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China could overtake the United States as the world's largest oil importer earlier than expected, while US net oil imports continue to drop due to its booming domestic supply — a remarkable shift between the world's two largest energy consumers.

On 26 February, the European Parliament’s Environment Committee adopted the Commission’s proposal to temporarily “stop the clock” on the enforcement of its aviation ETS for international flights with respect to 2012 emissions.

Last year, carbon dioxide emissions from aviation began to be included in the ETS, but the implementation has been highly controversial. EU trading partners like the United States, China, and India objected that airlines bearing non-European flags would be included in the ETS.  According to the Environment Committee amendments to the proposal suggested by the Commission:

• First, the derogation should apply for a maximum of one year and can be prolonged only if “clear and sufficient” progress is made at the ICAO Assembly in September 2013.
• Second, EU member states should use revenue from the auctioning of allowances to supporting research on and adaptation to climate change. The proposal is now due for consideration by the full Parliament in Strasbourg in April.

The aviation industry supports a global framework under ICAO as the most appropriate means to address CO2 emissions from international aviation. Boeing believes as well that the best approach to reducing aviation emissions is a global approach and is of the view that the Commission’s “stop the clock” proposal represents a pragmatic step in the direction to allow a more constructive dialogue in the ICAO negotiations towards a global sectoral agreement on aviation emissions.

 

In nominating Gina McCarthy to head the E.P.A. and Ernest J. Moniz for the Energy Department, President Obama showed his intent to use all the tools at his disposal to tackle climate change.

It's not surprising to know that anonymous, shady trusts and organizations have been secretly but generously funding climate change skeptics and their campaigns.

President Obama’s cabinet choices on environment and energy reflect his middle-path approach to governing.

By Managenergy Despite – or perhaps because of – the acute economic recession in Ireland, the Irish government has earmarked €35m million in seed capital for a new energy efficiency fund to help reduce the cash-strapped nation’s energy consumption by 20%.

The New York Times is discontinuing the Green blog but plans to press on with aggressive energy and environment coverage.

Because of its natural gas boom, the United States is ahead of Europe in fixing climate change, the Oxford economist Dieter Helm argues.

UK Only Article:  standard article Issue:  Send in the clowns Fly Title:  America’s cheap gas Rubric:  Natural-gas prices are sure to rise—eventually Main image:  Flare apparent Flare apparent THE shale gas billowing out of American soil is a source of concern as well as cheap energy. Environmentalists worry that fracking, the technique for dislodging gas from shale beds, may pollute the air and local water supplies. The glut of natural gas has a less likely set of victims, too. Instead of banking handsome profits, many of the oil and gas firms that drill for shale gas are suffering from the boom. Abundant supplies and slow growth in demand have sent gas prices crashing. In 2008 shale gas fetched $12 per million BTU (British thermal units) at Henry Hub, a crossroads of pipelines in Louisiana that serves as the main pricing point for the gas in America. Since then the frackers have been hard at work. From next to nothing shale now provides a quarter of supplies. The rapid rush of gas onto the ...

UK Only Article:  standard article Issue:  Send in the clowns Fly Title:  Energy policy Rubric:  How not to rig a market Location:  WASHINGTON, DC Main image:  How many trees in that? How many trees in that? “CONGRESS should act to protect Americans from the… phantom fuel fine,” declared Jim Sensenbrenner, a representative from Wisconsin, in mid-February. He was railing against an idea Congress itself came up with, in 2007, but which has not worked out as planned: a requirement that refiners blend a certain amount of cellulosic ethanol (made from non-edible feedstock such as wood or grass, rather than corn) into the gasoline (petrol) they sell, or face a fine. The hitch is that hardly any cellulosic ethanol is available, making the fine rather unfair. The congressmen of six years ago were trying to reduce America’s dependence on foreign oil and cut its emissions of greenhouse gases. Although ethanol made from corn advances the first ...

UK Only Article:  standard article Issue:  Send in the clowns Fly Title:  American energy and economics Rubric:  If Barack Obama wants a cleaner world and a richer America, he should allow natural-gas exports Main image:  20130302_LDP004_0.jpg ON AMERICA’S Gulf coast, massive industrial facilities stand idle. Miles of twisting stainless-steel pipes and huge storage tanks gleam uselessly in the sun. They are a reminder of the hundreds of billions of dollars that America has invested in terminals for handling imports of liquefied natural gas (LNG). Thanks to the boom in domestic shale gas, those imports are no longer needed. America produces nearly as much gas as it consumes, and will soon produce far more. So the obvious thing to do with those idle terminals is to re-engineer them to handle exports. Instead of receiving shiploads of liquefied gas and re-gasifying it, they should be taking American gas, liquefying it and loading it onto tankers. Converting these plants will not be cheap—each one will ...

Steven Chu, who will soon step down as energy secretary, champions alternative technologies at a conference on cutting-edge energy research.

A fresh look at China’s energy mix sees some progress on carbon dioxide, but a long path ahead.

Within a few years unconventional gas, in particular shale gas, discoveries in the USA, have changed the geopolitics of energy. The USA is becoming one the major gas producers on earth, shaking off its dependence on the unstable Gulf region. Gas prices have dramatically gone down in the USA, enabling the country to re-vitalise energy-intensive industries and creating hundreds of thousands of new jobs in the States of the Middle West. Throughout the world oil and gas companies are taking claims for potential reserves, from UK to Poland, China and Australia. Unconventional gas deposits are widely spread around the globe, reducing the fears about excessive dependence on the Middle East, Russia or Central Asia for future oil and gas supply. Reserves of conventional and unconventional gas that are technically recoverable might last 250 years on the basis of present gas consumption (IEA), which would turn gas into a fossil energy with very long life-expectancy, comparable to coal, revolutionising the long-term energy outlook. Gas might supply one quarter of global primary energy needs by 2025 and 40 per cent by 2040! These prospects are bound to have a climate bearing, as green house gas emissions from gas are only two thirds of those from oil and less than half of those from coal. The significant decline of US emissions since 2005, the first ever registered, is largely due to the switch from coal to gas in power generation. Sooner or later governments and international oil/gas business will follow the American example and invest massively in unconventional gas, replacing coal as the major input for electricity generation. Humanity might thus buy a respite of several decades in the fight against climate change. Gas, whatever its form, will be a cheap and convenient alternative to wind, solar and bio-fuels, difficult to resist. Of course, unconventional gas is no miracle solution

• It is fossil energy emitting green house gas, even if emissions are relatively lower than from competing fossil sources, though higher than from conventional gas, due to its higher methane content.
• It requires large quantities of water, blended with chemicals, for fracturing gas-bearing rocks. Arid or densely populated regions are therefore not suitable for production of unconventional gas. The risk of water contamination can, however, be resolved by appropriate technologies; The volume of water consumption should not be exaggerated either. According to UK estimates, it represents no more than 10 per cent of water losses from pipe leakages.
• Last not least, it is more expensive than conventional natural gas. But with rising energy prices this will matter and less.

Several European countries – Poland, UK, France, Germany and Italy- hold large quantities of unconventional gas. European gas reserves are estimated to increase 1000 fold! EU dependence on Russian gas imports might dramatically decrease. Public opposition against exploration and production remains strong and has led the French government to decree a moratoium. But UK and Poland are actively preparing for the new era. The EU has so far abstained from taking a clear position on how to deal with unconventional gas. Potential producers will, of course, have to comply with EU and national environmental regulations on water, noise etc. Lacking the free space of the USA on-shore production will also be limited to areas with low population density.   Whatever individual member states may decide, the U should not be deceived by exuberant expectations and proceed guardedly. There is no need to rush, let alone panic because of excessively low gas prices in the USA, which will be a temporary phenomenon. For Humanity, the biggest challenge will be excessive complacency and ignoring climate change over the relief of disposing a new source of low emission fossil fuel. Resorting to unconventional gas is fine as long as we use it as a “bridge fuel” to a low a emission global energy system which must remain the overriding objective. Reducing energy consumption through higher efficiency and promoting wind and solar energy should therefore enjoy priority over a reckless expansion of unconventional gas production. Eberhard Rhein, Brussels

A pathbreaking energy agency explores potential solutions like finding something to burn other than hydrocarbons.

A new working paper suggests that modest efforts to tackle climate change are not enough to protect the world’s food supply.

China Petroleum and Chemical Corp, or Sinopec, has agreed to buy 50 percent of the US-based Chesapeake Energy Corp's Mississippi Lime oil and gas assets for $1.02 billion.

China Petroleum and Chemical Corp, or Sinopec, has agreed to buy 50 percent of the US-based Chesapeake Energy Corp's Mississippi Lime oil and gas assets for $1.02 billion.

Oxfam has long been concerned that increasing production of biofuels pushes up food prices, encourages land grabs and in many cases increases rather than reduces dangerous greenhouse gas emissions. Within the GROW campaign, we are fighting to end policies promoting biofuels and threatening food security and the climate. This issue was in the spotlight in Brussels last week. Marc-Olivier Herman of Oxfam’s EU Office presented Oxfam’s concerns in the European Parliament and monitored a discussion of European Energy Ministers on a review of the EU biofuels legislation. The conference room in the European Parliament was packed last Wednesday. Not a single spare seat to be found behind those reserved for the members of the Environment and Industry Committees who have started to work on a change in European biofuels legislation. MEP assistants, industry lobbyists or NGO representatives who arrived late had no other option than to stand through three hours of gruelling presentations from experts who have modelled the impacts of Europe’s insatiable thirst for biofuels on global land use, food prices and carbon emissions, and of debate on what to do about it. It’s hard to summarize years of data crunching by whizzes in a few lines but really it boils down to some pretty hard truths. First, food-based biofuels made from rapeseed, palm, soy or other vegetable oils are more polluting than fossil fuels because they displace agriculture onto new land which previously stored lots of carbon. Second, while some food-based biofuels do save some carbon emissions, this is only because they drive higher food prices which mean people and animals eat less. What was the conclusion according to the experts?  The best way to fight climate change is not to use more but less biofuel. “Reducing the biofuel ambition is the most direct way to limit additional land use emissions,” declared David Laborde from the International Food Policy Research Institute. Similarly, cutting back on biofuels is needed to avoid food price rises. To avoid competition between food and fuels, “the simplest policy is to stop subsidizing and mandating biofuels,” concluded Ronald Steenblik of the OECD’s Trade and Agriculture Directorate. Following Steenblik’s advice would allow Europe to reallocate the billions it spends on food-based biofuels to truly sustainable transport policies. The European Commission took a first timid step in this direction last October when it proposed to limit the share of first generation biofuels counting towards the binding EU-wide target of 10% renewable energy use in transport by 2020. That sounds like a return to sanity to anyone remotely interested in good governance. But to the biofuel industry representatives on the panel, this is madness. If Europe gives up on biodiesel, it will enslave itself to Russian President Putin and his country’s oil, warned Raffaello Garofalo of the European Biodiesel Board. So even measuring land emissions from biofuels is a bad idea, he said, as it would tarnish the image of the industry. For e-Pure, the European ethanol lobby, the solution is not to scrap biofuels mandates, but to create new ones: a mandatory 10% share of bioethanol in all petrol by 2020. What’s more, no one should be worried about anybody going hungry as a consequence because the industry produces feed as a by-product.  “The European ethanol industry approximately adds as much food into the food chain as it consumes” Thomas Gameson of e-Pure told MEPs after putting a pellet of “high protein GMO-free animal feed” into his mouth. “Cows find it delicious!” he added choking and gasping for water. Two days later, European Energy Ministers met in Brussels for their own discussion of the new European biofuels policy. In the complex European decision-making system a qualified majority of Member States and the European Parliament must agree on the new legislation. In a letter to Energy Ministers before the meeting, Oxfam and a wide coalition of environmental and development organisations had asked them to stop incentivising technologies that undermine global food security and climate change mitigation by endorsing a genuine and robust cap to limit the use of land-based biofuels and agreeing on a trajectory to gradually phase out all support to them.  As I listened to the speeches of the Energy Ministers on Friday morning, then, the big question was whether they would follow the advice of the experts and NGOs or cave into industry pressure. As the meeting unfolded and I listened to the Energy Ministers explaining their country’s position, it was clear that many of them had been listening to the biofuel industry rather than reading the reports of the experts. I hope they were rewarded with high protein GMO-free animal feed for lunch! No decisions have been taken yet. In the weeks that follow, to avoid Members of the European Parliament and national Ministers getting distracted by industry gimmicks, Oxfam will be reminding them what their decisions will mean for the millions of people going to bed hungry around the world each night. To view the full webcast of the hearing, click here. All presentations from the hearing are available here and here.

One year ago, when the German Minister of Finance Mr. Philipp Rösler visited Athens along with a group of entrepreneurs from his homeland there was hope and positive signs for investments in photovoltaic parks that would stoke Europe with solar energy, as well as for other less or more impressive investment plans. Similar were the expectations created after the official visit of Chancellor Merkel, but also after the visits of Greek officials in Qatar, including the last visit of Prime Minister Mr. Samaras. Nonetheless, few of these expectations were transformed into specific action. As the Germans did in the past, so the French did afterwards when President Mr. Hollande visited Athens with a group of French entrepreneurs last Tuesday. According to officials of the French side, the visit was aimed to promote French investments and establish strong ties and partnerships for future cooperation, when conditions permit it. But if the French President wanted investments in Greece, why he did not, himself and the previous French Presidents, maintain and widen the existing investments that left Greece during the last years? Despite the fact that the possibility of Greece’s leaving the eurozone has decreased significantly, investment risk remains high. And this is mainly caused due to the uncertain and vulnerable fiscal environment and the time-consuming and cumbersome justice administration and proceedings. Ιn other words, it is not that much the tax rate that impedes investments, but fundamentally the constant shift of tax rate indicator in the business sector and the real estate, let alone the continuing taxes imposed. In a similar framework, there are growing -and certainly well-established- fears of foreign investors against the justice system in Greece, especially on the basis of investing in real estate, as the National Land Registry is not yet defined and in many times conflicting interests may occur, stemming from both individuals’ or public-led claims. In this context, significant delays may occur and cause growing and unexpected costs for the investors. In this respect, there is also the well-disputed issue of the low absorption of EU funding programs that impede both foreign and domestic investments. To conclude with, what is important for foreign investors is the creation of a stable tax system, a friendly investing environment, and a less bureaucratic system. Intentions for the introduction of the so-called “fast-track” investments launched by the previous governments and partly followed by the current one cannot lead to significant results, as the entire investment framework remains intact. Therefore, no matter how many times foreign officials visit Greece to announce investments, no investments will see the light if the entire system do not stop function in that destructive pace.