From Moonscape To Lake District: East Germany's Coal Mines

On the heels of Europe’s economic crisis the continent finds itself paying more for dirtier, less reliable electric power, Eon’s chief executive Johannes Teyssen recently told the Financial Times. The chief of Germany’s largest utility described an American competitive advantage in energy that Europe is unlikely to replicate for several years, if at all. “There have been a lot of good intentions . . . but things are now just getting out of control,” he said. “European power is getting dirtier. The CO2 content is increasing in spite of the renewables. It is unaffordable, and it’s losing its security. So the alarm signs are tremendous.” [FT]

Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani just finished an “excellent adventure” during UN General Assembly week in New York where he announced nuclear negotiations would begin in 3 weeks, with the goal of achieving an accord within a year. While Rouhani does not possess the same degree of power to enact change at the national level that Gorbachev did during Soviet era twilight, this is still a pretty big deal. [Slate]

Vestas got a boost from its offshore turbine joint venture with Mitsubishi Heavy Industries. “Shares in Vestas rose 4.5 percent in Copenhagen on Friday.” [New York Times]