Poland sees nuclear as ideal for replacing its coal, explain Matt Bowen and Sagatom Saha at the Center on Global Energy Policy. Though Poland's renewables like wind and solar have grown rapidly in the last few years, reactors can provide dispatchable heat and power in the way that coal currently does. Poland is extremely reliant on coal, generating over 70% of its electricity and giving it the second-largest coal fleet in the EU. Hence, in … [Read more...]
New Solar study: 50% of global power by 2050, even without more ambitious climate policies
Nadia Ameli at UCL and Femke Nijsse and Jean-Francois Mercure at the University of Exeter present their study that shows solar is on track to make up more than half of global electricity generation by 2050, even without more ambitious climate policies. This far exceeds any previous estimates: last year’s IEA World Energy Outlook predicted that solar would account for only 25% by 2050. The authors’ macroeconomic model takes the latest … [Read more...]
China’s Belt and Road Initiative is now building more Renewables, less Coal
Energy has always made up the majority of investments and construction deals signed through China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). Until very recently these investments were dominated by fossil fuel projects. But in the first half of this year, over 40% of BRI energy projects announced were wind and solar, with 22% each for gas and oil, and zero for coal projects. The reasons include China’s stated commitment to clean energy, avoiding the risk … [Read more...]
H2 Green Steel has raised billions in 3 years: a case study of Industrial Project Finance
The financing of H2 Green Steel (H2GS), founded in 2020, can be taken as a template for capital intensive industrial first-of-a-kind projects that must raise billions quickly to build from scratch and go live. Shravan Bhat and Asia Salazar at RMI describe H2GS’s financing journey to reveal five key lessons for raising funds. Against the usual logic, large, diverse, equity investor pools can work (H2GS counts over 20 different equity investors). … [Read more...]
Financing Renewable Hydrogen globally: ramp up to 2030 only needs $150bn/year
Dolf Gielen, Priyank Lathwal and Silvia Carolina Lopez Rocha at the World Bank present a thorough review of the pathway to financing global clean renewable hydrogen over the coming decades. The wind and solar that powers production will continue to get cheaper, and so will electrolyser costs as they scale up. Nevertheless, the total financing will still be considerable. World Bank analysis shows around $30tn between now and 2050 will be needed … [Read more...]
EU Taxonomy: why nations are backing Nuclear and Gas
The heated debates over the potential inclusion of nuclear power and natural gas in the EU taxonomy has again exposed the different interests of EU nations. Simon Göss at cr.hub, writing for Energy Brainpool, explains what parameters the EU taxonomy controls, what conditions are attached should the two technologies be classified as sustainable, as well as summarising those national interests and constraints. Critics say neither should be … [Read more...]
Wind, Solar: continuing cost declines will help meet rising renewables targets
The EC’s “Fit for 55” proposals include the raising of the EU’s 2030 target for total energy produced from renewable sources to 40%. Much of the rest of the world will likely raise its targets at some point too. Continuing to cut the cost of renewable energy generation will be essential to make that happen, and take pressure off all the other associated costs of supporting its integration into the energy system. Michael Taylor at IRENA summarises … [Read more...]
Financial incentives for Grid Modernisation: the problem with guaranteed returns on investment
Grid modernisation is going to be very expensive. What’s the best way to pay for it? The financial incentives governments put in place now will determine what investments get made, how cost-effectively it’s done, and who ultimately pays. Meredith Fowlie at UC Berkeley’s Energy Institute at Haas explains that a common method is for a government to give some sort of guaranteed return on investment for the new asset. But it’s far from ideal. … [Read more...]
Buildings Efficiency in China, and what EU partners should know
To set up our upcoming online event (April 13th & 14th) "China: Carbon Neutral by 2060 -EFFICIENCY FIRST” we look at how Buildings Efficiency is being tackled by Energy Management Contracting (EMC), when an ESCO (energy service company) provides energy retrofit services and gets paid for the future energy savings. The up-front investment cost is recouped over the multi-year lifetime of the service contract by taking a cut of the genuine … [Read more...]
Rolls Royce wants innovative financing for its first-of-a-kind nuclear SMRs
Rolls Royce has made nuclear reactors for decades, small enough to fit inside nuclear submarines. It’s now adapting that expertise for the grid. Dan Yurman runs through the details of the firm's plans, including a look at its first-of-a-kind 440MW technology. Regulatory timescales will be kept short by developing the small modular reactors (SMRs) at existing licensed nuclear sites – with Cumbria and Wales its main targets. Importantly, an … [Read more...]
“Energy Charter Treaty review should end protection for fossil fuels”
In her previous article Sarah Keay-Bright said the outdated Energy Charter Treaty protects old world fossil fuel investments over the wide range of new green investments now being made. The treaty is being reviewed by its signatories this year. In a concluding article, she and Steivan Defilla warn that the terms of reference for the ECT review don’t even mention the need to align the treaty with the Paris Agreement. They say the revised ECT must … [Read more...]
IEEFA: IEA’s Sustainable Development Scenario is not enough
The IEA’s Sustainable Development Scenario (SDS) – if it’s followed - sees the world limiting the temperature rise to below 2°C. Even if we stick to the plan the SDS gives us only a 50% chance of success. Tim Buckley at IEEFA says those odds are not good enough. Worse, the SDS depends on carbon capture and storage (CCS) achieving commercialisation at scale by 2030. The author explains why he thinks that’s unrealistic, and calls for the IEA to … [Read more...]
U.S. innovative financing makes buildings energy efficiency affordable even to poor communities
Buildings energy efficiency is not moving fast enough to meet the Paris Agreement goals. Retrofitting old buildings is extremely costly and needs much more investment, as our previous articles have detailed. Innovative models of financing are urgently needed. In an article for Ensia, Nate Berg explains how by rolling upgrade costs into monthly bills for poorer communities, U.S. utilities are helping customers save energy and money at the same … [Read more...]
We have a decade to prevent dangerous climate change: these 10 policies can save us
The climate change challenge is not technical nor even economic, but a matter of enacting the right policies, writes Silvio Marcacci, Communications Director at San Francisco-based think tank Energy Innovation. Based on new research, Marcacci outlines the the types of policies that are the most effective. … [Read more...]
The IEA comes up short on climate (again)
The release of the World Energy Outlook (WEO) 2018 marks another missed opportunity for the International Energy Agency (IEA) to provide a roadmap to Paris, writes Greg Muttitt of NGO Oil Change International. According to Muttitt, even the WEO’s “sustainable development scenario” falls well short of the Paris goals. Policymakers and investors cannot rely on the WEO to guide their decisions in energy. … [Read more...]
- 1
- 2
- 3
- …
- 38
- Next Page »
