The world's best thinkers on energy and climate
The European Commission has proposed amendments to the Gas Market Directive essentially to acquire control over Nord Stream 2. But once they are approved, the EU will have much more authority over Member States’ overall security of energy supply than it has now, warns Bent Ole Gram Mortensen of the University of Southern Denmark. … [Read more...]
By 2020, at least seven new gigawatt-size battery factories are scheduled to start operating in Europe, writes Zak Derler of Climate Home News. European companies, such as car manufacturer Daimler, invest in their own regionally-based gigafactories to meet the battery demand for electric vehicles in the continent and the world. … [Read more...]
The Polish government’s strong commitment to coal goes against EU policy direction and against market conditions, write Anna Mikulska of the Baker Institute’s Center for Energy Studies and Eryk Kosinski of Adam Mickiewicz University. But coal has a special place in the nation’s collective heart. … [Read more...]
EU leaders have directed the European Commission to produce an update of its long-term climate strategy “by the first quarter of 2019”, writes Megan Darby, deputy editor of Climate Home News. Climate campaigners welcome the move, saying it sends an important political signal. … [Read more...]
The European Commission has proposed new European legislation that could put Europe’s distribution system operators in a powerful position to bend market rules to their own advantage, writes Julie Finkler of NGO ClientEarth. According to Finkler, this could seriously hamper other market players, like community energy initiatives, renewable energy producers and aggregators. … [Read more...]
A high-level group on sustainable finance has advised European regulators to incentivise a more favourable treatment for energy saving loans and mortgages, which could unlock billions in lending for green building renovation programs and other green projects. … [Read more...]
The European Council’s proposals on the internal energy market fundamentally weaken the framework that is needed to deliver an integrated market that will benefit European energy consumers, write Philip Baker and Christos Kolokathis from the global energy policy advisors Regulatory Assistance Project (RAP). … [Read more...]
By funding the Trans Adriatic Pipeline (TAP), the European Investment Bank (EIB) is hardly signalling to the private sector that governments are committed to a green energy transition, writes Aled Jones, Professor and Director at the Global Sustainability Institute of Anglia Ruskin University. … [Read more...]
Governments should use markets and infrastructure to achieve their phase-out targets. I recently spent a week with executives from Electricite de France (EDF). That meant I heard a lot about nuclear energy. In 2016, 78% of the company’s electricity generation was from nuclear. The company operates more nuclear reactors than any other by more than a factor of two. … [Read more...]
Before the next European elections in 2019, Maroš Šefčovič , the European Commission’s Vice-President for the Energy Union, wants to have a new legal framework in place which will “bring in the most comprehensive and deepest transformation of energy systems in Europe, since the [industrial revolution] one hundred and fifty years ago.” … [Read more...]
Is Nord Stream 2 good or bad for Europe? Is the European Commission right to try to change the EU Gas Directive apparently to halt Nord Stream 2? On 28 November Energy Post held a conference in Brussels, sponsored by Nord Stream 2, and moderated by our EU correspondent Sonja van Renssen, where Gazprom’s pipeline project was debated. The video shows the highlights of the debate. … [Read more...]
The existing EU Gas Directive regulates issues pertaining to the transmission of gas from third countries to the Union, but is ambiguous. It can be interpreted in such a way that gas pipelines from these countries are not covered by EU energy regulations, leaving room for abuse. … [Read more...]
Recently agreed reforms to the EUETS mean that excess allowances in the MSR (Market Stability Reserve) will be cancelled. This further strengthens the case for actions such as phase-out of coal plant, increasing energy efficiency and deploying more renewables. … [Read more...]
Recent Comments