Laura Sandys at Energy Systems Catapult says policy makers today are too focussed on rewarding clean energy generation, in other words supplying as much energy as possible. With that comes a focus on reducing the cost of the energy generated. But how about reducing demand? Demand optimisation should be equally rewarded: efficiency, non-generation demand management (even at the household level: think EVs and heat pumps), and any assets that … [Read more...]
Central and Eastern Europeâs buildings renovation plans fall far short of 55% emissions cuts
There are big decarbonisation gains to be had in a renovation wave in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) precisely because their building stock is very energy-inefficient, explains Christophe Jost at CEE Bankwatch. But Bankwatch's report on eight national plans - Bulgaria, Czechia, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Poland, Romania and Slovakia â reveals weaknesses in scale, funding, strategy and policy. Many are planning to comply with only the former 40% … [Read more...]
‘Fit for 55’ should prioritise decarbonisation of laggards: buildings, transport, industry, agriculture
Todayâs long-awaited "Fit for 55" legislative package from the European Commission will trigger intense and difficult negotiations that will last two years, says Nicolas Berghmans at IDDRI. Its scope is wide and inevitably interconnected. The twelve legislative proposals include adjustments to existing measures (renewable energy, energy efficiency, carbon market/EU ETS, energy taxation, climate effort sharing between Member States/ESR, land use … [Read more...]
UK: exposing the gap between ambitious climate laws and actual policies
Like many nations, the UK has big gaps between what is actually needed to reach net zero by 2050, what targets and ambitions have actually passed into law, and what policies are actually in place to comply with those laws. The UKâs climate watchdog, the Climate Change Committee (CCC), has issued two reports that measure the UKâs performance and makes recommendations, summarised here by Josh Gabbatiss at Carbon Brief. The first report focuses on … [Read more...]
Buildings Retrofits: inaccurate efficiency ratings are going to waste budget
Buildings renovations are going to be expensive, and complicated to roll out. Accurately predicting how much energy a building actually wastes will make that process easier and cheaper. EPC ratings are used to categorise the energy efficiency of homes. But Freya Wise at The Open University quotes research in Europe, along with her own investigations in the UK, to show that a lot of older buildings waste less energy than the standard estimates are … [Read more...]
Financial incentives for Grid Modernisation: the problem with guaranteed returns on investment
Grid modernisation is going to be very expensive. Whatâs the best way to pay for it? The financial incentives governments put in place now will determine what investments get made, how cost-effectively itâs done, and who ultimately pays. Meredith Fowlie at UC Berkeleyâs Energy Institute at Haas explains that a common method is for a government to give some sort of guaranteed return on investment for the new asset. But itâs far from ideal. … [Read more...]
U.S. DoE: National Roadmap for Grid-Interactive Energy-Efficient Buildings
Buildings account for more than 70% of U.S. electricity use and one-third of economy-wide CO2 emissions. Andrew Satchwell at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory presents the U.S. Department of Energyâs comprehensive plan, âA National Roadmap for Grid-Interactive Efficient Buildingsâ, that could deliver up to $200bn in savings to the U.S. power system and cut CO2 emissions by 80m tons per year by 2030 (6% of total power sector emissions). … [Read more...]
EU-India cooperation: how to tap the large potential for climate action
India is the worldâs fifth largest economy, the second most populous, and over the next few decades is expected to see energy demand grow more than any other country. Ritu Ahuja and Mekhala Sastry at TERI, Abhishek Kaushik at the Centre for Global Environment Research, and Alexandra Deprez and Lola Vallejo at IDDRI look at Indiaâs challenges and which areas show the most potential for partnership with the EU. They focus on five themes: energy, … [Read more...]
Bidenâs Leaders Summit: turning climate commitments into solutions
President Biden's Leaders Summit on Climate last month helped focus minds on making firm commitments to reducing global emissions. As we all know, targets are one thing, credible and realistic solutions are another. To understand the challenge better, Dolf Gielen, Ricardo Gorini and Gayathri Prakash at IRENA break down into themes those areas that need much more effort and, if dealt with successfully, can get us to net zero by 2050: structural … [Read more...]
“China and Europe – Energy Efficiency, the foundation of our net-zero future” [EVENT highlights and VIDEO]
We present the videos of the third of our three, 4-session workshops on the opportunities for European energy solutions providers to take part in Chinaâs energy transition, held on April 13th and 14th 2021. In this workshop the theme was efficiency, with special reference to finance, buildings, heating and cooling, and smart solutions. Both regions need to go beyond the efficiency "easy wins" so we take a close look at what Europe can offer as … [Read more...]
Plastic Solar Cells: OPV power conversion efficiency now reaches 18%
Donât just think plastics are insulators. Two Nobel prizes were won by showing they can be semiconductors. That celebrated research opened the door to polymer-based solar cells. They are made in a lab from common elements, using processes established decades ago for ordinary household items like plastic wrap. A design strategy breakthrough led by NREL has now created an organic photovoltaic (OPV) solar cell with a record-breaking 18.07% power … [Read more...]
Buildings Efficiency in China, and what EU partners should know
To set up our upcoming online event (April 13th & 14th) "China: Carbon Neutral by 2060 -EFFICIENCY FIRSTâ we look at how Buildings Efficiency is being tackled by Energy Management Contracting (EMC), when an ESCO (energy service company) provides energy retrofit services and gets paid for the future energy savings. The up-front investment cost is recouped over the multi-year lifetime of the service contract by taking a cut of the genuine … [Read more...]
Energy efficiency is the âfirst fuelâ, making decarbonisation easier for all other sectors
To set up our upcoming online event âChina: Carbon Neutral by 2060 -EFFICIENCY FIRSTâ we look at the profound importance of efficiency to the global energy transition. Energy efficiency is the âfirst fuelâ, meaning success here will make the decarbonisation of all the other sectors and technologies easier, faster and cheaper. Basically, use and waste less energy. Alyssa Fischer at the IEA starts by noting that their Sustainable Development … [Read more...]
Five practical steps Oil & Gas can take to accelerate their energy transition
The Oil & Gas sector has a role to play in the energy transition, and not just by winding down operations. Thatâs because they will, by most projections, continue to be a major part of the energy mix through to 2050. But their activities must transition too, explain Bart Valkhof, Pedro Gabriel Gomez Pensado and Wan Sayuti at the World Economic Forum. The sector must therefore work out which strategies and investments can produce the lowest … [Read more...]
EU Recovery funds: where is the support for District Heating?
District Heating is an efficient way to heat homes, particularly in a country like Latvia where 58% of its primary energy consumption is used for heating. But SelÄ«na VancÄne at Riga City Council is very concerned that the draft EU Recovery plans do not include any support under the climate goals for district heating projects. Perhaps itâs because of a blind spot: most of Europe is prioritising individual heating units powered by electricity. … [Read more...]
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