Tag: policy instruments

What a carbon tax offers to Australians

Australia has taken a bold step forward by approving a carbon tax.  This is an insightful article from the Canberra Times on the opportunities such a tax brings. Carbon tax a chance to rethink our energy use July 1, 2012 Canberra Times Many Australian families will wake up this morning with a sense of uncertainty … Continue reading What a carbon tax offers to Australians →

EU holds out hope for UK’s green goods tax break

BusinessGreen reports (below) that the European Commission recently ordered the UK government to repeal a law that allows reduced rates of VAT on insulation materials and solar panels, on the grounds that it fails to comply with the EU's VAT Directive. In a bizarre move, the European Commission suggests a defence that the UK can … Continue reading EU holds out hope for UK’s green goods tax break →

Energy Efficiency Directive negotiations update

Concern is growing that the negotiations between the European Council, Parliament and Commission may collapse because of a lack of serious movement on the part of Council.  While there has been some change of position by Council on energy efficiency obligations and cogeneration, Council seems reluctant to budge on the retrofit of buildings.  There is … Continue reading Energy Efficiency Directive negotiations update →

Discussing Germany’s nuclear exit

This is an important article by Damian Carrington of the Guardian on the costs of Germany’s phase out of nuclear.  This is important because there is so much mis-information around. For all countries, watching this “experiment” in Germany and learning lessons from it will be essential.  There is a need for more than just a … Continue reading Discussing Germany’s nuclear exit →

Geneva: owners required to improve energy efficiency

In Geneva, the results of an aerial thermography targeting all the cantonal territory roofs are available on the Internet. Homeowners can benefit from expert advice for data interpretation and diagnosis of their building energy. "More than 35,000 buildings consume half the energy used in the township," said Isabel Friday Rochat, head of the Department of … Continue reading Geneva: owners required to improve energy efficiency →

EBRD announces new energy efficiency phase of its Sustainable Energy Initiative

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) announced on May 18th that it is stepping up investments to improve energy efficiency and address climate change via new investment in projects worth up to €25 billion over the next three years, under the new phase of the Bank’s Sustainable Energy Initiative (SEI). Building on the … Continue reading EBRD announces new energy efficiency phase of its Sustainable Energy Initiative →

Air conditioning in India

An interesting article published by the Times of India says that India has become more active in establishing minimum energy performance standards and appliance labelling.  This article states that 12% of products labelled for energy efficiency fail the tests.  How that compares to Europe or the US, I cannot say.  Interestingly, the article notes that … Continue reading Air conditioning in India →

New study related to energy efficiency obligations

At a time of heated debate around the merits of energy efficiency obligations within the draft Energy Efficiency Directive, a new report by the Regulatory Assistance Project (RAP) and eceee “Determining Energy Savings for Energy Efficiency Obligation Schemes” provides a no-nonsense set of guidelines for determining energy savings under such schemes.  Based on a detailed … Continue reading New study related to energy efficiency obligations →