The planned takeover of Alstom by GE has raised anti-trust concerns in Brussels. The European Commission is expected to soon come with an official “Statement of Objections”. The companies – and the French government – are putting heavy pressure on the Commission to let the deal go through.  “Blocking the deal would help Chinese rivals and cost jobs in Europe." … [Read more...]
Going for gas: the risky strategy of the world’s largest companies
They are the biggest companies in the world and they are making a huge bet: they are staking their – and our – future on natural gas. At the World Gas Conference in Paris, the major oil companies all avowed their belief that gas will be the world’s “fuel of choice”, because it is “the cleanest fossil fuel”, “abundant” and “competitive”. But Karel Beckman argues they are overstating the case for gas. And may even be betting on the wrong horse. … [Read more...]
IEA sees “harsh reality” for gas industry
From a Golden Age of Gas to a “harsh reality” in just a few years - the 2015 “Gas medium-term market report“ released by the International Energy Agency (IEA) on 4 June in Paris sounded a warning note to anyone who believes gas is bound to conquer the world. That can still happen - but only if gas drastically improves its competitiveness, said the IEA. … [Read more...]
Why is oil and gas activity causing earthquakes? And can we reduce the risk?
The US has witnessed markedly increased seismicity in recent years. There is little doubt that this is caused by oil and gas extraction activities, writes Matthew Hornbach, Associate Professor of Geophysics at Southern Methodist University. However, according to Hornbach, there is no reason to panic: human ingenuity will be able to address this new challenge. He notes that the energy industry has been very cooperative in researching the problem. … [Read more...]
Limits of the “Energy Union”: expect only pragmatic progress
On 8 June the EU Member States will discuss the European Commission’s proposals for an Energy Union. According to Severin Fischer and Oliver Geden of the German Institute for International and Security Affairs (SWP) in Berlin, it is already clear that they will avoid or delay implementation of any meaningful steps in the direction of a political energy union. Over the next few years, they write, the focus of EU energy and climate policy will be … [Read more...]
Climate benefits of a natural gas bridge ‘unlikely to be significant’
Natural gas can only be a worthwhile bridge to a low carbon future if a series of tough conditions are met, according to a working paper from the influential New Climate Economy initiative. The paper says the climate benefits of gas, including shale gas, could in theory be significant. It suggests a 10% increase in global gas supplies could prevent 500 gigawatts (GW) of new coal capacity being added by 2035, avoiding 1.3 billion tonnes of annual … [Read more...]
The West must do as the Chinese: build renewables systems for energy security and abundance
In the western world renewables are burdened by the idea that they are a moral imperative, essential to fight global warming, writes professor John Mathews. By contrast China is building renewables systems as an economic imperative. Unless Western countries follow the Chinese model and intervene in their economies to build green energy and resource systems, they will continue to be defeated by China. … [Read more...]
The mixed outlook for new nuclear power plants
Nuclear power has had a makeover. What was once seen as a futuristic source of limitless energy has been reframed as a response to global warming, an ideal solution for countries looking for a continuous source of low-carbon power. Nuclear advocates claim that nuclear power capacity is expanding, but according to Paul Dorfman, Honorary Senior Research Associate at the Energy Institute at University College London, in reality the global picture is … [Read more...]
EU still struggling to agree energy R&D priorities
R&D in energy is about to get a fresh push from Brussels through a new EU-wide Strategic Energy Technology (SET) Plan that is supposed to harness the combined power of public and private research in different Member States. But to what extent will Member States agree to align their national research agendas? And around what common goals? The Commission believes energy R&D should be structured around “the consumer” and “the energy system … [Read more...]
Exclusive – JĂ©rĂ´me Ferrier, President International Gas Union: “You cannot equate gas with coal or oil. You have to discriminate!”
Natural gas can help safeguard the planet: it can become the world’s major energy source, be a factor for peace and help save the climate, says JĂ©rĂ´me Ferrier, President of the International Gas Union (IGU) and the French Gas Association in an interview with Energy Post. But, he adds, to enable gas to fulfill these roles, policymakers will have to make a clear choice in favour of gas over oil and coal. “They have to discriminate!” … [Read more...]
World’s largest investment fund from Norway set to divest from coal
The Finance Committee of the Norwegian Parliament has issued a unanimous recommendation to divest the country’s sovereign wealth fund from the coal industry. The Norwegian Government Pension Fund Global (NGPFG) is the world’s largest sovereign wealth fund and one of the top ten investors in the global coal industry. Environmental organisations are elated. They expect that many billions of euros will be withdrawn from the coal sector. … [Read more...]
The Norwegian way: what Poland and others can learn to develop their shale gas
The shale gas hopes of Poland and other countries in Eastern Europe have crumbled now that foreign investors have departed. An important reason for this failure is an inadequate political framework, write Lidia Puka and Aleksandra Gawlikowska-Fyk of the Polish Institute of International Affairs (PISM) and Ole Gunnar Austvik of the Norwegian Institute of International Affairs. They argue that these countries could learn from the Norwegian model, … [Read more...]
Interview Radu Dudau, Energy Policy Group: “We are in urgent need of a new energy strategy”
The Romanian energy sector is at a watershed, says Radu Dudau, Director of the Bucharest-based Energy Policy Group, in an interview with Energy Post. “We are in urgent need of a new energy strategy. We need to decide what to do with our energy sector.” At the same time, says Dudau, the EU needs to get involved to coordinate regional energy matters in Central and Eastern Europe: “This is a region with no encouraging history of cooperation” But … [Read more...]
Energy subsidies probe is the kind of competition policy the EU needs
Capacity problems can best be tackled by letting prices fluctuate and making energy providers responsible for intermittent supply. To the extent that support schemes are used, they should be technology-neutral and driven by market forces to ensure efficiency, argues Diego Zuluaga, Deputy Director of the Epicenter (European Policy Information Center), a coalition of six free-market think tanks in Europe. For this reason, writes Zuluaga, the sector … [Read more...]
The IMF just destroyed the main argument against clean energy
A new report by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) finds that energy (fossil fuel) subsidies are “big and rising”. At the presentation of the report, Vitor Gaspar, Director Fiscal Affairs Department at the IMF, noted that most subsidies go to coal and said the numbers were “shocking”. He added that “eliminating energy subsidies can generate substantial environmental, fiscal and welfare benefits”. Elias Hinckley, strategic adviser at the US law … [Read more...]
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