Energy Post

Daily reports on the European and Global energy transition

Why an EU-US trade deal matters for the energy sector

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This week the second round of negotiations for an EU-US free trade agreement is taking place. Energy has not been making headlines in the context of these talks, but a TTIP (Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership) will have far-reaching implications for the energy sector, e.g. with regard to oil sands, LNG and shale gas. NGO’s worry that the TTIP will give big business the chance to undermine Europe’s environmental legislation. Sonja van … [Read more...]

Why a carbon tax is a bad idea

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With the EU Emission Trading Scheme (ETS) struggling and “carbon credit frauds” in the news, many analysts argue we should get rid of carbon trading and opt for carbon taxes instead. But according to Alex Trembath and Matthew Step, carbon taxes will do nothing to cut emissions because they don’t lead to innovation. “Steve Jobs didn’t develop the PC because the price of typewriters went up.” … [Read more...]

Peak Coal in China – or long, high plateau?

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Recent reports predicting a "peak" in Chinese coal power consumption are misleading, Armond Cohen and Kexin Liu of the Clean Air Task Force (CAFT) point out. The amount of Chinese coal-fired power generation will "continue to skyrocket". The same goes for other parts of Southeast Asia. The only way to prevent climate disaster is by scaling up carbon capture and storage (CCS). (Photo from Shanxi province by Bert van Dijk) … [Read more...]

VIDEO: 2030 Climate & Energy – Will Europe have the courage to fix its climate & energy tools?

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Sonja van Renssen, leading environment journalist at viEUws.eu, gives an insight into the EU’s progress on reducing green house gas emissions in order to tackle climate change and an outlook on the debate on reduction targets for 2030 coming up next year. … [Read more...]

EU Commission: feed-in tariffs should be abandoned

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The European Commission has presented a Communication which gives guidance to Member States on “how to make the most of public interventions” in the electricity market. The Communication discusses “how to reform existing” interventions, especially renewable energy subsidy schemes, and how to effectively design new ones, especially for back-up capacity schemes." The Commission notes that “in some very specific cases public intervention might be … [Read more...]

EU Court upholds primary importance of internal energy market

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In its first ruling on mandatory unbundling, the European Court of Justice has deemed this principle so vital to the internal market that it supersedes fundamental freedoms enshrined in the EU Treaties, such as free movement of capital. It is a victory of public interest over pure economics. The ruling in the case of the Netherlands vs. three energy companies comes on the eve of fresh EU guidance intended to better align the state interventions … [Read more...]

VIDEO: Brussels Briefing on Energy – State Aid and more

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In this latest Brussels Briefing on Energy for viEUws - the EU Policy Broadcaster, leading journalist Hughes Belin provides an overview of the the European Union’s most pressing energy issues: State intervention in the energy sector Unbundling of the electricity and gas distribution European Commission’s list of energy infrastructure projects Energy Efficiency Directive … [Read more...]

Crowdfunding renewables: game-changer for the energy sector?

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Crowdfunding of renewable energy projects is growing fast in Europe. If this grassroots movement gets organized in time to access the big money available in the next round of cohesion funding, it could have far reaching effects on the European energy sector. … [Read more...]

EU renewables sector fears for future subsidies

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Brussels wants both a single European energy market and 20% renewables in the energy mix by 2020. The latter goal, however,  risks disrupting the former. The Commission must resolve this tension in new state aid guidelines for energy for 2014-2020.  The renewables sector warns that the conditions the Commission is currently considering threaten the renewable energy sector. (Photo: uSwitch) … [Read more...]

A future for CCS? Set emission performance standards

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Carbon capture and storage (CCS) has come to a dead end in Europe. Although the EU is carrying out a consultation to revive the CCS programme, it is already evident that the EU Emission Trading Scheme is too uncertain to provide a clear business case for CCS. If it wants to revive CCS, the EU should follow the US example and implement emission performance standards for power plants, argues energy consultant Vincent Swinkels. Photo: … [Read more...]

Fossil fuel euphoria: oil and gas forever!

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A European country like Germany may have embarked on an energy transformation away from fossil fuels - with major German energy companies like RWE following suit - worldwide there is no such trend, notes US energy expert and author Michael T. Klare. On the contrary, countries and companies, particularly in the US, are euphoric about all the new "unconventional" oil and gas coming on the market. "What we're seeing is a sea change in elite thinking … [Read more...]

Europe is not alone on climate

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Cynics claim that the EU has failed in its attempt to achieve a worldwide climate policy and is only hurting its own economy by insisting on highly ambitious CO2 emission reduction targets. But this is a far too simplistic view of how the world works, argues Liz Gallagher of E3G. According to Gallagher, Europe has achieved much more than most observers realise. Countries across the world are increasingly modelling their policies on the EU … [Read more...]

How to turn Bulgaria into Eastern Europe’s energy hub and gateway

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Bulgaria has become notorious for the failure of many big energy projects in recent years. Yet there is more going on in the Bulgarian energy sector than meets the eye, writes independent energy consultant Valentin Stoyanov. According to Stoyanov, Bulgaria could even become one of Europe’s main energy hubs. The country has strong and diverse energy assets to start with, ranging from coal and nuclear power to hydropower and renewable energies. It … [Read more...]

The North Seas Grid: how to get it built

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Investors stand ready to build a stunning amount of offshore wind capacity in the North Seas, as well as the interconnectors needed to integrate the North Seas region into a massive wind power production and trading area, new research from E3G shows. But the E3G researchers warn that most projects are still in an early phase and may not get built because of policy and regulatory barriers. They call on policymakers to develop a joint … [Read more...]