The EU ETS carbon price reached a high of over âŹ60 per tonne in September. Some are arguing that its role in the current gas price crisis is a reason why it should be reined in. But Milan Elkerbout at CEPS Policy Insights explains that the EUA (European Union Allowance) has multiple purposes. It is an incentive to invest in low-carbon solutions such as renewables, efficiencies and new methods. The sooner we pass the cost hurdle of integrating … [Read more...]
Next German governmentâs climate and energy plans: what will Olaf Scholz do?
Olaf Scholz led Germany's Social Democrats (SPD) to an unexpected win in the 2021 elections held in September. He now needs to finalise a coalition with the Green Party and the pro-business FDP before forming a government and becoming chancellor. Like his predecessor Angela Merkel, Scholz has said he wants to become a "climate chancellor". Kerstine Appunn and Benjamin Wehrmann at Clean Energy Wire try to understand what his climate and energy … [Read more...]
How multi-scenario âemulatorâ models are improving climate change projections
State-of-the-art Earth System Models (ESMs) simulate the flow of energy, moisture and chemicals through the atmosphere, ocean and land surface in unprecedented detail. But the data processing is so demanding that each scenario takes considerable time and expense to run, needing powerful supercomputers and teams of scientists and programmers to produce the models and analyse the results. âEmulatorsâ are much simpler models that can run on a … [Read more...]
Green Finance standards: the EU Taxonomy and Chinaâs âCatalogueâ
The EU Taxonomy was published in June 2020. It is the first official document to define and classify what is a truly sustainable economic activity in Europe. Six months later Chinaâs regulators published their own version, a new edition of the China Green Bond Endorsed Project Catalogue (the Catalogue). Both documents will act as important standards for green finance institutions and investors in Europe and China. They are intended to improve … [Read more...]
Eradicate global poverty, meet climate goals, by avoiding rich-world energy consumption patterns
There is concern that eradicating poverty in the global south means their growing wealth and energy consumption will make our climate targets too hard to meet. Here, Jarmo Kikstra and Narasimha Rao, writing for Carbon Brief, explain that the energy needed to eradicate poverty is compatible with climate goals, provided that policymakers focus on delivering decent living standards, and not copying the affluence and habits of rich countries. Most … [Read more...]
CBAM needs universal adoption of methods for measuring carbon intensity
Europe needs to account for the emissions of imported goods. That cannot happen without the international agreement on standards and certification systems for the carbon intensity of all steps in the value chain for all relevant products. Dolf Gielen and Francisco Boshell at IRENA and Massamba Thioye at the UNFCCC explain that several such systems exist around the world, but they need to be harmonised and widely adopted to truly reflect what is … [Read more...]
EU âFit for 55â: how it impacts the EU ETS to accelerate emissions reductions
Christoph Kellermann, Lun Zhou and Simon Göss at Energy Brainpool explain how the EUâs new âFit for 55â proposals, released in July, will impact the EU Emissions Trading Scheme (EU ETS), hailed as one of the most effective ways of reducing emissions. The authors cover the changes to the existing ETS, the planned new ETS for road transport and buildings, the controversial Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM), and the new CO2 standards for … [Read more...]
‘Fit for 55’ should prioritise decarbonisation of laggards: buildings, transport, industry, agriculture
Todayâs long-awaited "Fit for 55" legislative package from the European Commission will trigger intense and difficult negotiations that will last two years, says Nicolas Berghmans at IDDRI. Its scope is wide and inevitably interconnected. The twelve legislative proposals include adjustments to existing measures (renewable energy, energy efficiency, carbon market/EU ETS, energy taxation, climate effort sharing between Member States/ESR, land use … [Read more...]
UK: exposing the gap between ambitious climate laws and actual policies
Like many nations, the UK has big gaps between what is actually needed to reach net zero by 2050, what targets and ambitions have actually passed into law, and what policies are actually in place to comply with those laws. The UKâs climate watchdog, the Climate Change Committee (CCC), has issued two reports that measure the UKâs performance and makes recommendations, summarised here by Josh Gabbatiss at Carbon Brief. The first report focuses on … [Read more...]
Residential energy use: âinterventionsâ that alter daily habits vs top-down regulations
Getting people to change their behaviour is part of the net-zero plan, with residential energy consumption at 20% of total energy demand. How big a part can it play, and how quickly? Traditional methods like economic incentives and providing consumers with raw consumption data donât always get the results expected. Here, Elisabetta Cornago at the IEA describes behavioural âinterventionsâ that alter daily habits, are cheaper than large-scale … [Read more...]
The EUâs âFit for 55â package: a primer on the EU ETS and other main policy levers
On July 14 the European Commission will present the much awaited âFit for 55â legislative package. Lara Dombrowski and Simon Göss at Energy Brainpool have written a very useful primer on whatâs at stake for the EU ETS, along with a summary of the other main policy levers that will be decided upon. The authors describe the EU ETS as the central instrument for reducing greenhouse gas emissions. It caps emissions for 10,000 power sector, industrial … [Read more...]
18 energy transition scenarios to watch: where they agree and disagree
A wide range of regions, nations and respected organisations have created net-zero strategies and pathways, but on what do they agree and disagree? Dolf Gielen, Asami Miketa, Ricardo Gorini and Pablo Carvajal at IRENA have done a meta-analysis of 18 recent energy transition scenarios to find out. There is consensus over the main strategies: renewable power generation, and the direct and indirect electrification of end-use sectors â these account … [Read more...]
The IEA explains its new âNet-Zero Emissions by 2050â roadmap
Today the IEA publishes its new special report, âNet Zero by 2050: a Roadmap for the Global Energy Sectorâ, its deepest dive so far into whatâs needed for a successful global transition. It analyses the options as well as the socio-economic, behavioural and environmental impacts they will have globally. Here, Laura Cozzi (Chief Energy Modeller) and Timur GĂŒl (Head of the Energy Technology Policy Division) at the IEA summarise the key principles … [Read more...]
The standard models overestimate the cost of the low carbon transition
Why have forecasts for new low-carbon energy consistently underestimated their cost reductions? The IEA has, famously, repeatedly had to raise its estimates for solarâs contribution every year since 2009, and now describes it as the âcheapest electricity in historyâ. Writing for Carbon Brief, Alexandra Poncia at Arup and Paul Drummond and Michael Grubb at University College London explain that standard models focus on âtechnology-pushâ policies, … [Read more...]
EU-India cooperation: how to tap the large potential for climate action
India is the worldâs fifth largest economy, the second most populous, and over the next few decades is expected to see energy demand grow more than any other country. Ritu Ahuja and Mekhala Sastry at TERI, Abhishek Kaushik at the Centre for Global Environment Research, and Alexandra Deprez and Lola Vallejo at IDDRI look at Indiaâs challenges and which areas show the most potential for partnership with the EU. They focus on five themes: energy, … [Read more...]
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