Blockchain technology offers cost-saving and process efficiencies for the energy sector that are too compelling to ignore, write Luis Colasante and Taniga Krish for Oilprice.com. But it does require a clear framework where all participants agree on the standards and rules. … [Read more...]
German utilities are struggling with digitalization, especially in retail
German utilities claim that they are becoming consumer-centred, service-based organisations, but research from Oliver Wyman shows that in actual fact their market share in the digitalized retail market is very small, writes energy economist Marius Buchmann of Jacobs University in Bremen. But they may still deliver on their promise: they are ready to launch digital attackers. Article courtesy of Buchmann’s blog Enerquire. … [Read more...]
A solar transportation system?
Are solar-powered cars the future? According to David Hone, Chief Climate Change Advisor at Shell, solar augmentation, for example in the form of solar roofs, may become widespread by 2030. By 2050 a vehicle fleet requiring little to no net energy becomes a real possibility. Courtesy David Hone's Shell Climate Change blog. … [Read more...]
Want energy storage? Here are 22,000 sites for pumped hydro across Australia
Three researchers from Australian National University have conducted a study into the possibility for new pumped hydro storage capacity in Australia – with remarkable results. They have identified more than enough sites to provide all the energy storage Australia needs for an energy system based on renewables. Courtesy The Conversation. … [Read more...]
Solar power alone won’t solve energy or climate needs
Recent reports that solar capacity will soon exceed nuclear capacity reveal an important fact. They also hide a crucial distinction needed to understand the context of energy production, and use and consequences of choices among supply options for the future, writes Jatin Nathwani of the University of Waterloo. Courtesy The Conversation. … [Read more...]
Chinese slowdown may end nuclear’s last hope for growth
This year has been catastrophic for nuclear power, and just when it seemed the situation couldn't get any worse for the industry, it did, writes Jim Green, editor of Nuclear Monitor: there are clear signs of a nuclear slow-down in China, the only country with a large nuclear new-build program. According to Green, if this program stalls, nuclear power looks headed for an irreversible decline. Courtesy Nuclear Monitor. … [Read more...]
The Clean Growth Strategy puts faith in energy efficiency – here’s how to do it
The UK government’s new Clean Growth Strategy gives quite a lot of priority to energy efficiency. That’s good news, write Jan Rosenow and Richard Cowart of the Regulatory Assistance Project (RAP). What’s needed next is to develop the policies that actually deliver the goods. This can be done by following the principle of Efficiency First. … [Read more...]
Underestimating the contribution of solar PV risks damaging policy making
The continuing lack of realism in projections for solar PV - by the IEA and others - risks damaging policy making by misdirecting effort in developing low carbon technologies, writes climate change economist Adam Whitmore. … [Read more...]
Britain’s switch to low-carbon energy could give a £21 billion boost to the economy
The UK’s transition to a low-carbon economy will lead to new markets being created which could generate up to ÂŁ21 billion in value annually for utilities, according to new research from Stephen Hall of the University of Leeds and Jeffrey Hardy of Imperial College London. Their research, which focuses on the effects of energy policy on the creation of new markets, can help companies plan for the future. Courtesy The Conversation. … [Read more...]
Dutch coalition accord: the Netherlands goes for climate leadership in Europe
While the U.S. government is abandoning Obama’s Clean Power Plan and taking the U.S. back to the age of fossil fuels, the new Dutch government has presented an unexpectedly ambitious climate and energy policy. The Netherlands will adopt a Climate Law and a minimum CO2 price and it wants to persuade the EU to increase its CO2-reduction ambition from the current 40% in 2030 to 55%. It also intends to close all its coal-fired power stations by 2030 … [Read more...]
The spectacular success of the German Energiewende- and what needs to be done next
While a government is being formed in Berlin, which will have important implications for the future of the Energiewende, author and scholar Professor John Mathews of Macquarie University in Australia, looks back on what Germany has achieved so far with its unique energy policy and concludes that it has been a spectacular success, whatever its detractors may say. But he also has some advice to offer: the German government, he writes, should be … [Read more...]
EU must take regionalisation of electricity markets a step further
The European Commission has proposed to set up Regional Operational Centers (ROCs), which is a welcome step in the further integration of the EU internal electricity market, writes Philip Baker of the Regulatory Assistance Project (RAP). However, according to Baker, the proposal does not go far enough: more regional coordination is needed if consumers are to reap the benefits of market integration. … [Read more...]
Energy traders sound alarm: “electricity borders in the EU are closing instead of opening”
Regulations governing the EU wholesale electricity market have become so complex that the integration of the market is regressing instead of progressing, says Peter Styles, Chairman of the Electricity Committee of the European Federation of Energy Traders (EFET), in an interview with Energy Post. He notes TSOs (transmission system operators) on average now make less cross-border electricity transmission capacity available on the EU high voltage … [Read more...]
Interview Claude Fischer Herzog: “EU needs a nuclear industrial policy”
Europe is in danger of losing its leading position in nuclear power, warns Claude Fischer Herzog, Director of ASCPE-Les Entretiens EuropĂ©ens et Eurafricains, a prominent Paris-based pro-nuclear civil society organisation. Fischer calls on the EU to develop an industrial policy of which nuclear power will form an integral part. … [Read more...]
A pragmatic proposal for supplier compensation
The European Commission has proposed that independent aggregators should not be required anymore to pay compensation to suppliers, as is the case in many EU member states today. According to Philip Baker of the Regulatory Assistance Project (RAP) this proposal should be supported, as it will improve the flexibility of the market and lead to lower prices for consumers. However, it may not be appropriate in the long term: once it has achieved its … [Read more...]
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