The Horizon 2020 funded project, LEAP4SME – Energy audit policies to drive energy efficiency – aims to enhance effective policies for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to undergo energy audits and implement cost-effective, recommended energy-saving measures. According to the International Energy Agency (IEA), SMEs account for at least 13% of global final energy consumption annually and energy efficiency improvements are to … [Read more...]
New Berkeley Lab Report Documents Trends in System Impacts, Reliability and Market Value of Solar in the United States
By Andrew Mills and Joachim Seel, Berkeley Lab As solar generation increases, it is expected to progressively impact the bulk power system—changing prices for energy and other grid services. Solar generation is driven by sunshine and thus often highly correlated over the course of a day within a region. Without the deployment of storage or an increase in price-responsive load, growth in solar capacity is … [Read more...]
A people-powered energy system: activating the community energy market for bioenergy
Among others, lack of preparedness for communities to tap the full bioenergy market potential[1], lack of bioenergy stakeholders’ awareness of the potential of communities and missing/ unsupportive (local, regional and national) framework and policy conditions. For a people-powered energy system, the Horizon 2020-funded project BECoop (2020-2023) aims at putting communities in charge of their local renewable (bio)energy generation. … [Read more...]
Five countries to become the field of behavioural experiments to encourage energy efficiency habits
The EU has ambitious targets for increasing energy efficiency and mitigating climate change, aiming that there are no net emissions of greenhouse gases by 2050. To achieve this and other targets, much effort and investment are focused on digital infrastructure (e.g., smart meters) that enables energy consumers to monitor and manage their energy usage more actively and efficiently. … [Read more...]
Guiding SMEs and national authorities through the energy transition by taking profit of multiple benefits and energy management approaches
Improving energy efficiency is the most cost-effective way to reduce energy-related emissions, improve economic competitiveness and increase energy security. In the European Union, several pieces of legislation aimed at guiding states and companies, regardless of their size, on ways to improve their energy efficiency: one of them is the Energy Efficiency Directive, establishing a common framework of measures and requirements with the goal to … [Read more...]
Sustainability after COVID-19: Four scenarios of the world after the crisis
Foreword: The COVID-19 virus which began in China and spread around the world has wreaked havoc on economies and caused the life of millions of people to come to a standstill. With health and GDP dominating the world agenda, entrepreneurs wishing to navigate the turbulent waters of opening a new enterprise focused on sustainability will need to keep an eye on where the world is heading to. This analysis is an attempt to speculate which directions … [Read more...]
The renewable electricity market in Ukraine: answers to the key questions
Tetiana Mylenka at Hillmont Partners law firm (Kyiv, London) answers key questions about the prospects for renewable energy in Ukraine. Is there any hope that the renewable energy sector in Ukraine is coming out of its crisis? As of today, it is too early to say that the renewable energy sector in Ukraine is coming out of its crisis. The adoption of the long-awaited Law No. 810-IX should resolve the situation and partially … [Read more...]
The importance of energy efficiency for a carbon neutral society
Energy efficiency has proven to be an effective solution for curbing carbon emissions from fossil fuels. But what if we imagined a future energy system without fossil fuels, will it still make sense to invest in energy efficiency or will it be sufficient to develop enough renewable energy to cover demand? A recent COGEN Europe study, conducted by consultancy Artelys, underscores the importance of energy efficiency for a cost-effective energy … [Read more...]
Why Autogas Could Help Us All Breathe More Easily
Since the COVID-19 crisis and subsequent lockdowns, many cities around the world experienced a marked improvement in urban air quality, but with traffic getting back to “normal”, air pollution is rebounding and, alongside the continued public health crisis, we are now facing an economic recession. Mobility is essential to securing jobs and getting the economy back on track, but it should not come at the expense of the environment. Filipa Rio, … [Read more...]
Green Ammonia Market: a New Era for Energy and Power Industry
Green ammonia uses renewable energy instead of natural gas or coal for producing hydrogen; hence, is an effective way to reduce greenhouse emissions. The electrochemical Haber-Bosch process produces ammonia without any greenhouse emissions. Green ammonia refers to ammonia, which has been produced through a process that is 100% renewable and carbon-free. Reducing the carbon dioxide emissions during the production process is essential to achieve … [Read more...]
Dutch-Spanish startup navigates coronavirus fallout while also guiding utilities into the digital age
In late summer 2015 at a research university in Belgium, an Italian graduate student new to campus attended a welcome event hosted by engineering department faculty. Sampling beer brewed by an electrical engineering student association, Simone Accornero mingled with a dozen other new classmates in his program at KU Leuven. Accornero began chatting with an engineering master’s student who had just arrived from Poland. “We hit it off,” Accornero … [Read more...]
EU Recovery Package should earmark €90 billion public funding annually towards building renovation for EU-27, new analysis shows
BRUSSELS, Belgium, 20 May 2020 | BPIE – The Buildings Performance Institute Europe has published an analysis of the economic opportunity for Europe’s building sector, which could help mitigate economic damage of the COVID-19 pandemic. The findings show that the total amount of public funding required to trigger a significant scaling up of the renovation rate and depth would add up to €90 billion annually until 2050, with €76 billion annually … [Read more...]
Enefirst – Making Efficiency First operational: New project aims to support policy makers put the European guideline into practice in view of the EU Green Deal
The Enefirst consortium released its first publication, which defines the principle of Efficiency First (E1st) in a way to make it operational. The 2.5-year project, funded under the EU’s Horizon 2020 programme for Research and Innovation, seeks to provide decision makers in Europe with concrete policy recommendations based on quantitative analysis and best practice mapping. The publication represents the consortium’s first step towards meeting … [Read more...]
Europe’s Unprecedented Opportunity to usher in a Green Economy
While the COVID-19 pandemic is singular in its rapid development and global implications, many have drawn parallels with another, equally significant, global issue: the ongoing climate crisis. In Europe, in particular, the parallels have led to the realization that the European Union’s COVID-19 response may also hold the key to addressing and accelerating longer-term decarbonization goals. Unlike COVID-19, the climate crisis is slow-burning, … [Read more...]
Four reasons to reconcile EU economic recovery and the climate agenda
Politicians and interest groups are polarising the debate between post COVID-19 economic recovery and decarbonisation. By doing so, they jeopardise Europe’s future. It has to stop. While Pascal Canfin, prominent Member of the European Parliament, launched a vast call to restore Europe’s economy in line with the EU Green Deal, others are calling to delay or freeze climate ambitions. European and national leaders have to understand that they … [Read more...]
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