Analysis

Under the direction of our founder Craig Morris, Petite Planete reviews our clients‘ analyses and also contributes to them. We specialize in particular in explaining German energy policy in English. Morris’ work is syndicated in Japanese and Dutch.

Morris is known for his criticism of the focus on “grid parity” for solar going back to 2010. Instead, he focused on parity between solar power production and peak demand in the summer – and on the winter gap. He now points out that solar power storage should focus on grid needs, lest people defect from the grid.

He has written about how the coal plants that went into operation in Germany after the post-Fukushima nuclear phaseout were all planned years earlier – and that more coal plants had been canceled than added to the pipeline.

He is a proponent of community energy projects.

Craig Morris 

Born in the United States, Craig Morris has been working in the energy sector since 2001. He currently publishes every day at Renewables International and every week at EnergyTransition.de.

His writings about environmental / energy issues and energy policies in the US and EU have been published in Worldwatch Magazine, Heise Verlag, neue energie / New Energy, Refocus, SolarServer, Solar Today, Grist.org, Alternet.org, the San Francisco Chronicle, Development + Cooperation, Greentech Media, Energy Post, pv magazine and Photon.

CMportrait

2016-2018:

  • Senior Fellow at the Institute for Advanced Sustainability Studies (IASS), Potsdam

2016:

  • Contributor to REN21’s Global Status Report
  • “EEG: besser als sein Ruf,” paper for the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung with Uwe Nestle (PDF)
  • Energy democracy, a history of the Energiewende, co-authored with Arne Jungjohann (Palgrave)

2015:

  • Technical editor of IRENA’s REmap
  • Technical editor of Greenpeace’s Energy (R)evolution
  • Translator, “Understanding Renewable Energy Systems” by Volker Quaschning (2nd edition, Routledge)

2014:

  • winner of the International Association of Energy Economists’ prize in energy journalism
  • “Germany’s Energiewende – community-driven since the 1970s”, in the Global Sustainable Communities Handbook (Elsevier)
  • cowinner of Eurosolar’s Solar Prize for journalism as a member of Germany’s Energieblogger
  • publication of “German coal conundrum

2013:

  • technical editor of IRENA’s REmap 2030
  • lead author of the blog at EnergyTransition.de

2012:

  • lead author of “Energy transition: the German Energiewende” (PDF)

2010:

  • founder of Renewables International
  • Translation of Das Solarbuch for Earthscan

2009-2011:

  • exclusive contractor for “new energy,” the English edition of “neue energie”, a monthly magazine published by Germany’s wind association the BWE

2008:

  • cofounder of PV Magazine (Solarpraxis)

2007:

  • editor of “Energien intelligent nutzen” at Heise

2006:

  • editor of “Energie sparen” at Heise
  • publication of “Energy switch” at New Society Publishers

2005:

2004:

  • cofounds the Energie & Klima Channel at Telepolis (Heise)

2002:

  • founds Petite Planète