At a dinner debate in Brussels on European relations with Russia, members of the European Parliament made it clear they regard Russia as an enemy which should be opposed in any possible way. That includes projects such as Gazprom’s planned Nord Stream 2 pipeline. Whether EU institutions have the means to stop Nord Stream 2, remains to be seen. … [Read more...]
Debate over capacity markets heats up in Brussels
Member States, MEPs and other stakeholders in Brussels are getting ready to develop rules for capacity markets in Europe. Some argue that countries should resort to capacity mechanisms only as a last resort. Other such as France insist on strong capacity markets: they are afraid of blackout risks. And there is disagreement over whether to allow coal power stations to play a role as backup source. Sonja van Renssen reports from Brussels. … [Read more...]
Six years after Fukushima, much of Japan has lost faith in nuclear power
The Japanese government should consider a fundamental change in its current nuclear energy policy if it wants to recover the public's trust in nuclear power, writes Tatsujiro Suzuki, Director of the Research Center for Nuclear Weapons Abolition at Nagasaki University. According to Suzuki, staying on the current path will undermine Japan's economic and political security. Courtesy of The Conversation. … [Read more...]
Wind power blows away opposition in U.S.
What many regarded as unthinkable just a few years ago, is happening today: U.S. utilities are almost effortlessly handling ever increasing levels of intermittent wind power, writes Washington DC-based energy author Dennis Wamsted. What is more, Democratic and Republican politicians are lauding the unprecedented way in which wind and solar resources are transforming low-income rural areas. Wind power is here to stay, regardless of who sits in the … [Read more...]
Emad Ghaly, CEO Siemens Egypt: “Egypt’s electricity challenges are solved for good”
Siemens is ahead of schedule in delivering on its single biggest order ever: a trio of the world’s largest gas-fired combined cycle power plants that will increase Egypt’s power production capacity by nearly 45% by 2018. In this exclusive interview, the CEO of Siemens Egypt, Emad Ghaly, explains what and how the company has delivered so far, what’s next, and why this is history in the making for both company and country. … [Read more...]
The nuclear industry must change — or die
The nuclear sector in the West has brought the current crisis partly upon itself by doing the exact opposite of what is known to work in industry, writes Michael Shellenberger. To survive, it must embark on a radical new course: create one company, comparable to Boeing or Airbus in the aircraft sector, that will develop a standardized, efficient reactor design. At the same time, governments should work together to increase confidence in the … [Read more...]
Exclusive interview/ sneak preview: energy transition architect Claude Turmes tells inside story of EU energy policy
Green MEP Claude Turmes has led some of Europe’s key energy and climate policy reforms since 2000. Now for the first time in a book, which will be launched in Brussels on 1 March, he explains how and why Brussels has pioneered - and obstructed - the energy transition in Europe. In an exclusive interview and sneak preview with Energy Post, Turmes gives an insider account of dreams, lobbies, and political, economic and social realities. This book … [Read more...]
How nuclear safety undermines nuclear economics
Failed EPR and AP1000 reactor projects have brought giant energy companies to their knees, and even pro-nuclear lobbyists now acknowledge that the industry is in crisis. Jim Green, editor of the Nuclear Monitor newsletter, takes stock of the crisis in the global nuclear sector and concludes that the industry's likely response, a retreat from post-Fukushima efforts to strengthen safety standards, risks making a bad situation worse. … [Read more...]
Energy Union should shift focus from energy to climate
The EU is trying to improve its energy security by building more infrastructure to facilitate gas imports, but the concentration of its gas suppliers keeps increasing, write Stefan Bößner and Douglas Fraser of the Stockholm Environment Institute. According to Bößner and Fraser, it makes more sense to shift the focus of EU energy policy to creating a low-carbon energy system. That will not only help Europe meet its climate targets, but also … [Read more...]
Gazprom plays ball: the depoliticization of the European gas market
Gazprom’s gas supplies to Europe and Turkey reached an all-time record in 2016. This might suggest Europe is becoming more dependent on Gazprom, but according to Danila Bochkarev, Senior Fellow at the EastWest Institute, the Russian company gained market share by playing by the rules of the market. The European gas market is finally becoming depoliticized. … [Read more...]
France can’t meet its own power demand
France was heavily dependent on power imports from Germany during the first cold spell of this winter, despite the fact that most of the country’s nuclear reactors are back online, writes Craig Morris from the Energy Transition blog. As the US is now also investigating 17 nuclear reactors with parts from reactor producer Areva, just rescued by the French state, it shows the perilous state the French power sector is in. Courtesy Energy Transition. … [Read more...]
The new outlook for oil: prepare for a bumpy ride in 2017
After two and a half years of opening up the taps (or rather: not closing them) OPEC has changed course in what is looking to be a gamechanger for the oil market. Market sentiment has shifted and the oil price has gone up. But that doesn’t mean we can go back to the status quo ante, writes geophysicist (ex-Shell) Jilles van den Beukel. Some things have changed permanently. Saudi Arabia’s position within OPEC has weakened, Iran’s has strengthened. … [Read more...]
Donald Trump’s carbon-obsessed energy policy and the planetary nightmare to comeÂ
Despite apparent contradictions, the main thrust of Donald Trump’s energy policy approach is very clear, writes author and energy expert Michael Klare: he aims to abolish all regulations that stand in the way of unrestrained fossil fuel extraction. Even if this spells doom for segments of the fossil fuel industry that will get hurt by low prices – not to mention the planet. Courtesy Tomdispatch.com. … [Read more...]
How Europe can deliver on energy efficiency
The European Commission’s recently released Clean Energy Package, has a 2030 target of 30% energy savings. An important policy instrument to deliver these are Energy Efficiency Obligation (EEO) schemes. According to new research from the Regulatory Assistance Project (RAP), not only are EEOs a highly cost-effective way to deliver energy efficiency, over the long term they can deliver consumer savings worth more than 4 times the costs of meeting … [Read more...]
Time to give the chop to fracking: Fraxit now!
On Tuesday the US Environmental Protection Agency released a definitive study concluding that hydraulic fracturing can impact drinking water at each stage in the shale gas production process. Do we really want to see 16,000 or more shale gas wells drilled in the British countryside carrying the same and other risks, ask professors Peter Strachan and Alex Russell? Â They assess the case for fracking in the UK against six "stress tests" and conclude … [Read more...]
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