The EU is trying to improve its energy security by building more infrastructure to facilitate gas imports, but the concentration of its gas suppliers keeps increasing, write Stefan BöĂner and Douglas Fraser of the Stockholm Environment Institute. According to BöĂner and Fraser, it makes more sense to shift the focus of EU energy policy to creating a low-carbon energy system. That will not only help Europe meet its climate targets, but also … [Read more...]
Gazprom plays ball: the depoliticization of the European gas market
Gazpromâs gas supplies to Europe and Turkey reached an all-time record in 2016. This might suggest Europe is becoming more dependent on Gazprom, but according to Danila Bochkarev, Senior Fellow at the EastWest Institute, the Russian company gained market share by playing by the rules of the market. The European gas market is finally becoming depoliticized. … [Read more...]
Fracking: âGang plank to climate chaosâ or ânecessary part of decarbonisationâ?
Fracking is a threat to the climate and the environment in the UK, says Professor Peter Strachan of Robert Gordon University. No, the climate benefits of domestically produced shale gas outweigh the risks, argues Stephen Tindale, co-founder of consultancy Climate Answers. The two men held a fascinating debate at the Houses of Parliament in London on 29 November hosted by the All-Parliamentary Group on Unconventional Oil and Gas. Ruth Hayhurst of … [Read more...]
US energy Independence Day dawns
The most significant US energy policy update in a decade, the Energy Policy Modernization Act 2016, will be introduced into the new Congress in January 2017. With provisions for accelerated permitting for oil and gas drilling, construction of export LNG terminals, as well as energy efficiency standards and grid-integration of renewables, the outlook for US energy security is bright, according to Barry Worthington, Executive Director of the US … [Read more...]
Victory: Ukraine doesnât need Russian gas anymore â and puts transit at risk
Ukraine has completely âeliminatedâ its dependence on Russian gas, Ukrainian national gas company Naftogaz has declared in an open letter. Last year it stopped importing Russian gas for its own consumption altogether. At the same time, according to a paper written by Thierry Bros, Senior Research Fellow from the Oxford Institute for Energy Studies (OIES), Naftogaz is putting the future of the transit of Russian gas at risk by demanding higher … [Read more...]
EU is losing the energy battle with Russia
Europeâs grand strategy to become less import dependent on Russian gas, which has been discussed since the 1990s, looks more and more like a failure, as the new Russian Tsar, Vladimir Putin, is consistently wrong-footing the leaders of the EU, writes Cyril Widdershoven. … [Read more...]
Who is afraid of Nord Stream 2?
Nord Stream 2, the new gas pipeline that Gazprom is planning to build from Russia through the Baltic Sea to Germany, has been criticised for reducing Europeâs diversification of energy sources and energy security. But according to Energy Postâs editor in chief Karel Beckman, the EU should welcome the pipeline, despite deteriorating relations with Russia. According to Beckman, Nord Stream 2 has a sound economic rationale behind it and the EUâs … [Read more...]
The economic and moral bankruptcy of UK energy policy
With its choice for Hinkley Point C - a ÂŁ100 billion boondoggle â its enthusiastic support for expensive and environmentally harmful fracking, and its relentless attack on renewable energy, the UK governmentâs energy policy is both morally and economically bankrupt, write Peter Strachan, Professor of Energy Policy at the Robert Gordon University, and Alex Russell, Professor and Chair of the Oil Industry Finance Committee. Westminster must … [Read more...]
IEA sees âmajor shiftâ â but not major enough
âA major shift in investment towards low-carbon sources of power generation is underwayâ, according to a first-ever detailed analysis of investment across the global energy system from the International Energy Agency (IEA). Yet, in non-OECD countries, âinvestment in conventional generation remains strongâ, with over 75 GW of coal-fired power plants starting operation in 2015 in âdeveloping Asiaâ â âas much as all renewable capacity additions in … [Read more...]
100% solar?
Some argue that the world can be 100% powered by solar energy, but this is too simplistic, writes David Hone, Chief Climate Change Advisor for Royal Dutch Shell. He points out that solar PV delivers only electricity, which makes up just 20% of final energy use, and argues that other energy demands are better served by other low-carbon options, such as hydrogen and synthesis gas. A recent Shell publication indicates that 30% solar power by 2100 is … [Read more...]
The elusive gas connection between Spain and France
The French energy regulator has recently said that a long-awaited gas interconnector between Spain and France, which the European Commission says would help reduce Europeâs dependence on Russian gas, is not needed and too costly in the current market environment. Juan Vila, President of the Spanish company Gasindustrial, disputes the CREâs assumptions and calls its viewpoint short-sighted. âThe people and industries in Spain and Portugal need to … [Read more...]
Higher natural gas prices ahead in US after record demand and lower production
Gas production in the US is falling for the first time in years. At the same time, the US power sector is burning more natural gas than ever. This means gas prices are likely to rise this coming winter, writes Nick Cunningham of Oilprice.com. … [Read more...]
Nord Stream 2: a bad deal for Germany and Eastern Europe
Nord Stream 2 is a bad deal both for Germany and its Eastern European partners, writes Georg Zachmann, Senior Fellow at Brussels-based think tank Bruegel. According to Zachmann, the proposed pipeline from Russia to Germany would âwork against efforts to diversify gas suppliesâ. It may also lead to Eastern European countries having to pay higher prices for gas than Germany and would give Russia a tool to discriminate between countries. Â Moreover, … [Read more...]
New study: Nord Stream 2 will benefit security of gas supply in Europe
Nord Stream 2 is likely to benefit rather than hurt energy security in Central and Eastern Europe and in the UK and Germany. The gas pipeline, which Gazprom and five major Western European energy companies want to build from Russia to Germany through the Baltic Sea, can only be credibly stopped by the EU if the European Commission decides to transform itself from a âpowerful competition watchdogâ to a âpolitical actor. Those are some of the main … [Read more...]
EUGAL: the unknown German branch of Nord Stream 2 will make Germany the key gas hub in Europe
Despite causing great controversy in the EU, plans to build the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline are steadily being implemented, write Agata Loskot-Strachota and Konrad Poplawski of the Centre for Eastern Studies (OSW) in Poland. What is more, in May preparations were started for a German land leg of Nord Stream 2: the EUGAL project, owned jointly by Gazprom and BASF/Wintershall. According to the authors, this huge pipeline will change the European gas … [Read more...]
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