eu posts, articles, and infographics

More Long-Term Pressure on Oil Prices

January 18, 2012 by Geoffrey Styles
with 300 views

A pair of items in today's Financial Times could signal a longer run of high oil prices, even if Europe were to slip into recession and economic growth elsewhere slow. Geoffrey Styles explains how the combination of Saudi Arabia's increase of its target oil price and Venezuela's volatile leader will affect long run oil prices. [read more]

2 Steps Forward, 1 Step Back on Carbon Pricing

January 17, 2012 by David Hone
with 106 views

2011 turned out to be a busy year for the development of carbon pricing. Long the cornerstone of EU climate policy, the approach continues to find favour with governments focused on the issue of managing emissions, rather than those trying to manage the shape of the entire energy mix. [read more]

Airline Griping Over EU Aviation Carbon Tax Isn’t About The Consumer

January 16, 2012 by Tyler Hamilton
with 112 views

Here’s my take on the EU aviation carbon tax that is causing a stink with major world airline carriers: ———————————————— Tyler Hamilton My family flew to North Carolina during the holiday to visit relatives and, being aware of new baggage fees, we made every effort to pack lightly. Of two adults and two children we had only one item to... [read more]

Cutting Air Pollution & Strengthening Information Transparency in China

January 10, 2012 by Barbara Finamore
with 128 views

Power plant emissions and air quality standards targeting some of the most harmful impacts of coal are coming under greater scrutiny starting this year in China. As of January 1, new thermal power plants have tougher restrictions on soot, sulfur dioxide and nitrogen dioxides (92% of the current fleet is coal-fired). Mercury will be controlled starting in 2015. Small particulate matter and ozone standards will take effect nationwide in 2016; Beijing announced just last week that it would publicly release small particulate matter (PM 2.5) data before February of this year. Followed closely by the U.S. unveiling new toxics controls on power plants last month, both countries are in a “race to the top” for greater health and environmental protections for its citizens. This is a race we must all win. [read more]

Evaluating Durban

December 13, 2011 by Dan Bodansky
with 246 views

Was the Durban climate conference a success or failure? As always, the answer depends on one’s frame of reference. [read more]

Are Durban Outcomes Historic or Hollow? (1)

December 12, 2011 by David Thorpe
with 200 views

This is the first of two posts on COP17, the Durban-based UN climate change talks: this summarises the accords reached and others' reactions; the next post following immediately is the Low Carbon Kid's assessment of the accords. After the longest conference in the history of UN climate summits, a "historic" agreement was reached, that... [read more]

Durban: It Could Have Been Worse, It Should Have Been Better (2)

December 12, 2011 by David Thorpe
with 91 views

This is the second of two posts about Durban. The first gives a run-down of the accords agreed, this gives an assessment. It was never going to be easy. Anyone watching or following, as I was, the high drama of the last three days of the climate negotiations in Durban must have thought it more gripping than any Hollywood political... [read more]

Do Countries at COP17 Have a Mandate to Negotiate a Climate Agreement?

December 5, 2011 by Jake Schmidt
with 152 views

For the last two global warming negotiations – in Copenhagen and Cancun – there were serious efforts by countries to get a “mandate” to negotiate a new legal agreement that would strengthen international efforts to address global warming. Before this meeting this issue – “where we are headed” – was shaping up to be the key political decision at this year Ministerial meeting in Durban, South Africa. [read more]

India Rejects EU Plan for New Climate Treaty

December 5, 2011 by Shira Honig
with 167 views

With the Durban climate change negotiations barely a week old, key countries are drawing their “red line” positions in the sand.On one side of the line, where the Group of 77 (G77) + China and other developing countries firmly sit, is a second commitment period under the Kyoto Protocol that continues binding targets for current country... [read more]

Solar Combined With Wind Power: A Way To Get Rid of Fossil Fuels?

November 30, 2011 by Barry Brook
with 691 views

Earlier, I wrote on how crucially an unreliable sources of power such as wind depend on fossil fuels. Based on real world production data from around the world, I noted that even with massively distributed production wind power is very variable and necessitates a reliable backup power source (typically from fossil fuels) which must be able to produce essentially all the power society consumes. A way around this problem would be a massive energy storage, but I found the size of the required storage to be unreasonably large. [read more]

Message to Durban: It's The Economy

November 30, 2011 by Geoffrey Styles
with 172 views

What if they held a UN climate conference and no one came? That's certainly not the case at this year's COP-17 (Conference of the Parties) meeting now underway in Durban, South Africa, but with expectations for dramatic progress low, and a breakthrough on the scale needed to salvage the expiring Kyoto Protocol nearly unimaginable, it could be where the UN-led process is headed. If Durban fails to deliver the goods, it won't be because the participants were any less concerned about climate change than those at past sessions. Nor will it be because of the latest release of Climategate emails, as embarrassing as some of them should be for the scientists involved. The reason is much simpler, and it's the same one that helped Bill Clinton unseat George H.W. Bush in 1992: "It's the economy, stupid." The solution to climate change is unlikely to be found in Durban or any future COP site until the leaders in Brussels, Washington and other capitals come to grips with the massive economic challenges they face and create the framework for a return to robust growth. [read more]

What COP17 Must Accomplish To Matter Part 2

November 24, 2011 by Jake Schmidt
with 200 views

Global warming negotiations are at an important fork in the road. With emerging signs of promising actions occurring on the ground and troubling signs in the atmosphere, countries must decide in Durban if they can turn standing ovations into guidelines and institutions to help all countries take serious action to reduce global... [read more]

Does Germany Make a Difference in Global Warming?

November 23, 2011 by Willem Post
with 756 views

In September 2010, the German government announced the following three targets: Renewable electricity: 35% of total electricity production, TEP, by 2020, 50% by 2030, 65% by 2040 and 80% by 2050 Renewable electricity was 16.8% of TEP in 2011 and 19.8% in 2011. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Renewable_energy_in_Germany... [read more]

Big Names Shamed As Carbon Emissions Made Public For The First Time

November 15, 2011 by David Thorpe
with 311 views

The public is now able to see for the first time which companies and organisations are making a real effort to reduce their carbon emissions and which are not. The carbon savers and the carbon slackers have all been made visible under the first Performance League Tables of the Energy Efficiency Scheme, published today by the Environment Agency. [read more]

IEA Calls On Greece To Reform Electricity, Gas Markets

October 28, 2011 by Tomaz Ostir
with 89 views

What will happen with Greece’s (EU’s) plan of 20/20/20 with the current development of the nations’ finance? Are solar investments still feasible, when country is in such debt and the investments heavily dependent on the feed-in tariffs? Greece and Energy Greece, EU’s most southern country coulbe be one of the cornerstones of solar... [read more]