The UK government has recently agreed to have two new nuclear power plants built with the agreement to subsidise the costs for decades. At the same time, Britain is steeped in controversy over the effectiveness of their two flagship energy efficiency programmes, the Green Deal and the Energy Company Obligation. Frances Lamberts provides an excellent … Continue reading The latest balancing act in energy policy
Category: energy policy
Quote of the week
On November 12th, the IEA launched its 2013 World Energy Outlook. At the launch in London, Maria van der Hoeven, Executive Director of the IEA said: Energy efficiency will be essential to getting that balance right – and I am pleased to say that it has become a focal point of energy policies. As we … Continue reading Quote of the week
Jobs are what count
The Social Democrat Premier of North Rhine-Westphalia in Germany has come out strong to support in favour of job protection before expansion of renewables according to a report from the German Energy Blog. SPD Premier of NRW: Jobs Protection in Energy and Energy-Intensive Industry More Important Than Speedy Expansion of Renewables Job protection in the … Continue reading Jobs are what count
Poland looks to coal for its future
Poland is struggling to get its energy policy priorities right. It has a lot of domestic coal. It does not want to be dependent on Russia for energy imports. It wants a competitive economy. These are not easy to find the right balance. Danny Hakim and Mateusz Zurawik write an excellent article in the New … Continue reading Poland looks to coal for its future
Putting environmental requirements on any shale gas development
The German Energy Blog writes about the European Parliament pushing for strict environmental regulations if fracking is to go ahead. No doubt the interest in fracking is such that better policies are certainly required. The European Commission is currently assessing the framework for shale gas production in the EU and may well consider appropriate regulation. … Continue reading Putting environmental requirements on any shale gas development
A German’s view of the energy transition in France
Stefan Simons wrote in Der Spiegel and this was translated into English for presseurop about the transition to green energy in France. France is seeking to ease some of its reliance on nuclear power to try and focus more on green energy. However, as Germany has already learned to its cost, the path to energy … Continue reading A German’s view of the energy transition in France
How energy policy is evolving
Stanley Reed provides a thought-provoking article in the New York Times about the dynamics of the energy sector. He does not cover everything but he go further than most commentators. It is definitely worth the read. Cracking the Energy Puzzles of the 21st Century Not long ago, Chevron’s exploration teams were stuck. Several years … Continue reading How energy policy is evolving
Germany’s energy transition under the microscope
There continues to be many articles written on the cost and problems relating to Germany’s energy transition. This is a good one from Chris Bryant for the Financial Times. Unfortunately most of the articles relate to renewable energy and it would be good to find out what is happening in energy efficiency policy. EiD welcomes … Continue reading Germany’s energy transition under the microscope
Concerns about Europe’s competitiveness
Joshua Chaffin writes in the Financial Times about the warnings from the head of Germany’s largest utility about the advantage that the US has in energy costs. It does not mention that the US has always had some advantage because taxes and other forms of duties have always been higher in Europe. But the article … Continue reading Concerns about Europe’s competitiveness
Will the energy transition continue in Germany after its recent election?
What will happen to Germany's energy transition is the big question. When you read some of the recent British press that have been posted in EiD, one wonders. But in EiD’s discussions with German friends and colleagues, one becomes quite optimistic. Obviously, we have to see what happens in the negotiations to form the next … Continue reading Will the energy transition continue in Germany after its recent election?
