The Groningen based gas trading company GasTerra closed the largest Green Gas deal of the Netherlands. GasTerra will buy 23 million m3 renewable gas annually , sufficient for 15,000 households. The gas comes from a company called BioRights that develops a production location in Hardenberg to convert biomass into second generation biofuels. The biogas produced is upgraded to natural gas quality and fed into the gas grid of Gasunie. Also bioethanol … [Read more...]
The greatest business opportunity of our time
Amory Lovins, the founder of the famous Rocky Mountain Institute in Colorado, has written a book in which he presents an energy future without coal, oil or nuclear power. Yet he insists his is not a green or left-wing vision. On the contrary, it will save money and create wealth. “The energy transformation is the greatest business opportunity of our time.” … [Read more...]
EU energy ministers unable to agree on biofuels policy
Ministers in the Transport, Telecommunications and Energy Council on 12 December held an in-depth discussion on a revised version of the draft text, which aims to minimise the impact of land use change on greenhouse gas emissions. The draft indirect land use (ILUC) directive aims to promote the move towards biofuels while limiting the possibility of increased greenhouse gas emissions due to increased biofuels production. It will amend the … [Read more...]
Auto and oil companies present long-term plan for biofuels in Europe
A consortium of six major car manufacturers and oil companies in Europe - Volkswagen, Daimler, Honda, Neste Oil, OMV and Shell – has today published a “biofuel roadmap” for the EU to 2030. The roadmap, prepared by technical consultancy E4tech, may be seen as an atttempt by industry  to transcend the current deadlock between the European Parliament and EU Member States over new biofuels legislation, which is crippling biofuel investment. The … [Read more...]
German Environment Ministry says CO2-neutral Germany “almost possible”
Can an industrialized country such as Germany avoid nearly all of its man-made greenhouse gas emissions? “Clearly yes”, answers a new study by the German Federal Environment Agency (Umweltbundesamt). And it can be done without carbon capture and storage, nuclear power and first generation biomass. However, energy demand must be reduced by half and “unnecessary transport” must be avoided. “It is technically possible to reduce greenhouse gas … [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...]
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 – and even to kill off progress in “advanced” (climate-friendly) biofuels. Sonja van Renssen … [Read more...]
VIDEO: EU biofuels policy – ILUC rapporteur Lepage throws gauntlet to member states
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 “advanced biofuels”. It is doing this for fear of falling behind in the “eco-arms race”. 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...]
EU internal energy market top priority for Lithuania
By Sonja van Renssen and Hughes Belin Expectations hang heavy over the EU’s autumn agenda for energy and climate policy. The internal energy market, grid investments, the broken EU Emission Trading Scheme, the future of nuclear, a dogged debate over indirect land-use change (ILUC), and a new climate and energy policy for 2030 are only just held at bay by July’s unusually balmy weather here in Brussels. Sonja van Renssen and Hughes Belin look … [Read more...]
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