Coal on the move?

Sustainable coal?  Ignoring reality?  The fundamentals on energy policy?  Sophie Yeo writes for the Guardian Environment Network about the pressure the world coal industry is putting on global climate negotiations to face reality about the real importance of coal.  We have seen the World Bank and many other financial institutions stop funding coal-fired power plants … Continue reading Coal on the move?

Energy prices in Europe will stay high

Barbara Lewis writes for the Reuter’s news service about the IEA’s chief economist, Fatih Birol, speaking in Brussels recently about a range of energy policy concerns.  There are no signs of energy prices coming down as they did in the US. If Europe is to remain competitive, there will have to be other measures put … Continue reading Energy prices in Europe will stay high

The latest balancing act in energy policy

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

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

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