Citizens are at the core of the EU’s most ambitious energy strategy to date, the Energy Union, according to the European Commission. But how exactly could they get involved? Since 2012 social scientists with the R&Dialogue project have been working on processes to engage citizens, NGOs and industry in the energy transition. Their conclusion: citizens and companies should cooperate in participatory, ‘democratic’ structures to create a … [Read more...]
State of the Energy Union: the political work has yet to be done
The European Commission appears to be making a valiant effort at getting the Energy Union’s goals internalised into an institutional process that does not scare off Member States wary of “more Europe”. However, writes Oliver Sartor of the Institute for Sustainable Development and International Relations (IDDRI), the key test for the Energy Union will be how well it can succeed at getting Member States to buy into its objectives. The Energy Union … [Read more...]
viEUws VIDEO: Brussels Briefing on Energy for December 2015
Brussels correspondent Hughes Belin reports on the EU's first ever State of the Energy Union report, with details on achievements to date and legislative proposals to come in 2016. He notes the many challenges the internal energy market still faces, notably from national capacity markets. The European Commission has fleshed out its thinking on a new governance system for energy, including obligations for Member States. EU Energy Ministers … [Read more...]
The Chinese dream: Jeremy Rifkin and the economic conquest of Eurasia
While the EU is mired in conflicts between east, south and west over over finance, climate policy and refugees, Chinese Premier Li Keqiang is wooing 16 Central and Eastern European leaders at a China-CEE summit in Suzhou. It is all part of the Chinese dream of creating a Jeremy Rifkin-esque infrastructurally and digitally integrated economic space spanning the vast Eurasian continent, writes journalist Pepe Escobar. Some years from now German … [Read more...]
Carbon Tracker: fossil fuel companies risk wasting up to $2.2 trillion in the next decade
Carbon Tracker Initiative (CTI), the NGO that invented the concept of “stranded assets” (or “the carbon bubble”) has today published a new report warning that, as a result of climate policies, “no new coal will be needed, oil demand will peak around 2020 and growth in gas will disappoint industry expectations”. According to CTI, over $2 trillion of new and existing investment is in danger of being wasted over the coming decade if governments and … [Read more...]
The case against Nord Stream 2
By opening up an additional route for cheap Russian gas to Germany, the Nord Stream 2 pipeline project may look like a good deal for Europe. However, its advantages are primarily short term, writes Agata Loskot-Strachota of the Centre for Eastern Studies (OSW) in Poland. In the longer term the pipeline increases the possibilities for Russia’s excessive influence on the European gas market, undermines the policy goals of the Energy Union, and … [Read more...]
EU’s first State of the Energy Union report: how it will deliver on climate and energy goals for 2030
The EU’s first-ever “State of the Energy Union” report is determinedly optimistic on progress, but offers little new information and appears to take just a small step towards resolving the biggest challenge of all: uniting national interests around EU priorities. Published by the European Commission on 18 November, the report is accompanied by a whole suite of studies in areas from energy security to climate action. The package sets out … [Read more...]
Security alert: Europe needs more grids, more power plants – say grid operators and generators
Under any decarbonisation scenario, whether dominated by fossil fuels or renewables, centralised or decentralised, €10 to €20 billion in annual investments in grid infrastructure will be needed in Europe in the decades out to 2050, concludes a multi-stakeholder consortium led by European Transmission System Operators in a landmark report. In another report, the European technical association for electricity and heat generation VGB PowerTech, … [Read more...]
The future of coal: the long comedown
A new report by a consortium of 14 leading research institutions from Europe, the US, Japan, China, India, and Brazil has investigated future energy sector trends, in part based on the climate plans submitted by countries to the UNFCCC before the Paris climate summit, but also based on other drivers such as economic development and local air pollution. One of the key takeaways: the global coal sector is faced with a bleak future, writes Thomas … [Read more...]
Interview Hoesung Lee, new Chairman IPCC: “There is enormous value in carbon capture and storage”
The new chairman of the IPCC, Hoesung Lee, wants to interact more with the energy industry. “We are prepared to broaden our scope of collaboration”, he says, in an exclusive interview with World Energy Focus, the magazine of the World Energy Council produced by Energy Post. Lee says “industry, the energy sector in particular, needs to be part of the solution to climate change”. He sees “enormous value” in “large-scale” use of carbon capture and … [Read more...]
The biggest sticking point in Paris: money
In the run-up to the Paris climate change conference, there is much focus on countries’ voluntary commitments to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions (their so-called Intended Nationally Determined Contributions). But much less attention is paid to a part of the negotiations that is just as important, writes Henrik Selin of Boston University: how to finance the efforts of developing countries at mitigation and adaptation. … [Read more...]
Why Paris will be a Peace Conference – before the wars begin
A failure to cap greenhouse gas emissions will not just bring on climate shocks, but also worldwide instability, insurrection, and resource wars, writes Michael T. Klare In this sense, COP21 in Paris should be considered not just a climate summit but a peace conference as well – one taking place before the wars begin. … [Read more...]
Interview Marko Delimar, IEEE: “Technologists need to demystify energy”
“Right now renewable energy is still in the single digits in Europe. That’s a disaster”, says Marko Delimar, Professor at the University of Zagreb and Chair of the European Public Policy Group of the engineers association IEEE, the largest professional association in the world. According to Delimar, the energy transition is still at a very early stage. Technologists, he says, in an interview with Energy Post, have an important task: “We need to … [Read more...]
Bottlenecks for energy storage in Europe – and how to address them
Energy storage is important for achieving Energy Union goals such as the expansion of renewable energy, decarbonisation, energy security, energy market integration and increased competitiveness. But its deployment is hindered by existing regulations that do not provide a level playing field, write Vincent Swinkels, Bart van der Ree and Sergio Ugarte of SQ Consult. They note that the European electricity system was not designed with energy storage … [Read more...]
Klaus Schäfer, future CEO of E.ON spin-off Uniper: “EU should set a target for gas”
The EU should define how much gas it wants by when, and recognise that Nord Stream 2 can provide additional security of supply, argues Klaus Schäfer, the incoming CEO of E.ON spin-off Uniper in this exclusive interview with Energy Post. Schäfer, who is currently Board member of the E.ON Group, says Europe is further away than ever from a single market for electricity and calls on policymakers to recognise that security of supply has a cost. He … [Read more...]
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