Tag: energy

German Economy Minister Philipp Roesler said the European Commission made a "grave mistake" by agreeing to impose punitive import duties on solar panels from China and urged the Commission to work to prevent the eruption of a trade conflict.

The 22 May EU summit dedicated to energy issues should clearly transform the prevailing talking mode in the energy and climate framework into action mode, Jean-Claude Depail, tells EurActiv.

Ever wondered how the shale gas debate might seem with the benefit of hindsight? So has Stefan Schleicher of the Austrian Institute of Economic Research in Vienna. He predicts that the real game-changer for gas will come from its integration into a low-carbon, Europe-wide energy system.

European companies’ competitiveness is hampered by unnecessary burdensome legislative instruments in climate, energy and environment and policymakers must rebalance industrial strategies towards manufacturing, BusinessEurope president Jürgen Thumann said in an interview with EurActiv. The European Business Summit (EBS) begins today (15 May).

The European gas sector is in a disastrous state and without policies to boost investment, the power supply of some countries could be at risk, a top industry official said.

Without early investment signals, Europe faces a ‘lost decade’ of climate and energy policy inaction between 2020-2030, culminating in a mind-bogglingly expensive sprint to decarbonise in the last two decades before 2050, according to a new report by the European association of electricity producers, Eurelectric.

It appears that Ukraine’s President Viktor Yanukovich has already taken the political decision to cede control over the transit pipeline network to Gazprom, in exchange for lower gas prices and long-term gas transit guarantees, writes Wojciech Konończuk.

Europe’s solar thermal industry is bracing itself for another cold economic year, as consolidation in the building and solar energy sectors continues to hit new energy-efficient housing construction.

EXCLUSIVE / EU leaders will grapple with controversial issues including shale gas development and climate change mitigation at an energy summit on 22 May, documents obtained by EurActiv show.

The European Parliament’s environment committee on Tuesday (7 May) called for the installation of electric speed limiters for vans to prevent their accelerating beyond an agreed 120kph cap. But MEPs rejected reducing the 2020 target for van CO₂ emissions to 118g per km.

EXCLUSIVE / Biofuels companies and associations sent EU cabinet members three e-mails an hour, many containing catastrophic warnings, in the run-up to a recent European Commission proposal to account for greenhouse gas emissions that the fuel crops might indirectly cause.

Turkey's energy minister has confirmed that the government has picked a Japanese-French consortium to build the country's second nuclear power plant, a project expected to cost an estimated €15 billion.

The powerful employers’ group BusinessEurope has called on European Commission President José Manuel Barroso to radically shift the EU's energy policy away from climate change mitigation towards cost-competitiveness and security of supply.

Older and disabled people are put off by the UK government's flagship energy efficiency programmes because of their complexity and fear of taking on debt, unpublished government research shows.

Azerbaijan's choice between two pipeline projects to carry its gas to Europe must focus on obtaining the strongest commercial terms, Industry and Energy Minister Natik Aliyev said on Tuesday (30 April).

A technology developed with the University of Delaware has sold power from electric vehicles to the power grid for the first time, the power company NRG Energy Inc said on Friday (26 April).

Financial support for energy saving measures in buildings across the EU varies widely, but a full picture is clouded by a lack of accurate data compiled by member states, according to two new reports.

The European Parliament’s environment committee yesterday (24 April) voted through a firm carbon emissions target for Europe’s passenger cars to reach by 2020, and a ballpark figure for 2025.

The long recession is increasing the attractiveness of energy saving investments in buildings, according to a new survey of construction and real estate players by the Buildings Performance Institute Europe (BPIE).

Representatives of a Ukrainian think tank deplored the lack of understanding between Kyiv and Brussels on energy issues and called for a permanent expert panel to be created to improve communication.

Germany, Britain and the Netherlands appear to be including energy conservation measures already taken by them to meet targets under the EU’s Energy Efficiency Directive (EED), according to sources in the co-generation industry.

A European Parliament report into the EU’s proposals for addressing the problem of indirect land use change (ILUC) in its biofuels policy will propose today (17 April) the application of unique ‘factors’ to account for differences in biofuels performance.

Europe's car industry has reconciled itself to EU plans to limit emissions from cars to 95 grams of CO₂ per km (g/km), and from vans to 147 g/km, Ivan Hodač, secretary-general of the European Automobile Manufacturers Association, tells EurActiv.

The extent of the split within the European solar industry over proposals for Brussels to impose tariffs on imported solar panels from China was laid bare yesterday, when it emerged that over 1,000 companies from across the industry have written to the European Commission warning import duties could have a grave impact on the industry.