The EU internal market for gas will remain incomplete as long as long as many Member States continue to persist in following national policies, writes Tim Boersma, dissertation candidate at the University of Groningen and soon-to-be fellow at the Brookings Institution’s Energy Security Initiative in Washington, DC. According to Boersma, much better policy coordination is needed if Europe is not to miss out on the substantial benefits of an … [Read more...]
The Romania-Moldova Gas Pipeline: a chance for Moldova to connect to the EU
The Iasi-Ungheni gas interconnector between Romania and Moldova, the construction of which began in late August, is expected to improve Moldova’s energy security, bring commercial benefits to both Moldova and Romania, and contribute to the physical integration of the European gas market. The real raison d'être of the new pipeline is, however, rather geopolitical in nature: it will help wean Moldova from Russian domination and bring the country … [Read more...]
World Energy in 2040: Our fossil-fueled future
What sort of fabulous new energy systems will the world possess in 2040? Which fuels will supply the bulk of our energy needs? And how will that change the global energy equation, international politics, and the planet’s health? If the experts at the U.S. Department of Energy are right, the startling “new” fuels of 2040 will be oil, coal, and natural gas -- and we will find ourselves on a baking, painfully uncomfortable planet. Famous energy … [Read more...]
How much energy does the world need?
Although global energy consumption is expected to rise dramatically, established projections don’t even come close to accounting for the additional capacity it will take to ensure modern energy access for all. Most scenarios presume that 1 to 2 billion people will still be living without electricity in 2035. That, says environmental policy expert Roger Pielke, Jr., is unacceptable. Pielke calculates how much energy the world needs if we assume … [Read more...]
Seven Steps to Energy Policy Heaven
Now that a new political year has started, it may be useful to ask what exactly are the most important parameters that should go into any energy policy mix. I have identified seven – which I have dubbed the Seven Steps to Energy Policy Heaven. The nice thing about my “energy policy model” is that it may come in handy – even if you totally disagree with my ideas. Photo: Heaven visited me by Kevin Dooley … [Read more...]
The coming oil price clash – and what it will mean for our economies
Peak oil is dead, we all know that by now. Or is it? Oil prices are certainly not coming down despite years of recession and stagnant demand in OECD countries. According to Gail Tverberg, who runs the blog Our Finite World, prices are so high because oil exporters need ever more money to fund their expenditures. The problem is that oil importers increasingly cannot afford those prices anymore: they are disguising the effect of high oil prices by … [Read more...]
After Nabucco – Croatia to the Rescue of Central Europe’s Energy Security?
With the "death" of Nabucco, it seems that the EU strategy to diversify gas supplies to Central and South East European member states has failed miserably. Yet according to David Koranyi, Ian Brzezinski and Matthew Bryza of the Atlantic Council there are other ways to reduce these countries’ dependence on Russian gas supplies. They can work to expand gas interconnections in the EU. And, perhaps even more importantly, they can source US shale gas … [Read more...]
Nuclear Power: the Faustian Bargain
There are good reasons to be in favor of nuclear power – for now. There are even better reasons to want to replace nuclear power by renewable energy – in the not too distant future, writes Allan Hoffman, former energy expert at the US Department of Energy. This is the second of two articles in which Hoffman, who runs the blog Thoughts of a Lapsed Physicist, reflects on a sensitive energy topic. In his first article he weighed the pros and cons of … [Read more...]
Second generation biofuels? US Navy comes to the rescue
In a noteworthy article for Foreign Policy magazine, US Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus reveals how the US military is cutting its dependence on fossil fuels and making a great push for “advanced biofuels”. It is doing this for fear of falling behind in the “eco-arms race”. Will the US military's program provide the boost the second-generation biofuels so badly needs? Photo: Exercise of the Green Fleet of the US Navy … [Read more...]
Fracking? It will happen – so let’s at least do it very, very carefully
To frack or not to frack? That is the question being asked now in many European countries. The US has over a decade of experience with fracking. Allan Hoffman, long-time energy expert at the US Department of Energy who started his own blog upon his retirement last year, has mixed feelings about the blessings of shale gas and shale oil. Weighing the pros and cons, he concludes that fracking is probably too lucrative to be stopped, but at least it … [Read more...]
How solar and EVs will kill the fossil fuel dinosaurs
Stanford University energy expert Tony Seba predicts that by 2030, solar power will make the fossil fuel-based utilities redundant while electric vehicles will put the oil companies out of business. “Utilities as we know them are over. They are the land line telephone companies of 20, 30 years ago”, he says in an interview with Giles Parkinson, founder and editor of the path-breaking Australian website RenewEconomy. Photo: dinosaur footprints by … [Read more...]
Natural gas as “coal killer”
Natural gas is a coal killer and renewable energy booster. That at any rate is the major conclusion of the Breakthrough Institute, an influential, independent US think tank, in a recent report. We have provided a short summary for you. Photo: Greenpeace Italy … [Read more...]
Ukraine: the energy to change course
Twenty-two years after breaking free from the USSR, Ukraine is now attempting to do the unthinkable and permanently shake Russia’s hold on the country. The plan? Looking westward to the European Union and building an energy hub that might just revolutionize the region’s geopolitical status quo. Photo: Dobrych … [Read more...]
Interview geologist David Hughes: shale oil just a brief reprieve
Europe is looking with envy at the US shale revolution. UK Prime Minister David Cameron recently even said he was "pretty jealous" of the US, saying that the “huge benefits” of shale gas outweigh any “very minor change” to the landscape. In the US, however, the debate has moved ahead: although the economic benefits of the shale revolution are undeniable, the question is how long the shale oil and gas boom can last. Critical observers expect peak … [Read more...]
Germany’s ‘Energiewende’ Shows Why We Need Nuclear
Germany’s energy transition has been used by activists and governments as evidence that we can solve climate change with wind and solar, and that we don’t need nuclear power. But according to Max Luke and Jessica Lovering of the Breakthrough Institute, if we take the fight against CO2 emissions seriously, it would be foolish – and very expensive – to limit the options to renewables alone and not to include nuclear power. Nuclear power plant … [Read more...]