The implementation of the EU’s carbon pricing scheme for road transport is crucial to drive the business case for electric and hydrogen trucks, Martin Lundstedt, CEO of the Volvo Group, told Euractiv in an interview.
Moldova’s breakaway region of Transnistria continues to enjoy “de facto free gas” from Russia’s Gazprom – a situation which satisfies no one but ensures political stability in the Russian-controlled region, the country’s energy minister told EURACTIV in an exclusive interview.
The European Commission “hit a political sweet spot” by allowing more nationalisation of electricity markets in its reform proposal tabled last week, according to Georg Zachmann. However, the focus on long-term contracts risks locking some EU countries into costly deals that will make the green transition more expensive, he warns in an interview.
Europe must start thinking about energy security in the long term, the chairwoman of the French energy regulator told EURACTIV France in an interview, warning also that France was not certain to go through the winter unscathed because of possible problems with electricity supply.
The energy demand-response market is moving to the mainstream, thanks to the rise of electric vehicles and the massive growth in power consumption from data centres, which can provide flexibility to the electricity grid in case of peak demand, two senior energy officials have told EURACTIV.com.
With increased interconnection and trading across borders, European countries can lower the variability of wind and solar power and decrease the cost of the transition to clean energy, Leonardo Meeus told EURACTIV.
Some form of price regulation, like a price collar or position limits on market players, could address worries about high prices on the EU's Emissions Trading Scheme (EU ETS) and help prevent "a political backlash", climate and energy expert Michael Pahle told EURACTIV in an interview.
The hard line defended by France over the inclusion of nuclear power in the green finance taxonomy is a dead end because there is no majority in favour of it at the EU level, warns lawmaker Pascal Canfin. Instead, the French MEP argues for including nuclear energy in the 'transition' category.
Geothermal is competitive with wind and solar technologies and can work together with them to create a reliable supply of renewable energy, according to Francesco La Camera, who sees geothermal capacity as growing up to eight-fold in the EU by mid-century.
The European Union “cannot achieve” climate neutrality without critical raw materials like lithium and rare earths, says Commission vice-president Maroš Šefčovič. It now needs to be “much more strategic” in relations with supplier countries in order to ensure the bloc's “strategic autonomy,” he argues.
The European Commission’s decision to approve an agreement between Germany’s big power firms risks distorting energy market competition, according to the head of another company, who explained to EURACTIV Germany why he has started legal action.
As the European Commission prepares its proposal for a landmark EU Climate Law, Eurelectric boss Kristian Ruby urges policymakers to keep it simple and focus on the long-term.
Europe has to get serious about the hydrogen economy if it really wants to reach net-zero emissions as quickly as possible, says Nils Anders Røkke. This is why decarbonised natural gas, using carbon capture and storage (CCS), will be crucial to ramp up hydrogen production in the short term, he argues.
The solar thermal complex at Noor Ouarzazate in the Atlas mountains is at the heart of Morocco's renewable energy drive, producing over 580MW of electricity. Mustapha Bakhouri explains the country's plans to develop its renewable energy programme and build energy connections with Europe.
The energy transition will hit the poor hardest unless it's balanced by a shift in taxation, says Christian Egenhofer. The EU needs to acknowledge this and get started by lowering taxes on electricity to achieve the EU’s carbon reduction goals at least cost, he argues.
Europe’s electricity and gas operators are currently working on a joint network plan based on a carbon budget which includes zero-emission scenarios for 2050. “And that automatically means there will be no fossil gas in the mix by then,” Jan Ingwersen told EURACTIV in an interview.
The production of so-called green hydrogen from wind and solar electricity is seen as a potential game-changer for the transition to a 100% renewable energy system. But getting there will take some time and some intermediary solutions will be needed, says Daan Peters.
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 …
As the European Union turns the page on a series of clean energy laws focused on electricity, attention is now turning to decarbonisation in the gas sector, with an upcoming gas package expected in 2020. And the power sector intends to play a central role there too.
Renewable energy will rewrite the geopolitical map, according to the man tasked with taking clean energy global. Adnan Z. Amin also told EURACTIV that any politicians not worried by the “truly frightening” risks of climate change are not in the right job.
The volume of solar panels and electric cars connected to the grid is still manageable for now. But massive new load expected from electric vehicles in the coming years will require stepping up network digitalisation, warns Serge Colle.
Emissions from residential heating can be drastically reduced if Europe agrees a ban on new oil and gas boiler installations by 2030 at the latest, according to a Danish researcher who led an EU-wide study to decarbonise the heating and cooling sector.
The just transition declaration adopted at the COP24 in Poland sounds good but it is not connected to any kind of climate ambition or specific energy projects involving local communities, Alexandru Mustata told EURACTIV Slovakia.
Vienna’s energy and infrastructure utilities say the Commission’s long-term strategy unveiled this week is in line with own their forecasts and goals.
