Energy Post

Daily reports on the European and Global energy transition

Poland’s love affair with coal: can the EU do anything about it?

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The Polish government’s strong commitment to coal goes against EU policy direction and against market conditions, write Anna Mikulska of the Baker Institute’s Center for Energy Studies and Eryk Kosinski of Adam Mickiewicz University. But coal has a special place in the nation’s collective heart. To wean Poland off coal will require EU support to coal-dependent regions and for alternative energy sources, the authors argue. … [Read more...]

Shell’s new SKY scenario shows how to meet the goals of the Paris agreement

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Shell has launched a new scenario that illustrates a "technically possible but challenging pathway" for society to meet the goals of the Paris Agreement on climate change. The Sky outlook sees a rapid energy transition taking place over 50 years reaching net-zero emissions in the energy system by 2070. Courtesy David Hone’s Shell Climate Change blog.  … [Read more...]

Japan’s new energy strategy should boost both renewables and nuclear power

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Japan needs both renewables and nuclear energy in its energy mix to reduce dependence on imports and lower greenhouse gas emissions, writes David Livingston of the Atlantic Council Global Energy Center. According to Livingston, it is in the interest of the international community that the country's new energy strategy, which is expected in the middle of this year, should boost their share in the energy mix.  … [Read more...]

EU leaders order long-term climate strategy by early 2019

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EU leaders have directed the European Commission to produce an update of its long-term climate strategy “by the first quarter of 2019”, writes Megan Darby, deputy editor of Climate Home News. Climate campaigners welcome the move, saying it sends an important political signal. Article courtesy Climate Home News. … [Read more...]

Shortage of electric cars in Norway puts climate strategy at risk

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Thousands of Norwegians are currently waiting for their new electric car as car sellers cannot keep up with the surge in demand. This highlights both the success and the risks of the rapid electrification of Norway’s car fleet, write Steffen Kallbekken, HĂ„kon SĂŠlen, Erlend Hermansen and Elisabeth Lannoo of the CICERO Center for International Climate Research. They discuss the lessons the EU, currently reviewing the Clean Vehicles Directive, can … [Read more...]

The new EU electricity market design: more market – or more state?

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As a new regulatory design for the EU electricity market is taking shape, there are grave concerns in the sector that the new rules will not advance the internal energy market very much. Or might even undermine it. Energy Post editor-in-chief Karel Beckman talked to a number of key players in the sector who will debate the proposed market design rules at an Energy Post event in Brussels on 20 March. … [Read more...]

Industry 2030: how the EU plans to industrialise clean tech [Energy Post Weekly]

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New and old industries in Europe are fighting for political - and financial - favour as Brussels sits down to work out a new industrial policy strategy for 2030. At the EU’s annual “Industry Days” last week, three CEOs from the world of clean tech set out their ambitious plans for battery “gigafactories”, renewables representatives called for an EU industrial policy for their sector, and Brussels hinted at trade measures to protect Europe’s … [Read more...]

BP: oil and gas resilient to “faster transition” – until 2040

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Whatever happens – oil and gas will be needed in 2040 in at least the same quantities as today. That was a key message conveyed by BP’s Chief Economist Spencer Dale on Tuesday when he presented the 2018 edition of the BP Energy Outlook in London. Energy Post editor-in-chief Karel Beckman discusses Dale’s findings and wonders: what about Beyond 2040? … [Read more...]

New German government adopts coal phase-out in all but name

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The coalition accord between Angela Merkel and Martin Schulz includes an increase in the renewables target in the electricity mix from 50% to 65% by 2030. Jon Berntsen and Anders Nordeng of Thomson Reuters Point Carbon have analysed how this will impact the German energy sector and conclude that it is a coal phaseout policy in all but name. … [Read more...]

Beyond Bitcoin: how to build an energy-efficient blockchain that can help the energy transition

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There is widespread concern over the high energy use of Bitcoin mining. But blockchains can be highly energy-efficient, writes Sam Hartnett of the Energy Web Foundation, a joint initiative of Rocky Mountain Institute and Grid Singularity who have partnered with Shell, Statoil, Engie, and other energy companies to accelerate adoption of blockchain technology in the energy sector. According to Hartnett,  blockchain technology will help accelerate … [Read more...]

Exclusive interview Maros Ơefčovič: Energy Union is “deepest transformation of energy systems since Industrial Revolution”

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Before the next European elections in 2019, MaroĆĄ Ć efčovič , the European Commission’s Vice-President for the Energy Union, wants to have a new legal framework in place which will “bring in the most comprehensive and deepest transformation of energy systems in Europe, since the [industrial revolution] one hundred and fifty years ago.” In an exclusive interview with Energy Post, he says that the success of the Energy Union project “will decide the … [Read more...]

The net cost of using renewables to hit Australia’s climate target? Nothing

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Australia can meet its 2030 greenhouse emissions target at zero net cost, according to a new analysis of a range of options for the National Electricity Market, write Andrew Blakers, Bin Lu and Matthew Stocks of Australian National University. Courtesy The Conversation. … [Read more...]

How Romania can become a key player in the European gas market

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Romania has the third largest natural gas reserves within the European Union (EU) and new reserves are still being discovered. With domestic gas production within the EU declining, the country could play an important role in the regional market. But for this to happen, interconnections need to be expanded and the liberalization of the market needs to be completed, write Ramona Visenescu and Henry Bartelet of the independent international think … [Read more...]

German utilities are struggling with digitalization, especially in retail

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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...]

Dutch coalition accord: the Netherlands goes for climate leadership in Europe

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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...]