Satellite imagery reveals that many coal-fired power projects that were halted by the Chinese government have quietly restarted, writes Feng Hao of China Dialogue. The reason is probably that China’s power demand is rebounding. However, according to Hao, many coal power plants are running at a loss and there is still substantial overcapacity. Courtesy Climate Home. … [Read more...]
Archives for August 2018
Ukraine has made great progress in reforming the gas sector – but its fate still hangs in the balance
Natural gas still plays an outsized role in Ukraine’s energy mix – and it will continue to do so for many decades to come, writes Jakub Kucera, economic analyst at RSJ, a Prague-based investment company. Kucera explains the many formidable challenges Ukraine is facing in the gas sector and their profound impact on the European energy market. He concludes that Ukraine has made admirable progress in cleaning up the gas sector. Unfortunately, … [Read more...]
Trading platforms and VPPs find profitable niches – and this is only the start
Trading platforms and virtual power plants are growing rapidly in advanced electricity markets in Europe, writes energy expert and author Fereidoon Sioshansi. According to Sioshansi, the first successful platforms may be able to make enormous profits as they corner the market. Courtesy EEnergy Informer. … [Read more...]
Energiewende enters a new phase – how is it performing?
The Energiewende is proceeding ahead of schedule with high grid reliability, writes researcher Schalk Cloete. However, costs are much higher than originally planned, while CO2emissions are stagnating. According to Cloete, wind/solar market shares have now reached the point where large grid expansion projects become critical. One problem is that the net value of new wind/solar is approaching zero as market value declines and integration costs … [Read more...]
Un-SAFE: Trump clean cars rollback could cost $450 billion, increase emissions 11%
Trump’s fuel economy standard rollback will be a disaster for the United States, write Jeffrey Rissman and Robbie Orvis of California-based think tank Energy Innovation. It will harm American consumers and the transport sector and sharply drive up emissions. The only winners will be oil companies. … [Read more...]
The risks of the Trump Administration’s whiplash policy on Iranian oil
As the Trump Administration prepares to re-impose nuclear-related sanctions on Iran following the president’s decision to withdraw the United States from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), its treatment of Iranian oil sales could dramatically impact both the United States’ Iran strategy and the global oil market, write David Mortlock and Ellen Wald of the Atlantic Council Global Energy Center. According to the authors, the … [Read more...]
Trump is wrecking the climate and free trade. Here is one solution for both
Instead of tit-for-tat retaliation to US tariffs, trade partners should link their response to climate goals and kill two birds with one stone, write four researchers. Courtesy Climate Home News. … [Read more...]
The Trump and Juncker Agreement: there may be more to it than meets the eye
The agreement between Trump and Juncker to have Europe buy more U.S. LNG has been criticized because it contains few details and because “they can’t make it happen anyway”. However, according to Anna Mikulska of the Kleinman Center for Energy Policy and Rice University's Baker Institute for Public Policy, the two leaders could promote investment in infrastructure – and that could have a big impact on the market. Courtesy Kleinman Center for … [Read more...]
Reducing U.K. home energy use by 25% is not “too difficult”
Some energy specialists believe that “all the easy stuff on energy efficiency has been done”, but Jan Rosenow of the Regulatory Assistance Project (RAP) disagrees. New research shows that one-quarter of the energy currently used in U.K. households could be “cost-effectively” saved by 2035, he writes. But it can’t be done without policy support: the government will have to recognise the broader social benefits of energy efficiency investments, … [Read more...]