The failure of Nabucco West is the result of a lack of strategic guidance and the inability of the Nabucco consortium and its shareholders to deliver on the market policy expectations of both Governments and societies in their respective countries. But it is too simplistic to say that the choice by the Shah Deniz II Consortium for the Trans Adriatic Pipeline (TAP) was made purely out of “commercial” considerations, argues Peter Poptchev, who has … [Read more...]
European shale gas: miracle or mirage?
Nick Grealy, energy consultant and proponent of shale gas, reflects on the battle for public perception of shale gas. A key problem, he says, is the speed of the change that has taken place. It has surprised many people. In fact, many people still fool themselves into thinking it can’t happen in Europe” . But according to Grealy, a European shale gas revolution is inevitable. Photo: drilling rig in Marcellus play in US (by wcn247) … [Read more...]
EIB cleans up its energy lending policy
The European Investment Bank (EIB) intends to place stricter CO2 emission standards on coal power plants that it finances, but not as strict as the standards president Obama recently proposed in the US. The EIB is also considering investing in shale gas projects, according to a draft of its new energy lending policy. NGOs accuse the EIB of a “missed opportunity to politically reject coal”. With the EBRD and World Bank also mulling new investment … [Read more...]
Europe’s unresolved energy versus climate policy dilemma
The creation of a pan-European energy market is being undermined by member states’ reluctance to align their national renewable energy policies, or to rely on their neighbours for back-up capacity, writes David Buchan, Senior Research Fellow of the Oxford Institute for Energy Studies. According to Buchan, “the Commission now has to take a very strong stand if it is to regain control over the forces of disintegration that it failed to anticipate … [Read more...]
The surprising new Schwarzenegger movie “Total Transition”
Energy Post editor Karel Beckman went to the première of Arnold Schwarzenegger’s new movie “Total Transition” which had its first showing in the European Parliament in Brussels. His verdict: not too much action, but definitely worth seeing if you have anything to do  with "transitions". Photo: Eva Rinaldi, Celebrity Photographer … [Read more...]
Op-ed: BusinessEurope’s can’t do attitude
Brook Riley of the Climate Justice and Energy Team of Friends of the Earth Europe sent us a letter on what he regards as BusinessEurope's dragging-its-feet attitude towards EU climate policy. He suspects its BusinessEurope’s goal "to obstruct, to delay and to create doubt in the minds of policymakers about the need to address global warming". Climate change is truly a life-and-death challenge for all of us. With such high stakes, it’s … [Read more...]
End of Nabucco – end of Southern Gas Corridor?
Now that the Trans-Adriatic Pipeline (TAP) was (apparently) chosen to be the preferred route to carry gas from the Shah Deniz II field in Azerbaijan to Europe, the EU flagship pipeline project Nabucco has effectively been killed. Agata Loskot-Strachota, Energy Policy Expert at the Centre for Eastern Studies (OSW) in Warsaw and Janek Lasocki, Advocacy Coordinator at the European Council on Foreign Relations in London, discuss – in five … [Read more...]
The President’s Climate Action Plan: sounds very European
President Obama on Tuesday presented a “new climate action plan”. Most of it could have come straight from Brussels. But there are some differences with the European approach. The US is not going to back out of fossil fuels and nuclear power. And it pays serious attention at last to mitigation and adaptation. Photo: 350.org … [Read more...]
The President’s Climate Action Plan: it sounds very European
President Obama on Tuesday presented a “new climate action plan”. Most if it could have come straight from Brussels. But there are some differences with the European approach. The US is not going to back out of fossil fuels and nuclear power. And it pays serious attention at last to mitigation and adaptation. Photo: 350.org … [Read more...]
The internal energy market must be linked with global competitiveness
Companies in the EU face significantly higher energy prices than their competitors and the situation is getting worse, writes Fernand Felzinger, President of the International Federation of Industrial Energy Consumers (IFIEC) Europe. Felzinger argues that increasing the carbon price would be a disaster for Europe’s energy-intensive industries at a time when it needs to re-industrialise. Photo: Aluminum concrete forms in Hong Kong … [Read more...]
Low-carbon cars – what are we waiting for?
As Member States are haggling in Brussels over a proposal from the Commission to set an emission goal of 95 grams of carbon dioxide per kilometer (g/km) as an average for new vehicles sold in Europe from 2020 – which Germany in particularly finds too demanding for its car industry – new research by consultancies Ricardo-AEA and Cambridge Econometrics published on Monday shows that “decarbonizing” cars could generate 500,000 to 1.1 million net … [Read more...]
Two decades behind schedule, we need to re-think the single energy market
The EU has made progress in integrating its markets, but there is still a long way to go, argues Jorge Vasconcelos, founder of the Council of European Energy Regulators and Member of the Energy Roadmap 2050 ad hoc Advisory Group. Europe needs a reinvented energy market and technological developments can help that to happen. “Strong wind and sunshine can literally blow conventional electricity markets to pieces if high penetration rates of wind … [Read more...]
The future of energy? You are it
Editor Karel Beckman has had enough of gloomy conferences full of complaining people. He calls on the energy industry to throw away those spreadsheets and look at what is happening in the real world. The future is not in your Power Points - it's in your hands! Photo: Covenant of Mayors … [Read more...]
How to profit from rising energy prices in Russia
Russia offers great potential for European companies to invest in energy efficiency, renewable energy and electricity production, writes Alexander Gusev of the German Institute for International and Security Affairs (Stiftung Wissenschaft und Politik). Rising prices in Russia stimulate energy-saving programs by companies and increase the populatiry of decentralized generation. But major problems, such as an incomplete legal basis and bureaucracy, … [Read more...]
Energy Post Reviews (I)
In this space we will regularly review new publications – to keep you abreast of what is going in energy markets – and hopefully save you some time. This first installment of our Review Service discusses four recent reports that deal with the manifold problems in the (European) electricity sector. They even offer some advice – but not much. Photo: azza bazoo … [Read more...]
