Energy Post

Daily reports on the European and Global energy transition

  • Newsletter
  • Search Categories
    • Renewables
    • Policy
    • Oil, Gas & Coal
    • Hydrogen
    • Outlooks
    • Grids
    • Nuclear
    • Markets
    • Transport
    • Videos
  • 24-linkedin 24-twitterfacebook Follow-Us

Spain: as Renewables rise, managing supply and demand is the next challenge

September 12, 2023 by Claudia Alemañy Castilla

In May this year Spain reached a landmark day when it was powered 100% by renewables - solar, wind and hydroelectric power - from ten o'clock in the morning until seven o'clock in the evening. In four years the share of renewable energy generation rose from 37% to 50%, while non-renewables dropped from 62% to 49%. Its draft Law on Climate Change and Energy Transition targets 35% of renewable energy in final consumption by 2030 and 100% in the … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Energy, Grids Tagged With: demand, ebalanceplus, efficiency, flexibility, grids, hydro, innovation, ReDREAM, renewables, smart, solar, spain, supply, wind

Europe’s grid bottlenecks are delaying its energy transition

September 6, 2023 by Eurelectric

***While you're here... REGISTER NOW for "REPowering the grid for Solar PV" with the Vice-President of Tauron, DG ENER C, Eurelectric and SolarPowerEurope - Online Wednesday September 20 from 11:00 to 12:15 CEST*** No amount of record sales and deployment in Europe of heat pumps, EVs, solar farms, wind turbines and all the rest will guarantee the region meeting its electrification targets if the grids aren’t ready to integrate them. As … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Energy, Grids Tagged With: capacity, congestion, Digitalisation, Distribution, efficiency, electricity, EVs, flexibility, grids, HeatPumps, investment, permitting, power, smartgrids, solar, wind

Buildings Efficiency: cars have an “eco mode” button. Why not our homes?

June 20, 2023 by Maximilian Auffhammer

Households need the right tools to be able to take control of their real-time energy consumption, says Maximilian Auffhammer at the Energy Institute at Haas. Smart meters are just too crude. They don’t tell you how much energy individual devices are using – fridges, ovens, heaters, EV chargers, TVs, lightbulbs, toasters, etc. You have to work it out yourself by switching devices on and off and seeing the difference. Auffhammer argues if you price … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Buildings, Energy, Energy efficiency Tagged With: behaviour, consumption, efficiency, electricity, heating, households, HVAC, SmartMeters

Power to the people: citizen-centred Just Transitions challenge energy system centralisation

June 15, 2023 by Diana SĂŒsser, Serafeim Michas and Ricardo Antonio GarcĂ­a Mira

EU Member States need to phase-out coal and transform their carbon-intensive industries to make Europe climate-neutral. However, these should not be the only goals: transparency and justice must also accompany this path, argue Diana SĂŒsser at IEECP, Serafeim Michas at TEESlab and Ricardo Antonio GarcĂ­a Mira at the University of A Coruna. As Member States implement their territorial just transition plans, they must ensure they benefit affected … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Energy, Grids, Policies Tagged With: boilers, coal, efficiency, EU, gas, Greece, grid, heating, HeatPumps, JustTransition, lignite, Megalopolis, solar

Steel, Aluminium: 20% of emissions reductions target must come from Recycling. How?

June 8, 2023 by Sravan Chalasani, Wenjuan Liu and Lachlan Wright

Recycling is needed to achieve 20% of the emissions reductions targets for the steel and aluminium sectors. It’s an integral part of the 1.5°C climate-aligned decarbonisation pathways in many metal sectors, explain Sravan Chalasani, Wenjuan Liu and Lachlan Wright at RMI. For aluminium products, the share that comes from post-consumer scrap needs to increase from 21% in 2020 to 46% by 2050. Recycling is already a reality, but reporting and … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Energy, Industry Tagged With: aluminium, efficiency, emissions, Europe, industry, recirculation, recycling, reporting, scrap, steel, transparency, US

Perovskite: abundant, cheap, printable solar cells demonstrated, ready to generate power

May 31, 2023 by David Beynon

Laboratories around the world are racing to make printable perovskite solar cells, produced in abundance and so thin they can be wrapped around almost anything. It’s a huge advantage over the typical silicon cell that is relatively big and fragile. And perovskite is much less expensive to produce. David Beynon at Swansea University describes research there that has demonstrated how a roll of plastic film can be loaded into a printing press to … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Energy, Innovations, Renewables Tagged With: cells, chemistry, costs, efficiency, film, innovation, perovskite, printed, silicon, slotdie, solar, thin

“Rebound Effect”: cheap LEDs mean more lights everywhere. But brighter homes, offices and public spaces are worth having

May 15, 2023 by Lucas Davis

LEDs are 90% more efficient than modern incandescent bulbs. Their rapid uptake has resulted in measurable cuts in energy demand and emissions. But their plummeting cost over the last ten years is also causing a “rebound effect” where people are using more and more LEDs, not least for outdoor lighting. Lucas Davis at the Haas School of Business believes we must embrace it, even if it’s counter to maximising energy savings. More and brighter … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Energy, Energy efficiency, Innovations Tagged With: buildings, consumption, demand, efficiency, incandescents, LEDs, lighting, lumens, ReboundEffect

Will the computing power needed for self-driving cars create a carbon emissions problem akin to data centres?

February 22, 2023 by Adam Zewe

Few predicted, in their early days, that the scale-up of data centres would result in them having a measurable impact on global energy consumption. Today they contribute 0.3% of global emissions. That’s a big enough number to put it on the global radar and for the IEA to be monitoring it. Will the wide scale take-up of autonomous vehicles have the same effect? Yes, explains Adam Zewe at MIT who describes new research from there. In summary, one … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Energy, Transport and energy Tagged With: autonomous, cameras, cars, centres, consumption, data, efficiency, Energy, hardware, processing, vehicles

Virtual Power Plants: efficiently networked households won’t need new expensive generation

February 15, 2023 by Liza Martin and Kevin Brehm

Virtual Power Plants (VPPs) are the next new innovation that can change the landscape of the global energy transition in our favour, cheaply and fast, explain Liza Martin and Kevin Brehm at RMI. Essentially, they link and aggregate hundreds of thousands of households and businesses to manage their electrical devices. Their thermostats, EVs, appliances, batteries, and rooftop solar arrays are coordinated to ensure loads, charging and discharging … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Energy, Energy efficiency, Grids Tagged With: Autogrid, batteries, businesses, decarbonisation, Distribution, efficiency, electrification, EVs, grid, households, Leap, OhmConnect, resilience, rooftopsolar, stability, SunRun, Tesla, thermostats, Transmission, Voltus, VPP

How to sell Heat Pumps to the public in Europe

January 19, 2023 by Helena Uhde

In EU households, 62.8% of energy consumption is for space heating, and another 15.1% for water heating, mostly powered by fossil fuels. Heating and cooling is responsible for 52% of final energy demand in Europe. So, with REPowerEU, the EU has once again strengthened support for heat pumps to achieve energy independence and climate goals. Heat pump sales in Europe grew by an unprecedented 34% in 2021, thanks to a total 2.18m heat pump units … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Energy, HVAC Tagged With: cooling, costs, decarbonisation, efficiency, electrification, EU, Hallstatt, heating, HeatPumps, HVAC, REPowerEU, sales, subsidies

30+ nations now subsidise Heat Pumps because lifetime cost is cheaper than fossil boilers

January 10, 2023 by Josh Gabbatiss

The global growth in heat pumps can deliver almost 40% of all possible emissions cuts from heating by 2030 (with most of the rest coming from efficiency, mainly insulation), says the IEA. This is according to their “Announced Pledges Scenario” (APS) which assumes that governments carry out all of the climate commitments they have made. Keeping buildings warm produces one-tenth of global energy-related CO2 emissions. So the APS’s heat pump growth … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Energy, HVAC Tagged With: buildings, China, efficiency, emissions, EU, heating, HeatPumps, HVAC, IEA, Italy, LCOE, Poland, subsidies, US

Doubling clean energy investments from “natural” redirection of existing spend on infrastructure, buildings, fossils +more

December 19, 2022 by Stephen Peake

Annual investments in clean energy stand at $1.4tn, now greater than investments in fossil fuels ($1tn). But that needs to double by 2030. This steep climb will be made easier by the natural cycle of global investment, as well as the cost-benefits of abandoning fossil fuels for renewables and greater efficiencies, says Stephen Peake at The Open University. Each year, around a quarter of our GDP is anyway spent on new machinery, buildings and … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Energy, Investment Tagged With: buildings, costs, efficiency, Environment, fossils, infrastructure, investment, renewables

Distribution Grid Digitalisation – benefits, policy, cost & funding

December 14, 2022 by Gridspertise

About a third of European grids are over 40 years old. A rapid physical overhaul would be impossible, so the addition of a layer of digital technologies is the key to preparing them for the distributed and intermittent generation from renewable sources, the increased electricity demand from transportation, heat pumps and other sectors, and for ensuring energy efficiency at all levels. It’s why the EC expects about €584bn of investment in Europe’s … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Energy, Grids Tagged With: DER, Digitalisation, efficiency, Enel, EU, Europe, EVs, grids, Gridspertise, HeatPumps, investment, Italy, SmartMeters, solar, spain

Comparing the efficiency and progress of the 5 leading Solar PV cell technologies

December 7, 2022 by Wayne Hicks and Harrison Dreves

NREL’s “Best Research-Cell Efficiency Chart” allows researchers to easily compare the performance of specific PV technologies, stretching back 50 years. It’s regularly updated and is free to use, explains Wayne Hicks and Harrison Dreves at NREL. A new “interactive” version is now available. The focus is on crystalline silicon cells, single-junction gallium arsenide cells, multijunction cells, thin films, and emerging PV. For example, you can … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Energy, Innovations, Renewables Tagged With: arsenide, crystalline, efficiency, gallium, multijunction, perovskite, PV, silicon, solar, ThinFilm

What was Europe’s dependence on gas prior to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine?

December 2, 2022 by Ewan Thomson

### REGISTER NOW ### for our vitally important 2-panel event “The Energy Crisis and Russian Aggression Against Ukraine – Key Challenges for the Central European Energy Sector”, on Thursday December 8, 13:00 – 17:00 CET (Address: Rue Belliard 40, 1040 Brussels). High-profile confirmed speakers include Kadri Simson, European Commissioner for Energy, EC; Leszek JesieƄ, Chairman of the Board, CEEP; Jerzy Buzek, MEP and former president of the … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Energy, Oil, Gas & Coal Tagged With: China, efficiency, EU, Europe, gas, HeatPumps, LNG, renewables, Russia, security, storage, Ukraine, winter

  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • …
  • 8
  • Next Page »

Most read this week

  • Industry’s EU ETS reforms and CBAM: how firms can turn the rising cost of carbon into competitive advantage by Pablo Ruiz | posted on September 25, 2023
  • Sodium-ion batteries ready for commercialisation: for grids, homes, even compact EVs by Carlos Ruiz | posted on September 11, 2023
  • Concrete supercapacitor: works like a battery, much cheaper, easy to make by David Chandler | posted on September 27, 2023
  • Could big U.S. subsidies for Hydrogen create perverse incentives, raise emissions? by James Sallee | posted on September 29, 2023
  • 10 Carbon Capture methods compared: costs, scalability, permanence, cleanness by Ella Adlen | posted on November 11, 2019
  • Agrivoltaics: GWs of solar power from farmland using strategically placed panels (and raising crop yields) by Joshua Pearce | posted on September 26, 2023
  • Understanding the new EU ETS (Part 2): Buildings, Road Transport, Fuels. And how the revenues will be spent by Simon Göss | posted on February 6, 2023
  • Micro-nuclear reactors: up to 20MW, portable, safer by Christina Nunez | posted on April 22, 2021
  • H2 Green Steel has raised billions in 3 years: a case study of Industrial Project Finance by Shravan Bhat | posted on October 2, 2023
  • Belgium: commercially viable Rooftop Solar for social housing. No installation subsidies, lower bills by Sven Van Elst | posted on September 28, 2023
  • Norway an EV role model? Their pathway is expensive and paid for with oil & gas exports by Schalk Cloete | posted on June 4, 2021
  • U.S. Inflation Reduction Act: one year on, a summary of impressive progress in the energy transition by Hannah Perkins | posted on September 19, 2023
  • Gravity Batteries: any nation can do it at scale using rocks by Simon Read | posted on July 27, 2022
  • The 10 big problems with simply replacing fossil cars with electric by Schalk Cloete | posted on December 6, 2021
  • Can Aluminium-air batteries outperform Li-ion for EVs? by Helena Uhde | posted on September 8, 2021
  • EU Energy Outlook to 2060: how will power prices and revenues develop for wind, solar, gas, hydrogen + more by Alex Schmitt | posted on December 6, 2022
  • What’s best for Hydrogen transport: ammonia, liquid hydrogen, LOHC or pipelines? by Herib Blanco | posted on May 5, 2022
  • Farming Algae for Carbon Capture: new research cuts “fouling.” Scale-up in 3 years? by David Chandler | posted on June 21, 2023
  • Scaling up global grid-scale Storage to 80GW/year (it was 16GW in 2022) by Amit Jain | posted on October 3, 2023
  • EU Carbon Removal Certification Framework: new rules to turn greenwashing into genuine removals by Simon Göss | posted on May 16, 2023

Information

  • Advertise
  • Privacy Policy including Cookies
  • Terms and conditions for posting content
  • Comment Policy

More Information

  • About us
  • Authors
  • Contact Us

Most read in last 24 hours

  • Recent Posts
  • Recent Comments
  • Most Commented
  • Most Viewed
  • Tags
  • Scaling up global grid-scale Storage to 80GW/year (it was 16GW in 2022)
  • H2 Green Steel has raised billions in 3 years: a case study of Industrial Project Finance
  • Could big U.S. subsidies for Hydrogen create perverse incentives, raise emissions?
  • Belgium: commercially viable Rooftop Solar for social housing. No installation subsidies, lower bills
  • Concrete supercapacitor: works like a battery, much cheaper, easy to make
      • Scaling up global grid-scale Storage to 80GW/year (it was 16GW in 2022)
      • carbon bubble
      • CCS
      • China
      • climate change
      • coal
      • coal power
      • diversification
      • electric cars
      • electricity
      • electricity market
      • emissions
      • energy2030
      • energy efficiency
      • energy security
      • energy storage
      • energy trade
      • energy transition
      • EU
      • EU energy policy
      • EU ETS
      • European gas market
      • EVs
      • financing
      • gas
      • geopolitics
      • grid
      • grids
      • hydrogen
      • infrastructure
      • investment
      • natural gas
      • nuclear energy
      • oil
      • renewables
      • Russia
      • smart grids
      • solar
      • solar power
      • sustainable mobility
      • transport
      • unconventionals
      • US
      • US energy policy
      • wind
      • wind power

      Recent Posts

      Scaling up global grid-scale Storage to 80GW/year (it was 16GW in 2022)

      H2 Green Steel has raised billions in 3 years: a case study of Industrial Project Finance

      Could big U.S. subsidies for Hydrogen create perverse incentives, raise emissions?

      Belgium: commercially viable Rooftop Solar for social housing. No installation subsidies, lower bills

      Concrete supercapacitor: works like a battery, much cheaper, easy to make

      Copyright © 2023 Energy Post. All Rights Reserved