In this Brussels Briefing on Environment for viEUws.eu, Sonja van Renssen provides an overview of the latest EU environment policy developments. … [Read more...]
Archives for March 2015
Interview Johannes Teyssen, CEO Eon: âFuture energy world has drifted far apart from the classical oneâ
In the first in-depth interview given by Johannes Teyssen, CEO of Eon, after the company announced its radical new strategy in December last year, Teyssen says that âthe energy world of the futureâ and âthe classical energy worldâ have âdrifted so far apart that they require different entrepreneurial approachesâ. He notes that the companyâs new strategy is not based on German or even European politics, but âon more fundamental, global trendsâ. … [Read more...]
Study: Local electricity can meet half UK needs â if consumption is cut by half
Research conducted by nine leading UK universities has found that up to 50 per cent of electricity demand in the UK could be met by distributed and low carbon sources by 2050. This does require a reduction in demand of over 50% as well as increased regional, national and international connection. … [Read more...]
To make European climate policy work, we need to put a carbon price on imports
European institutions are struggling to reform the failing EU Emission Trading System (ETS) â âthe cornerstone of EU climate policyâ. But all reforms will be inadequate, writes Emil Dimantchev, senior carbon market analyst at Thomson Reuters, unless we address the systemâs 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...]
Interview Andriy Kobolev, CEO Naftogaz: âGazprom breaches EU law by blocking reverse flow to Ukraineâ
Gazprom is blocking reverse gas flow from Slovakia to Ukraine in violation of EU law, says Andriy Kobolev, the CEO of Ukraineâs state-owned gas monopoly Naftogaz, in an exclusive interview with Slovakian energy analyst Jozef Badida. As a result European companies are not able to meet the demand from gas in Ukraine and Ukraine is left at the mercy of Gazprom. Kobolev calls on the EU to take action against the Russian company. But he also notes … [Read more...]
âSupersonic electrons could produce future solar fuelâ
Researchers from institutions including Lund University have taken a step closer to producing solar fuel using artificial photosynthesis. In a new study, they have successfully tracked the electronsâ rapid transit through a light-converting molecule. … [Read more...]
Italian market coupling launched, Europe closer to one copper plate
A further significant step towards an integrated European power market was taken recently as the Italian Borders Market Coupling was successfully launched. The Italian-Austrian, Italian-French and Italian-Slovenian borders have now been coupled with the Multi-Regional Coupling (MRC) instrument. Thanks to this coupling, 19 EU power markets - from Finland to Portugal and Slovenia â are now integrated into a single market platform. … [Read more...]
Offshore wind in the Kattegat: a unique opportunity for Europe
New figures show that the Anholt offshore wind farm in the Kattegat between Denmark and Sweden had an impressively high capacity factor of 50% last year. This is all the more impressive since, as Mike Parr, Director of energy consultancy PWR points out, 2014 was a year with unusually low wind speeds. In an average year the capacity factor would have been more like 75%. This means, writes Parr, that if just 10% of the Kattegat region were … [Read more...]
Experts from World Energy Council highly critical of Energiewende
The German Energiewende cannot serve as a model for other countries. It is a threat to European security of supply, will have a negative impact on German growth prospects in the short term and is too costly. Thatâs the opinion of a majority of experts from 35 member organisations of the World Energy Council from across the world. … [Read more...]
Back to a nuclear future: the Abe government restarts Japanâs energy policy Â
The renewed mandate Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe received from voters in the snap election in December will have big implications for the Japanese energy industry. Abe is set on re-starting closed nuclear reactors - and scaling back renewables subsidies. A recent report from the Institute of Energy Economics in Tokyo backs him up, saying that ârenewable power generation capacity has increased too rapidlyâ. But a majority of Japanese are … [Read more...]