Global climate negotiations have hardly led to tangible climate policy tools over the last five years. The latest UN Climate Summit in Lima was no exception. By contrast, both businesses and local and regional authorities are developing plenty of new initiatives. Could the crucial 2015 conference in Paris take a cue from these alternatives? And to what extent do business initiatives need a supranational climate deal? Rolf de Vos from energy … [Read more...]
What is the ideal oil price for the energy transition?
Does the energy transition benefit from low or high oil prices? Proponents of a swift energy transition have debated this question for a long time. Most believe high oil prices are beneficial, because they make alternatives more competitive. But high oil prices also lead to huge profits for fossil fuel businesses, while low prices make the more costly (and often dirtiest) projects unprofitable. According to Rick Bosman and Derk Loorbach of the … [Read more...]
Governments can reshape the energy business: they are the biggest users
In our energy system we treat electricity as a commodity, which is sold by the unit, writes Walt Patterson, Associate Fellow at Chatham House. This provides an incentive to suppliers to maximise consumption – which is why our user-technology is so wasteful. But according to Patterson, electricity is not a commodity, it’s a process in infrastructure. What matters is not the functioning of some ‘electricity market’ but long-term investment in this … [Read more...]
The new China-Europe connection: how China’s new Silk Road strategy will change the face of the world
China’s “New Silk Road” strategy is intended to connect the Chinese industrial powerhouse first with Eurasia and then Europe. This will be done through a gigantic, intricate network of road and rail transport lines and energy pipelines, which will cut overland travel time from China to Europe to just two days. It is the greatest trade story in the world, writes reporter Pepe Escobar, even though we hear little about it in the West. Europe, notes … [Read more...]
Why Chile’s mines run on renewables – and Australia’s don’t
Unbelievable but true: the Chilean mining industry is increasingly run on renewable energy, which will soon be bigger than conventional power sector in Chile, and cost-competitive. The Chileans ought to thank the Chinese for this, writes Australian professor John Mathews, whose new book, The Greening of Capitalism, has just been published by Stanford University Press. Mathews adds that Australian miners should take a cue from their Chilean … [Read more...]
Emission trading now a major new source of low-carbon finance in the EU – but will it stay that way?
Last year for the first time many of the CO2 allowances in the EU Emission Trading Scheme (ETS) were auctioned rather than handed out for free. Surprisingly perhaps, the EU member states used much more of the ETS revenues for low-carbon development than EU law suggests they should. This suggests that the ETS could become a major source of low-carbon finance in the future, writes Emil Dimantchev, senior analyst at Thomson Reuters. But Dimantchev … [Read more...]
Energy security: Brussels, stop dreaming about the market and confront Russia and China geopolitically
European leaders are under the delusion that they can solve Europe’s security of energy supply problem by creating a strong internal market, which they believe the rest of the world will be eager to serve. In reality, reducing dependence on Russia will require long-term political commitment, real power play and engagement with countries in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), write Cyril Widdershoven of energy research institute TNO and … [Read more...]
How the oil price collapse is hastening the demise of Norway’s oil industry
The drop in global oil prices is hastening the decline of Norway’s already slowly declining oil industry as new oil projects are being scrapped and workers are laid off. Norway may need to begin building a post-oil economy sooner than it thought, writes Nick Cunningham of Oilprice.com. … [Read more...]
Maria van der Hoeven, IEA: Use cheap oil to put a price on carbon
With the drop in oil prices "delivering a shot of economic stimulus to consumers around the world", policymakers have a "once-in-a-generation" chance to take actions to cut our reliance on fossil fuels, writes Maria van der Hoeven, Executive Director of the International Energy Agency (IEA). She urges policymakers in developed countries to use the drop in oil prices to put a price on carbon. … [Read more...]
What came out of Lima
Hundreds of country negotiating teams have been meeting in Lima, Peru over the past two weeks for the latest round of international climate negotiations. Mat Hope of The Carbon Brief gives an excellent overview of the results and discusses next steps. Overall conclusion: international climate negotiations have taken a step forward, but only a very small step. … [Read more...]
Putin’s gas gambit: what’s next after South Stream
The Russian cancellation of South Stream is not an end, but a beginning: a new start of Russian gas games in Europe and beyond, writes Agata Łoskot-Strachota of the Centre for Eastern Studies (OSW) in Poland. She discusses three likely scenarios for what will happen after South Stream and notes that this is a chance for Russia and Europe to look afresh at their bilateral gas relations and new pipeline options. But, she adds, it also makes it … [Read more...]
Cancellation of South Stream is not retaliation, but a business decision
The decision to stop the South Stream project does not represent a fundamental shift in Russian energy policy, writes Friedbert Pflüger, Director of the European Centre for Energy and Resource Security (EUCERS) at King‘s College London. It is not a political retaliation or a “counter-sanction”, but above all a business decision: South Stream had become far too expensive in the current stagnant European gas market. … [Read more...]
Gazprom CEO Alexei Miller: “This is the beginning of the end of Gazprom’s business model in Europe”
Following last week’s announcement on the South Stream project cancellation, last Saturday (6/12) Gazprom CEO Alexei Miller gave an extensive interview to a major Russian TV channel, Russia 24. In his interview Mr Miller explains the reasons for abandoning South Stream, outlines Gazprom’s prospects of the new gas delivery route through Turkey and touches upon the project’s financial aspects. … [Read more...]
To cut carbon emissions and keep the lights on, it has got to be nuclear power
Crunch time is here: energy security and affordability concerns are colliding with the need to reduce CO2 emissions, writes Malcolm Grimston of Imperial College London. That's why the UK government is right to want to get new nuclear power plants built, argues Grimston. (See the previous article, by Peter Strachan and Alex Russell of Robert Gordon University. for a different viewpoint.) … [Read more...]
UK nuclear policy takes another step in the wrong direction
In its annual National Infrastructure Plan, published on 2 December, the UK government announced it has signed a cooperation agreement with Toshiba, GDF Suez and NuGen toward the financing of a new 3.4 GW nuclear power plant at Moorside. This is one of three new nuclear megaprojects being planned in the UK, next to Hinkley Point C (3.3GW) and Wylfa Newydd (3GW). The UK plans to spend £45 billion on these projects until 2021 and hopes to raise … [Read more...]
- « Previous Page
- 1
- …
- 31
- 32
- 33
- 34
- 35
- …
- 38
- Next Page »