How can we transform the European energy system while improving security of supply and competitiveness? In a webinar hosted by Energy Post and sponsored by EDF, four energy experts discuss the future of the European energy system and answer questions from listeners. … [Read more...]
Everything you always wanted to know about carbon trading in China
China is moving rapidly towards a national carbon emission trading market. Currently there are seven regional carbon markets operating in China, and these will be merged into a national one in 2016. … [Read more...]
Europe’s solar market falls over 30% in 2014, global solar grows
The global solar market grew slightly in 2014 to about 40 GW, while Europe only installed around 7 GW of solar, according to an announcement from the European Photovoltaic Industry Association (EPIA) . The UK market was the only bright spot, says EPIA, increasing installations over 50 percent to more than 2 GW. … [Read more...]
A new framework for climate policy: why carbon pricing is not enough
It is often argued, especially by representatives from the energy sector, that climate change policy should be based exclusively on carbon pricing. In the EU this means: on the EU Emission Trading Scheme. However, a new book by Professor Michael Grubb convincingly shows why such a policy approach is misguided. We also need policies on energy efficiency and renewables as well as policies that drive system change. … [Read more...]
Russia’s Grand Gas Strategy – the power to dominate Europe?
For Russia, energy resources, especially gas, are viewed as a tool to project power beyond its borders. However, Russia’s room for “gas games” is constrained by its own capacities, the gas strategies of other players, and the EU’s ability to project its regulatory power, write Zuzanna Nowak and JarosĹ‚aw Ćwiek-Karpowicz of the Polish Institute of International Affairs (PISM) and Jakub Godzimirski of the Norwegian Institute of International Affairs … [Read more...]
Solar PV can help not hinder the grid
Decentralised renewables such as solar panels on people’s roofs can actively support the grid, rather than being a nuisance for it. This is the main conclusion from an EU research project called “MetaPV”, whose final results were presented at a conference in Brussels on 24 March. … [Read more...]
Big Oil’s broken business model: the real story behind the oil price collapse
The underlying cause of the oil price collapse is to be found in the collapse of Big Oil’s production-maximizing business model, writes Michael Klare, professor at Hampshire College and author of many books on the geopolitics of energy. According to Klare, the oil companies were operating according to a business model that assumed an ever-increasing demand for their products, no matter their cost. They also assumed that concern over climate … [Read more...]
Interview chief climate negotiator for France Paul Watkinson: “COP21 will not solve everything”
The COP21 climate conference in Paris in December needs to lead to a “binding agreement” that will provide “a long-term basis for the future”, says Paul Watkinson, head of the Climate Negotiation Team of France, in an interview with Energy Post. “We cannot continue negotiating. We need to decide on something that will last and will become stronger as time goes on”. But Watkinson warns that COP21 will “not solve everything.” It will also be “a … [Read more...]
Fraunhofer: Solar power will cost 2 cts/kWh in 2050
“In a few years, solar energy plants will deliver the most inexpensive power available in many parts of the world. By 2025, the cost of producing power in central and southern Europe will have declined to between 4 and 6 cents per kilowatt hour, and by 2050 to as low as 2 to 4 cents.” These are the main conclusions of a study by the Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems commissioned by the German think tank Agora Energiewende. In view of … [Read more...]
Winter is (already) coming again – trilateral gas talks recommence
Brussels is hosting the kick-off of a fresh series of trilateral gas talks between Russia, Ukraine and the EU this Friday. The goal is to agree, by June, on a successor to the current “winter package” on Ukrainian gas purchases from Russia, which would settle gas – and cash – flows between the two countries until autumn 2016, when an international court in Stockholm is expected to rule on their dispute. … [Read more...]
Ex-Polish Prime Minister Tusk reclaims Energy Union agenda
Energy security through new fossil fuel supplies and transport infrastructure, not energy efficiency and renewables, dominates the conclusions issued by EU heads of state and government after their first debate on an Energy Union for Europe in Brussels on Thursday. Former Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk – now President of the European Council of Ministers – appears to have reclaimed in large part the Energy Union he helped set in motion, … [Read more...]
Europe’s Energy Union: a big deal – but is it a good deal?
The Energy Union, writes Jonathan Gaventa, Associate Director of E3G, offers Europe a unique opportunity to move to a more modern, efficient and technologically advanced energy system, to bring down Europe’s outrageously high energy import bill and to lead global clean energy markets. Unless we allow it to be hijacked by incumbent utilities and oil and gas players who will use it to advance their own interests. … [Read more...]
Why is CCS stuck in second gear? We need it to fight climate change
Although carbon capture and storage (CCS) is acknowledged by experts as a key technology to fight climate change, it is currently stuck in second gear, writes Howard J. Herzog  is Senior Research Engineer at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). The reason, he says, is that there is no market for CCS at this moment. He calls on policymakers to set a carbon price that would generate demand for CCS. … [Read more...]
Statoil’s big dilemma: should it continue to go for oil and gas – or transform itself into an energy service provider?
Norwegian oil giant Statoil, owned 67% by the Norwegian State, readily acknowledges the need to take drastic measures against climate change. But it nevertheless persists in a strategy aimed at expanding its oil and gas production globally. According to Anders Bjartnes, editor of the website Energi og Klima, the company cannot forever embrace these opposing views, “where verbal concerns go in one direction while strategy and cash go in the … [Read more...]
More coal plants are being cancelled than built
The global coal boom has started to slow, a new  report says, as more plans for new power plants are now being shelved than completed. The number of cancelled coal projects across the world has outstripped those completed at a rate of two to one since 2010, according to Sierra Club and CoalSwarm - two campaign groups that have tracked the progress of 3,900 intended plants since 1 January 2010. Article by Sophie Yeo of The Carbon Brief. … [Read more...]
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