Now that EON and RWE have both been split up, there are four utilities investors can put their money in. Surprisingly perhaps, the conventional generation businesses do better on the German stock exchange than the renewables and grid businesses so far. Gerard Reid, founding partner of Alexa Capital, financial analyst and co-founder of the Energy and Carbon blog, explains why and discusses the prospects of the four companies. Courtesy Energy and … [Read more...]
Will clean coal be allowed to develop in Europe?
EU and national energy policies are strongly focused on promoting the use of renewable energy. However, EU policymakers should not overlook progress being made in traditional energy sources, especially in coal power plants, writes Pieter Cleppe, head of the Brussels office of think tank Open Europe. According to Cleppe, a significant expansion of âclean coalâ â which involves both carbon capture and storage (CCS) and supercritical power plants â … [Read more...]
Why Germany needs a European Energiewende
Neither the German Energiewende nor the EU's Energy Union can succeed in isolation. We need a European Energiewende, writes Rebecca Bertram, who leads the European Energy Transition work at the Heinrich Böll Foundation in Berlin. Courtesy Energy Transition/Global Energiewende. … [Read more...]
How Germanyâs plan for 100% electric cars could backfire
Germany has ambitious plans for both electric cars and renewable energy. But as things stand, Â writes DĂ©nes Csala of Lancaster University, Germanyâs well-meaning but contradictory ambitions would actually boost emissions by an amount comparable with the present-day emissions of Uruguay or the state of Montana. Courtesy The Conversation. … [Read more...]
Mr Energy Transition Claude Turmes cheered in Brussels, but across EU divisions run deep
As Green MEP Claude Turmes launched his vision for pursuing the green energy revolution in Europe, EU energy ministers remained strongly divided over the depth and pace of the energy transition. … [Read more...]
Here comes the end of the Energiewende again
Yet again, an expert â this time, a German â has announced that Germanyâs energy transition cannot succeed. He has a surprising insight for Energiewende proponents: the sun doesnât always shine and the wind doesnât always blow. How could we have missed that, wonders award-winning energy author Craig Morris? Courtesy Energy Transition/Global Energiewende. … [Read more...]
The End of the Energiewende?
The prominent German economist Heiner Flassbeck has challenged fundamental assumptions of the Energiewende at his blog site makroskop.eu. According to Flassbeck, the former Director of Macroeconomics and Development at the UNCTAD in Geneva and a former State Secretary of Finance, a recent period of extremely low solar and wind power generation shows that Germany will never be able to rely on renewable energy, regardless of  how much new capacity … [Read more...]
Lumenaza creates regional electricity markets: âWe want to connect up all 1.4 million solar PV producers in Germany with consumers locallyâ
A new software platform in Germany lets utilities buy and sell âregional electricityâ by connecting up small producers with consumers. Start-up Lumenaza, founded three years ago, meets a growing demand for transparency, explains CEO and founder Christian Chudoba in an exclusive interview with Energy Post. Unlike a typical virtual power plant, Lumenaza targets tiny producers such as owners of rooftop solar. Its goal is to connect up all of … [Read more...]
Payment day for nuclear addiction in France
French year ahead power prices have risen sharply over the last few weeks amid worries over the reliability of EDFâs nuclear output in the coming winter. The situation in France demonstrates that nuclear power is neither as cheap nor as reliable as its proponents claim, writes Benedict de Meulemeester, Managing Director of Brussels-based E&C Consultants. According to De Meulemeester, the French market model, based on centralized power … [Read more...]
The Energiewende is running up against its limits
German transmission system operator Tennet recently announced an 80% increase in its transmission fees because of the high construction costs of new power lines to accommodate renewable energy. A study of the DĂŒsseldorf Institute for Competition Economics found that by 2025 costs of the Energiewende could exceed âŹ25,000 for an average four-person household. Jeffrey Michel concludes that the Energiewende is running up against its limits â but may … [Read more...]
Ukrainian crisis can be solved – with an Energiewende
A Ukrainian Energiewende could go a long way to resolving the current geopolitical crisis around the country, writes Oleg Savitsky of the National Ecological Centre of Ukraine in a new report for the Succow Stiftung. According to Savitsky, it would reduce Ukraineâs dependence on Russian gas and uranium as well as on coal from the breakaway regions, while at the same time reducing pollution, greenhouse gas emissions and the risk of a nuclear … [Read more...]
Germany sets a new solar storage record
With the most photovoltaic capacity of any country in Europe, Germany has begun to store its excess solar power to enhance local usage. Last year, 41% of all new solar installations were equipped with backup batteries, a world record. Although home storage may only have a limited role to play in Germany due to a highly reliable grid, globally the German initiative could provide great benefits, for example in counterbalancing the predicted … [Read more...]
Why EU renewable energy figures are misleading: Europe requires 150% renewable energy to become fossil-free
The EU is confident it will reach its target of 20% renewable energy by 2020. But according to Martien Visser, professor at the Hanze University of Applied Sciences in Groningen (The Netherlands), this 20% is in reality more like 14%. This is because a large part of our energy consumption is simply ignored in the calculations for renewable energy. âEven with 100% renewables, we would still need a lot of fossil fuelsâ, Visser notes. … [Read more...]
Biofuels are back on the EU agenda
Biofuels are returning to the political agenda in Europe as EU policymakers start to shape a strategy for reducing greenhouse gas emissions from transport after 2020. Biofuels producers continue to argue that they are an essential part of the solution, even as the low oil price puts an end to several cutting-edge projects, the European Commission prepares to publish a new report about indirect land-use change (ILUC) and some stakeholders urge a … [Read more...]
The End of the Oil Age and other great stories
We reveal our most popular stories of 2015. They reveal what is preoccupying our readers the most. Yes, itâs all about the End of the Age of Oil â and the beginning of something new. … [Read more...]
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