Energy transition Archives

The European Commission has given only cautious backing to a project led by Norway that would see carbon dioxide emissions captured at source from industrial installations and shipped offshore to depleting oil and gas fields where they would be buried more than 1,000 metres underground.

A Dutch appeals court on Tuesday (9 October) instructed the government to cut greenhouse gas emissions at a faster rate than planned, meaning they will have to be 25% below 1990 levels by the end of this decade.

Industrial sectors such as cement and steelmaking will continue emitting CO2 even if they switch to 100% renewable energy, says Camilla Skriung who calls on the Norwegian government to take action now – without waiting for EU funding – in order to get the first projects off the ground.

The latest report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) shows keeping global warming below 1.5°C is necessary, feasible and beneficial. Rich countries must now commit to ensure their economies reach net zero emissions before 2050, writes Nick Mabey.

Warming beyond 1.5C will unleash a frightening set of consequences and only a global transformation, beginning now, will avoid it, according to the latest report from scientists at the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). EURACTIV's media partner Climate Home News reports.

Whether it relates to electricity prices charged to customers, the calculation of grid availability across borders, or the EU’s law-making process itself, the quest for transparency has emerged as a cross-cutting theme in Europe’s ongoing power market reform.

Europe has been one of the driving forces behind the quest to make the Paris Agreement on climate change a reality. But how serious is the EU about the landmark deal and what is Brussels doing in its own backyard to keep global temperature increase ‘well below 2 degrees Celsius’?

New EU rules on buildings and energy efficiency standards, adopted earlier this year, are “tough but fair” and will need to be implemented and enforced correctly, according to the architects of the legislation.

With the European Commission expected to present its mid-century climate plan in November, a report released on Thursday (27 September) shows net zero emissions can only be achieved by 2050 if member states develop more innovative, cross-sectoral, and 'beyond business-as-usual' scenarios.

Distributed energy solutions such as solar PV, batteries, and smart controls are getting cheaper by the day and will soon outperform traditional energy sources such as coal, gas, and nuclear power, says Hervé Touati. In any case, Blockchain-type solutions will be needed for the mass deployment of electric vehicles, he warns.

The Spanish government has begun winding down state aid for coal power, saying it now sides with a European Commission plan to prohibit so-called capacity payments for plants emitting more than 550g of carbon dioxide per kilowatt hour.

Decarbonising Europe’s economy means replacing fossil fuels by renewables wherever possible. And that implies getting much more renewable electricity into heating and transport, writes Giles Dickson.

As Europe’s energy ministers gather in Linz this week, they have the chance to widen and deepen the European Union’s ambitions for the green transition, writes MEP Jeppe Kofod.

In the Visegrad countries, decision makers prefer their historical favourites – coal and nuclear – to renewable sources and energy efficiency. As the Global Climate Action Summit resumes in San Francisco, it’s important to realise that corporate leadership can also shape the outlook for clean energy in Eastern Europe, writes Ada Ámon.

Davide Crippa, Italy’s Undersecretary for Economic Development, has announced the country’s withdrawal from a seven-country alliance led by Poland, which argued for preserving national sovereignty over decisions to finance emergency power plants.

Figures compiled by the environmental pressure group Greenpeace highlight the lack of transparency about the amount of cash disbursed by national governments to support back-up power plants – mainly fossil fuels and nuclear.

The European Commission wants to limit state aid for power plants that EU countries remunerate to remain on stand-by in case of demand peak. As negotiations on the EU’s new electricity market enter the home straight, EURACTIV lists the main issues to watch out for in the debate.

Mostly out of pragmatism, the European Commission has adopted a rather tolerant approach to “capacity mechanisms” – national schemes that remunerate back-up power plants – accepting that EU countries face different challenges in the energy transition.

It’s a contradiction that policymakers are currently struggling to resolve. But fossil fuel back-up plants are probably necessary in the short term in order to give EU countries the confidence to bring in higher shares of renewable electricity, says Michael Pollitt.

As France changes environment minister, we must collectively admit that a very poor job has been done with Europe's Clean Energy Package, writes Yamina Saheb.

Detractors of capacity mechanisms argue they are mere state aid for dirty fossil fuels that should be eliminated as soon as possible while supporters claim they provide vital back-up in the transition to renewable electricity. The fact that both are correct is leaving Europe in a quandary.

As the EU’s power market reform enters the home straight, EURACTIV.com takes a look at so-called “capacity mechanisms” for back-up electricity and whether they help or hinder the EU’s twin objectives of supply security and decarbonisation.

The EU’s decisions to approve state support for emergency power plants in France, Germany, Poland, Italy and Greece will all have to be revisited in light of the ongoing reform of electricity market rules, the European Commission said on Tuesday (4 September), saying it won’t make an exception for Germany.

As the UN's climate chief called for more "urgency" from negotiators at the ongoing Bangkok climate talks, a new international report found that a socially just transition is already feasible for coal workers and communities, while a global decline in coal production is expected.