Biofuels are returning to the political agenda in Europe as EU policymakers start to shape a strategy for reducing greenhouse gas emissions from transport after 2020. Biofuels producers continue to argue that they are an essential part of the solution, even as the low oil price puts an end to several cutting-edge projects, the European Commission prepares to publish a new report about indirect land-use change (ILUC) and some stakeholders urge a … [Read more...]
Search results for Climate Policy Tags
Cost of capital for renewables varies hugely across EU
It is much more expensive to undertake onshore wind projects in some European countries than others, according to the first-ever study of these costs for the entire EU-28. The EU-funded “Diacore” project finds moreover that market actors single out the design and reliability of renewable support schemes as the single biggest risk (after generic country risk) driving up the cost of capital. Best practice policy design could cut support costs for … [Read more...]
Carbon capture and storage comeback must focus on industry not energy
Since the Paris climate agreement and its ambitious resolve to keep global warming to 1.5C over pre-industrial temperatures, a number of influential publications have been declaring the death of carbon capture and storage (CCS). But critics fail to make a distinction between CCS for power plants and for industrial manufacturing, writes Charles Digges of the Norwegian NGO Bellona. CCS is the only way to substantially reduce industrial emissions. … [Read more...]
Future is hi-tech, high value-added and non-energy-intensive
The growth of advanced economies depends increasingly on hi-tech information rather than traditional commodities, writes Fereidoon Sionshansi, president of Menlo Energy Economics and publisher of the newsletter EEnergy Informer. It is no coincidence that ExxonMobil, long the largest US company, is no longer in the top three. “Future growth will depend on every smaller amounts of energy.” … [Read more...]
Renewable energy demand in Europe reaches record levels
The demand for renewable electricity in Europe based on Guarantees of Origin (GO) validated by the European EECS standard continued to grow in 2015. The growth is up more than 8% from 2014 and surpassed 340 TWh, reports ECOZH, a Norwegian renewable energy supplier. … [Read more...]
Why it’s so difficult to reduce CO2 emissions
There are a number of factors that make it systematically difficult to reduce CO2 emissions, writes Jilles van den Beukel, a geophysicist and former geoscientist for Shell. He argues that we should not approach the climate problem dogmatically but keep all options on the table, including drastic changes in lifestyle and geoengineering solutions. … [Read more...]
EXCLUSIVE: EU paints challenging picture of Europe’s nuclear future
In a leaked draft document obtained by Energy Post, the European Commission outlines the investments in the EU nuclear industry that it believes are needed out to 2050. The document, originally announced for last year, but off the table again for February, paints a challenging picture for the European nuclear industry. €450-550 billion will have to be spent on new plants and lifetime extensions, costs of decommissioning and waste management are … [Read more...]
Record increase renewables in Europe, but emissions stay level
2015 saw a record 2.5% increase in renewables generation in Europe, which now makes up 29% of total European electricity supply,reports UK think tank Sandbag. However, as a result of lower output from hydropower and nuclear power stations, the amount of fossil fuel generation barely changed. CO2-emissions from the power sector fell only 0.5% after a 7.5% fall in 2014, but according to Sandbag this year will see a rapid fall again. … [Read more...]
How to stop the fossil fuel industry from wrecking our worldÂ
In spite of the Paris Agreement, the fossil fuel industry is carrying on much as before, writes famous author and activist Bill McKibben, founder of NGO 350.org. This is partly because of the influence Big Oil has, but also because there are no legal grounds – from a climate perspective – on which to stop projects. However, notes McKibben, citizen groups are increasingly resisting projects at the local level. Courtsey Tomdispatch.com. … [Read more...]
Whatever happened to electricity market liberalisation?
In the EU, and the UK in particular, the liberalisation of the electricity market is rapidly being reversed and replaced by old-fashioned command-and-control policies, writes Carlo Stagnaro, Senior Fellow of the Italian free market think tank Istituto Bruno Leoni. One of the main reasons for this reversal are interventionist climate policies. According to Stagnaro, who has a new book out on energy liberalisation, this trend will lead to … [Read more...]
Why the new Saudi oil policy is likely to succeed
Many observers have been surprised by the willingness of Saudi Arabia to let the oil price collapse. But according to geophysicist and former geoscientist at Shell, Jilles van den Beukel the policy of the Saudis makes perfect sense. What is more, it is likely to succeed. … [Read more...]
Connect North Sea oil and gas platforms to offshore wind farms to produce green gas
Abandoned oil and gas platforms in the North Sea can be profitably converted into production and storage units that convert electricity from offshore wind farms into hydrogen and synthetic gas. That’s the main finding of a new study carried out by the Dutch Energy Delta Institute (EDI). A positive business case can be made for this application if the gas can be sold to a dedicated niche market for green gas, e.g. the chemical industry or the … [Read more...]
Record clean energy investment despite oil price collapse – but Europe stays behind
Clean energy investment surged in China, Africa, the US, Latin America and India in 2015, driving the world total to its highest ever figure, of $328.9bn, up 4% from 2014 and beating the previous record from 2011 by 3%, according to new figures from Bloomberg New Energy Finance. However, Europe was an exception with the lowest clean energy investment since 2006. In other news the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) published a new … [Read more...]
Interview Christoph Frei, Secretary General World Energy Council: “The key message from Paris: be part of the innovation frontier”
The key message of the Paris Climate Agreement is that the energy sector should be part of the drive towards renewable energy and part of the “innovation frontier”, says Christoph Frei, Secretary-General of the World Energy Council, the largest global network in the energy business, with member committees in over 90 countries. “The long road from Paris is to build on the best technology, to develop and deploy innovation. If you are not on the … [Read more...]
viEUws VIDEO: Top 5 environment priorities for Dutch EU presidency
Sonja van Renssen provides an overview of the Top 5 Environment priorities for the Dutch EU Presidency: 1. COP21 follow-up: The “Energy Union, climate and transport” is one of the Dutch presidency’s five strategic priorities overall. 2. Circular economy: The Netherlands hopes to agree conclusions with other Member States on a non-legislative action plan to make more efficient use of resources and to kick off debate on new legal definitions … [Read more...]
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