Med Gas Pipeline Possible by 2025
Project may cost up to 6 billion euros; final investment decision could come by 2020. European and Israeli governments gave their support on Monday to moving forward with a Mediterranean pipeline project to carry natural gas from Israel to Europe, setting a target date of 2025 for completion. The planned 2,000 km (1,248 mile) pipeline aims to link gas fields off the coasts of Israel and Cyprus with Greece and possibly Italy, at a cost of up to 6 billion euros ($6.4 billion). "This is an ambitious project, which as the Commission…
EU Backing to tip Paris Climate Deal over Threshold
European Parliament backs accord to fight climate change; Ratification expected to be with U.N. by Friday. The European Parliament backed the Paris accord to fight climate change on Tuesday, tipping it over the threshold needed for the global deal to enter into force, in what U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon hailed as an historic vote. The Paris Agreement, backed by nearly 200 nations nearly one year ago, will help guide a radical shift of the world economy away from fossil fuels in an effort to limit heat waves, floods, droughts and rising sea levels.
EU Regulators Poised to Seek Deeper Cut in Energy Use
EU regulators are poised to propose a binding target to cut energy use by 30 percent by 2030, a more ambitious goal than previously discussed, according to a draft document seen by Reuters. The draft law, which the European Commission is expected to publish next month, is part of a set of proposals to implement 2030 goals on cutting emissions, increasing renewable energy use and preventing energy waste. A preliminary agreement was reached in October 2014 when the 28 member states agreed to increase energy savings by at least 27 percent compared with business as usual.
EU National Climate Goals Test Bloc's Resolve Amid Brexit
EU regulators doled out bitterly disputed national emissions-reduction targets on Wednesday for spreading the burden of the bloc's climate goals by 2030, despite risks Britain's exit could unravel the effort to fight global warming. As the first major piece of legislation since Britons voted in June to leave, it is a test of the union's cohesion, as it seeks to keep to a pact agreed in Paris last year aimed at holding global warming "well below" 2 degrees Celsius. It assigns EU nations targets for slashing greenhouse…
EU Seeks Bigger Clean Tech Fund, Targeted CO2 Permits
The European Union should boost its clean technology fund and adopt a more targeted approach to allocating free carbon permits to keep industry from moving abroad to avoid pollution curbs, a leading EU carbon policymaker said on Friday. Fredrick Federley, who is drafting the European Parliament industry committee's proposals for reform of the EU emissions trading system (ETS) to be published next week, said he wants to add 150 million unallocated allowances to the innovation fund. The Parliament is reviewing a European Commission reform proposal…
U.S. Will Sign Paris Agreement on Climate Change
The United States will sign the Paris Agreement on climate change this year regardless of the Supreme Court's decision to put a chunk of President Barack Obama's environmental action on hold, the U.S. climate envoy said on Tuesday. Todd Stern also said that Obama's successor, even if it is a Republican, would be unlikely to scrap the Paris deal as to do so would have negative diplomatic implications. The U.S. Supreme Court this month put on hold regulations to curb carbon dioxide emissions mainly from coal-fired power plants…
EU Offers Norway Warm Words Not Pledges on Gas Investment
The European Union gave Norway reassurances about its importance as an energy partner on Friday, but stopped short of the pledges the non-EU member sought on gas demand and investment. Norway and its energy company Statoil want help in developing potentially huge gas resources in the Barents Sea that could be sold either as liquefied natural gas (LNG) all over the world or shipped to Europe via pipelines. "To ensure future expansion of our export pipeline system, we need clear signals it has a role in Europe's energy mix," Norway's Petroleum and Energy Minister Tord Lien said at talks in Brussels.
EU to Curb Russian Gas Dependency with Better Grid
Funding especially targeted at central, eastern Europe; British-French grid link also gets money. BRUSSELS, Jan 19 (Reuters) - EU member states on Tuesday endorsed a plan to invest more than 200 million euros ($217 million) in cross-border energy infrastructure projects designed to help curb dependence on Russian gas. The European Commission is seeking to improve power and gas connections across the European Union's 28 member states to allow better distribution of available supplies as part of a single energy market. The EU is keen to reduce reliance on Russia, which supplies about a third of EU oil and gas.
Big Firms Say EU Carbon Reforms Do Not Go Far Enough
Proposed reforms to the EU carbon market do not go far enough and need to be supplemented by a phase-out of fossil fuel subsidies, a group of major companies said in an open letter to European Union environment ministers meeting on Monday. The European Commission in July outlined its plans to bolster the Emissions Trading System (ETS), on which permits to pollute trade at around 8.5 euros per tonne, seen as too little to drive a shift to lower carbon energy. Environment ministers of the 28 EU states debated the proposals on Monday in Luxembourg, in one of the early steps towards turning the plans into law.
Emerging UN Climate Deal Omits National Demands
Bonn U.N. talks next week are last before Paris summit. A draft agreement that ditches cherished ideas of almost 200 nations about how to fight climate change could spark "fireworks" at a final round of negotiations to design a U.N. agreement to be held in Paris in December. With time running out, the 20-page draft produced by two top diplomats who oversee the talks for discussions in Germany next week, and condensed from a previous document of more than 80 pages, leaves out many nations' core demands. That may cause strain at the Oct.
EU Ministers Unite on Climate Mandate
EU ministers on Friday finalized what they said was a tough negotiating position for U.N. climate talks later this year after overcoming objections from coal-reliant Poland. Poland's elections next month complicated the debate as the right-wing Law and Justice party has been campaigning on a promise to resist EU environment law and protect the coal industry. But Friday's talks were quicker than expected, as EU officials said Poland realised it was isolated and agreed to word changes that made no substantial difference. "It is a compromise ...
European States Agree to Boost Gas Links, Reduce Reliance on Russia
Fifteen countries from central, eastern and southeast Europe signed a deal on Friday to speed up the building of gas links, improve security of supply, reduce their reliance on Russia and develop a fully integrated energy market. "The improvement of infrastructure through realistic and feasible projects is crucial to diversify energy resources and strengthen the region's resilience to supply shocks," European Commission Vice President Maros Sefcovic said in a statement. The document was signed on the sidelines of a conference in Croatia's coastal city of Dubrovnik, attended by Sefcovic.
EU to Get Energy Enforcement Powers
European Commission to publish legal proposals next year; outline communication due next week. EU energy regulator ACER, until now largely toothless, will be given legal powers to enforce plans for a single energy market that breaks down national barriers under a proposal from the bloc's executive arm. At a conference on Thursday in Slovenia, where the Agency for the Cooperation of Energy Regulators is based, European Commission Vice President Maros Sefcovic and Energy Commissioner Miguel Arias Canete laid out their plans to bolster ACER.
French, Spanish Ministers Discuss New Cross-border Energy Links
French, Spanish and Portuguese energy ministers have discussed plans for new power and gas infrastructure across the French-Spanish border, the French energy ministry said on Tuesday. The ministers met with EU Climate and Energy Commissioner Miguel Arias Canete in Paris on Tuesday and launched a working group to boost energy networks in South-West Europe. Spanish energy executives have long complained about France's reluctance to boost cross-border links and the European Commission has made better connections to the Iberian peninsula a top priority as this could reduce the continent's dependence on Russian gas.
EU Energy Integration Edges Closer
Devil is in detail of implementing broad goals; national plans should complement regional plans. European energy ministers on Monday signed three accords on closer power and gas ties but differences remained over implementing a single energy market and 2030 green fuel goals. The European Commission, the European Union executive, has used the political crisis with the bloc's biggest energy supplier, Russia, to focus on creating an energy union through rationalised connections across its 28-members to share fuel and curb the need for imports.
Europe to Draw Up Energy Crisis Contingency Plans
The European Union is working on emergency plans to make member states better prepared for any kind of energy supply outages, Europe's energy and climate chief said on Thursday. Already last year the European Commission carried out gas stress tests to find out which parts of Europe were most vulnerable, given uncertainty surrounding the European Union's biggest energy supplier Russia. Russia last year cut off gas to Ukraine, the main transit route for Gazprom to ship gas to the EU, because of a pricing dispute. Nations have also experienced power outages.
Smart Grids: EU's Shale Gas?
Smart grids can reduce infrastructure needs by 30 pct. Smart appliances will turn on and off as prices move. BRUSSELS, April 1 (Reuters) - Smart grids balancing intermittent solar and wind energy with flexible power demand could do for Europe what shale gas has done for the United States, a senior European Union official said on Wednesday. European Commission Vice President Maros Sefcovic said smart grids are crucial for EU single energy market plans as they could integrate more renewables into electricity networks, boost security of supply and help lower prices for consumers.
