If the EU is serious about raising the carbon price in the EU Emission Trading System (ETS), the best option for the short term is to strengthen the Market Stability Reserve by increasing the amount of âsurplus allowancesâ taken out of the system, according to HĂŚge Fjellheim, Head of carbon analysis  at Thomson Reuters Point Carbon. Fjellheim discusses progress on the ETS reform in light of the recent vote in the European Parliamentâs Environment … [Read more...]
Groningen gas production and earthquakes: safety at all cost?
Production from the giant Groningen gas field in the Netherlands has been cut drastically after increasingly heavy earthquakes began to affect the region. Some would like to see Dutch gas production stop altogether, but according to geophysicist (ex-Shell) Jilles van den Beukel Groningen gas could still play a valuable role in North West European energy supply. In the short term it offers a better compromise from a financial, environmental and … [Read more...]
âNegative emissionsâ: the next challenge for climate policy
If the Paris climate objectives are upheld, policymakers will soon be facing calls to set emission-reduction targets of much more than 100 percent, write Oliver Geden of the German Institute for International and Security Affairs (SWP) in Berlin and Stefan Schäfer of the Institute for Advanced Sustainability Studies (IASS) in Potsdam. But the debate about how to achieve ânegative emissionsâ â and who will have to achieve them â has not even … [Read more...]
Donald Trumpâs carbon-obsessed energy policy and the planetary nightmare to comeÂ
Despite apparent contradictions, the main thrust of Donald Trumpâs energy policy approach is very clear, writes author and energy expert Michael Klare: he aims to abolish all regulations that stand in the way of unrestrained fossil fuel extraction. Even if this spells doom for segments of the fossil fuel industry that will get hurt by low prices â not to mention the planet. Courtesy Tomdispatch.com. … [Read more...]
A rush to subsidies as power plants in Europe face existential threat
So-called capacity markets are driving what appears to be a major new trend in energy policy across Europe: more public subsidies for electric utilities, writes independent consultant Gerard Wynn. In a new report for the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis (IEEFA), Wynn takes a critical look at capacity payments in Spain, which cost taxpayers âŹ1 billion annually. Meanwhile, the UK just forked out ÂŁ1.2 billion in a capacity … [Read more...]
How Europe can deliver on energy efficiency
The European Commissionâs recently released Clean Energy Package, has a 2030 target of 30% energy savings. An important policy instrument to deliver these are Energy Efficiency Obligation (EEO) schemes. According to new research from the Regulatory Assistance Project (RAP), not only are EEOs a highly cost-effective way to deliver energy efficiency, over the long term they can deliver consumer savings worth more than 4 times the costs of meeting … [Read more...]
Time to give the chop to fracking: Fraxit now!
On Tuesday the US Environmental Protection Agency released a definitive study concluding that hydraulic fracturing can impact drinking water at each stage in the shale gas production process. Do we really want to see 16,000 or more shale gas wells drilled in the British countryside carrying the same and other risks, ask professors Peter Strachan and Alex Russell? Â They assess the case for fracking in the UK against six "stress tests" and conclude … [Read more...]
Open letter to policymakers: make Europe Renewable Energy World Leader by 2020
Europe should embark on a collective project to become the world leader in renewable energy by 2020, write Enrico Letta, President of the Jacques Delors Institute, Herman Van Rompuy, President Emeritus of the European Council and President of the European Policy Center and Bertrand Piccard, pilot of the Solar Impulse, in an open letter to policymakers. Such a leadership effort would go a long way to addressing a multitude of challenges facing … [Read more...]
How utilities can deal with the threat of community energy
Community energy is the next big threat to utility companies â unless they manage to become part of this emerging energy economy. They still have a window of opportunity, says Craig Cavanaugh of software services company Omnetric Group, who spent six months researching the energy community market in Europe and the US. He sees three main opportunities for utilities: they can become âcollaborative partnerâ, âcommunity energy service providerâ or … [Read more...]
Energy may be ripe for the sharing economy, thanks to Bitcoinâs blockchain technology
The marriage of blockchain technology with microgrid applications could transform the way communities and organisations use renewable energy, writes Lexie Briggs of Advanced Energy Economy (AEE), an association of businesses in the US that includes companies such as Vestas, Siemens, Microsoft, GE and Schneider Electric. Siemens has just launched a project in Brooklyn, New York, that allows neighbours to purchase solar power from each otherâs … [Read more...]
Dutch government: only EVs and hydrogen cars from 2035, phase-out natural gas
The Dutch government has presented a long-term energy plan that stipulates that no new cars with combustion engines may be sold from 2035 on. In addition, in the Netherlands â for over 50 years the largest natural gas producer in the EU â all houses will be disconnected from the gas grid by 2050. The plan has broad parliamentary support â in fact, many political parties believe it does not go far enough. … [Read more...]
The OPEC deal: a recipe for volatility
Last weekâs OPEC deal takes place in a very different context than earlier deals from the 1990s, writes Geoffrey Styles, Managing Director of independent US-based consultancy GSW Strategy Group. US shale producers are looking to fill supply gaps, inventories are higher than ever, and alternatives to oil in transport are emerging. If thatâs not a recipe for volatility, Styles wonders, then what is? Original post. … [Read more...]
The big Dutch coal mistake and the future of coal in Europe
RWE, Uniper and Engie have fairly quietly written off billions of euros on three brand new coal power plants in the Netherlands, according to a new report from independent consultant Gerard Wynn for the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis (IEEFA). In an article for his own website, the Energy and Carbon Blog, Wynn notes that the Dutch experience means no new coal power plants are likely to be built again any time soon in Europe. … [Read more...]
EU energy package: What it means for coal, renewables and efficiency
The literature on EU energy regulations got longer by about a thousand pages [on 30 November], as the European Commission put forward its vision for achieving a âclean energy transitionâ, writes Sophie Yeo for Carbon Brief. The vast collection of documents â including revisions to directives, impact assessments, enquiries and new regulations â will determine the future of energy in the EU up to 2030. It touches upon subjects including coal … [Read more...]
Fracking: âGang plank to climate chaosâ or ânecessary part of decarbonisationâ?
Fracking is a threat to the climate and the environment in the UK, says Professor Peter Strachan of Robert Gordon University. No, the climate benefits of domestically produced shale gas outweigh the risks, argues Stephen Tindale, co-founder of consultancy Climate Answers. The two men held a fascinating debate at the Houses of Parliament in London on 29 November hosted by the All-Parliamentary Group on Unconventional Oil and Gas. Ruth Hayhurst of … [Read more...]
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