In May, Iraqi-Kurdistan for the first time ever sold oil to international markets, defying a ban on oil exports from the central government in Baghdad. According to Friedbert PflĂĽger, the Kurdish Regional Government (KRG) will have no problems finding investors and customers to build up its potentially huge oil and gas business. With the current crisis in Iraq, Baghdad should come to terms with the KRG if it wants to share in the proceeds. … [Read more...]
A warning from the IPCC: the EU 2030’s climate target cannot be based on science alone
The European Union often emphasizes that it is pursuing a “science-based” climate policy. The European Council’s long-term emission reduction target of 80-95% by 2050 explicitly refers to the Fourth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). Thus, it came as a surprise for many European policymakers and stakeholders that the latest IPCC report did not offer any specific guidelines on future EU climate targets. … [Read more...]
An economic disaster in the making: how Europe is losing its energy efficiency lead
A European building retrofit programme could reduce Russian gas imports by 80%. A 40% energy saving target could  remove the need for Russian gas altogether. Yet the EU currently seems unwilling to impose the measures necessary to step up energy saving. As a result, European industry is rapidly losing its international lead in efficiency, which is crucial to its international competitiveness. What is more, European companies active in energy … [Read more...]
Obama’s Clean Power Plan: why it’s smarter than you think (and beats EU policy)
The Clean Power Plan recently announced by the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has been hailed for its good intentions, but also widely criticized for its “modest” ambitions. What most commentators have failed to note, however, is that, compared to EU climate policies, Obama’s plan is really a smart piece of legislation. It avoids the policy failures made by Brussels and lays a solid foundation for a successful low-carbon strategy. … [Read more...]
You cannot compare apples with climate policies: why there is no Modelgate in Brussels
The European Commission has recently suggested a new greenhouse gas reduction target for 2030 that is perceived as too low by many NGOs. Moreover, some claim that the Commission has hidden the fact that higher emission reductions than proposed would lead to GDP gains. Brigitte Knopf from the Potsdam-Institute for Climate Impact Research argues that GDP gains are a very specific finding with a non-standard model and that emission targets can only … [Read more...]
Welcome to Modelgate: Brussels’ justification for a small climate target is based on a big lie
The European Commission has recommended a low greenhouse gas reduction target for 2030, because it says that higher targets would hurt the European economy. But according to its own impact assessment, the opposite is true, writes Brook Riley of Friends of the Earth Europe. According to Riley, the Commission’s impact assessment shows that a more ambitious target has a more positive impact on GDP than a less ambitious one. … [Read more...]
The vision of Peter Terium, CEO of RWE: “We want to be the holistic energy manager of the future”
RWE, the German utility known for its reliance on large lignite, coal and nuclear power stations, and its high CO2 emissions, is undergoing a fundamental transformation. “We want to use our leading market position to take our customers into a new future”, explains RWE’s Dutch CEO Peter Terium in an exclusive interview with Energy Post. “My dream, my vision is that RWE will put solar panels on your roof, a battery in your shed, a heat pump in your … [Read more...]
Energy innovation is key to EU 2030 goals
A narrative centred on the opportunities of low-carbon innovation rather than the costs of tackling climate change could yet unite stakeholders in the debate over a 2030 EU climate and energy policy. Technological and non-technological innovation are needed for Europe to create a competitive, secure, low-carbon future. At its first event in Brussels, held in partnership with Shell, Energy Post explored what kind of a 2030 package would do most … [Read more...]
Interview Dominique Ristori, EU Commission: “EU’s governance on renewables won’t be punitive”
The new Director General for energy at the European Commission, Dominique Ristori, faces the difficult task of “selling” EU leaders his proposals on a climate and energy strategy for 2030. Initially foreseen at the European Council on 20 and 21 March, a decision has been postponed to October. In this interview with Energy Post Brussels correspondent Hughes Belin, Ristori outlines member states' first reactions to the Commission's 2030 proposals, … [Read more...]
The EU 2030 climate package: crucial questions go unanswered
Although most observers have reacted positively to the Commission’s January 2014 package of proposals on 2030 climate targets, from a business perspective, there are too many areas where delays are threatening, writes Jesse Scott, Head of the Environment and Sustainable Development Policy Unit of Eurelectric, the European association of electricity producers. ”Many crucial questions have not yet been answered”, notes Scott – most of all when it … [Read more...]
Energiewende under siege: German energy strategy under threat from EU “paradigm shift”
The German Energiewende is running up against a “paradigm shift” in EU energy policy, which seems on the point of slowing down the transformation towards a low-carbon economy.. As Germany cannot afford to continue with the Energiewende on its own, the German government will have to do its utmost to bend EU energy policy in its direction, write Oliver Geden and Severin Fischer of the German Institute for International and Security Affairs (SWP). … [Read more...]
Experts issue plea for new European energy policy to overcome “crisis of confidence”
On the eve of a crucial Summit of the European Heads of State and government, who will meet in Brussels on 20-21 March to discuss EU climate, energy and industrial policy, a group of prominent energy experts has issued a plea for a “new European energy policy”. The experts, led by Claude Mandil, former Executive Director of the International Energy Agency (IEA), say the state of European energy markets is “deeply unsatisfactory” as a result of … [Read more...]
Schadenfreude about RWE? Think you would have done better?
RWE has posted its first loss since World War II. Everyone – not only proponents of renewables – now claims that the firm's management failed to see how renewables would affect its bottom line. That's true, but even if they had, what should they have done? More importantly, what should they do now? … [Read more...]
EU deeply divided over 2030 climate and energy policy
Thirteen member states want the EU to agree on the broad outlines of a 2030 climate and energy policy as soon as possible. But at least four call for the EU not to “rush” into anything – they argue all decisions should be put on hold until UN climate talks in Paris in 2015. That was the main outcome of the EU environment and energy ministers meeting this week. European Heads of State and government will meet in Brussels on 20-21st March to talk … [Read more...]
European manufacturing CEO’s sign manifesto asking for lower energy prices
On 27 February a Manifesto signed by 137 CEOs representing EU manufacturing industry was published by IFIEC Europe (International Federation of Industrial Energy Consumers). It calls upon Heads of State to adopt a set of measures to align the EU’s industry, energy & climate policies. “This initiative, representing more than 1 million direct jobs from various sectors and countries all over Europe is exceptional”, explains Fernand Felzinger, … [Read more...]
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