On May 3, the US-based World Resource Initiative (WRI) published ‘How to Enable Electric Bus Adoption In Cities Worldwide’, which examines the process of adopting e-buses in sixteen case study cities. Tbilisi City Hall took the first couple of steps necessary to introduce the first electric bus in 2018 and is expected to scale up the number to 200 from 2020.

On the 5th of June 2019, ISET and the Caucasus Environmental NGO Network (CENN) signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU). Under the scope of this MoU, new courses will be offered as part of ISET’s Bachelors and Master’s Programs; in the former, a course in environmental economics and circular economy will be offered as an elective, while for the latter, a course in environmental economics by Prof. Hans Wiesmeth will be available.

Looking at consumption and generation trends, it is evident that since August 2018 consumption typically exceeded generation. The negative generation-consumption gap also remained throughout April, amounting to 45 mln. kWh, with a total power generation of 966 mln. kWh and consumption of 1,012 mln. kWh. Yet why has the generation-consumption gap remained negative since August 2018? Should we also expect the negative gap to persist over the following months?

In May 2019, Georgian power plants generated 1,156 mln. kWh of electricity. This represents a 0.4% decrease in total generation, compared to the previous year (in 2018, total generation in May was 1,161 mln. kWh). The decrease in generation on a yearly basis comes from the decrease in thermal power generation (-99.8 %), more than offsetting the increase in hydro and wind power generation (+7% and 17% respectively).

Our dependence on smartphones can hardly be described as anything other than addictive. We invariably use them to document trips and thus to have the world at our fingertips. Though, these precious little gadgets have a dark history that we, as consumers, unconsciously support. Unfortunately, we will not be able to discuss in detail all the negative impacts within the supply chain of smartphones.