President Obama’s Clean Power Plan, designed to cut carbon emissions from power plants, seems pragmatic and moderate, certainly by European standards. Yet for US observers it “makes history”, because it is the first time the federal government puts limits on “carbon pollution”. … [Read more...]
“Huge challenge to deliver enough oil and gas for 2ÂşC” – Statoil on Paris climate talks
In this video for viEUws - the EU Policy Broadcaster - journalist Sonja van Renssen is joined by Jos Delbeke (Director General for Climate Action, European Commission), Kathleen Van Brempt MEP (Vice-president of the S&D Group) and Eirik Wærness (Chief Economist and Vice President, Statoil) to debate the question: “Road to Paris: can the EU retain its leadership role at COP21?” … [Read more...]
Dean Oskvig, CEO Black & Veatch: physics not policy will dictate energy future
“We can make all kinds of policies and laws and regulations, but no legal system is powerful enough to violate the laws of physics,” says Dean Oskvig, President and CEO Black & Veatch Energy, part of Black & Veatch, the US-based global engineering and consulting company. In this exclusive interview, he urges policymakers to focus on infrastructure resilience, cybersecurity and responding to distributed and off-grid electricity generation. … [Read more...]
What the new Conservative government means for UK energy policy
The new Conservative government is unlikely to change UK climate and energy policy radically, writes Stephen Tindale, the new CEO of the pro-nuclear Alvin Weinberg Foundation and a former Executive Director of Greenpeace UK. According to Tindale, David Cameron will build on the considerable achievements of the previous coalition government with the Liberal-Democrats, although there will be some changes, such as less support for onshore wind and a … [Read more...]
IEA: Clean energy progress falls well short of what is needed
It is “realistic and economically sensible to pursue a clean energy agenda”, states the International Energy Agency (IEA) in a new edition of its annual Energy Technology Perspectives. But, it adds”: “clean energy progress is failling well short of the levels needed to limit the global increase to no more than 2 degrees Celsius”. Governments must do much more to stimulate the uptake of clean energy and energy efficiency technologies. … [Read more...]
The carbon capture conundrum: is CCS a climate saver? Or a dangerous distraction?
With fossil fuels expected to provide the bulk of the world’s primary energy needs for the foreseeable future – despite the rapid rise of renewables – carbon capture and storage (CCS) is seen by many as an essential technology if we are to keep global warming within the 2°C limit that scientists recommend. "For many industrial processes, it's the only thing we have." … [Read more...]
The exciting changes taking place in Scotland’s energy system
Scotland, despite having some of the EU’s largest fossil fuel reserves, is moving rapidly to an energy system based predominantly on renewable energy, notes energy expert Allan Hoffman, a former senior official at the U.S. Department of Energy, who lives in Scotland part of the time. Renewables are already the biggest single source of electricity – and “there is no reason requiring conventional fossil and nuclear generation in Scotland” in the … [Read more...]
Adriaan – ‘Energy for One World’ – Kamp (ex-Shell): “Strategy of oil companies is doomed to failure”
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...]
Ex-Polish Prime Minister Tusk reclaims Energy Union agenda
Energy security through new fossil fuel supplies and transport infrastructure, not energy efficiency and renewables, dominates the conclusions issued by EU heads of state and government after their first debate on an Energy Union for Europe in Brussels on Thursday. Former Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk – now President of the European Council of Ministers – appears to have reclaimed in large part the Energy Union he helped set in motion, … [Read more...]
Why is CCS stuck in second gear? We need it to fight climate change
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...]
Statoil’s big dilemma: should it continue to go for oil and gas – or transform itself into an energy service provider?
Norwegian oil giant Statoil, owned 67% by the Norwegian State, readily acknowledges the need to take drastic measures against climate change. But it nevertheless persists in a strategy aimed at expanding its oil and gas production globally. According to Anders Bjartnes, editor of the website Energi og Klima, the company cannot forever embrace these opposing views, “where verbal concerns go in one direction while strategy and cash go in the … [Read more...]
FutureGen’s demise: another blow to CCS
The demise of the much-touted FutureGen 2.0 carbon capture and storage (CCS) project in Illinois is another blow to CCS. Bob Burton, editor of CoalSwarm and Director of the Sunrise Project in Australia, argues that the fate of FutureGen symptomizes the intractable problems faced by CCS everywhere. In Europe, four large utilities - Vattenfall, RWE, EDF and Gas Natural Fenosa, dropped out of the CCS-organisation Zero Emission Platform (ZEP). … [Read more...]
The Energy Union: “a holistic approach to the energy transition”
The EU’s great new project of an “Energy Union” will represent “for the first time a holistic approach to how we need to achieve the energy transition,” said the man in charge, Commissioner Maroš Ĺ efÄŤoviÄŤ, at a press conference in Brussels last week. His colleague, Climate and Energy Commissioner Miguel Arias Cañete, at a grand Energy Union in Riga on Friday, revealed a long list of actions to be subsumed under the Energy Union concept, but with … [Read more...]
India’s energy and climate change challenge
The US and India have signed a deal to "enhance cooperation" on cutting emissions and investing in low carbon energy sources. The agreement is much weaker than the historic pact signed between the US and China last year. But there are a number of good reasons India is reluctant to take strong action to curb its emissions in the short term. Mat Hope of the Carbon Brief describes India's huge energy and climate challenge. … [Read more...]
The EU readies to overhaul its energy governance
The reach and power of the EU and its institutions are up for serious debate as Europe prepares to enter into an “Energy Union”. The European Commission plans to publish its vision for such a Union by the end of February. But already member states and Members of the European Parliament are weighing in with their own ideas of what Europe should prioritise – and who should be in charge. Sonja van Renssen reports from Brussels. … [Read more...]
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