Despite – or perhaps because of – global market and political turmoil, renewable power is set to break another record in 2022. That’s after 2021 also saw record new capacity from solar, wind and other renewables worldwide. It’s mainly driven by solar PV in China and Europe as governments around the world take advantage of renewables’ energy security and climate benefits, according to the IEA’s latest Renewable Energy Market Update. 295GW of new … [Read more...]
China’s impressive growth in Renewables and Transmission now needs Market innovation
***REGISTER NOW for CHINA: Carbon Neutral by 2060 - INNOVATION*** - China has the world’s largest power plant fleet for both coal and renewables. Together they make up most of the total power capacity of over 2,200 GW... STOP PRESS: China's Transition is the biggest single opportunity for managing climate change and also for those businesses who are ready with the innovations that will ensure the best possible outomes in an incredibly … [Read more...]
Seven ways for the U.S. and Europe to enhance energy security and advance climate goals
Ending reliance on Russian fossil exports will need the U.S. and Europe to work together, explain Joseph Majkut, Nikos Tsafos and Ben Cahill at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. The U.S. is the world’s largest oil and gas producer and is able to increase output. At the same time, it must meet global emissions targets. The way to do it is to increase fossil exports temporarily whilst improving its carbon reduction measures (e.g. … [Read more...]
Piloting peer-to-peer electricity markets in China and the EU
Peer-to-peer (P2P) electricity trading is being promoted, to varying degrees, in both the EU and China. It allows individual citizens and businesses to produce and trade their own solar power (local, rooftop), while enabling the close-to-real-time balancing of supply and demand to maintain system stability. Helena Uhde at the ECECP gives an insight into the current status, implementation, regulations and policies in both regions. She cites two … [Read more...]
Europe must simultaneously replace Russia’s fossil exports and accelerate its clean energy deployment
The Ukraine crisis has had an immediate impact on Europe’s strategy for energy supply security. And this week’s sudden halting of gas supplies by Russia to Poland and Bulgaria only emphasises the urgency. Dolf Gielen, Ricardo Gorini, Luis Janeiro and Seán Collins at IRENA look at the best options, basing their findings on their latest “World Energy Transitions Outlook”, published in March, that lays out a routemap for the next eight years for … [Read more...]
Europe’s long-term energy security: do not become dependent on “green” Russia’s future LNG and Hydrogen exports
It’s not enough for Europe to cut Russian energy imports without a plan to make the change endure, says Leslie Palti-Guzman writing for the Atlantic Council Global Energy Center. Boycotts and divestments usually have expiry dates. What’s more, Russia will be proactive in driving its export capabilities to make them commercially attractive in the post-war world. Russia plans expanding LNG shipments from its Yamal Peninsular, as well as getting … [Read more...]
Q&A: How fast can renewables deliver on Germany’s new energy independence goals?
How quickly can Germany reduce its dependence on fossil fuels? Benjamin Wehrmann at Clean Energy Wire asks six practical questions that must be answered, then gathers the expert answers. What are the current expansion goals for wind, solar and other renewables? Following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, will the new emergency plans bring an end to Russian imports as well as reach climate targets? Are renewable power companies ready to deliver a fast … [Read more...]
Buildings Renovation: if Europe had started a decade ago it wouldn’t have a Russian oil & gas problem
It’s a message we are starting to see a lot. If ambitious climate policies struggling to be implemented today had been launched a decade ago, Europe wouldn’t have a Russian oil and gas problem. Andreas RĂĽdinger at IDDRI looks at buildings renovations in France. Two missed targets, proposed in 2008, are a 38% reduction in energy consumption in existing buildings by 2020, and 400,000 “major” renovations annually. If they had been met, natural gas … [Read more...]
“Options to Reform the EU ETS”: coping with price volatility and speculation (event summary)
Sara Stefanini provides a written summary of our panel discussion held on 31st March 2022, “Options to Reform the EU ETS”. It’s a full summary of the 90 minute discussion (with a link to the video), but it begins conveniently with a summary of the highlights, leading with the role of financial players, who they are, the causes of price volatility, what reforms can create stability, and the cost of decarbonisation. The main concern is speculation … [Read more...]
Why sustainable Buildings are critical for a resilient, healthier society
Europe and its Member States are committing large sums to buildings renovations. The policy emphasis has been on insulation, energy savings and emissions reduction. The latest Healthy Homes Barometer 2022 by Velux draws attention to the health benefits of renovations that target damp, lack of daylight, excess noise or cold, and other indoor climate hazards. To get an idea of the scale of the problem, 34 million Europeans are unable to keep their … [Read more...]
Russia-Ukraine and Europe’s energy strategy: a snapshot of a fast-moving crisis
Every day brings news of how Europe’s energy policy is reacting to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. It’s a big topic and fast moving. Helen Farrell gives a summary of the situation so far. She lists some of the major U-turns at both EU and national levels, the IEA’s ten-point recommendations, the feasibility and repercussions of cutting Russian fossil imports, the prospects for clean energy (solar, wind, nuclear, storage) and our net zero targets. … [Read more...]
Energy Charter Treaty: four ways to amend it and enable green investments
The European Green Deal (EGD) aims to mobilise at least €1 trillion in sustainable investments over the next decade. But the Energy Charter Treaty (ECT) in its current form - designed to protect cross-border investments, enabling those whose energy projects have been shut down to sue nations – is causing fierce debate. The ECT protects all investment alike, but the result has been fossil (and nuclear) investors suing nations that have curtailed … [Read more...]
Russia-Ukraine crisis: reforming the EU ETS is a matter of energy security, says PGE
European leaders are now rushing to make decisions on how to drastically cut dependence on Russian fossil energy imports. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has exposed Europe’s energy security vulnerabilities like nothing else could have. It also means Europe’s clean energy transition will need an overhaul, and a newly designed optimal pathway created, and fast. Wojciech DÄ…browski, President at PGE Polska Grupa Energetyczna, explains that it must also … [Read more...]
Community Biomass: for energy independence, stable prices and local control
Energy independence is now at the top of the EU’s agenda. Almost all Europe’s biomass is already locally produced, contributing around 60% of the EU’s renewable energy. Marine Perrio at IEECP makes the case for promoting biomass prosumer projects. She points at regions dependent on biomass that have reported stable energy prices in the midst of the drastic increases in gas, oil and coal prices. Biomass uses organic feedstock from agriculture, … [Read more...]
Reducing Europe’s dependence on Russian Oil and Gas: immediate, short and long term strategy
Atlantic Council Global Energy Center experts and associates offer their template for drastically reducing Europe’s dependence on Russian oil and gas. It’s broken down into immediate, short (one to three years) and long term (beyond three years) actions. It’s wide-ranging and comprehensive. Some actions are already in play, including maximising gas storage, ready for next winter. Some are the ramping up of existing plans (clean energy, … [Read more...]
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