The EU’s Emissions Trading Scheme is a vital part of the region’s decarbonisation plans. Simon Göss at carboneer digs into the new rules coming in for the existing EU ETS, and the implementation of the new carbon border adjustment mechanism (CBAM). Right now, the existing EU ETS covers around 40% of the EU’s emissions (energy sector, industrial installations and aviation). Its scope is being extended to include maritime transport. On top of that, … [Read more...]
How Europe is countering Russia’s weaponisation of energy – CEDE 2022 event summary
Simon Göss provides a written summary of our two panel discussions held in Brussels on Thursday December 8th 2022. Panel 1 was titled “The Availability and Affordability of Gas and Energy in CEE and EU”, Panel 2 “The War in Ukraine: Security of Critical Energy Infrastructure”. The issues covered include EU policy interventions for countering the Russian weaponisation of energy, cooperation with Ukraine, how far is Europe prepared, spill-over … [Read more...]
Russia-Ukraine: Critical Infrastructure Protection from sabotage is an unprecedented challenge the EU must face now
### 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 JesieĹ„, Chairman of the Board, CEEP; Jerzy Buzek, MEP and former president of the … [Read more...]
Wave Energy Converter performance tool, publicly available online
Advancements in wave energy technology (WEC) have been slow, mainly because of the harsh marine environments WECs must operate in, as well as the complex regulatory requirements. Tiffany Plate at NREL explains it’s why the U.S. Department of Energy and NREL have collaborated on the Small WEC Analysis tool, publicly available online. Its purpose is to provide baseline information about the performance of different types of WECs in various ocean … [Read more...]
Industrial Policy: China’s always had it, the U.S. has rediscovered it, the EU now needs it too
China’s performance – both in and outside the energy sector – has always been driven by wide-reaching industrial policy. In the last few decades it has consistently delivered results. Meanwhile, the U.S. has kept shifting up the gears of its pro-U.S. interventionist industrial policy since Donald Trump: though socially right wing, he was a protectionist president whose ambition was to boost domestic industries. Today, president Biden’s “Inflation … [Read more...]
New U.S. study: damage per ton of CO2 costs $185, not the official $51
Maximilian Auffhammer at the Energy Institute at Haas reviews a new paper that suggests CO2 causes over three times as much damage in dollar terms as the figure currently used by the US government, $51 per ton. The new study shows $185 per ton of CO2 as the Social Cost of Carbon (SCC). The updated model is superior to previous models, says Auffhammer. It’s also open source, so anyone can use it, criticise it, and tweak the numbers to get … [Read more...]
IEA: The Energy Sector is failing Women in employment, pay, career progression and gender equality
A comprehensive report by the IEA is warning that gender wage gaps are greater in the energy sector than in the non-energy sector. Furthermore, the energy sector has a relatively low percentage of female workers compared to other parts of the corporate sector. There is also a lack of career mobility and advancement for women compared to other sectors, which will affect both their attraction and retention. As a consequence, there will be fewer … [Read more...]
Buildings Renovation: city-wide comprehensive data management tools to transform each building
In the U.S. the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory have created a free-to-use (and develop) online data management tool – called SEED - that allows whole cities to collect details on thousands of buildings and use them to assess energy wastage at the single building level. Molly Rettig at NREL explains that hundreds of data points can be collected for each building. The tools, along with … [Read more...]
How could Germany wind down Russian oil imports by the end of 2022
Berlin has said that, though difficult, it could become independent of Russian oil imports by the end of 2022, with a target of halving them by the middle of the year. Kerstine Appunn at Clean Energy Wire compiles information on the practical challenges for Germany’s oil infrastructure, refineries and security of supply. Germany is serviced by three pipeline systems for the west, the east and the south of the country. But they are not connected … [Read more...]
An open-source standardised toolkit for modelling Marine Energy
New innovations need a lot of high quality modelling. That means collecting real world data, then coding the programs that run the models. This is labour intensive and takes time to do properly. The modelling needs to be standardised too, otherwise direct comparisons between competing ideas are virtually impossible. Caitlin McDermott-Murphy at NREL describes the latest version of their Marine and Hydrokinetic Toolkit (MHKiT)Â for modelling a wide … [Read more...]
What is Energy Security? And what it isn’t
What is energy security? That’s what Maximilian Auffhammer at the Energy Institute at Haas asks and tries to answer, and he starts by saying what it is not and what solutions should not be used. Not importing won’t help because prices are global. “Energy security” can’t be taxed as an externality for much the same reason. Subsidising high prices for consumers decreases the value of energy efficiency investments. Instead, Auffhammer says the … [Read more...]
Synchronous condensers will stabilize the power grid as the Faroe Islands pivot to 100% green energy
The isolated Faroe Islands in the North Atlantic has an ambitious goal to become the world’s greenest group of islands. That means by 2030, SEV, the islands’ power utility, will be using 100% green electricity from hydropower, solar and wind and potentially tidal streams. As well as being an important climate change initiative, this will bring economic benefits as the Faroes will no longer rely on expensive fossil-fuel imports. However, … [Read more...]
U.S. shale production is rising. But by how much more, and how fast?
The dramatic increase in gas and electricity prices worldwide has raised concerns about energy security. It why U.S. shale production is rising. But by how much more, and how fast? Ben Cahill at CSIS looks at lessons learned over the last ten years by the sector to understand the drivers. Previously, shale firms grew so fast that many investors lost a lot of money. Then, the 2020 oil shock imposed discipline and firms preserved cash, but that … [Read more...]
Imagine it’s 2030 and net-zero is on track. How did we do it?
Imagine it’s 2030. The energy transition is on track and net-zero goals are entrenched across the global economy. How did we get there? Tim Buckley at IEEFA imagines it for us and sends us a postcard from the future. Writing in the past tense, he flags actual events and policies happening today to “remember” the major changes that took place to achieve it. Weather-related disasters compelled governments to act, recognising – apart from the … [Read more...]
The Gas Crunch: EU and China can share lessons on Energy Security and Renewables Integration
With adversity comes opportunity. The global gas crunch has hurt countries around the world but has also made them appreciate their common concerns. That has provoked policy-makers to take a serious look at current and future energy security policies. In the EU the competitive gas markets, enabled by short-term spot markets, has reminded us of the value of long-term contracts when prices are volatile and rising. Meanwhile, China’s … [Read more...]
