European biomass markets are fragmented and intransparent, writes Jakub Kucera, economic analyst at RSJ, a Prague-based investment company. With one exception: Lithuania has a well-functioning biomass spot market, Baltpool. Could this become a model for other European countries? The Lithuanians would like to expand. … [Read more...]
A dangerous energy policy: Ukraine, despite war, is making itself dependent on Russian oil
When it comes to Ukrainian dependence on Russian energy, the spotlight is usually on natural gas. Here Ukraine has made unprecedented progress, writes Wojciech KonoĹ„czuk, analyst at the Centre for Eastern Studies (OSW) in Warsaw. But what few observers notice, KonoĹ„czuk adds, is that as a result of corruption and neglect Ukraine has let its domestic oil refining industry decay and has become critically dependent on Russian diesel and LPG … [Read more...]
100% renewable energy for 139 nations detailed in Stanford report
Mark Z. Jacobson, the famed professor at the Stanford School of Earth, Energy, and Environmental Sciences, and 26 of his colleagues have compiled a report that shows exactly how 139 nations could transition to 100% renewable energy by 2050 without throwing millions of people out of work. In fact, they contend that the changeover would actually spur job growth while dramatically reducing carbon emissions, writes Steve Hanley. Article courtesy of … [Read more...]
Here are the results from Brussels: energy efficiency zero points
The results of the European Council’s proposals on energy efficiency are in: they will reduce the current EU energy efficiency target from 1.5% per year to less than half of that. That is, in the most optimistic scenario. In a worst-case scenario, the target could plummet to 0.04%, writes Jan Rosenow of the Regulatory Assistance Project (RAP). According to Rosenow, this will make it nearly impossible for the EU to deliver on "Paris". … [Read more...]
If we keep subsidizing wind, will the cost of wind energy go down?
The learning rate for wind power is in the range of 7.7%-11%, researchers Eric Williams and Eric Hittinger of Rochester Institute of Technology found. This means the cost should go down from 5.5 cts/kWh today to 4.1-4.5 cts/kWh in 2030, cheaper than conventional power sources. Does this mean we should stop subsidizing wind? Article courtesy The Conversation. … [Read more...]
The perils of falling in love with energy technology
Renewable energy and fossil fuel advocates have one thing in common – an unhealthy tendency to fall in love with a particular energy technology, writes Hal Harvey, founder and CEO of think tank Energy Innovation. Policymakers for their part often fall in love with particular policies. But according to Harvey, what matters is setting ambitious goals, adopting policies that reward performance and let the dynamics of the market work out how to get … [Read more...]
How electricity will be priced in the future
The rapid transformation of the electricity sector will make it necessary for utilities to adopt radically new pricing methods, writes Fereidoon Sioshansi, publisher of newsletter EEnergy Informer and editor of a new book, Innovation & Disruption at the Grid’s Edge. According to Sioshansi, existing volumetric tariffs will increasingly be replaced by fixed service fees. … [Read more...]
The renewable energy auction revolution
What’s up with record low renewable energy prices? Policy innovation is key to harnessing renewable energy potential, writes Meredith Fowlie, Assistant Professor of Agriculture and Resource Economics at the University of California at Berkeley. Article courtesy Energy Institute Blog, Energy Institute at Haas School of Business. … [Read more...]
Trends in electricity prices in Europe: expect more volatility
Electricity prices in Europe will become volatile, variable renewable energy will grow but will still be supplemented significantly by conventional power plants. These are of some of the main outcomes of the power price scenario EU Energy Outlook 2050, released by Energy Brainpool. One of the major question marks for the power sector will be the development of e-mobility, write Carlos Perez-Linkenheil and Simon Göß. … [Read more...]
Legal challenge to Spain’s capacity market payments well-founded
Two Spanish NGO’s have started a court case against Spain’s capacity market scheme, which they say unnecessarily subsidizes operators of large power plants for billions of euros. Gerard Wynn, independent energy consultant, explains why their arguments are well-founded. According to Wynn, Spain’s capacity mechanism violates EU rules and should be scrapped as soon as possible. This article was first published on the blog of the Institute for Energy … [Read more...]
The trillion dollar question: will renewables displace natural gas?
Bloomberg’s renewable energy affiliate forecasts that wind and solar power will make major inroads into the global market share of natural gas within a decade. This is a crucially important question for major oil companies who are betting their future on gas, writes Managing Director of independent US-based consultancy GSW Strategy Group Geoffrey Styles. But according to Styles, it is likelier that coal, not gas, faces the biggest risk from the … [Read more...]
The carbon-capture dream is dying
The collapse of a Dutch “clean coal” power project has ended near-term prospects for carbon capture and storage (CCS) in European power generation. That leaves proponents of the technology having to turn instead to smaller, industrial applications, writes energy analyst and consultant Gerard Wynn. But while CCS may make sense on a more limited scale, big problems remain there too, he adds. This article was first published on the blog of the … [Read more...]
How electric vehicles could take a bite out of the oil market
When could peak oil demand be reached? Not as soon as it seems, even with the latest automotive news out of Europe, write Amy Myers Jaffe and Lewis Fulton of the University of California, Davis. Article courtesy The Conversation. (This is the third article in a short three-part series on the latest developments in EVs.) … [Read more...]
Britain to ban new fossil fuel vehicles by 2040
Great Britain will ban all new diesel and gasoline-powered automobiles after 2040. In an announcement on 26 July, Environment Secretary Michael Gove confirmed that vehicles powered solely by fossil fuels will no longer be allowed to be sold by then in Britain, and will instead be replaced by electric vehicles (EVs), writes Gregory Brew of Oilprice.com. Courtesy Oilprice.com. (This is the second article in a short three-part series on EVs that we … [Read more...]
Interview bio-energy expert AndrĂ© Faaij: “So much nonsense has been told – high time for the real story”
“An enormous amount of nonsense” has been told about bio-energy, says AndrĂ© Faaij, scientific director of Energy Academy Europe and professor Energy Systems Analysis at the University of Groningen in the Netherlands. According to Faaij, it is high time for the real – scientifically validated – story. “The bio-based economy is indispensable for our climate policy and can mean huge progress for agriculture and nature in developing countries”. … [Read more...]
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