On Tuesday EU member states finally agreed on how to reform the bloc's electricity market after long months of difficult negotiations. The introduction of long-term contracts, particularly contracts for difference (CfDs), should stabilise prices for consumers and give certainty to investors in new generation. But the big concern had been how the state support implicit in CfDs might be used to bias the playing field in favour of nuclear and coal, … [Read more...]
Carbon Pricing: almost 25% of emissions now covered globally, but coverage and prices must rise further
Despite early scepticism, carbon pricing is making its mark globally. Today almost a quarter of global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions are covered by a carbon price, compared to just 7% ten years ago. 73 national and sub-national jurisdictions have carbon pricing, explain Joseph Pryor and Venkat Ramana Putti at The World Bank, writing for the Florence School of Regulation and quoting from the World Bank’s State and Trends of Carbon Pricing 2023 … [Read more...]
How much Carbon Capture does the EU need from LULUCF, BECCS, Industrial CCS, DACCS?
How much carbon capture does the EU need to 2050? Robert Jeszke and MichaĹ‚ Lewarski at The National Centre for Emissions Management (KOBiZE), writing for the Florence School of Regulation, start by pointing out that mainstream estimates vary significantly, from 50-300 Mt CO2 to 1,300-1,500 Mt CO2. They then present their study (their estimate is 550 Mt CO2). The study highlights the importance of BECCS (Bioenergy with Carbon Capture and Storage): … [Read more...]
Affordable €25k EVs by 2025: Europe’s carmakers can do it. Instead they’re making more profitable SUVs
T&E present a summary of their study which shows that European carmakers can produce affordable EVs (40 kWh LFP battery, 250-300 km range) priced at €25k by 2025 with a reasonable 4% profit margin. Priced for the mass market, this would add a million extra EV sales annually, accelerate the removal of combustion engines, and counter China’s dominance of the EV market. The obstacle is the insistence by Europe’s leading manufacturers - BMW, … [Read more...]
Though the price shocks hurt, Renewables installed between 2021-23 saved Europe €100bn
According to the IEA, without the solar and wind capacity additions made in 2021-23 Europe’s energy costs would have been €100bn higher in those three years, as prices spiked due to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the unexpected drop in output from nuclear and hydro. That money saved is another reason why the ramp up of renewables is so important, explains Joe Myers writing for the World Economic Forum who summarises the IEA data. Natural gas … [Read more...]
Can we expect Gas price volatility and spikes this winter? Why?
Europe has done well in pivoting away from Russian gas imports. After painful energy prices rises in 2022 they have fallen steadily this year. LNG imports and the infrastructure to support them is growing. And Europe’s gas storage levels hit 90% capacity three months ahead of the November target. But the challenge is far from over, explains Michael Bradshaw at Warwick Business School. European gas prices remain 50% above their pre-invasion … [Read more...]
Electricity Market Design – creating the stimulus for competitive Offshore Wind within the internal energy market
Ahead of the upcoming discussion in Brussels (September 18, 15:00, Polish Embassy REGISTER HERE) on how to stimulate renewable investment, see below for a reminder of what was discussed at our conference before the summer. This time around, following an open address by Wanda Buk, VP Regulatory Affairs at PGE, PGE Baltica's CEO, Arkadiusz SeksciĹ„ski will be joined by Thor-Sten Vertmann, Electricity Market Design (EMD) expert within Ms Kadri … [Read more...]
Does Nuclear slow down the scale-up of Wind and Solar? France and Germany can’t agree
France and Germany lead the camps in disagreeing on the future of nuclear in Europe. Camille Lafrance and Benjamin Wehrmann at CLEW take a deep dive into the reasons why, quoting experts and politicians. Germany’s vision of a fully renewables-based EU is at odds with France’s unwavering support for low-carbon nuclear energy. European-wide agreement on targets matter because they drive future investment in the targeted technologies and the design … [Read more...]
Circular Battery Economy: what policies and processes can accelerate recycling and reuse?
As battery production scales up so do the risks of the long global supply chain failing, or causing more emissions, damaging the environment, and breaching human rights. A circular battery economy should greatly reduce those risks. Yet the U.S. has no federal recycling mandates or requirements for lithium-ion batteries, and state policies are inconsistent. Marie McNamara at RMI maps out the five critical issues that must be dealt with. Before … [Read more...]
Draft EU rules on Battery lifecycle decarbonisation: close the loopholes!
Draft rules mean battery manufacturers selling into Europe will have to report the product’s entire carbon footprint, from mining to production to recycling, as early as July 2024. That data will then be used to set a maximum CO2 limit for batteries to apply from the end of 2027. This is a big step forward, says T&E, addressing concerns over battery carbon footprint and recycling, and it also covers environment and human rights. But T&E … [Read more...]
“Battery Passports”: ensuring environmental sustainability, decarbonisation and mining labour rights
With battery production taking off, concerns are focussed on environmental sustainability, carbon footprint and labour rights where the raw materials are mined. Benedikt Sobotka, Co-Chair at the Global Battery Alliance and Robin Zeng, CEO at Chinese manufacturer Contemporary Amperex Technology, writing for WEF, describe the concept of the digital “battery passport” where compliance with the rules is certified and monitored throughout the life … [Read more...]
Russia’s war has exposed France and Germany’s energy policy differences. Can it also bring them together?
France and Germany combined account for 45% of EU GDP and 40% of energy consumption. No wonder they are the most influential EU members. But the Russia-induced energy crisis has forced both Paris and Berlin to expose and admit the differences in their national energy strategies, and that has made a search for a unified voice for Europe’s ambitious climate targets much harder to achieve, explain Camille Lafrance and Benjamin Wehrmann at CLEW. … [Read more...]
Russia’s oil export revenue rebounded in March–April. Why aren’t the EU, U.S. and partners enforcing the price cap?
The Price Cap Coalition (PCC) - composed of Australia, Canada, the EU, Japan, the UK, and the U.S. – are failing to either enforce or lower the cap on Russian oil exports as promised, says a report summarised here from the Centre for Research in Energy and Clean Air (CREA). Had it done so, Russian revenues could have been slashed by €22bn (37%) since December by lowering the price cap for crude oil to $30/barrel and revising the caps for oil … [Read more...]
Lookahead to 2024 27-nation EU Parliamentary elections: will ambitious climate policies win or lose votes?
In June next year Europeans from 27 nations will elect a new EU Parliament that will shape the bloc’s energy and climate policy in the years leading to the 2030 climate target deadline. It’s not clear whether rising prices, energy security and heatwaves will steer votes towards parties pushing for more rapid decarbonisation, or whether the cost and disruption of transition will do the exact opposite. At the last election in 2019 climate concerns … [Read more...]
Power to the people: citizen-centred Just Transitions challenge energy system centralisation
EU Member States need to phase-out coal and transform their carbon-intensive industries to make Europe climate-neutral. However, these should not be the only goals: transparency and justice must also accompany this path, argue Diana SĂĽsser at IEECP, Serafeim Michas at TEESlab and Ricardo Antonio GarcĂa Mira at the University of A Coruna. As Member States implement their territorial just transition plans, they must ensure they benefit affected … [Read more...]
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