Energy & Environment
Karmenu Vella: ‘Facts and science still carry the day’ for clean air champions
Thousands of protesters across Europe have taken to the streets over the last few years to demand cleaner air. The European Commission's environment chief, Karmenu Vella, explains how he has fought for higher standards during his term in office.OpinionPromoted content
Making the case for level playing field in energy labelling of space heaters
Europe has been at the forefront of climate negotiations, committing to contribute towards delivering the Paris Agreement goals. This is to be achieved through an ambitious implementation of the Energy Union objectives: decarbonisation, security of supply, a strong internal energy market, increasing energy efficiency and supporting research and innovation.
EU official: ‘Renewables could supply almost 80% of heating and cooling by 2050’
Reaching the EU's target of increasing renewable heating and cooling by 1.3% each year will require a diverse array of solutions, says the European Commission's Hans van Steen.
British football clubs want to lead the way in reducing single-use plastics
Football can bring joy or frustration to supporters... but also a lot of waste. UK football teams have decided to introduce reusable cups in stadiums, as part of a joint initiative by the Premier League and British TV channel Sky News.
Germany’s ruling parties rank just above far-right on climate protection
The European People’s Party (EPP) has scored very poorly in an analysis of how MEPs voted on climate policies, ranking even lower than the European Parliament's far-right contingent. In Germany, it is a similar story. EURACTIV Germany reports.
The EU needs a ‘Green New Deal’
Europe needs its own ‘Green New Deal’ to stave off the perfect storm of populism, climate change and economic crisis. Instead, the EU has adopted confused energy and environment policies which could be self-defeating in the long run, writes Vincente Lopez.
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.
Three things to know as Germany opens massive ocean wind park
German Chancellor Angela Merkel will be joined by French and Norwegian ministers Tuesday (16 April) to officially open a massive wind farm in the Baltic Sea, a key project for her country's "energy transition".
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.
UK breaks coal-free power generation record by huge margin
Coal has historically been at the cornerstone of the UK's electricity mix, but the first three months of 2019 saw the electricity grid clock up 650 hours of coal-free generation – more than was achieved during the entirety of 2017. EURACTIV's media partner edie.net reports.
Poland wins €215m EU grant for gas link to Norway
The European Commission today officially signed a €214.9 million grant for works on a new Baltic gas pipeline project aimed at connecting Poland and Denmark with Norway.
Walking the walk on capacity mechanisms
The European Commission’s review of Britain’s capacity market for electricity will reveal whether the EU executive really believes the recast regulation on the internal electricity market is ever likely to be fully enforced, write Philip Baker and Michael Hogan.
Time for Germany to seize the opportunities of the EV transition
The German auto manufacturing industry is at a perilous moment in its long and illustrious history and it needs the help of the country’s policymakers to ensure its long-term success, writes Nigel Topping.
EU hits pause on helping farmers fight climate change
The farming sector is often blasted for its contribution to climate change. But it also has unique potential to capture and store carbon, write Imke Lübbeke and Andreas Baumüller.
Contributing to a CO2 neutral gas supply: On the road to 2050 – what role for renewable gases and gas infrastructure?
Climate change requires urgent action and the ultimate challenge is to carry out the required transition towards a greener future at affordable cost for EU citizens and in line with EU energy security perspectives.
Exxon lobbyists allowed to keep EU access badges
The heads of political groups in the European Parliament have failed to reach a decision on whether to strip ExxonMobil lobbyists from their EU access badges, leaving some activists bitterly disappointed and others reflecting about future engagement with the oil and gas industry.
Russia cashes in as European oil refiners pay for US sanctions
European refiners are paying the price for US oil sanctions on Venezuela and Iran as they scramble to replace the sour crude Washington has blocked from the global market with increasingly expensive Russian oil, trading sources said and data showed.
Ambassadors pave the way for EU-US trade talks, despite French opposition
Europe is set to start trade talks with the US after ambassadors gave their green light on Thursday (11 April) to a proposed mandate for the European Commission to conduct the negotiations on behalf of the 28 EU member countries.
Will there be a minimum price on carbon in Germany? And how?
In Germany, calls for introducing a CO2 emission tax are getting louder. Yet, the German government continues to be divided on the matter with the French ‘gilet jaunes’ appearing to be quite the deterrent. What would a socially acceptable price of CO2 look like? EURACTIV Germany reports.
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.
Norway and electric vehicles – a successful combination
Norway now has approximately 200,000 electric cars, which constitute around 7% of the passenger car fleet. The exemption of purchase tax and VAT are among the financial incentives that made this possible, writes Jon Georg Dale.