In this Brussels Briefing on Environment by viEUws.eu leading environment journalist Sonja van Renssen provides an overview of the latest developments in the field of European environment policy. Topics discussed include: - CO2 emissions from trucks: first-ever European Commission strategy - Circular economy & waste: Green Week (June 2-5) and upcoming policy package including on food - June Environment Council: air quality and 2030 … [Read more...]
Policy failures have turned Belgium into high-price electricity island in Europe
Wholesale power prices in Belgium are now considerably higher than in its big neighbour Germany. In addition, Belgium is the only country in North West Europe to be faced with an electricity supply shortage. This situation is caused by a long series of policy failures on the part of the Belgian government, which has failed to create stable investment conditions, a competitive market and adequate interconnections, argues Benedict de Meulemeester, … [Read more...]
IEA review of Dutch energy policy: the real work still lies ahead
The Dutch energy sector is proud of the broad National Energy Agreement which was signed on to last year by representatives of the energy industry, consumer and trade associations and NGO’s, and which is now being implemented. But concluding an agreement is one thing, implementing it is another, notes the International Energy Agency (IEA) in an instructive review of Dutch energy policy. The Netherlands still relies heavily on fossil fuels and is … [Read more...]
The stolen fruit of the Energiewende: German suppliers are not passing on lower wholesale prices to consumers
Complaints about the high costs of the Energiewende are misguided. The primary reason German users pay high electricity prices is not the government’s support scheme for renewable energy. It is rather the fact that energy suppliers are not passing on to consumers the large drop in wholesale prices that results from the rapidly expanding wind and solar generation capacity. This is evident from an analysis of German prices. A similar situation … [Read more...]
Biomass: the hidden face of the Energiewende
When people think about the “energy transition” in Germany and elsewhere, they tend to think of the success of solar and wind power. However, of all forms of renewable energy it is biomass that has seen the largest absolute growth and supplies by far the most renewable energy, writes Robert Wilson. In Germany biomass has grown three times as much as wind and solar combined. 17% of the country’s arable land (6% of total land) is now devoted to … [Read more...]
IEA: electricity will rival oil as dominant energy carrier
Electricity will increasingly power the world's economies in the 21st century, rivalling oil as the dominant energy carrier, according to a new report by the International Energy Agency. Actively managing this transformation is the only way to ensure we meet global energy security and climate goals economically, the report says. The report, Energy Technology Perspectives, offers a comprehensive, long-term analysis of trends in the energy … [Read more...]
East European countries place bombshell under EU climate policy
EU member states should be free to make their own decisions over whether to increase their greenhouse gas emission reduction commitments for 2020 – rather than letting the EU lead, according to a statement from seven Eastern European countries. With their declaration the group puts a bombshell under the EU's collective efforts at the international climate negotiations. … [Read more...]
What oil companies do is bad for the climate. But it may also be bad for investors
Climate campaigners have a new weapon in their arsenal: they say that if shareholders want value for money they had better start questioning the high-risk, high-cost projects oil companies are undertaking on a massive scale. And not just because of climate risks, but for purely economic reasons as well. The Carbon Tracker Initiative, which first put the idea of ‘stranded assets’ on the map (i.e. the notion that a large part of the fossil fuel … [Read more...]
Time for real change: Ukraine crisis shows bankruptcy of “security-as-usual”
Poland’s proposal to reduce the EU’s energy dependence on Russia by collective buying of gas and maximising domestic production of coal shows a reactive, “security-as-usual” approach that is totally behind the times, writes Luca Bergamaschi of think tank E3G. According to Bergamaschi, the EU should instead improve its energy security by radically reforming its energy system, above all by improving energy efficiency. Studies show that Germany … [Read more...]
South Stream “Lite” shows it’s business as usual between EU and Russia
The agreement last week between Gazprom and OMV of Austria on South Stream shows that the EU and Russia will continue their long-standing energy partnership regardless of the crisis around Ukraine, writes Friedbert Pflüger, Director of the European Centre for Energy and Resource Security (EUCERS) at King‘s College London. According to Pflüger, the mutual energy dependence between the EU and Russia should be regarded as a largely positive … [Read more...]
Leaked doc: David Cameron’s plans to make the EU fit UK energy policy
After Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk, it’s David Cameron’s turn to seize the moment and promote a vision for EU energy security that neatly fits the UK’s own energy objectives. In a leaked “non-paper” seen by Energy Post the UK Prime Minister sets out what he wants EU leaders to agree at their next summit in Brussels in June. Cameron calls for energy security to be embedded in the EU’s 2030 climate and energy package, full freedom to develop … [Read more...]
You cannot compare apples with climate policies: why there is no Modelgate in Brussels
The European Commission has recently suggested a new greenhouse gas reduction target for 2030 that is perceived as too low by many NGOs. Moreover, some claim that the Commission has hidden the fact that higher emission reductions than proposed would lead to GDP gains. Brigitte Knopf from the Potsdam-Institute for Climate Impact Research argues that GDP gains are a very specific finding with a non-standard model and that emission targets can only … [Read more...]
Experts warn: the “Great European Energy Transition” can still go wrong
The EU’s great power transition – the liberalisation and integration of its energy markets and the expansion of renewables – has reached a crucial stage. According to three seasoned energy experts, the EU's energy project - one of the greatest missions ever to be undertaken by the European Union - has delivered some positive results, but it is also faced with mounting challenges - political uncertainty being the most prominent one. The … [Read more...]
Samuele Furfari: “If Russia cuts the gas tap, it can forget its dream of selling gas to China one day”
The EU has made remarkable progress in improving its security of supply over the last decade and should not worry that Russia will cut off its gas supplies, says Professor Samuele Furfari in an interview with Energy Post Brussels Correspondent Hughes Belin. A long-time senior advisor at the European Commission, Professor Furfari, author of a brandnew provocative book in French - "Vive les énergies fossiles!" - says the world has entered a new … [Read more...]
How competition works in the electricity sector? This is how!
The EU has set itself a deadline to “complete” the internal energy market by 2014. However, many EU member states have not yet adequately implemented the EU’s energy directives. There is still a lot of scepticsm in Europe about the blessings of a competitive, integrated energy market. One of the countries that has done most to liberalise its energy market is the Netherlands. So what has been the result for energy consumers? Energy Post’s editor … [Read more...]
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