As we are decarbonising our economies, electrification become more and more important. A Financial Times newsletter this week, however, notes that EU member states are set to miss a deadline for linking their electricity grids more closely. “By the end of this year, EU member states should have increased cross-border transmission capacity — the maximum amount of power that can be sent through a cable — to 70 per cent of the total transmission capacity. But according to EU energy regulator Acer, member states have only hit 54 per cent so far. The deadline is likely to be missed if transmission system operators prioritise domestic use over cross-border flows, Acer states in a report.” The full impact of this is not certain. The newsletter gives one example: “If the 70 per cent target had been reached, 147 of the price spikes in Greece in 2024 could have been avoided, according to Acer.”
Lloyd’s of London is the world’s leading insurance and reinsurance marketplace, “providing innovative insurance solutions that protect people, businesses and communities worldwide,” according to its website. Lloyd’s new chief executive, Patrick Tiernan, told the Financial Times this week that Lloyd’s “has set out plans to grant “more freedom” to insurers trading at the marketplace, scrapping his predecessor’s commitment to end their coverage of the most polluting fossil fuels. . . . The Lloyd’s boss’ stance comes after US President Donald Trump ditched dozens of clean energy programmes in favour of fossil fuels, and urged oil and gas companies to “drill, baby, drill”. . . . Eleven Republican states last year sued big fund managers for allegedly conspiring to curtail coal supplies. . . . The comments by Tiernan, who took over as Lloyd’s boss in June, break with a pledge by the corporation in 2020 to end insurance cover for and investment in thermal coal-fired power plants, thermal coal mines, oil sands and new Arctic energy exploration.” Note that the US accounts for about 50% of business at Lloyd’s.
The Guardian gives us some encouraging news. Community RePaint, a UK-wide paint reuse network, is trying to create a circular paint economy by recycling it. They find that the average home has 17 tins of paint sitting around unused. Initially a research project that started in 1992, it now has a staff of over 100 throughout the country. For the past decade, Community RePaint have sold their own brand, WeColour, which is made up of 97% recycled paint, made by separating the collected paint and remixing it. If you have a similar initiative in your country, please let us know.
Check out the new Zero Carbon For All tool from the World Sufficiency Lab that delivers country-specific timelines and fossil fuel emissions trajectories toward zero carbon, grounded in an emissions sufficientarianism approach. Please use it this week and let us know what you think of this tool!
Don’t forget eceee’s Zero Carbon Industry event in Rome in February 2026. The deadline for submitting abstracts is coming up quickly – September 15th.
To ensure that the zero carbon energy transition gains momentum we need a new generation of experts to continue the good work. EiD encourages all young researchers (born after 1990) in energy efficiency and biomass to submit contributions for next year’s Young Energy Researchers Conference next February 24th as part of World Sustainable Energy Days, February 24-27, 2026 in Wels, Austria. Altogether there are five dedicated conferences and a tradeshow packed into the four days. The theme of this year’s energy efficiency conference is “Energy transition = Energy independence.” The young energy researchers conference has 2 tracks, one for energy efficiency and one for biomass. Submissions (in English only) are welcome from all scientific fields (e.g. technology, engineering, economics, social sciences, architecture, law, arts). The deadline for submissions is October 10th.
In planning travel over the upcoming weeks, here are some useful ideas to help you along:
- Country Living Magazine provides 3 European train routes set to transform travel in 2025.
- Check out the Good Night Train website for the unique way to travel through Europe while you sleep.
- World Walks provides us with walking holidays in Europe.
- For those who want to combine hiking with food and wine in Europe and Australia, check out the Hedonistic Hiking website.
- Cycling for Softies provides us with the 15 Best Cycling Holidays in Europe 2025.
Dag Hammarskjold (1905-1961), a Swedish economist and diplomat who served as the second secretary-general of the United Nations from April 1953 until his death in a plane crash in September 1961, makes us stop and reflect on his words: “Destiny is something not to be desired and not to be avoided, a mystery not contrary to reason, for it implies that the world, and the course of human history, have meaning.”
EiD welcomes your about this week’s selection of posts on the zero-carbon energy transition:
- The inherent destructiveness of war has long degraded the environment but we have only recently become more keenly aware of its climatic implications
- Has Mark Carney caved in to pressure to facilitate ever more fossil fuel extraction?
- Lesson from America: What Australians can learn from California’s experience with home insurance linked to climate change
- New approach to sustainable shopping in Sweden
- Thomas Piketty’s views on the climate transition
- Understanding the EBRD’s Regional Energy Efficiency Programme
- New estimate suggests carbon storage is a scarce resource to be used wisely
- America’s climate and energy transition: “a dagger straight into the heart of the climate change religion”
Google’s net-zero pledge has quietly been scrubbed
Please send your comments on any of the posts. Please recommend EiD to your friends and colleagues.
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Energy in Demand - Sustainable Energy - Rod Janssen 