On March 11th, the IEA announced the release of 400 million barrels of oil to address disruptions in oil markets stemming from the war in the Middle East as EiD reported last week. The IEA followed up this week by publishing a report highlighting “options to ease oil price pressures on consumers”. When the IEA was created, the founding agreement (the International Energy Programme) included an emergency oil sharing system, stockholding requirements and demand restraint obligations. Demand restraint obligations essentially meant reducing oil consumption quickly to stabilise markets and stretch available supply. So, now we have this new IEA report that identifies 10 measures that can be implemented quickly by governments, businesses and households. These actions focus primarily on road transport, which accounts for around 45% of global oil demand, but also cover aviation, cooking and industry. Should sufficiency play a bigger role?
The Financial Times reported this week in its Energy Source newsletter that “Global energy and natural resources companies are not giving up on renewable energy investments, but more executives expect the world to reach net zero emissions by 2070 or later, according to a new report.” 2070? Are they kidding? The FT goes on: “A survey that polled more than 800 executives globally across oil, gas, utilities, chemicals, mining and agribusiness was shared with Energy Source by the consultancy Bain. It reported that 44 per cent of executives now expect the world will reach net zero emissions by 2070 or later, marking a shift from three years ago when 45 per cent of respondents forecast the world would meet a net zero target in 2050 or earlier.” Can we really wait? What sort of world are we leaving for the next generations to cope with?
A New York Times newsletter reports that the Trump administration is considering paying $1 billion to STOP wind farms. “The administration is considering a new strategy for throttling the country’s offshore wind industry after federal judges blocked its five previous attempts to stop wind farms under construction off the East Coast. Officials are drafting settlement agreements that would pay nearly $1 billion to TotalEnergies, the French energy company behind two wind farms off New York State and North Carolina,”
The European Commission has launched a 12-week open public consultation and a 4-week call for evidence to help shape EU energy efficiency rules for the decade ahead. The Commission would like to hear our views. This call for evidence is open for feedback. Your input will be taken into account as the Commission further develops and fine-tunes this initiative. Here’s your chance.
The European Council for an Energy Efficient Economy (eceee) announced the launch of a new journal, The European Journal for Studies in Energy Demand, Efficiency and Resource Use (short: Energy Demand). It is now open for manuscript submissions. See the eceee article on the new journal.
Many relevant events are coming up – you can see the latest list here. If you know of an upcoming event that EiD readers should know about, please contact us. Let us know your experience.
In planning travel over the upcoming weeks, here are some useful ideas to help you along:
- The Man in Seat Sixty-One explains how to travel comfortably & affordably by train or ferry, rediscovering the pleasure, romance & adventure of the journey.
- Check out the Good Night Train website for the unique way to travel through Europe while you sleep. Check out this video: Sleeper trains — the future of travel? A Berlin startup is developing compact sleeper cabins, designed to make night trains cheaper and greener.
- 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 in 2026.
Edward Abbey (1927-1989), an American author and essayist noted for his advocacy of environmental issues, criticism of public land policies, and anarchist political views, gives us something to chew on this week: “Society is like a stew. If you don’t keep it stirred up you get a lot of scum on the top.”
EiD welcomes your views about this week’s selection of posts on the zero-carbon energy transition:
- New OECD analysis: The great dispersion in energy productivity between firms
- New EEA briefing on climate-resilient agriculture
- Cities are quietly becoming raw‑material hubs
- The connection between music and nature, and its vulnerability to climate change
- Fix, don’t toss: How Europe’s right to repair Is changing consumer culture
- New report from UK’s Green Alliance: how to build a competitive, circular UK wind industry
- New report highlights the urgent need for health and climate action to be designed together and work in tandem
- The countries leading the world in clean electricity
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 