On Monday (February 22nd 2021) the Czech government announced their intention to file a lawsuit in the EU Court of Justice against Poland’s plan to “expand the mining” at Turow, saying it can endanger the drinking water for up to 30,000 people living in the Liberec Region. Frank Umbach at EUCERS argues such a lawsuit sets a dangerous precedent that could stand in the way of regional cooperation and achieving the EU’s climate goals. Instead, the … [Read more...]
Low gasoline prices create a window for tax changes to fund energy transitions
Low crude oil and gasoline prices create an opportunity for all governments to reform the way they tax or subsidise these important fuels. In general, richer importing nations have high gasoline taxes to generate substantial revenues. Poorer nations subsidise them to cut the bill for their citizens and industries. Oil producing nations do little of either. Domenico Lattanzio and Alexandre Bizeul at the IEA explain how nations that use subsidies … [Read more...]
The dangers of using Climate Policy as a Social Justice tool
Cap-and-trade has been criticised in California for allowing big emitters to pay their way out of reducing emissions and cause pollution. It’s become a social justice issue as poorer communities tend to be located near where the pollution is being created. James Bushnell at the Energy Institute at Haas warns that such clashes are being caused by the mistaken view that climate policy should be a major tool for reducing inequality. In fact, some … [Read more...]
A new EU Gas Market must expose it to all clean energy solutions, not just gas-on-gas
Towards the end of this year the EC is expected to issue new proposals for gas legislation, a once in a decade market reform. Simon Skillings and Lisa Fischer at E3G highlight the big difference between the design of gas and electricity markets for Europe. The electricity market is growing, the gas market needs to shrink. The authors quote figures showing that the EU's 55% emissions reduction target for 2030 means natural gas use will reduce by … [Read more...]
Nine advantages small-scale solutions have for reducing global emissions
Which is best? Spending your budget on a million 1 KW solar panels or a single 1 GW nuclear/hydro/gas plant? Lots of electric bikes or a single tram system? Lots of smart thermostats or whole-building retrofits? Charlie Wilson (University of East Anglia), Caroline Zimm (IIASA) and Simon De Stercke (Imperial College London) summarise their study that lists the advantages of small-scale “granular” solutions over large-scale “lumpy” ones. Granular … [Read more...]
Coal regions are ideally suited for utility-scale Wind, Solar and jobs
Over 15% of total greenhouse gas emissions in the EU come from coal-fired energy generation. 18 EU countries still use coal for electricity production. The argument goes that the phasing out of coal threatens the livelihoods of coal workers and their regional economy. But it should be the opposite, argue Elif Gündüzyeli and Jörg Mühlenhoff at CAN Europe. Coal regions are ideally suited for new gigawatt-scale wind and solar. They already have the … [Read more...]
Rural America needs investment, jobs. $82bn/yr of Wind and Solar can deliver it
The build out of wind and solar in the U.S. – to rise from 165GW today to over 500GW in 2035 – will overwhelmingly happen in the open spaces of rural America, explains Kevin Brehm at RMI. It should result in a major boost to stagnating communities. The $82bn/year of clean energy investment will take second spot to the current three big rural spends: highways ($90bn), water utilities ($57bn) and mass transit ($45bn). By 2030 rural clean energy … [Read more...]
MGA blocks can substitute for coal, preserving plants, grid connectivity and jobs
Rather than dismantle coal plants, why not create a clean fuel that can be used in the same plants, utilising the steam turbines, existing connections to the grid, and preserve jobs at the plant. MGA (miscibility gap alloy) is that fuel, say Erich Kisi and Alexander Post at the University of Newcastle, Australia who are behind the development of these blocks of material, 20cm x 20cm x 16cm, made of blended metals. They are heated up – using … [Read more...]
Do black households in the U.S. pay more for their energy?
The “Black Lives Matter” movement, sparked by the killing of George Floyd by Minneapolis police at the end of May, has reverberated around the world. Particularly in North America and Europe it has gone well beyond the behaviour of the police and prompted calls to identify and root out structural racism wherever it is found. Maximilian Auffhammer at the Energy Institute at Haas looks at U.S. research that asks: “Do black households spend more on … [Read more...]
A Just Transition can address systemic inequality, not just clean energy jobs
For some, the concept of a Just Transition means more than re-skilling former coal workers. It’s an opportunity to reduce systemic inequality in their society. Energy costs represent a high portion of the spending of the poor, so any major overhaul of the energy system, like the Transition, can have a direct and positive impact on them. Writing for the Regulatory Assistance Project (RAP), Alice Napoleon, Donna Brutkoski and Nancy Seidman describe … [Read more...]
EU needs clear European Green and Solidarity Pact by September
Stark predictions around the unprecedented economic challenges facing Europe (and the world) are starting to take shape. The possible solutions must keep pace with them. Here, Marc-Antoine Eyl-Mazzega at the IFRI Centre for Energy & Climate lays out those challenges and robust policy answers that can keep us on a net-zero emissions track while stimulating economies, creating jobs, and maintaining social justice. It’s no surprise that there is … [Read more...]
How do we accelerate EU decarbonisation now?
The economic stimulus needed to overcome the current pandemic requires significant resources. But it comes at a time when we need to accelerate the energy transition, which is currently part of the European Green Deal and will also require an increase in resources. Andrei Marcu at ERCST examines how the transition will be funded, what are the sources of funding and how they relate to and will be impacted by the current health situation. A range … [Read more...]
The EU can support Central and East Europe’s transition
Six Central and East European nations, heavily dependent on coal, have been very cautious about the pace of the EU’s transition. For them - Bulgaria, Czechia, Hungary, Poland, Romania and Slovakia - the political and economic disruption looks far harder to bear. E3G has just released a report that suggests this picture can change. The report’s authors – Felix Heilmann, Rebekka Popp and Ada Ámon – explain that coal is becoming less profitable, … [Read more...]
EU pathway to 3m EV charge points by 2030
Right now the EU has around 185,000 public charge points, which is enough for today’s market (seven cars for each point). The current policy scenario targets 33m electric cars by 2030 (44m for climate neutrality). Transport & Environment’s Nico Muzi summarises their latest report that plots their ambitious pathway. It’s driven by the forceful idea of a European ‘right to plug’, and enabled by their new Public Charging Supply metric, using a … [Read more...]
How will we pay for the European Green Deal?
The European Green Deal (EGD), announced on December 11th, sets a 2050 target to make the continent become the first to achieve carbon neutrality. It’s a long-term plan – not yet law – to re-design all EU instruments and includes 50 specific policy initiatives. But nobody yet knows how much money is needed, who will pay (or lend) it, and who will get it. So tense discussions will now begin between the likely payers (such as Germany, the … [Read more...]
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