The Groningen based gas trading company GasTerra closed the largest Green Gas deal of the Netherlands. GasTerra will buy 23 million m3 renewable gas annually , sufficient for 15,000 households. The gas comes from a company called BioRights that develops a production location in Hardenberg to convert biomass into second generation biofuels. The biogas produced is upgraded to natural gas quality and fed into the gas grid of Gasunie. Also bioethanol … [Read more...]
European venture capital firms support KIC InnoEnergy’s cleanteach startups
A number of top European venture capital companies have signed a collaboration agreement to support the most innovative clean tech start-ups in the EU. In a first-of-its-kind move for the industry, the community will provide KIC InnoEnergy’s 37 European startups with access to €3 billion in the next two years. “This agreement has exceeded our initial expectations. The idea of a VC [venture capital] community was new in this sector, and we did … [Read more...]
Peak oil is dead. Long live peak oil!
Peak oil theory has been replaced with a new theory that might be called “techno-dynamism”. It holds that there is no limit to the amount of oil as long as the industry can apply its technological wizardry to oil production. However, there are three problems with this theory: technology costs keep going up, political and environmental risk keeps mounting, and climate policies will suppress demand which will in turn discourage invesment. The … [Read more...]
Climate policy bumps into competitiveness in Europe
Behind the heated debate in Brussels about climate and renewable energy targets, what is really happening is that concern over high energy prices has taken precedence over climate concerns in Europe. Competitiveness has caught up with climate policy. Indeed, the two issues have become so intertwined that when the European Commission will present its new climate and energy policy on 22 January, it will at the same time launch a new industrial … [Read more...]
The five global implications of shale oil and gas
Much has been said about the shale (oil and gas) revolution, but according to Christof RĂĽhl, Group Chief Economist and Vice-President of BP, its real implications have yet to sink in. He points out, for example, that no detailed assessment has been made yet of its macro-economic impacts. In this wide-ranging analysis, RĂĽhl – one of the world’s most influential energy economists – discusses some of the major implications of shale. He notes that as … [Read more...]
China and US largest markets for wind turbines
China will remain the leading global consumer of wind turbine rotor blades over the coming years, with its market value expected to increase from almost $2 billion in 2012 to $3.7 billion by 2020, at a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 8.2%, according to a new report from research and consulting firm GlobalData. The company’s latest report, "Wind Turbine Rotor Blades – Global Market Size, Average Price, Competitive Landscape and Key … [Read more...]
VIDEO: Top 5 EU Environment Priorities – All you need to know for 2014
Sonja van Renssen, leading environment journalist at viEUws.eu, takes a pick at the top 5 environment issues that will be discussed by the EU institutions under the Greek Presidency. The biggest issue on the agenda will be the climate and energy package to be unveiled by the European Commission on January 22nd. ETS and how to include emissions from international aviation will also be high on the agenda, with the European Parliament and … [Read more...]
Dear Connie, dear GĂĽnther
Germany, the UK, France and Italy have sent letters to Connie Hedegaard, Climate Commissioner and GĂĽnther Oettinger, Energy Commissioner on 6 January urging the European Commission to adopt a 40% greenhouse gas emission reduction target for 2030. The European Commission will unveil a climate and energy package on 22 January in which it will announce new targets for 2030 to extend the currently existing 20-20-20 targets for 2020. These targets … [Read more...]
Smart grid and smart city predictions for 2020
“The smart grid” is a notoriously complex subject that is still quite abstract to many in the energy industry. Few know more about it than Silicon Valley-based boardroom consultant, author (of the bilingual English-Chinese “Smart Grid Dictionary”), and professional explainer Christine Hertzog. In this article she offers her insights on the major smart grids trends to be expected in the coming years. Her focus is on the U.S., but for European … [Read more...]
Report cards on renewable energy progress in South East Europe
Seechangenet, a network organisation of NGO’s in South Eastern Europe which is dedicated to promoting renewable energy in that region, has recently published “report cards” on the “energy paths” that are being taken by their governments. The cards are freely downloadable, rather simple infographics for Croatia, Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, Macedonia, Kosovo and Montenegro. There is also a fact sheet available, which is probably … [Read more...]
Saudi Arabia launches Renewable Resource Atlas
With the launch in December of its online Renewable Resource Atlas, Saudi Arabia has taken an important step into bringing its ambitious renewable energy plans closer to realisation. The Atlas will provide developers of solar power (and later also wind power, geothermal heat and waste-to-energy) comprehensive, reliable data on which to base project bids. Heba Hashem of CSP Today reports. … [Read more...]
Researchers: Europe can avoid gas supply crisis by better cooperation
A research team led by Rui Carvahlo from Queen Mary University in London has published a model that shows how to handle congestion in Europe’s gas supply network in case of crises and supply disruptions. The model is meant to offer a “resilient response strategy to energy shortages”. The researchers conclude that “in essence, Europe's gas supply can be made robust even to major supply disruptions, if a fair distribution strategy is … [Read more...]
The greatest business opportunity of our time
Amory Lovins, the founder of the famous Rocky Mountain Institute in Colorado, has written a book in which he presents an energy future without coal, oil or nuclear power. Yet he insists his is not a green or left-wing vision. On the contrary, it will save money and create wealth. “The energy transformation is the greatest business opportunity of our time.” … [Read more...]
Gazprom: “We are the pioneers of the Arctic”
Russia's first Arctic offshore field Prirazlomnoye, where Greenpeace activists were arrested in September after a high seas clash with Russian authorities, has started production of oil, the Moscow Times reported last Friday based on information from Gazprom. "We became the pioneers of Russia's Arctic development," Gazprom's chief executive officer Alexei Miller said in a statement. President  Vladimir Putin has said Russia's Arctic offshore … [Read more...]
Rosatom signs contract to build nuclear plant for Fennovoima in Finland
Interview with Chairman Pekka Ottavainen: “It was a very simple choice”. The Finnish company Fennovoima has signed a contract with Rosatom to build a 1200 MW greenfield nuclear power plant, Hanhikivi I, in Pyhäjoki in northern Finland. It is the first time in the post-Soviet era that the Russian company will be building a new nuclear power station in the EU. The plant will cost roughly €6 billion and will deliver electricity at “no more than … [Read more...]
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