Energy Post reported recently that German utility RWE is âshedding its old business model and embracing the energy transitionâ. This is not surprising, writes solar industry pioneer Peter F. Varadi. In fact, says Varadi, the new strategy merely formalizes what is already happening in practice. (Photo: Tim Fuller) … [Read more...]
VIDEO: 2030 Climate & Energy – Will Europe have the courage to fix its climate & energy tools?
Sonja van Renssen, leading environment journalist at viEUws.eu, gives an insight into the EUâs 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...]
How renewables will transform commercial and (geo)political relations
The role that renewable energy could play in changing the balance of power in the world is often overlooked. Rick Bosman of the Dutch Research Institute for Transitions (DRIFT) in Rotterdam and Daniel Scholten, Assistant Professor at Delft University of Technology, undertake a thought experiment with stunning implications for future consumer-producer relations. Must reading for energy market and political strategists. (Illustration Tjebbe van … [Read more...]
Crowdfunding renewables: game-changer for the energy sector?
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
Brussels wants both a single European energy market and 20% renewables in the energy mix by 2020. The latter goal, however, Â risks disrupting the former. The Commission must resolve this tension in new state aid guidelines for energy for 2014-2020. Â The renewables sector warns that the conditions the Commission is currently considering threaten the renewable energy sector. (Photo: uSwitch) … [Read more...]
Getting electric cars on the road: itâs the price, stupid!
 A lot of arguments are put foward of why consumers would not want to buy electric vehicles, such as ârange anxietyâ or worries about lack of infrastruture. But according to Eduardo AvendaĂąo of cleantech startup Ozone Drive, there is only one thing that really matters in the end: the price. Both policymakers and industry should focus on bringing down the sales price of electric cars. This is all the more important as government subsidies for … [Read more...]
Exclusive: RWE sheds old business model, embraces transition
RWE, Germanyâs largest power producer, has decided to radically depart from its traditional business model based on large-scale thermal power production. Henceforth, the company will âcreate value by leading the transition to the future energy worldâ. Â This is shown by confidential strategy documents that were discussed at a recent meeting of RWEâs Supervisory Board in Warsaw which Energy Post has seen. Photo: RWE power plant in Hamm-Uentrop … [Read more...]
VIDEO: Uncertainty, not ILUC is holding back biofuels in Europe
Biofuels: regulatory uncertainty threatens to derail a fledgling European industry
The European Parliament and EU member states are completely deadlocked over new biofuels legislation. Although the Parliament may decide this week to start negotiations with member states, the two camps are so far apart that a deal seems almost inconceivable before 2015. The regulatory uncertainty is threatening to paralyse the European biofuels sector â and even to kill off progress in âadvancedâ (climate-friendly) biofuels. Sonja van Renssen … [Read more...]
The Dutch Energiewende
With the National Energy Accord, signed on 6 September, the Netherlands has its own version of the Energiewende. Or has it? Energy Post editor Karel Beckman explains the ins and outs of the Accord and discusses its implications for the future of Dutch energy policy. His verdict: despite the hype that has surrounded the Accord, it does not come anywhere near an âenergy transitionâ in the German style. … [Read more...]
VIDEO: EU biofuels policy – ILUC rapporteur Lepage throws gauntlet to member states
The emergence and great future of “smart” PV systems
The next step in the evolution of solar PV is the emergence of the Smart PV System with integrated batteries, writes Peter F. Varadi, one of the solar industryâs great pioneers. Germany is leading the trend, which Varadi predicts will be followed globally and will have a profound impact on the structure of electricity markets across the world. Varadi, winner of the 2004 European Photovoltaic Industry Associationâs (EPIA) John Bonda award in … [Read more...]
Second generation biofuels? US Navy comes to the rescue
In a noteworthy article for Foreign Policy magazine, US Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus reveals how the US military is cutting its dependence on fossil fuels and making a great push for âadvanced biofuelsâ. It is doing this for fear of falling behind in the âeco-arms raceâ. Will the US military's program provide the boost the second-generation biofuels so badly needs? Photo: Exercise of the Green Fleet of the US Navy … [Read more...]
Germanyâs âEnergiewendeâ Shows Why We Need Nuclear
Germanyâs energy transition has been used by activists and governments as evidence that we can solve climate change with wind and solar, and that we donât need nuclear power. But according to Max Luke and Jessica Lovering of the Breakthrough Institute, if we take the fight against CO2 emissions seriously, it would be foolish â and very expensive â to limit the options to renewables alone and not to include nuclear power. Nuclear power plant … [Read more...]
Five lessons from Germany’s Energiewende
The German renewable energy transition is moving ahead at an impressive pace. What can other countries learn from what has been achieved so far? And what are the main challenges ahead? Sam Friggens of Abundance Generation, a UK crowdfunding initiative for renewable energy projects, sums up five lessons that can be drawn from the German experience. It can be done elsewehere, he says, but you need a new kind of energy market. Photo: WWF … [Read more...]
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