The trade facilitation agreement reached by the WTO last Saturday is only a modest step towards a global trade deal. What the world needs now, writes John Mathews, is a Global Green Growth trade deal that would not only enhance the stature of the WTO, but would deliver huge investment in green growth – and far more secure cuts in carbon emissions than any Kyoto-style agreement could ever achieve. … [Read more...]
Viewpoint: European gas industry needs paradigm shift
The European gas industry should “stop complaining” and ask itself what it can offer to society to help bring about the transition that people demand, writes Wim Groenendijk, Head of International and Regulatory Affairs at the Dutch transmission system operator Gasunie. “As the ones who are looking after the energy supply, we should take our responsibility.” … [Read more...]
“Integrated EU market + ETS = best way to decarbonisation”
The European Climate Foundation (ECF) has released a new report, From Roadmaps to Reality, which shows how the current EU energy framework can be improved to drive the decarbonisation of the power sector in Europe. From Roadmaps To Reality, the latest report in the ECF’s “Roadmap 2050” series, finds that a fully integrated Internal Energy Market in combination with a functioning Emissions Trading System is the most cost-effective and … [Read more...]
Interview with Johannes Teyssen, CEO of Eon: “Renewables can become biggest without subsidies”
Dr Johannes Teyssen, CEO of Eon and President of Eurelectric, doesn’t beat about the bush: in an exclusive interview with Energy Post, he says that Europe needs a single climate target for 2030 of “between 40% and 50%” emission reduction. At the same time all energy subsidies and “green levies” should go. Renewables “have all the chance in the world to take the biggest chunk of the market” even without subsidies. The European Commission should … [Read more...]
Renewable Energy Association to UK government: stop “needlessly negative language”
On the eve of the important financial statement from the UK Chancellor of the Exchequer on 4 December, and with the political energy debate getting more and more acrimonious, the UK Renewable Energy Association calls on Chancellor George Osborne to "send a positive signal to investors in the green economy by underlining the Government’s commitment to supporting home-grown renewable energy." On rising energy bills, REA Chief Executive Dr Nina … [Read more...]
Small-Wind Power Market to Reach $3 Billion by 2020, with China in the Lead
With growing incentives announced by various governments and larger end-user awareness, the small-wind power market is expected to increase massively, from $609m in 2012 to $3 billion by 2020, at a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 22%, says research and consulting firm GlobalData. According to the company’s latest report, the global small-wind turbine cumulative installed capacity is also expected to witness a significant increase from … [Read more...]
The battle over the world’s largest wealth fund – and what it means for the energy sector
A broad movement has emerged in Norway to get the country’s $720 billion sovereign wealth fund to invest in renewable energy. According to Terje Osmundsen, blogger and Senior Vice President of Scatec Solar, a globally leading solar power provider, such a change in strategy would have far-reaching effects on the global energy market. Not only directly, but also indirectly as Norway’s fund is seen as a model by other SWF’s. Meanwhile, pressure is … [Read more...]
World Energy Council: “We are looking in the wrong place”
“To deliver sustainable energy systems our focus must shift from the supply mix to demand efficiency.” This is the conclusion that Christoph Frei, Secretary-General of the World Energy Council (WEC), draws from the World Energy Scenarios recently published by WEC. According to this new report, “current technologies, policies, and innovation are not enough to meet climate goals”. Despite strong growth in renewables, fossil fuels will remain … [Read more...]
Interview Ambassador Wu: “An energy revolution is very much needed”
In a speech in Groningen at the Energy Convention 2013, Wu Jianmin, Executive Vice-Chairman of the influential China Institute for Innovation and Development Strategy, a government-aligned think tank in Beijing, declared that China “very much needs an energy revolution”. China “depends too much on coal”, said Wu. But in an interview with Energy Post he added we should not expect miracles. “We can't get rid of the coal yet.” … [Read more...]
The Mad Scientists at the Department of Energy’s National Laboratories
What energy innovation can we expect to come out of the United States in the coming years? Matthew Stepp, Senior Policy Analyst with the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation (ITIF) in Washington DC, takes us on a whirlwind tour of some of the most advanced American energy research going on. He visits five of the 17 National Laboratories of the US Department of Energy, where research is carried out on materials (e.g. for better … [Read more...]
Exclusive interview IEA-Director Maria van der Hoeven: “We cannot rule out new revolutions”
In its new World Energy Outlook (WEO), the IEA is cautious about the prospects of unconventional oil and gas outside the US. As regards shale gas, it notes that “uncertainty remains over the quality, the costs and public acceptance.” Yet in an interview with Energy Post, IEA Executive Director Maria van der Hoeven notes that “the gas is there. All geologists are agreed on that.” Moreover, “there may be other surprises in store, for example with … [Read more...]
The failure of Kyoto and the futility of European energy policy
The EU has been one of the front-runners on climate policy ever since the Kyoto Protocol was adopted in 1997. However, according to geologist and energy author Euan Mearns, who runs the blog Energy Matters and is a former editor of the famous "peak oil" website The Oil Drum, Kyoto has been an outright failure and current EU energy policy is futile and counterproductive. He wonders why EU governments "continue to pursue this futile course of … [Read more...]
IEA in World Energy Outlook: no oil abundance in sight
Technology and high prices are opening up new oil resources, but this does not mean the world is on the verge of an era of oil abundance, according to the International Energy Agency’s (IEA) 2013 edition of the World Energy Outlook (WEO-2013). Although rising oil output from North America and Brazil reduces the role of OPEC countries in quenching the world’s thirst for oil over the next decade, the Middle East – the only large source of low-cost … [Read more...]
German Environment Ministry says CO2-neutral Germany “almost possible”
Can an industrialized country such as Germany avoid nearly all of its man-made greenhouse gas emissions? “Clearly yes”, answers a new study by the German Federal Environment Agency (Umweltbundesamt). And it can be done without carbon capture and storage, nuclear power and first generation biomass. However, energy demand must be reduced by half and “unnecessary transport” must be avoided. “It is technically possible to reduce greenhouse gas … [Read more...]
The future of the large German utilities: it’s already here
Energy Post reported recently that German utility RWE is “shedding its old business model and embracing the energy transition”. This is not surprising, writes solar industry pioneer Peter F. Varadi. In fact, says Varadi, the new strategy merely formalizes what is already happening in practice. (Photo: Tim Fuller) … [Read more...]
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