Energy in Demand News, April 5-6, 2026

behaviour/attitudes, carbon emissions, clean energy, climate change, consumers, energy efficiency, energy policy, fossil fuels, international co-operation, renewable energy, Sustainable development, transport

Following an emergency meeting of the EU energy ministers this week, Energy Commissioner Dan Jørgensen said at a press conference that domestic clean energy, electrification, modernised interconnections and improved energy efficiency “are the only way forward”.  Let’s not lose sight of that.

More energy independence is the goal but the past 20 years do not provide a good track record, as a Euractiv newsletter recalled this week: “After decades of pouring billions into wind and solar, Europe is facing another energy crunch, with its reliance on foreign supplies largely unchanged from 20 years ago. In 2004, the EU imported 56.9% of its energy, despite ambitious promises that renewables would turn the bloc from energy-poor to energy-independent. Two decades on, that figure has barely moved, inching up to 57.2%.” The energy transition is definitely underway but there is still much to do.

Jonathan Mingle leaves an important message in his column on the New  York Times website: “Just last week, I listened as the U.S. energy secretary, Chris Wright, speaking in Houston at the world’s biggest annual energy conference, framed the Trump administration’s efforts to encourage oil and gas production as a kind of humanitarian project. ’The truth is simple: Energy is life and the world needs massively more of it,’  he declared. . . . If there’s irony here, it’s the tragic kind. The administration’s war of choice has made energy dangerously expensive in nearly every corner of the globe, causing needless suffering. The most fossil fuel-friendly government in recent U.S. history has shown us all just how risky reliance on oil and gas can be — and taught the world that true energy security lies in accelerating toward a cleaner, electrified future.” Yes, yes, yes.

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 feedback period ends April 16th. The public consultation ends June 12th.

Many relevant events are coming up – you can see the latest list here. Please note that there is still some space for attending the June eceee summer study. If you know of an upcoming event that EiD readers should know about, please contact us. Let us know your experience.

The eceee wants to hear from you, whether you’re a member or not. In this energy transition (and, yes, now in an energy crisis) we need to address energy demand more than ever. Remember that eceee is Europe’s largest and oldest NGO dedicated to energy efficiency. Fill out its survey on its role and future direction. eceee needs to hear from everyone.

In planning travel over the upcoming weeks, here are some useful ideas to help you along:

Anaïs Nin (1903-1977), the French-born American diarist, essayist, novelist, and writer of short stories and erotica, gives us a good message about truth: “There are very few human beings who receive the truth, complete and staggering, by instant illumination. Most of them acquire it fragment by fragment, on a small scale, by successive developments, cellularly, like a laborious mosaic.”

EiD welcomes your views about this week’s selection of posts on the zero-carbon energy transition:

Please send your comments on any of the posts. Please recommend EiD to your friends and colleagues.

If you know anyone who would like to receive this weekly notice, please invite them to contact EiD at news@energyindemand.com. It is not available on the WordPress website.

 

 

Published

Leave a comment

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.