Energy Post

Daily reports on the European and Global energy transition

EU’s latest sanctions on Russian Oil: what are they and will it work?

by

On June 3, the EU agreed an embargo on Russian crude oil and petroleum products. Ben Cahill at the Center for Strategic and International Studies looks at the details of the latest sanctions imposed in response to Russia's ongoing invasion of Ukraine, and assesses the possible consequences. The aim is to cut oil imports from Russia by 90 percent by February 2023. A critical part of the sanctions is a ban on providing shipping insurance to Russian … [Read more...]

Critical minerals: price spikes are affecting Wind, Solar, Batteries, EVs

by

A wide range of critical minerals are needed for the energy transition. Tae-Yoon Kim at the IEA summarises the reasons why we should expect this to be a year of price spikes due in the main to the Russia-Ukraine war and post-lockdown supply chain bottlenecks. So severe is the problem that the long record of declining costs in clean energy technologies like solar, wind, batteries and electric vehicles is being reversed. Although these crises will … [Read more...]

Event Summary: “CHINA: Carbon Neutral by 2060 – Innovation”

by

Here are the highlights of our 2-day 4-session workshop “CHINA: Carbon Neutral by 2060 - Innovation”, compiled by Sara Stefanini. It’s a quick and efficient way for readers to see the main points made by our expert panellists. Held at the end of May, it was the fourth of our EU-China workshops since the first was held in November 2020, produced for the EU China Energy Cooperation Platform (ECECP). As always, leading speakers from the EU, major … [Read more...]

Netherlands and China co-operate on Aquifer Thermal Energy Storage for heating and cooling

by

Aquifer Thermal Energy Storage (ATES) accesses the stable temperature of groundwater to warm buildings in winter and cool them in summer. The solution uses much less power than conventional heating and cooling systems. As Daisy Chi at ECECP explains, ATES first took off in China in the 1960s but ran into problems with the required circulation of the groundwater. However, the technology has been developed and optimised in the Netherlands: of the … [Read more...]

Will China’s gigantic wind and solar “bases” mean targets met four years early?

by and

China will have doubled its 2020 installed wind and solar capacity by 2025, exceeding 1,100GW, according to government plans. That’s four years sooner than required to meet their target of peak CO2 emissions by 2030 and carbon neutrality before 2060. Writing for Carbon Brief, Lauri Myllyvirta and Xing Zhang at CREA explain that the main driver is the creation of “clean energy bases”: large-scale concentrations of wind and solar power on deserts … [Read more...]

Record Renewables additions for 2021 and 2022 despite supply bottlenecks prove Solar & Wind’s resilience

by

Despite – or perhaps because of – global market and political turmoil, renewable power is set to break another record in 2022. That’s after 2021 also saw record new capacity from solar, wind and other renewables worldwide. It’s mainly driven by solar PV in China and Europe as governments around the world take advantage of renewables’ energy security and climate benefits, according to the IEA’s latest Renewable Energy Market Update. 295GW of new … [Read more...]

China’s impressive growth in Renewables and Transmission now needs Market innovation

by

***REGISTER NOW for CHINA: Carbon Neutral by 2060 - INNOVATION*** - China has the world’s largest power plant fleet for both coal and renewables. Together they make up most of the total power capacity of over 2,200 GW... STOP PRESS: China's Transition is the biggest single opportunity for managing climate change and also for those businesses who are ready with the innovations that will ensure the best possible outomes in an incredibly … [Read more...]

Piloting peer-to-peer electricity markets in China and the EU

by

Peer-to-peer (P2P) electricity trading is being promoted, to varying degrees, in both the EU and China. It allows individual citizens and businesses to produce and trade their own solar power (local, rooftop), while enabling the close-to-real-time balancing of supply and demand to maintain system stability. Helena Uhde at the ECECP gives an insight into the current status, implementation, regulations and policies in both regions. She cites two … [Read more...]

Using electrostatic repulsion to clean Solar panels, avoiding up to 30% power loss

by

Dust build-up on solar panels can reduce the power output by as much as 30% in just one month. Even a 1% reduction in power for a 150MW solar installation could result in a $200,000 (€180,000) loss in annual revenue. Cleaning normally requires purified water, but that needs to be trucked in to prime locations like deserts where solar potential is highest. Cleaning with brushes is labour intensive and can damage surfaces irreparably. David … [Read more...]

Russia-Ukraine and Europe’s energy strategy: a snapshot of a fast-moving crisis

by

Every day brings news of how Europe’s energy policy is reacting to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. It’s a big topic and fast moving. Helen Farrell gives a summary of the situation so far. She lists some of the major U-turns at both EU and national levels, the IEA’s ten-point recommendations, the feasibility and repercussions of cutting Russian fossil imports, the prospects for clean energy (solar, wind, nuclear, storage) and our net zero targets. … [Read more...]

Critical minerals and materials: supply bottlenecks and risks need international cooperation

by , , and

The growth in demand for minerals and materials needed for the energy transition is putting a strain on supply. Mining and processing are the two key bottlenecks. Dolf Gielen, Martina Lyons, Francisco Boshell and Peter Chawah at IRENA summarise the multiple challenges. New capacity is not the only problem: the geographical concentration of where the mining and, in particular, the processing is being done is the primary risk. China’s dominance in … [Read more...]

China should comfortably meet its 2030 Renewables target. But its emissions?

by

The long Covid lockdown seems to have had little effect on China’s electricity generation growth. In 2021, total generation increased by about 750 TWh (that’s around 1.3 times Germany's absolute total). Solar PV capacity grew by 53 GW last year (equal to the total installed solar capacity in Germany). Half of all offshore wind turbines installed worldwide in 2021 were off the coast of China: the strong additions were accelerated by the January … [Read more...]

What’s your average lifetime CO2 footprint by year of birth, to achieve net-zero by 2050?

by , and

To reach net zero by 2050, babies born today must have CO2 footprints ten times smaller over their lifetimes than their parents and grandparents. In rich countries it’ll be fifteen times, while in emerging economies like India and China it’ll be around four times smaller. Laura Cozzi, Olivia Chen and Hyeji Kim at the IEA summarise how they have calculated the average allowable lifetime CO2 footprint by year of birth. Taking the two extremes, the … [Read more...]

Our Hydrogen future: 27 authors imagine the world in 2030-2050

by

Here’s something very different for our readers today, and an opportunity for you to register for our Webinar and Q&A on Wednesday Feb 16th at 09:00 CET (register here). It’s to mark the book launch of “Touching Hydrogen Future”, where 27 energy experts from around the world have written a chapter each. They are fictional accounts of what our world could like in the near future. The countries covered are the Netherlands (2029), Denmark … [Read more...]

The Green Hydrogen disruption: what nations, firms and investors are doing to reshape global energy

by

Everyone knows the new hydrogen economy has huge up front capital costs to make the green H2 (called GH2), the logistical challenges of delivering it where it’s needed, and creating the customer base to consume it. But Tim Buckley at IEEFA believes the policy support is already shaping up to make GH2 a successful disruptor of the global energy system. He runs through the nations, companies and investors at the beginning of the learning curve that … [Read more...]