The way the EU Emission Trading (ETS) has been set up, means that replacement of coal or gas with biomass will lead to higher greenhouse gas emissions, writes Rauli Partanen, freelance author and analyst. And in combination with the renewable energy targets all EU member states have, this is exactly what our policies encourage us to do. … [Read more...]
European coal emissions decline but German lignite stations keep pumping on
Coal power plant emissions fell by an impressive 11%, according to new EU data, but still accounted for 39% of total emissions. Dave Jones, electricity analyst of UK-based think tank Sandbag finds that the UK, Spain, Greece and Italy performed well last year,  but Germany and Poland did not. 7 out of 10 of Europe’s biggest polluters are German lignite stations. The carbon price in the ETS had no effect on emissions. … [Read more...]
How to get the Visegrad Group to sign up to the EU’s Clean Energy Package
This year European energy ministers will have to come to a decision on the European Commission’s legislative package “Clean Energy for all Europeans”. Many observers expect the alliance between Poland, Czech Republic, Hungary and Slovakia (known as the Visegrád Group), to try to rein in European ambition on clean energy. But this year may be the start of something different, writes Manon Dufour, head of the Brussels office of independent think … [Read more...]
Exclusive interview/ sneak preview: energy transition architect Claude Turmes tells inside story of EU energy policy
Green MEP Claude Turmes has led some of Europe’s key energy and climate policy reforms since 2000. Now for the first time in a book, which will be launched in Brussels on 1 March, he explains how and why Brussels has pioneered - and obstructed - the energy transition in Europe. In an exclusive interview and sneak preview with Energy Post, Turmes gives an insider account of dreams, lobbies, and political, economic and social realities. This book … [Read more...]
Exclusive – Klaus Shäfer, CEO Uniper: “Security of supply is too important to leave to the market”
The market on its own cannot be relied upon to deliver secure electricity and gas supplies, says Klaus Schäfer, CEO of Eon-spin-off Uniper, in an exclusive interview with Energy Post. According to Schäfer, it will become “dramatically more difficult” to balance the power market as the share of renewables increases. He also sees the gas market becoming “more and more complex” and argues policymakers should establish minimum requirements for gas … [Read more...]
Can emissions trading produce adequate carbon prices? That’s the question
Prices under emissions trading schemes have been low, unlike some carbon taxes. This undermines confidence in this key climate instrument, writes energy and climate change economist Adam Whitmore. The EU should take the lead in demonstrating that emissions trading can work, or climate change efforts will suffer. … [Read more...]
Emissions trading: Time to make it work
There is broad consensus that carbon pricing should be one of the key measures to deal with global warming, yet there has been no effective emission trading scheme anywhere in the world, writes Stig Schjolset, who this week is leaving his job as head of carbon analysis at Thomson Reuters Point Carbon to become special advisor on climate policy and green growth to the Norwegian government. According to Schjolset this is not because there is … [Read more...]
What a CO2 price floor can (and cannot) do for German climate goals
Germany can meet its climate goals for the energy sector if it introduces a CO2-price floor of between €50 and €75 per ton, write Fabian Huneke, Carlos Perez Linkenheil and Simon Göß from the Berlin-based independent energy market specialist Energy Brainpool. However, if neighbouring countries don’t take similar measures, more than half of the reduced CO2- emissions will be shifted abroad, note the authors. As long as power markets are … [Read more...]
How to boost CO2 prices in the European carbon market
If the EU is serious about raising the carbon price in the EU Emission Trading System (ETS), the best option for the short term is to strengthen the Market Stability Reserve by increasing the amount of “surplus allowances” taken out of the system, according to Hæge Fjellheim, Head of carbon analysis  at Thomson Reuters Point Carbon. Fjellheim discusses progress on the ETS reform in light of the recent vote in the European Parliament’s Environment … [Read more...]
A carbon pricing scheme that works
The UK’s carbon price floor mechanism has proved very effective at securing cost-effective emissions reductions, writes energy and climate change economist Adam Whitmore. It offers lessons for other carbon pricing schemes, such as the EU Emission Trading System. … [Read more...]
To keep European offshore wind world-leading, we need an industrial policy
To retain the global lead European companies have in offshore wind, the EU should develop an industrial policy that will guarantee a steady pipeline of projects, writes independent energy expert Mike Parr. This would ensure continued investment by companies in cost reduction and technology improvements. Failure to do so could mean the offshore wind sector would suffer the same fate as the European solar PV industry. … [Read more...]
Interview Maroš Šefčovič, VP Energy Union: “I made the promise 2016 would be year of delivery and I intend to keep it”
“If we want a cost-effective transition to a low-carbon economy, we have to create an internal energy market where European rules apply”, says Maroš Ĺ efÄŤoviÄŤ, the European Commission’s Vice President for the Energy Union, in an exclusive interview with Energy Post. According to Ĺ efÄŤoviÄŤ, “big parts of our energy market are [still] overregulated”. To take a decisive leap towards the Energy Union, the Commission has decided to put all its energy … [Read more...]
The new EON, the new Johannes Teyssen: “The future is state-led renewables, stop dreaming of perfect Energy Union and Emission Trading System”
In one of his first in-depth interviews since the restructuring of EON, CEO Johannes Teyssen sets out a completely new vision of where he sees European energy markets and policies going. The future according to Teyssen is: distribution much more than transmission; state-led renewables auctions and capacity markets, not wholesale energy-only markets; carbon taxes or floor prices, not carbon trading or emission trading; higher energy efficiency … [Read more...]
Brexit: an opportunity to rethink UK carbon pricing
The UK’s exit from the European Union will make changes to UK carbon pricing unavoidable. Steven Sorrell,Professor of Energy Policy at the University of Sussex and member of the Sussex Energy Group (SEG), discusses the options and argues that a broad-based domestic carbon tax could be the best way forward for UK climate policy. … [Read more...]
Exclusive Francesco Venturini, CEO Enel Green Power: “Europe stuck in confused energy vision”
Europe is last in line for investment these days because it has no long-term energy strategy, says the head of Enel Green Power, Francesco Venturini, in an exclusive interview with Energy Post Weekly from which we bring you this extract (the full interview can be found here). Europe, Venturini says, is “stuck” in a “confused” energy vision “that’s 20 years old” and doesn’t know where it wants to get to. Enel Green Power, one of the largest green … [Read more...]
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