The EU’s first-ever “State of the Energy Union” report is determinedly optimistic on progress, but offers little new information and appears to take just a small step towards resolving the biggest challenge of all: uniting national interests around EU priorities. Published by the European Commission on 18 November, the report is accompanied by a whole suite of studies in areas from energy security to climate action. The package sets out … [Read more...]
The future of coal: the long comedown
A new report by a consortium of 14 leading research institutions from Europe, the US, Japan, China, India, and Brazil has investigated future energy sector trends, in part based on the climate plans submitted by countries to the UNFCCC before the Paris climate summit, but also based on other drivers such as economic development and local air pollution. One of the key takeaways: the global coal sector is faced with a bleak future, writes Thomas … [Read more...]
The great oil shake-out: how far will it go?
Low oil prices are shaking up the global oil industry. Will they stay low? For how long? And how low is low anyway? These are some of the crucial questions hanging over the global energy sector. We spoke to three experts and the IEA’s Executive Director Fatih Birol, who put the current market in perspective – and offer a view of the future. Some say we are in a fairly normal cycle. Others see fundamental changes coming.This article was first … [Read more...]
Solar energy costs continue to plunge across the world
(Reneweconomy) Two stunning auction results in India and Chile in the last week have underscored the extraordinary gains that large-scale solar has made against its fossil fuel competitors, writes Giles Parkinson of Reneweconomy.com. Parkinson takes stock of the latest developments in prices for unsubsidised solar energy, based on auctions across the world and comes to pretty spectacular findings. … [Read more...]
The energy ship changes course – IEA Chief “optimistic”
Slowly but surely the global energy oil tanker is changing course. The long journey to a low-carbon energy future has finally gotten underway – and there is no turning back anymore. That’s the central message that can be deduced from the 2015 edition of the World Energy Outlook (WEO), released today by the International Energy Agency (IEA). Fatih Birol, the new Executive Director of the IEA, tells Energy Post he is “more optimistic” for the … [Read more...]
Interview Marko Delimar, IEEE: “Technologists need to demystify energy”
“Right now renewable energy is still in the single digits in Europe. That’s a disaster”, says Marko Delimar, Professor at the University of Zagreb and Chair of the European Public Policy Group of the engineers association IEEE, the largest professional association in the world. According to Delimar, the energy transition is still at a very early stage. Technologists, he says, in an interview with Energy Post, have an important task: “We need to … [Read more...]
The coal conundrum
What do we do with coal? It provides cheap and reliable energy around the world, but is also the main cause of the most serious problem facing the world, writes Allan Hoffman. According to Hoffman, there are no easy answers, but we have no choice but to move to a clean energy society as quickly as possible. … [Read more...]
How cheap can energy storage get? Pretty darn cheap
If current trends hold, the world is on a trajectory to achieving energy storage that will be cheap enough to allow 24/7 clean energy in the next 15-20 years, writes famous author and thinker Ramez Naam. … [Read more...]
The new Polish government’s energy policy: expect more State, less market
The new Polish government will not just resist ambitious EU climate targets, it will also increase the role of the State in the energy sector, write researchers Kacper Szulecki (University of Oslo) and Andrzej Ancygier (Climate Analytics) . The conservative Law and Justice Party that has been swept into power intends to create a Ministry of Energy, which will take control of the major Polish energy companies, note the authors. The likely new … [Read more...]
Power-to-gas: how carmakers can go green (without cheating)
European carmakers are required to reduce their CO2-emissions, but the Volkswagen affair has shown they find it increasingly difficult to do so. There is a way out, however, writes energy consultant Mike Parr: they could follow the example of Audi and invest in power-to-gas systems. This would kill two birds with one stone, argues Parr: it would help decarbonise the transport sector and could enormously help the integration of variable renewables … [Read more...]
German accord: it will take a lot more to beat lignite
The accord between the German government and energy companies RWE, Vattenfall and Mibrag to put 2.7 GW of lignite-fired power capacity into reserve, will not be enough to wean Germany off lignite, writes Hamburg-based US energy expert Jeffrey Michel. The lignite sector is too well entrenched and lignite mining profitable enough to subsidize the loss-making power production. Only when renewables and gas-fired power generation have fully superseded … [Read more...]
Energy companies divided over renewable energy in Brussels
“The lobby of the conventional energy sector is still very influential in Brussels, but it’s increasingly becoming split over renewable energy. Some of the incumbent companies are trying to slow down the development of renewables, others want to encourage them. At the same time, renewable energy lobbyists are becoming increasingly professional, catching up with the lobbyists for the conventional energy sector.” A senior lobbyist for the renewable … [Read more...]
The UK Government’s delusional energy policy – and what it means for Scotland
The Conservative government in the UK has slashed support for renewables and is going all-out for shale gas and nuclear power. This is setting them on a collision course with devolved administrations in the UK, Scotland most of all, warn Peter Strachan and Alex Russell of Robert Gordon University in Aberdeen and Geraint Ellis of Queen’s University in Belfast. It won’t go over too well at the Paris climate summit either. … [Read more...]
Jean-Luc Dormoy, IT expert and innovator: “Energy companies should disrupt their own business before others do it”
Energy companies can turn the threat of new rivals into an opportunity by taking charge of their own disruption, believes energy and IT entrepreneur Jean-Luc Dormoy. With a background in software, artificial intelligence and energy, Dormoy sets out a model for disruptive innovation inspired by the likes of Google and Uber in this exclusive interview with Energy Post. Dormoy: “IT is changing almost all industries. But IT on its own is not enough. … [Read more...]
Failure of Energy Community Treaty: if EU can’t make its neighbours clean up, can it be climate leader?
The Ministerial Council of the Energy Community – a Treaty between the EU, the Western Balkans, Moldova and Ukraine – is expected to decide on far-reaching reforms this week. According to Dragana Mileusnic of Climate Action Network (CAN) Europe, the Energy Community Treaty has failed to bring progressive climate policies to Southeast Europe. Countries that have signed the Treaty have made practically no effort to live up to its obligations and … [Read more...]
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