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 Only when renewables and gas-fired power generation have fully superseded … [Read more...]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...]
New process to gasify sludge and slurry may turn farmers into energy producers
A substantial part of Europe’s sludge and slurry mountain can be converted into gas for electricity production, if a new invention from Finnish company Outotec turns out to be successful. Together with Stuttgart University the company has invented a new drying-and-gasification process that should make this kind of energy production affordable. According to Ludwig Hermann of Outotec, the process has an additional advantage in that it leaves a … [Read more...]
Exclusive: The Overlay Network – telecom experts present revolutionary plan to integrate EU power market
Four Dutch managers with a background in the telecoms sector, led by former Chairman of KPN Royal Dutch Telecom Professor Wim Dik, have come up with a simple idea that would finally make possible a truly integrated EU electricity system. Under the name of EU PowerNet Initiative they propose the building of an ‘Overlay Network’ that would allow direct transmission of electricity between all countries even if they are not direct neighbours. The … [Read more...]
New European trend: renewables without borders
So far there has been very little cooperation between EU countries in stimulating renewable energy, although better coordination could save tens of billions of euros in support costs. Now that the EU has decided not to have national renewable energy targets for 2030, more and more organisations and countries are trying to develop regional approaches to support renewables projects. The Heinrich Böll Foundation, a think tank close to the German … [Read more...]
Renewables: does the IEA underestimate them?
In a new market report on renewable energy, the International Energy Agency (IEA) notes that renewables will represent “the largest single source of electricity growth over the next five years”, reaching a share of 26% of world power supply in 2020, compared to 22% in 2013. Yet critics say the IEA is still underestimating the speed at which renewables like solar and wind are likely to grow. Energy Post editor Karel Beckman tries to figure out … [Read more...]
RWE’s Head of Innovation Inken Braunschmidt: “We want to be the Uber for energy”
Big energy companies are looking to the sharing economy, digitisation, big data, and mega-cities to inspire future revenue streams. In this exclusive interview with Energy Post, Inken Braunschmidt, leader of RWE’s “Innovation Hub” talks about her unique role at the helm of a department that’s not a department. Her job? To think non-utility ideas. Braunschmidt:”We’re really going to the edge of what energy has meant for 100 years.” … [Read more...]
Canada could be clean energy superpower
The latest report from Clean Energy Canada, a project of the Centre for Dialogue at Simon Fraser University in Vancouver, British Columbia, shows that the Canadian clean energy sector employs more people than the oilsands sector and attracts more investment than agriculture. But its potential is even greater, writes Roy L. Hales of the Canadian website the EcoReport. … [Read more...]
Exit Ahead – Shell at the end of the Oil Superhighway
Shell’s departure from the Arctic is a very significant event in the global energy picture, writes Energy Post editor-in-chief Karel Beckman. It is another sign that the End of the Oil Age is in sight. … [Read more...]
China and US: new climate commitments, common vision
US President Obama and Chinese President Xi announced far-reaching new climate policy proposals on 25 September during Xi's state visit in Washington DC. Ahead of the UN Climate Summit (COP21) in Paris in December, they came out with several new pledges in areas such as climate finance and energy efficiency standards. Moreover, China announced the launch of a national emission trading system in 2017 and the implementation of a new green dispatch … [Read more...]
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