Energy efficiency
OpinionPromoted content
To enable Europe’s clean energy future, we need to buckle up and couple up
The theme for this year’s EU Sustainable Energy Week is ’Shaping Europe’s Energy Future’ - that future holds plenty of potential and must rest on further integration across sector and policies to ensure we optimize our energy systems for optimal performance and efficiency.
National energy and climate plans will not meet targets, EU warns
UPDATE: The European Commission warned EU countries today (18 June) that draft national plans for the coming decade are insufficient to achieve the bloc’s 2030 energy and climate targets. "Substantial" gaps have been identified on renewables and energy efficiency.
The internet of energy has arrived, Scottish start-up claims
Faraday Grid, a clean tech start-up based in the UK, has launched a global marketing offensive for its latest transformer, saying it could do for electricity networks what the router did for the telecoms sector in the 1990s.
Newer forces are altering the HVAC market
The residential heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) market could pick up the pace with advances in regulations, technology and a push for carbon fuel efficiency, writes Neil Strother.
Connecting the dots to enable climate leadership at all levels
We are running out of time to achieve the Paris Agreement goal of limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius by 2030, and need urgent and ambitious climate leadership. Cities are central to this effort – and it is crucial that we continue to enable our cities to address and solve climate challenges, writes Lars Tveen.
Betis, the Spanish club committed to going climate neutral
Spanish football club Real Betis is well known for the colours of its T-shirt, green and white. But now they want to integrate that concept into their whole policy by leading the way in making soccer more sustainable.
EU national climate plans well below par, study reveals
Of the 28 draft national energy and climate plans submitted by EU member states, not a single one is on a pathway to reach net-zero emission by 2050, according to a fresh analysis published on Thursday (16 May).
In the US, Marijuana growers turn to energy efficiency
To face the collapse of cannabis prices, American producers are turning to energy efficiency as a way of cutting down costs and remaining competitive. EURACTIV’s partner le Journal de l’Environnement reports.
Energy saving certificates in search for better optimisation
Across Europe, there is a high degree of consensus on the importance of realising energy savings in buildings. But debate still rages on how best to organise energy certificate schemes, which have been plagued by fraud and abuse. EURACTIV France reports.
Saving energy, a European challenge of varying scale
Several EU member states, including France, have chosen to implement laws that would allow the trading of energy saving certificates, an important shift towards saving energy.
Price of energy saving certificates causes friction in France
Energy saving certificates, or white certificates, were meant to be the answer to France’s slow progress in reducing energy consumption. However, there is far more demand than supply, resulting in a surge in prices of certificates, which have more than doubled in a year. EURACTIV France reports.
Solar CEO: ‘Heating electrification is one of the biggest mistakes of the energy transition’
Wind and solar photovoltaic are way too small to cope with Europe's massive demand for heating, especially in winter, says Christian Holter who calls for allocating scarce renewable energy resources to economic sectors where they can bring the most in terms of carbon reduction.
Transforming the energy system: How to finance a just transition?
Whilst the energy sector is key to the European economy, it also represents two thirds of the EU’s greenhouse gas emissions. It therefore plays a central role in the implementation of the Paris Agreement.
Clean energy transition ‘is a social policy issue’, Poles insist
The social policy dimension was largely overlooked when the European Union decided energy and climate change objectives for 2030, Poles have warned, calling on policymakers to endorse a “just transition fund” to support the country's coal phase-out.
Energy Union ‘completed’, as Commission’s final stocktake debuts
EU officials are satisfied with how the bloc’s internal energy market has taken shape over the last five years, but will acknowledge in a final stocktake due later on Tuesday (9 April) that energy efficiency and renewables targets still need work.
Diverting fossil fuel investments to renewables is not enough
Debate over the cost merits of fossil fuels against renewable power generation has traditionally focused on the levelised cost of electricity (LCOE), which has dropped dramatically in the case of wind and solar power. But that ignores the upfront capital costs, which are still up to seven times higher for renewables, writes Mike Parr.
Feeling the heat: Why EU climate targets depend on ditching fossil fuel boilers
The European Union has set a target of increasing renewables in heating and cooling by 1.3% every year starting in 2021. Given the pervasiveness of gas heat, it may be a struggle.
Europe ringfences 35% of research budget for clean tech
European Union negotiators struck an agreement late on Tuesday (19 March) to set aside 35% of the bloc’s research funding for climate-friendly technologies, despite ongoing doubts about the overall size of the EU's future budget after Brexit.
Activists hail new EU energy labelling rules for TVs, fridges
Consumer organisations have applauded an EU proposal to restore the familiar A-G energy labelling scale for goods like fridges, TV screens, and washing machines, saying the current ‘A+’ system is confusing for shoppers.
Five EU countries call for 100% renewable energy by 2050
EU energy ministers had their first public debate on the European Commission’s 2050 climate plan on Monday (4 March) but five member states derided the lack of a 100% renewable energy scenario among the EU executive’s proposed options.
Google uses AI technology to boost wind energy efficiency
Google has boosted the value of the wind energy it produces by 20% after installing its own artificial intelligence (AI) software across its largest renewable energy facilities in the US. EURACTIV's media partner edie.net reports.
EU official: Households will save €500 a year from existing EU energy-saving laws
The European Commission has put changes in place that are making household appliances more energy efficient and recyclable. But the key will be in implementation of these rules, says the Commission's director for Industrial transformation.
As EU tries to make household appliances more efficient, consumers remain to be convinced
European legislation has made appliances like washing machines and dishwashers even more water and energy efficient than washing clothes and dishes by hand. The next step is to connect these appliances to the web and allow them to act independently.
Gas industry boss: ‘We have to make gas greener’
The European gas industry is on the cusp of a green revolution similar to the one that took place in the electricity sector, with a greater variety of low-carbon gases feeding into the grid at the local level, says Jean-Marc...Supporter
Danfoss top five priorities for a successful DWD revision:
- Unlock investments in energy efficiency and digitalization
- Increase transparency about energy use and water losses in the European water sector
- Enforce reduction of water leaks to de-risk contamination through leaky pipes
- Make information easy to understand by the public and comparable between member states
- Think circular economy
