Commissioner Cañete confirmed this week that natural gas and Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) will be central to achieving a competitive and climate-neutral economy, notably in closing the circle for the energy intensive sectors for which other solutions for decarbonisation do not exist. Moreover, combined with renewable biomass, CCS could create negative emissions compensating for remaining CO2. Eurogas Secretary General, James Watson, … [Read more...]
Online condition monitoring: making sense of sensors in the age of the Smart Grid
Grid operators across Europe are experiencing higher maintenance and reinforcement costs than ever before and, without significant increases in funding, are realising that they must fundamentally change the way that their assets are operated, maintained and replaced. This means running assets closer to their operational limits, performing predictive rather than corrective maintenance and replacing assets as close to the end of their useful life … [Read more...]
Digitalisation is changing the energy landscape
The energy sector is already using data in sophisticated ways to meet a wide range of challenges, from fault prediction in grid networks to the delivery of personalised energy to households. As more data becomes âbig dataâ and smart devices proliferate along the value chain, Matt Brown and Ravi Mahendra of Pöyry Management Consulting make their predictions for more digitalisation in the coming year. … [Read more...]
Too âlow-hanging fruitâ is not sweet enough (and eventually neither clean nor cheap)!
At a lunch debate organised by the European Heat Pump Association (EHPA) on âThe costs of a low level of ambition in greening the heating and cooling sectorâ and hosted by EUFORES President MEP Jeppe Kofod on 30 January, representatives from industry, civil society, the European Commission (EC) and MEPs from several countries and political groups (Jeppe Kofod, Bendt Bendtsen, Theresa Griffin, Jo Leinen, Gesine Meissner and Paul RĂŒbig) … [Read more...]
End of the road for the sale of Greeceâs dirty fuel of the past
Greeceâs economy was once powered by lignite. Today, continuing to invest in this most polluting fuel threatens to render Greeceâs energy market uncompetitive, writes Eleni Diamantopoulou and Simon Holmes. Greece is at an energy crossroads. Decisions taken by the Greek government and the European Commission in the coming weeks and months will decide whether Greece is locked into an anti-competitive lignite world until at least 2030, or whether … [Read more...]
Understanding how consumers engage with energy data is essential for delivering a âClean Energy Package for all Europeansâ
In its new policy framework âthe Clean Energy for All Europeans Packageâ, the European Commission highlights the key and central role of consumers in the global transition to a low-carbon society. It proposes to help consumers save money and energy through better information and give them a wider choice of action when choosing their participation in energy markets. … [Read more...]
Energy Efficiency gains must reduce our consumption, not just our bills
Energy Efficiencyâs role in the mix of tools we use to reduce carbon emissions is crucial. But Energy Efficiency gains can have a rebound effect: as your bills reduce, you have more money to spend on more energy. We need incentives and policies to reduce actual consumption, otherwise weâre making it harder to cut emissions, argues Parakram Pyakurel of Southampton Solent University, UK. … [Read more...]
“Consuming less energy may act as disincentive for investment in renewables”
According to Anthony Patt, Professor of Climate Policy at the ETH ZĂŒrich in Switzerland, the less we spend on energy, the less attractive renewables can look to businesses and investment markets. Such remarkable insights fly in the face of received wisdom and defy logic. Patt claims his models show that doubling current energy efficiency improvement rates buys us only one extra year to hit the Paris targets. Really? - This is how Anthony … [Read more...]
Energy Efficiency targets: Time to ramp up investment in buildings, industry and vehicles
Energy efficiency investment rates need to double now, and then double again in 2025, to meet energy efficiencyâs obligation to hitting the Paris targets. Right now there is a âŹ130bn annual energy efficiency investment gap in Europe. Peter Sweatman, Rapporteur for EEFIG, looks at the assets themselves and says we need to productise the measurement of their energy efficiency, and then legislate. Thatâs how to make energy efficient homes, offices, … [Read more...]
VW joins Tesla and BMW – EV and energy company all-in-one pays for business and consumers
Last weekâs announcement by VW that it is setting up a company called âElliâ (short for Electric Life) offering energy services shows VWâs vision of what lies ahead for the automotive industry. It brings them head to head with Tesla and BMW who are already playing a role outside the traditional bounds of the car business. They are the new breed, ready to profit from customers who want to go electric as long as it makes financial as well as … [Read more...]
Britain has shifted 30% of its electricity away from fossil fuels in just nine years
Britainâs extraordinary energy transition is in part down to increased energy efficiency: put simply, less electricity was needed, whatever the source. But coal is still essential during spikes in demand. Given coal generation is due to be phased out by 2025, the country will need to find alternative power sources to cope during extreme weather events. And that overall decline in electricity demand is sure to be reversed as more vehicles and … [Read more...]
Low oil price alongside rise in renewables sees Oil & Gas slide to bottom of S&P 500
In December we reported that in 2018, the U.S. became the world's leading oil producer for the first time since the 1970s. It is tipped to produce 12 million barrels of oil per day this year (up approximately 10% year on year), and over two-thirds of it will come from shale producers. But the consequent squeeze on the oil price meant U.S. Oil & Gas firms ended the second year in a row at the bottom of the stock market. IEEFAâs director of … [Read more...]
The risks related to onshore wind power investment
Bans on subsidies (in some countries) and reduced costs have hit total investment in onshore wind. Meanwhile, market share continues to grow across the EU28. Wind energy now accounts for almost 20% of installed capacity for power generation which makes researcher Schalk Cloete's sobering analysis of risks for onshore wind well worth reading. Following up on his previous article, he examines current assumptions and argues that the discount rate … [Read more...]
Energy efficiency is more than saving energy: âWe need to build a real marketplaceâ
Energy efficiency experts have come to the conclusion that âselling the business case of energy efficiency on the basis of cost savings is not enough.â If the potential of energy efficiency is to be realised, a real marketplace in projects needs to be built and the ânon-energy benefitsâ of efficiency must be monetised writes Brussels-based journalist Clare Taylor. The European Commission has developed a number of instruments, including a unique … [Read more...]
The impact of electric vehicles on electricity demand
Many in the industry are relying on electric vehicles (EVs) to reverse the downward trend in global electricity consumption. But a new report from Redburn, a UK research and investment company, suggests the growing energy efficiency of EVs means that the industry and investors may have to look elsewhere for significant boosts in demand for electrical power, says energy expert Fereidoon Sioshansi of EEinformer. … [Read more...]
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