EU leaders agreed last week that the EU’s emissions reduction target for 2030 will be “fully in line with the agreed ambitious EU objective for 2050”. Sounds impressive, but the problem is that there are different views on the meaning of earlier European Council agreements. Therefore it’s still not clear what the EU’s 2030 climate target will look like, write Oliver Geden and Severin Fischer of the influential German Institute for International … [Read more...]
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EU leaders fail to connect Ukraine crisis to climate and energy policy
Decisions on a new European climate and energy policy for 2030 are relegated to autumn as heads of state are caught up in the Ukraine crisis. At their spring summit in Brussels, EU leaders gave centre stage to energy dependence. First climate change, then competitiveness, now security of supply: the shifting priorities of member states show that a holistic vision and policy for climate and energy is there on paper but not in practice. Sonja van … [Read more...]
Interview Dominique Ristori, EU Commission: “EU’s governance on renewables won’t be punitive”
The new Director General for energy at the European Commission, Dominique Ristori, faces the difficult task of “selling” EU leaders his proposals on a climate and energy strategy for 2030. Initially foreseen at the European Council on 20 and 21 March, a decision has been postponed to October. In this interview with Energy Post Brussels correspondent Hughes Belin, Ristori outlines member states' first reactions to the Commission's 2030 proposals, … [Read more...]
Interview Arthur Berman: “Shale is not a revolution, it’s a retirement party”
How much faith can we put in our ability to decipher all the numbers out there telling us the US will soon be cornering the global oil market? There's another side to the story of the relentless US shale boom, one that says that some of the numbers are misunderstood, while others are simply preposterous. According to energy expert Arthur Berman, a geological consultant with thirty-four years of experience in petroleum exploration and production, … [Read more...]
The EU 2030 climate package: crucial questions go unanswered
Although most observers have reacted positively to the Commission’s January 2014 package of proposals on 2030 climate targets, from a business perspective, there are too many areas where delays are threatening, writes Jesse Scott, Head of the Environment and Sustainable Development Policy Unit of Eurelectric, the European association of electricity producers. ”Many crucial questions have not yet been answered”, notes Scott – most of all when it … [Read more...]
Energiewende under siege: German energy strategy under threat from EU “paradigm shift”
The German Energiewende is running up against a “paradigm shift” in EU energy policy, which seems on the point of slowing down the transformation towards a low-carbon economy.. As Germany cannot afford to continue with the Energiewende on its own, the German government will have to do its utmost to bend EU energy policy in its direction, write Oliver Geden and Severin Fischer of the German Institute for International and Security Affairs (SWP). … [Read more...]
Experts issue plea for new European energy policy to overcome “crisis of confidence”
On the eve of a crucial Summit of the European Heads of State and government, who will meet in Brussels on 20-21 March to discuss EU climate, energy and industrial policy, a group of prominent energy experts has issued a plea for a “new European energy policy”. The experts, led by Claude Mandil, former Executive Director of the International Energy Agency (IEA), say the state of European energy markets is “deeply unsatisfactory” as a result of … [Read more...]
World Energy Outlook hides the real potential of renewables
The IEA’s annual World Energy Outlook (WEO) is seen as the most authoritative set of energy scenarios in the world. Yet when we test the forecasts for the growth of renewable energies in the WEO’s main scenario against reality, we find that the WEO consistently comes out too low. Each year from 2006 on the WEO has had to increase its forecast for wind and solar power. Yet each year the WEO predicts the growth of renewables to level off by 2020, … [Read more...]
Can Germany survive the Energiewende?
The German Energiewende is a heroic but – as it’s conceived now – increasingly disordered effort for unshackling industrial society from the chains of fossil fuels. Due to mistaken assumptions and unrealistic scheduling, it is now confronted with persistent obstacles. The new Merkel government has introduced some changes, but they won’t be enough to sustain the Energiewende, argues independent energy consultant (and renewable energy sympathizer) … [Read more...]
EU deeply divided over 2030 climate and energy policy
Thirteen member states want the EU to agree on the broad outlines of a 2030 climate and energy policy as soon as possible. But at least four call for the EU not to “rush” into anything – they argue all decisions should be put on hold until UN climate talks in Paris in 2015. That was the main outcome of the EU environment and energy ministers meeting this week. European Heads of State and government will meet in Brussels on 20-21st March to talk … [Read more...]
European manufacturing CEO’s sign manifesto asking for lower energy prices
On 27 February a Manifesto signed by 137 CEOs representing EU manufacturing industry was published by IFIEC Europe (International Federation of Industrial Energy Consumers). It calls upon Heads of State to adopt a set of measures to align the EU’s industry, energy & climate policies. “This initiative, representing more than 1 million direct jobs from various sectors and countries all over Europe is exceptional”, explains Fernand Felzinger, … [Read more...]
Exclusive: The end is near – for national renewable energy subsidy schemes in the EU
The national renewable support schemes in the EU are on the verge of a major overhaul. National governments will soon not be allowed anymore to limit renewables subsidies to domestic producers: they will have to treat all EU-based producers alike. This at any rate is the very likely outcome of a court case now before the EU Court of Justice, says Peter Niermeijer, Secretary-General of RECS International, an organisation that promotes pan-European … [Read more...]
Is the door to CCS closing in the UK?
Slow progress threatens the future of CCS in the UK, write Sam Gomersall and Alan James, Directors of Pale Blue Dot Energy, a management consultancy focused on the low carbon transition based in Aberdeen. According to the authors, the earliest CCS projects are unlikely to come onstream before the early 2020s – if they get off the ground at all. “The future of CCS in the UK hangs in the balance.” … [Read more...]
WWF: Action required now to ensure supply of critical materials for renewable energy infrastructure
The growing demand for renewable energy could put pressure on the supply of critical materials required in the production of renewable energy infrastructure, says WWF in new report released on 18 February. The report, Critical Materials for the transition to a 100% sustainable energy future, says supply chain bottlenecks can be overcome by applying the right technologies. It is possible for renewable energy to fuel the world reliably while … [Read more...]
An investor speaks: the oil party is almost over
The fact that environmental activist Bill McKibben is waging a relentless “fossil fuel divestment campaign” may not worry established oil and coal companies too much. But he is joined by an increasing number of mainstream investors and analysts. The latest investor to warn that fossil fuel assets may be overvalued is the famous hedge fund manager Jeremy Grantham, owner of the major US asset-management firm GMO. In a thoughtful piece for the GMO … [Read more...]
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