put onto the market (most pay approved organisations to manage the waste). And landmark legislation – the Loi relative à la lutte contre le gaspillage et à l'économie circulaire (law on anti-waste and towards a circular economy, also called "loi Agec") – was passed in 2020 and has been phasing in new measures up until 2026. These measures range from individual-focused assistance like repair bonuses to regulations affecting companies and businesses, as well as local recycling rules. READ ALSO How France's anti-waste law works The law has five primary goals: to move France away from single-use plastics – starting in 2020 with plastic plates, cups and cotton buds – raise public awareness of recycling and recycling systems, decrease waste, act against programmed obsolescence, and generally to produce better, longer lasting environmentally-friendly items. The goal is to phase out the sale of single-use plastic by 2040. These principles apply to producers as well as consumers, with financial incentives for manufacturers that adopt eco-friendlier materials. And, on January 1st, 2024, 'compost obligatoire' rules came into effect – placing an obligation on local authorities to offer easy-to-use means by which households can compost vegetable peelings, fruit cores and food scraps. Advertisement A little over a year later, however, only 40 percent of the population have easy access to local composting systems, according to the French Agency for Ecological Transition (Ademe); while there seems to be little uniformity over methods. READ ALSO EXPLAINED: Rules on recycling in France So how do you recycle in France? Those are the rules, the regulations and the goals. But what about the on-the-ground practicalities of being environmentally conscious, doing your bit, and recycling? France is – belatedly – trying to make recycling easier and offering more options for household recycling - although the exact rules and facilities on offer depend on the local authority in your area. Most local authorities supply separate bins for recyclable and non-recyclable waste, or often a choice of bins at communal areas. Most paper – including newspapers and magazines – cardboard, direct mail, plastic and metals can be deposited in dedicated bins – usually with yellow lids. Advertisement Green measures are also a key part of electioneering in France. To benefit from campaign expense reimbursements, paper used for flyers and election materials must be ecological and meet two conditions. The paper must contain at least 50 percent recycled fibre and be certified by the FSC, PEFC or equivalent bodies. The words ' ne pas jeter sur la voie publique ' must also be clearly visible, in order to deter littering – don't worry, you're allowed to throw them straight into your recycling box. Glass should be deposited in a special bin – usually with a green lid. You should find a glass recycling bin at your nearest supermarket or municipal waste disposal centre, or on street corners if you are in a town or city. You can rinse them out before getting rid of any glass jars or bottles, but this is not a requirement. You can leave old, unwanted clothes at a Relais collection point, typically in the same area as your communal recycling containers. There are more than 47,000 collection points located around France. To find one near you, click here . Batteries and electric lights may be recycled at collection points in supermarkets, or at communal recycling areas. READ ALSO What you need to know before going to a French recycling centre Supermarkets and recycling centres have collection points for old mobile phones, including smartphones. You can also mail your phone to . When your smartphone is collected, it is dismantled to source reusable parts. France's circular economy law enables citizens to return a used appliance to their distributor when buying an updated, more modern version of the same item. Otherwise collection points may be found in supermarkets. The conclusion France has come a long way along the environmentally conscious path. But, as it has slowly discovered, making rules isn't the same as successfully implementing them. READ ALSO Do the French just not care enough about recycling? Having, apparently, been surprised that people won't necessarily go out of their way to recycle, they're finally starting to make it much easier for them to do so. Still, there's a long way to go. A long way.
Local Spain
24-03-2025
- Climate
- Local Spain
Will all the recent rain prevent drought in Spain this summer?
Several places in Spain experienced a severe drought from 2021 to 2024, including Catalonia, Andalusia and parts of Valencia, with reservoir levels at some of their lowest levels since records began in 1918. But, after intense flooding in the eastern and southern parts of the country in October last year and three weeks of intense rain and storms across Spain in March 2025 - how are the levels now? Overall, reservoir levels in Spain have increased by 2,751 cubic hectometres, meaning that the total water reserve in the peninsula's reservoirs has increased by almost five percentage points, to 65.8 percent. This is nine points higher than last year at this time (56.8 percent) and six points above the average water storage over the last ten years (59.2 percent). Reservoirs specifically used for human consumption and agriculture are currently at 60.8 percent capacity, according to data from the latest Hydrological Bulletin, published by the Ministry for Ecological Transition. This is 4.1 percentage points higher than the previous week, when reserves have increased by 1,607 cubic hectometers. This means the volume of water in reservoirs for human consumption has reached 23,575 hm³, meaning that in most of Spain there is now much more water stored up than at the same time last year. It is also 7.5 points better than the average value of the last decade which is 53.3 percent. It's important to note though that the situation is not the same across the whole country. There are areas of Spain, particularly in the southeast, where the reservoirs are still at low levels. The basins with the lowest water storage relative to their capacity are the Segura basin between Almería and Alicante is only at 14.8 percent capacity, San Clemente in the Guadalquivir is at 10.3 percent capacity and Cuevas de Almanzora is only at 9.3 percent. Those with the highest capacities are Los Melonares (Guadalquivir) at 100 percent, Villar del Rey (Guadiana) at 100 percent and San Rafael de Navallana (Guadalquivir) at 99.4 percent. inland basins have reached nearly 700 cubic hectometres. Medium to long-term picture However, it's not as simple as a rainy spell refilling reservoirs and ending drought conditions and the water restrictions that come with them. As noted above, droughts have been a problem in Spain for some years now. This has prompted water restrictions in various parts of the country since 2021, and though you might've thought the recent rainfall meant measures could soon be lifted, experts say it's not quite that simple. Environmental specialist Miguel Aguado told Spanish news site 20minutos that "We have to get used to restrictions. The water issue is like money: we can only save it when we have it. Therefore, we must not relax at all… At home we should continue to make responsible use of water because, believe it or not these days, we are going to continue to have drought." This is due to the fact that despite the heavy rainfall in the last few weeks and the DANA downpours of late-2024, if we zoom out and take a medium to long-term view, ministry data reveals a more complicated picture that points to the underlying drought conditions in parts of the country. Though water levels in reservoirs and river basins have improved, the irregular distribution of rainfall, concentrated in specific areas, means many reservoirs aren't as full as the rain might've suggested. It's also true that, although March 2025 is already the rainiest in history in Madrid and Extremadura since records began, it has not been so at the national level. So far in March, Spain has recorded accumulations of 97 l/m2. But in March 2018, for example, it recorded 162 l/m2, and in 2013, 166l/m2, according to Aemet records. In essence, however many cubic metres of rain have soaked Spain in the last few weeks and months, many reservoirs came into this surprise rainy season with incredibly low reserves due to longer-term drought conditions, and the rain wasn't even distributed anyway. The Serena reservoir in Badajoz, for example, has still not reached half capacity despite the downpours. It currently has 1,571 cubic hectometres of water, which represents just 48.8 percent of its total capacity. The Segura basin between Almería and Alicante and San Clemente in the Guadalquivir, though somewhat replenished this month, were at critically low levels before. The main explanation lies in the unequal distribution of rainfall between the different river basins and the areas particularly hit by drought beforehand. Experts point out that rainfall has caused rivers in the Tagus basin, such as the Alberche, the Jarama, the Henares, the Guadarrama, the Manzanares and even the Tagus itself in some areas, to overflow. However, the Guadiana basin, to which the Serena reservoir belongs, has not received the same amount of rain. The data confirms this. While the Tagus river basin has gained 835 cubic hectometres in the last week alone — an increase of 7.55 percent that brings the basin to up to 75.04 percent capacity — the Guadiana river basin gained 522 cubic hectometres of water in the same period, a percentage increase of just 5.47 percent, which takes capacity to just 56.35 percent. As alluded to above, another important factor is the starting point — did the recent heavy rains help reservoirs fill up closer to capacity, or were they simply recouping some of the lost water due to drought conditions? The Serena reservoir came into the wet period with considerably low levels of capacity, something that has made it difficult for it to exceed the 50 percent mark, even with the recorded rainfall. This is because, experts say, the size of the reservoir also plays a role. The Serena, which is the largest reservoir in Spain and the third largest in Europe, requires a significantly greater amount of water to reach high capacity percentages compared to other smaller reservoirs that have been refilled more substantially due to the rain in recent weeks.
