New cars, including the Mercedes A, C and E class, BMW 5 series and Peugeot 308, are now swallowing around 50% more fuel than their lab test results reveal, according to new on-the-road results compiled by NGO Transport & Environment (T&E). T&E calls for a comprehensive investigation into both air pollution and fuel economy tests across Europe and a complete overhaul of the testing system. … [Read more...]
China and US: new climate commitments, common vision
US President Obama and Chinese President Xi announced far-reaching new climate policy proposals on 25 September during Xi's state visit in Washington DC. Ahead of the UN Climate Summit (COP21) in Paris in December, they came out with several new pledges in areas such as climate finance and energy efficiency standards. Moreover, China announced the launch of a national emission trading system in 2017 and the implementation of a new green dispatch … [Read more...]
The Price of Oil: why it rose stupendously, why it is likely to remain low and what this means for the world
Although oil has experienced an extraordinary price increase over the past few decades, a turning point has now been reached where scarcity, uncertain supply and high prices will be replaced by abundance, undisturbed availability and suppressed price levels in the decades to come, write Roberto F. Aguilera of Curtin University in Australia and Marian Radetzki of LuleĂĄ University of Technology in Sweden. In this article they provide a synopsis of … [Read more...]
US desperately needs a national energy policy
The US - and indeed the world - is at a crossroads when it comes to the choice on how we want to provide energy services in the future, writes US energy expert Allan Hoffman. According to Hoffman, the US desperately needs a national energy policy that recognizes the importance of moving to a renewable energy future as quickly as possible. Without such a policy, economic growth, the environment and national security will suffer. … [Read more...]
Paris, give us carbon pricing, but give us market mechanisms too!
The world’s leading energy companies and investors, represented by the World Energy Council, have made it crystal clear they consider carbon pricing essential to generate sufficient investment for a low-carbon future, writes Joan MacNaughton, Chair of the World Energy Trilemma project of the World Energy Council. But according to MacNaughton, it is vital that policymakers in Paris don’t just put a price on carbon, but also allow for market … [Read more...]
Solar finance wizard David Arfin: “Why should people have to prepay their electricity bill for 30 years?”
With his invention of the SolarLease for SolarCity, he revolutionised the US residential solar market. Now, David Arfin, CEO of First Energy Finance, wants to take his business model to other parts of the world, including Europe, and apply it to other technologies, like wind, energy efficiency and geothermal heat pumps. In an exclusive interview with Energy Post, he explains his approach and what future financial innovations he sees coming. “Why … [Read more...]
Paris climate summit: EU chooses transformation over decarbonisation
European environment ministers have agreed a negotiating mandate for the EU for the UN climate conference in Paris in December (COP21). Under the influence of Poland and other Eastern European countries, they couched the EU’s ambitions in terms of “transformation” and “climate neutrality”, rather than decarbonisation, leaving room for coal and gas use with carbon capture and storage. The EU is also shifting from a “narrow focus on accounting” of … [Read more...]
“I fear we will see radicalisation” if Paris flops, says Connie Hedegaard, chair of 2009 Copenhagen summit
If 'Paris' flops, “there will still be lots of climate summits, but ministers will stop coming, the top people will not attend, the air will go out of it”, said Connie Hedegaard, former EU Climate Commissioner who led the word’s  last crucial climate talks in Copenhagen in 2009, at a meeting of the Sydney Democracy Network. She warned that “Paris will probably deliver, but if it doesn’t, I fear we will see a radicalisation”. Professor Nick Rowley … [Read more...]
How companies can determine their fair climate share
If energy-intensive industries were to get together and make joint climate pledges, how could they determine what would be a fair and significant contribution for each company? There are new tools available for this, including so-called Science Based Targets used by organisations like WWF, the Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP) and the World Resources Institute (WRI), writes Rolf de Vos in a new post on the Ecofys Paris Climate blog hosted by Energy … [Read more...]
When fuels compete: the new dynamics of global energy markets
For a long time global energy markets were relatively stable, dominated by long-term investment in asset-intensive fuel businesses that rarely competed with one another. Now, rapid change is sweeping across the energy world: fuels are increasingly encroaching on each other’s territory and the silos of regional markets are breaking down, write Christophe Brognaux and Nicholas Ward of The Boston Consulting Group (BCG). As a result, fundamentally … [Read more...]
Standardising energy efficiency: US initiative aims to transform European market
Energy efficiency remains one of the most intractable transition challenges. There are now finally plenty of funds available, yet progress remains slow. To overcome the last hurdles, major new initiatves have started up aiming to standardise energy efficiency processes to make it easier to invest in them. One of these is the Investor Confidence Project (ECP), originated by the Environmental Defense Fund. Goal: to turn energy efficiency projects … [Read more...]
A young professional at RWE/Essent tells her story
The energy sector is in turmoil. Energy companies are in a painful process of restructuring their companies. This week a young professional at RWE/Essent shares her experiences. She sees a company that is shedding its old state-owned utility feathers. She also sees a company that tries to get on top of the game again by implementing new innovation strategies. Whether it will succeed is another matter. “This is still a conservative sector of old … [Read more...]
Four reasons Jeremy Corbyn’s innovative energy policy is no 80s throwback
What would be the energy policy of a UK Labour government under Jeremy Corbyn, its newly elected leader? Citing Corbyn’s recently published manifesto, Protecting Our Planet, Stephen Hall, Research Fellow at the University of Leeds, argues that it would be anything but a throwback to the past. On the contrary, it meets the issues of today in innovative and practical ways. … [Read more...]
Natural gas methane problem? It’s overstated
The role of natural gas as a “bridge fuel” has been called into question by critics who argue that methane leakage rates from gas production and transport could outweigh the lower CO2 emissions associated with gas. However, according to Alex Trembath, policy associate at the Breakthrough Institute, this is not what most of the scientific literature says. “Methane leakage is a minor factor in determining the benefit of gas versus coal and methane … [Read more...]
Steve Holliday, CEO National Grid: “The idea of large power stations for baseload is outdated”
Steve Holliday, CEO of National Grid, the company that operates the gas and power transmission networks in the UK and in the northeastern US, believes the idea of large coal-fired or nuclear power stations to be used for baseload power is “outdated”. "From a consumer’s point of view, the solar on the rooftop is going to be the baseload. Centralised power stations will be increasingly used to provide peak demand", he says, in an exclusive … [Read more...]
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