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Quo Vadis RWE? A power giant’s struggle with the Energiewende

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The German government has proposed new regulations for penalising the country’s most inefficient coal and lignite power plants. This would particularly hit the troubled power giant RWE. What future is there for RWE in a low-carbon economy? Can it engineer its own energy transition? A lot will depend on whether the German government is willing – and even more so: able – to push through its climate legislation at the expense of the existing power … [Read more...]

Adriaan – ‘Energy for One World’ – Kamp (ex-Shell): “Strategy of oil companies is doomed to failure”

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Oil companies like Shell have unique skills that make them ideally placed to help build the energy world of the future. Yet they seem unable to look beyond their own interests, says Adriaan Kamp, former Shell manager and founder of Oslo-based consultancy Energy For One World. “Like the banks, they can’t change their ways. They are still making too much money with oil and gas.” According to Kamp, the growth strategy of the oil companies is still … [Read more...]

Interview chief climate negotiator for France Paul Watkinson: “COP21 will not solve everything”

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The COP21 climate conference in Paris in December needs to lead to a “binding agreement” that will provide “a long-term basis for the future”, says Paul Watkinson, head of the Climate Negotiation Team of France, in an interview with Energy Post. “We cannot continue negotiating. We need to decide on something that will last and will become stronger as time goes on”. But Watkinson warns that COP21 will “not solve everything.” It will also be “a … [Read more...]

Why is CCS stuck in second gear? We need it to fight climate change

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Although carbon capture and storage (CCS) is acknowledged by experts as a key technology to fight climate change, it is currently stuck in second gear, writes Howard J. Herzog  is Senior Research Engineer at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). The reason, he says, is that there is no market for CCS at this moment. He calls on policymakers to set a carbon price that would generate demand for CCS. … [Read more...]

To make European climate policy work, we need to put a carbon price on imports

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European institutions are struggling to reform the failing EU Emission Trading System (ETS) – “the cornerstone of EU climate policy”. But all reforms will be inadequate, writes Emil Dimantchev, senior carbon market analyst at Thomson Reuters, unless we address the system’s key defect: the failure to impose equal rules on all producers, including those from outside the EU. According to Dimantchev, EU policymakers will never allow carbon prices to … [Read more...]