Business Edition
nr. 38
5 February 2007
Special:
Piebalgs: 'Burden sharing agreement will be the next fight'
Andris Piebalgs, European Commissioner of Energy, is considering Sweden, Austria and Germany as his most important allies to get the Roadmap for Renewable Energy approved by the European Council next month. “And when it does, the agreement about sharing the burden for the binding 20% target will be the next big fight”, Piebalgs predicts. Read
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IPCC: 'Human cause global warming very likely'
Eleven of the last twelve years were the warmest since records began. Widespread melting of snow and ice is observed as well as a rising global sea level. In short, warming of the climate system is unequivocal, the fourth assessment report of the intergovernmental panel of climate change (IPCC) concludes. Read
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Oil firms resist stricter EU fuel standards
The new fuel-quality standards proposed by the European Commission last week have been heavily criticised by the European oil industry. The EC wants a 10% reduction in life cycle CO2 emissions from fuels on the market by 2020, but the European Petroleum Industry Association (Europia) qualifies the proposed targets as unachievable. Read
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Töpfer: 20% renewables in Europe, 5% for developing countries
Klaus Töpfer, former executive director of the United Nations Environment Programme, came up with a creative suggestion to solve the problem of the shortcoming of funding for renewable energy in developing countries. He suggested that the EU should decide on a 25% target for the renewable share in 2020, of which 5% could be executed in developing countries. Read
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Heating and cooling sector still waiting for legislation
Heating and cooling are still a sleeping giant of renewable energy exploration. A new general policy at the EU level is still ‘bubbling-under’. “Taxation will be one key issue in this field", announced Alfonso Finat, director at the Directorate General for Transport and Energy, during the EREC conference last week. “Legislation and funding will also be needed.” Read moreSubscription required
Intelligent Energy in Europe: 75% grant
The new Intelligent Energy in Europe subsidy programme, helping development and market introduction of sustainable energy in the EU, intends to grant up to 75% of all direct costs of projects to participants. For indirect costs (overhead), the IEE programme will use a flat rate of 60%. In former IEE programmes a 50% rate was standard.
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Germany world leader in wind turbines market
In 2006 the market for wind turbines showed an enormous growth. At the global level, the figures from the Global Wind Energy Council (GWEC) show a growth of 32% in 2006 with the installation of 15,197 MW. The European wind market grew 23% compared to 2005, according to the annual statistics from the European Wind Energy Association (EWEA). Read
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Germany, Spain and Slovenia cooperate on RE
Slovenia has become the third state to take part in the International Feed-In Cooperation. Germany, Spain and Slovenia plan to work more closely together to promote renewable energy. At the European Renewable Energy Policy Conference in Brussels last week, these three countries signed a Joint Declaration to establish a basis for cooperation.
Renewables are the answer to secure energy supply
Besides climate change, the security of Europe’s energy supply is becoming a major political driver for the use of renewable energy sources. Renewables are seen as one answer – next to energy efficiency and nuclear power – to meet the growth in energy demand, to combat depleting fossil energy sources and to lessen our high dependence on energy imports. Read
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In Brief
‘Energy research in EU needs centralised approach’ - Portugal wants leading role in EU climate change policy - Iberdrola builds first new wind farm in Poland - China invests billions in renewable energy Read
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Editorial: Sense of action
The new IPCC scientific report about the status of our climate merely confirms what most people already were convinced of: we are changing the climate. In the IPCC’s last report human influence on the climate was qualified as ‘likely’, now it’s called ‘very likely’. What’s new? Just a slight difference in wording, hopefully with a strong impact on our sense of urgency. Read
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To the reader
GreenPrices goes Weekly
From this week on, the bi-weekly GreenPrices Business Edition will be issued weekly. Here you will find all relevant news concerning your business in renewable energy, energy efficiency, sustainable transport and other low-carbon, sustainable energy technologies. Every week we will update you on policies (from Brussels, national governments, other continents), local initiatives, business news, innovative projects and new technologies on the market. In addition you will find daily news on our website.
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Rolf de Vos
Editor in chief
GreenPrices Newsdesk
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