Romania’s path to sustainable energy takes twist

Palko Karasz writes in the New York Times about the correction that the country is having to take after the massive expansion of renewable energy in recent years.   Romania Changes Course on Renewable Energy With more wind turbines already built than any of its neighbors, Romania has gained a reputation as a prime location … Continue reading Romania’s path to sustainable energy takes twist

New considerations of shale gas

Nick Butler wrote an excellent blog in the Financial Times that brings some start messages.  He firmly believes that the shale “revolution” is real and not going away.  He warns the climate change lobby will have to adapt.  Is he right?  He certainly puts a good case forward for starting from a point of reality.  … Continue reading New considerations of shale gas

Energy companies in the UK facing difficulties promoting energy efficiency

Mat Hope wrote for Carbon Brief about some of the difficulties that energy supply companies are having to meet their obligations. The costs to consumers could be higher than initially estimated.  This has important lessons for all of Europe as they start to develop and implement their own obligation schemes.  This blog follows an article … Continue reading Energy companies in the UK facing difficulties promoting energy efficiency

India’s hopes for efficient lighting roll-out is dimming

Anna da Costa, a freelance writer based in India, recently wrote in the Christian Science Monitor about the problems India is facing in funding the roll out of CFLs.   India seeks new ways to fund energy-efficient lighting Replacing even a couple of conventional light bulbs with CFLs results in huge cost savings for poor … Continue reading India’s hopes for efficient lighting roll-out is dimming

Results from new UK survey on renewable energy and energy efficiency

GreenWise provides a good review of a recent government survey that shows that support for renewable energy is increasing.  But the survey reveals that the public still has bad energy consumption habits. More people back renewable energy, but energy wasting behaviour persists, DECC survey shows Support for renewable energy is rising among the UK public, … Continue reading Results from new UK survey on renewable energy and energy efficiency

It is hard to remove energy subsidies

Joe Cochrane wrote recently in the New York Times about the difficulties Indonesia is having in reducing fuel subsidies.  The government is struggling at a time when fuel subsidies are more than support for social programmes and capital expenditures.  But given the economy and the level of poverty, it is hard to have consumer prices … Continue reading It is hard to remove energy subsidies

Reviewing renewable energy support in Estonia

Amending the renewable energy support scheme has caused much ruckus and opinion differences in Estonia over government’s plans to retroactively amend the support scheme while not respecting previous agreements, writes Mikk Põld, attorney of TRINITI, pan-Baltic cross-border alliance of law firms, in the Baltic Business News.   Renewable energy support – Estonian government’s stumbling stone … Continue reading Reviewing renewable energy support in Estonia

Results from energy efficiency obligations in UK under the microscope

Lisa Bachelor wrote in The Guardian about the concerns of Britain’s energy regulator that many of the obligated energy companies have not met their reduction targets.  Britain has been one of the leaders in Europe in energy company obligations and it will be important to know what is going on and how can it get … Continue reading Results from energy efficiency obligations in UK under the microscope

When Irish eyes are smiling

Jessica Kennedy writes for EnergyBiz about the success in 2012 of government programmes in improving energy efficiency and reducing greenhouse gas emissions.   Energy Efficiency for a Greener Ireland Ireland has recently made news with its efforts in energy efficiency and sustainability. According to the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (SEAI), 2012 was a landmark … Continue reading When Irish eyes are smiling

India looks to energy efficiency in buildings

Radhika Khosla recently wrote for the Natural Resources  Defense Council’s blog on the aftermath of the Clean Energy Ministerial recently held in New Delhi.  Importantly, India is looking to improved energy performance of high rise buildings and NRDC launched an important new report on the importance of energy efficiency in buildings.  These are all important … Continue reading India looks to energy efficiency in buildings