German energy companies say that construction of over half the country’s planned power plants could be scuppered if the country goes ahead with a leaked plan to set emissions budgets for the country’s biggest polluters. The proposed law would impose stiff financial penalties for the oldest and most inefficient coal and lignite plants, to be paid in the form of emissions trading certificates.
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Europe’s refining sector is getting a break from its misery. But this spell of relief might not be good for its well-being in the long run. Lower crude-oil prices have given a fillip to those companies that process it into products like gasoline. European refining margins more than quadrupled from the first to the last quarter in 2014, according to French oil major Total , hitting their highest levels in two years.
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Oil prices edged up in volatile trade on Monday as investors continued to bet that the seven-month-long rout in prices is bottoming out. Brent, the global benchmark, has registered gains in the last three weeks and is up more than 30% from its mid-January low. But analysts caution that the combination of ample supplies and tepid demand that led to oil’s dramatic slump last year shows little signs of abating.
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Western governments have made a wrong turn in energy policy by supporting the large-scale conversion of plants into fuel and should reconsider that strategy, according to a new report from a prominent environmental think tank. Turning plant matter into liquid fuel or electricity is so inefficient that the approach is unlikely ever to supply a substantial fraction of global energy demand, the report found. It added that continuing to pursue this strategy — which has already led to billions of dollars of investment — is likely to use up vast tracts of fertile land that could be devoted to helping feed the world’s growing population.
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Europe’s energy policy is no longer based on a difficult balance between competitiveness, sustainability and security of supply. It has now become a holistic project which includes all these dimensions in a multi-disciplinary approach, argues Jean-Arnold Vinois. Jean-Arnold Vinois is adviser on European Energy Policy at Notre Europe – Jacques Delors Institute. He is honorary director of the European Commission – Directorate General for Energy, and he continues to act occasionally for DG Energy to promote the internal market for energy and related initiatives. Since 1 April 2013, he has acted as special adviser to Günther H. Oettinger, the Commissioner responsible for energy.
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Più del 70 % della popolazione dell’Africa sub-sahariana rimane al buio dopo il tramonto. Il continente più assolato è quello a cui manca maggiormente la luce. Questo deficit è ancora un grosso freno per lo sviluppo e talvolta per la stessa sopravvivenza delle popolazioni locali. L’Africa è rimasta, in questo senso, il continente nero. Forse in Occidente ci siamo troppo abituati per rendercene conto; non solo l’energia elettrica è fondamentale per la nostra vita quotidiana, ma è stata essenziale per il nostro sviluppo.
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