European Union – Energy Transition https://energytransition.org The Global Energiewende Fri, 12 May 2023 15:06:58 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.1.1 Europe’s Energy Crisis Has a Silver Lining: More renewables than ever https://energytransition.org/2023/05/europes-energy-crisis-has-a-silver-lining-more-renewables-than-ever/ https://energytransition.org/2023/05/europes-energy-crisis-has-a-silver-lining-more-renewables-than-ever/#respond Thu, 11 May 2023 08:00:33 +0000 https://energytransition.org/?p=28163 Defying the grimmest projections, Europe made it through the temperate winter of 2023 with remarkably little collateral damage – and even a few big wins. The energy crisis may have displaced Europe’s climate aspirations by a fraction, but thanks to a record rollout of renewables and conservation measures, the continent’s emissions footprint inched downward and positioned Europe to remain within...

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]]> https://energytransition.org/2023/05/europes-energy-crisis-has-a-silver-lining-more-renewables-than-ever/feed/ 0 The Energy Charter Treaty remains a challenge for the EU’s Climate Agenda https://energytransition.org/2023/04/the-energy-charter-treaty-remains-a-challenge-for-the-eus-climate-agenda/ https://energytransition.org/2023/04/the-energy-charter-treaty-remains-a-challenge-for-the-eus-climate-agenda/#respond Thu, 27 Apr 2023 08:00:41 +0000 https://energytransition.org/?p=28129 Global record investments in the energy sector continue to make headlines. After a halt in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, sector investments increased in 2021 followed by projections of a similar trajectory by mid-2022. The momentum is associated with the renewables sector which accounts for the majority of these investments. Countries that have committed to achieve net-zero emissions and meet...

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]]> https://energytransition.org/2023/04/the-energy-charter-treaty-remains-a-challenge-for-the-eus-climate-agenda/feed/ 0 Green hydrogen – solution or pipe dream? Part I https://energytransition.org/2023/03/green-hydr-ogen-solution-or-hyped-dream-part-i/ https://energytransition.org/2023/03/green-hydr-ogen-solution-or-hyped-dream-part-i/#respond Thu, 30 Mar 2023 08:00:13 +0000 https://energytransition.org/?p=28053 There is a fairly broad consensus in the climate movement that hydrogen has to play an important role within the international energy transition (especially for the decarbonisation of energy-/feedstock-intensive industry sectors). And while there’s an understanding that only hydrogen produced 100% from renewables will match the requirements of being “clean” and therefore “climate-friendly”...

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]]> https://energytransition.org/2023/03/green-hydr-ogen-solution-or-hyped-dream-part-i/feed/ 0 EU’s commitment to carbon pricing system doesn’t rule out state aid https://energytransition.org/2023/03/eus-commitment-to-carbon-pricing-system-doesnt-rule-out-state-aid/ https://energytransition.org/2023/03/eus-commitment-to-carbon-pricing-system-doesnt-rule-out-state-aid/#respond Thu, 23 Mar 2023 08:00:15 +0000 https://energytransition.org/?p=28039 The US’s Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) counts on massive direct subsidies to its private sector to stimulate a green transformation of the economy. The EU has opted largely for carbon pricing and other taxes to make the same transition. The two approaches are in no way mutually exclusive – and both have benefits. Paul Hockenos looks at the European answer to the IRA in the second installment of...

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]]> https://energytransition.org/2023/03/eus-commitment-to-carbon-pricing-system-doesnt-rule-out-state-aid/feed/ 0 Moonshot Moment: Biden’s IRA Ups the Global Ante on Climate Protection https://energytransition.org/2023/03/moonshot-moment-bidens-ira-ups-the-global-ante-on-climate-protection/ https://energytransition.org/2023/03/moonshot-moment-bidens-ira-ups-the-global-ante-on-climate-protection/#respond Tue, 21 Mar 2023 08:00:07 +0000 https://energytransition.org/?p=28029 The US’s Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) is a moonshot moment in global climate protection, underscoring that the public sector will spend hundreds of billions in subsidies to drive decarbonization and a green economic transition. The EU’s bet on carbon pricing doesn’t rule out state aid, too. It now has to match the US plan. Paul Hockenos explains the details in the first installment of a two part...

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]]> https://energytransition.org/2023/03/moonshot-moment-bidens-ira-ups-the-global-ante-on-climate-protection/feed/ 0 EU smashes renewable records as it urgently breaks free of Russian fossil fuels https://energytransition.org/2023/03/eu-smashes-renewable-records-as-it-urgently-breaks-free-of-russian-fossil-fuels/ https://energytransition.org/2023/03/eu-smashes-renewable-records-as-it-urgently-breaks-free-of-russian-fossil-fuels/#respond Thu, 16 Mar 2023 08:00:57 +0000 https://energytransition.org/?p=28007 Since Russia’s February invasion of Ukraine, European Union member states have been feverishly reworking their energy policies to reduce their reliance on Russian gas, coal, and oil. To help accelerate the shift, energy developers are rapidly increasing investments in solar and wind power. This summer, solar, helping the EU tackle not only its energy problem but also soaring inflation.

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]]> https://energytransition.org/2023/03/eu-smashes-renewable-records-as-it-urgently-breaks-free-of-russian-fossil-fuels/feed/ 0 Why Nuclear Power and Renewables Don’t Mix https://energytransition.org/2022/11/why-nuclear-power-and-renewables-dont-mix/ https://energytransition.org/2022/11/why-nuclear-power-and-renewables-dont-mix/#respond Thu, 24 Nov 2022 10:00:18 +0000 https://energytransition.org/?p=27627 Toby Couture, director of the independent Berlin think tank E3 Analytics, argues that nuclear power doesn’t properly balance off variable clean energy. Paul Hockenos has the story. Civaux power plant, France. (Photo by E48616, C C BY-SA 3.0) Nuclear energy’s proponents regularly claim that among the technologies’ many benefits, it is well suited to provide round-the-clock balancing support for...

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]]> https://energytransition.org/2022/11/why-nuclear-power-and-renewables-dont-mix/feed/ 0 Not enough Space? Combining Agriculture with Renewable Energies https://energytransition.org/2022/08/not-enough-space-combining-agriculture-with-renewable-energies/ https://energytransition.org/2022/08/not-enough-space-combining-agriculture-with-renewable-energies/#respond Tue, 16 Aug 2022 10:00:03 +0000 https://energytransition.org/?p=27023 In 2022, Germany set ambitious goals renewable energy, raising its share of gross electricity consumption up to 80 percent by 2030. In this context, the German government has adopted a policy to promote energy systems on agricultural land and focusing, in particular, on solar energy production. Many questions remain but agrovoltaic systems could serve as a useful tool to boost both the national...

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]]> https://energytransition.org/2022/08/not-enough-space-combining-agriculture-with-renewable-energies/feed/ 0 Europe must use its REPowerEU to REPowerAfrica https://energytransition.org/2022/08/europe-must-use-its-repowereu-to-repowerafrica/ https://energytransition.org/2022/08/europe-must-use-its-repowereu-to-repowerafrica/#respond Thu, 11 Aug 2022 10:00:07 +0000 https://energytransition.org/?p=27079 For German chancellor Olaf Scholz to fly to West Africa and on arrival ensures he tells his host that he “ quite deliberately chose Senegal as the first stop” is strong indication that Germany, and the rest of Europe, looks to president Macky Sall among others in Africa to rescue Europe from its “burgeoning energy crisis”. Mr. Scholz ‘first stop’ wasn’t arbitrary. It was strategic because Senegal...

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]]> https://energytransition.org/2022/08/europe-must-use-its-repowereu-to-repowerafrica/feed/ 0 RePowerEU must only be a short-term solution to avert the worse https://energytransition.org/2022/08/repowereu-must-only-be-a-short-term-solution-to-avert-the-worse/ https://energytransition.org/2022/08/repowereu-must-only-be-a-short-term-solution-to-avert-the-worse/#respond Tue, 09 Aug 2022 10:00:55 +0000 https://energytransition.org/?p=27063 A diplomatic solution is the only plausible solution to the on-going Russia’s war in Ukraine and it remains elusive. Meanwhile, the energy crisis which is a fallout of the war persists as fiercely as it compromises climate change solutions. From Berlin to Brussels, politicians are struggling with a related imminent crisis, which is how to reduce the growing millions of Europe’s “ energy poor” the...

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