Heating and cooling accounts for almost half of primary energy consumption in Europe, yet it has been largely ignored in the EU’s climate and energy policies. This is now starting to change. At the end of this year, member states in the EU must submit an assessment of the low-carbon potential provided by co-generation and district heating systems. Clare Taylor looks at some of the EU-funded district heating and co-generation projects that are … [Read more...]
Interview Jean-Michel Glachant: “To get an Energy Union, you need new institutions”
The “Energy Union” for Europe is a dream that the European Commission will find hard to realise with its existing powers limited to the internal market and competition law, says Jean-Michel Glachant, Robert Schuman Chair, Director of the Florence School of Regulation and Director of the Loyola de Palacio Energy Policy Programme at the European University Institute. In an interview with Energy Post, he applauds the ambition behind this creative … [Read more...]
viEUws VIDEO: Energy Union – A serious test for European integration
Journalist Hughes Belin investigates the prospects of the Energy Union strategy and its governance structure, for viEUws.eu, ahead of the European Commission’s official presentation on 25 February. … [Read more...]
Waiting for the next oil crisis
Many commentators have pointed out that, as current low oil prices make it difficult for oil companies to invest in exploration and production, we can expect lower supply in future, and therefore a return to high prices. But according to Nick Cunningham of Oilprice.com, the reality is much worse. He notes that even when oil prices were high, over the past years, oil companies were struggling to replace their reserves. The world, he warns, will … [Read more...]
Georg Zachmann, Bruegel Institute: “The EU must go for an Energy Union – or renationalise energy markets”
“We can either go for a European market or a renationalisation of energy policy. Trying to incentivise investment with volatile national schemes and have a European market at the same time is the worst option.” That’s the opinion of influential German energy expert Georg Zachmann, Research Fellow at the Brussels-based think tank the Bruegel Institute. In an interview with Energy Post, Zachmann, who has published widely about EU energy policy, … [Read more...]
The significance of the UK party leaders’ joint climate pledge
The UK's three main political leaders have pledged to tackle climate change after the next election, whatever the outcome. Simon Evans of the Carbon Brief assesses the significance of the unusual joint pre-election pledge. He concludes that the substance of the agreement is not new, but it will “prevent backsliding on climate policy by future governments”. It will also serve as an example to countries across the world.  … [Read more...]
viEUws VIDEO: “Fuel Quality Directive should be extended after 2020” lead MEP underlines
Sonja van Renssen is joined by Finnish MEP Nils Torvalds (ALDE), rapporteur on Indirect Land-Use Change (ILUC) for the European Parliament, on viEUws.eu to talk about the position of transport in the EU 2030 climate and energy policy. … [Read more...]
The Energy Union: it’s now or never for a European energy policy
Rarely has an idea conquered the policymaking conversation in the EU as rapidly as that of the Energy Union. In less than a year it has become the big package in which all EU climate and energy policies are to be wrapped up. Where did the idea come from? How will it change EU energy policy? Editor Karel Beckman spoke to experts from Poland, Luxembourg, France, Italy and the UK to find out. They agree it's now or never for a true European energy … [Read more...]
The myth of the dark side of the Energiewende
Critics of renewable energy have mocked the Energiewende, claiming that it has led to an increase in coal power and related CO2 emissions in Germany. But Conrad Kunze and Paul Lehmann of the Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research – UFZ show that this is a myth. German coal generation and CO2 emissions rose not because of but in spite of the Energiewende. They would have been even higher if Germany had not phased out its nuclear power and … [Read more...]
The battle for biofuels flares up again – the stakes: survival of the European biodiesel industry
If the European Parliament get its way, higher sustainability standards will be applied to biofuels, which, industry representatives say, will spell the end of the European biodiesel industry. Several EU Member States are preparing to defend their biodiesel sectors. Meanwhile, biofuels are threatening to lose out against electro-mobility in the EU’s post-2020 plans to decarbonise the transport sector, reports Sonja van Renssen from Brussels. … [Read more...]
North Americanism: the new Republican plan to colonize Mexico and Canada, take on Putin and wreck the climate
Republican leaders in the US have developed a geopolitical strategy, which, according to famous energy author Michael Klare, is “nothing less than a plan to convert Canada and Mexico into energy colonies of the United States, while creating a North American power bloc capable of aggressively taking on Russia, China and other foreign challengers”. He warns that this vision of a “North American energy fortress”, which Republican presidential … [Read more...]
viEUws VIDEO: Brussels Briefing on Energy – special on Energy Union
In this Brussels Briefing on Energy for viEUws.eu, Hughes Belin provides an overview of progress made on the EU’s Energy Union project, ahead of the formal launch of the Energy Union by the European Commission on 25 February. … [Read more...]
Nations really do go to war over oil
Politicians usually claim they wage war for "idealistic" reasons. Conspiracy theorists usually claim "it's all about the oil" (or other resources). As it turns out, they are more right than the politicians, according to new research that shows that military interventions often have a lot to do with oil. … [Read more...]
Vindication for Allan Hoffman: the US has turned the corner on renewables
It has been 37 years since Dr Allan Hoffman gave President Jimmy Carter the plan that could have started America’s renewable revolution. The idea was shelved after Reagan was elected. Hoffman waited, as administration after administration ignored the potential, until Barack Obama was elected. The retired senior Department of Energy executive views the growth of US renewables during 2014 as a vindication of what he and his colleagues saw decades … [Read more...]
viEUws VIDEO: “We need ILUC factors for biofuels”, says rapporteur Nils Torvalds
Nils Torvalds MEP (ALDE) - the European Parliament’s rapporteur on Indirect Land-Use Change (ILUC) – joins journalist Sonja van Renssen on viEUws.eu to discuss the future of biofuels. … [Read more...]
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