Business Edition
nr 108
July 31, 2008
Special:
The GreenPrices News Desk is on summer recess from Friday 1 August until Monday 25 August. The next issue of the GreenPrices Weekly will be published on Thursday 28 August.
MEP Britta Thomsen: 10% target to remain
Socialist MEP Britta Thomsen from the ITRE committee is convinced the 10% biofuels target for 2020 should be kept because some biofuels are part of the solution to the transport sector emissions. She opposes the proposal from the ENVI committee that tries to water down the target. Read
more
Wind ‘could provide up to 28% of EU electricity supply by 2030’
Over a quarter of the EU electricity demand could be covered by wind energy in 2030 if governments and industry research resources across Europe are mobilised via the coordination of investment at a regional and national level, the Strategic Research Agenda (SRA) from Europe’s main wind lobby organisation concludes. Read
more
UK excludes voluntary credits from offset quality label
The UK government’s quality label for carbon offset credits to be officially launched soon is expected to stick to its original proposal that only carbon credits formally certified through compliance market schemes such as the EU ETS and UN CDM would meet the grade, thereby excluding voluntary verified credits (VERs). Read
more
MEPs calls for EU action on 'supergrid'
A cross-party group of 25 MEPs has sent a letter urging the EU Council and Commission to take action to promote the construction of a ‘supergrid’ across the Europe-Mediterranean region linking renewable energy sources, and to include a strong ‘solar plan’ in the Initiative for a Mediterranean Union. Read more
UK tries to weaken EU Renewable Energy Directive
The UK is trying to weaken EU legislation that will increase the amount of renewable sources in the energy mix, the Guardian newspaper reported, despite Prime Minister Gordon Brown’s call last month to start a ‘green revolution’ to fulfill the UK share of the 20% EU renewables target for 2020. Read more
The Sustatement
This month's Sustatement:
“The 10% EU target is required to establish a 100% sustainable biofuels market within ten years”
This week, our guest commenting on this statement is Richard van den Broek, Managing Director of Ecofys International BV. Read more
See also the Sustatement Archive.
Editorial: it's up to the politicians
The biofuels discussion invoked the passionate involvement of all stakeholders like NGOs, industry, developing countries, scientific institutions, citizens, media, and of course, politicians. Read
more
Commission remains firm on binding biofuels target
The European Commission has made clear it will not negotiate the binding character of the biofuels target. The Commission also expects to stick to the 10 % target by 2020, although it recognises it might have to negotiate with the EU Parliament about the final amount. Read
more
Greens report: indirect land use change induces large emissions
New calculations about the indirect land-use for the production of biofuels are clear: the greenhouse gas emissions exceed by large the avoided emissions from fossil fuels. Read
more
In Brief
- European solar PV booming thanks to feed-in tariffs
- Al Gore: US electricity 100% renewable by 2018
- Candidates react to Al Gore's challenge
- Green light for Norwegian CCS subsidies
- REpower installs 5 MW offshore turbine in Belgium
- Vattenfall to sell its German grid
- Gamesa continues its expansion in China
- E.ON and DONG to go ahead with 1 GW offshore wind project
- SSE obtains green light for its 456 MW onshore wind farm
- Enel to boost offshore wind in the Mediterranean
SPECIAL GP REPORT
Read the new special publication of GreenPrices News Desk. In cooperation with magazine Renewable Energy Focus, we analyse the Climate Package, the position of Member States and of the different stakeholders.
Download here (for free)
Agenda Read more
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GreenPrices Newsdesk