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Cybersecurity: the knock-on cost of digital efficiency
OPEC is driving itself to irrelevance with farcical aplomb
Grid-scale batteries: further price drops result in concrete investments
Investing in renewables in China: relatively good times
Net Zero UK: chance for Parliament to restore international leadership credentials
Russian – EU – Ukrainian gas talks: don’t believe the hype, it’s (almost) business as usual
EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW – GCCA’s Claude Lorea: “How can we provide the world with the concrete it needs in a sustainable way?”
Transition funding: will Eastern Europe follow Lithuania and go green?
Hydrogen round-up: “fuel cells will replace diesel engines within 10 years”
EU oversight of foreign investment in energy projects lacking
Alternative fuels: Europe’s infrastructure struggling to keep pace
Barriers to intermittent renewables and battery storage come tumbling down
NECPs – Analysis: EU ideals coming up against political realities
New “Gas for Climate” scenarios: can green gas and hydrogen save gas pipelines?
East Mediterranean gas finds: EU energy bonanza or geopolitical headache?
The oil and gas market slump of 2015 brought extra pressure to bear on majors to reduce their breakeven barrel price. The quest for deeper efficiencies included a tidal shift toward digitalisation. According to Gaurav Sharma, vulnerable systems are in urgent need of upgrading and require constant protection at an estimated cost of $40 billion plus per annum. With existential external factors already putting the squeeze on investment, the growing … [Read more...]
It took months of delays but even before the cartel’s latest ministers meeting began in Vienna, the Saudis and Russians rendered it meaningless by largely deciding an outcome that failed to surprise the market. Not that long ago, a meeting of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) carried great weight in the global energy market and was accompanied by intense anticipation. The powerful oil producer’s cartel at one point held … [Read more...]
With so much focus on renewable gas and heat as a means of offering dispatchable power it was interesting to note ScottishPower’s announcement of a new, gigantic battery storage facility. Lest we forget, battery energy storage is one of the fastest-growing sectors in the clean energy field and it is scaling up at an astonishing rate, not just in terms of overall capacity but also in terms of the size of individual projects, as the extent of the … [Read more...]
With the Chinese state increasingly confident of its renewable energy technologies and manufacturing, European firms are finding conditions right to invest in the sector there. Joe Mitton looks at the conditions for investors, and why EU-Chinese energy partnerships must not be caught up in the US trade war. Energy Post’s Matthew James spoke to Sebastian Meyer, Vice President at EDF Renewables, about his experiences. To read FULL ARTICLE login … [Read more...]
The UK may be in turmoil politically thanks to Brexit, but it has revived its efforts to take a leadership position on climate change, after the Committee on Climate Change (CCC) recommended that the government adopt a new target of net-zero greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 2050, a tightening of the current goal to cut emissions by 80% from 1990 levels. Mike Scott reports for Energy Post … [Read more...]
The bilateral Russia Ukraine gas transit contract expires at the end of this year bringing the potentially conflicting interests of both parties and the EU into focus. The EU will be acting in the interest of those member states directly affected as well as having a role in avoiding tensions affecting its neighbour Ukraine. Cue much speculation from interested and neutral observers alike. Zuzanna Nowak, independent researcher and commentator, … [Read more...]
Concrete is, after water, the most consumed resource on the planet and no other man-made material is more widely used. Without it, there are no buildings, bridges, dams or roads – no Sydney Opera House, no Hoover Dam or Golden Gate Bridge, no Pantheon in Rome. It is no surprise, then, that it has significant environmental impacts. More than 4bn tonnes of cement, the main ingredient of concrete, are produced every year leading to between 5 and 8% … [Read more...]
Lithuania is committing itself to renewable energy in a significant way, which could help shift the way other Eastern European countries define their interests in the energy sector. The EU is signalling its strong willingness to support countries that follow Lithuania’s lead, says political analyst Joe Mitton. Crucial decisions on the EU’s Modernisation Fund will be made in the coming months, allocating spending in the ten lower-income EU Member … [Read more...]
As the focus moves from decarbonising the electricity sector to embrace transportation and heating, slowly but surely, hydrogen is starting to play a more important role. The gas has a number of advantages over electricity, including its flexibility and the fact that it can provide energy storage for long periods of time, unlike electricity. It can use the existing gas network if it is used for heating, and it is more appropriate than electricity … [Read more...]
At the 21st EU-China Summit on 9 April, both sides hailed a new era in the trade relationship. Increasingly confident of its domestic technological capabilities, China will soon no longer oblige foreign companies active in China to share their tech know-how. And a new Foreign Investment Law in China allows for greater inward investment to the country, but maintains restrictions and scrutiny mechanisms on 48 sectors of key strategic interest (the … [Read more...]
When it comes to the promotion of electric and hydrogen vehicles, Europe is struggling to match policymakers’ utopian rhetoric. The technology from the likes of ABB and Schneider Electric is ready but much more needs to be done for both hydrogen fuelling and EV charging infrastructure. Gaurav Sharma spoke to some of the industry leading lights at CERAWeek. … [Read more...]
The astonishing growth of the renewable energy sector shows little sign of slowing, as costs continue to plummet, along with the cost of energy storage, to remove many of the barriers to using intermittent renewable generating sources in a range of applications. Much of this is down to the fact that the cost of battery energy storage is one third lower than this time last year. … [Read more...]
The European Union is trying to maintain its leadership on climate change with its Clean Energy for All Europeans package, which aims to make the EU climate neutral by 2050. The mechanism for achieving this target is member states’ National Energy and Climate Plans (NECPs). Mike Scott considers the plans, how Germany is moving towards an "Eastern European" energy policy and how the upcoming elections could dilute EU climate policy overall... … [Read more...]
Gas has a key role to play in decarbonising the energy sector. Until a comprehensive clean energy network can accommodate variable renewables using storage, baseload power will be needed. Natural gas is a lower carbon option than coal, so there is a strong case for it to be the first-choice bridging fuel towards a net-zero energy economy. However, exactly how much gas, what type of gas and how existing infrastructure can store energy in the form … [Read more...]
Some of the world’s largest natural gas reserves have been discovered off Cyprus. One of the questions being addressed at this year's CERA Week is, could these massive finds (totalling more than 70 trillion cubic feet!) be the answer to any perceived over-dependency on Russian gas imports to the EU? Maybe, maybe not. Geopolitical tussles could scupper the realisation of these much-needed resources for Europe. Whilst the potential is there, it may … [Read more...]
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