Immediate issues, future frameworks
The European Commissioner for Energy has a powerful voice in the energy. Andris Piebalgs has money and resources to put into the development of new energy technologies, he has the ability to design and recommend legally enforceable policies for member states of the European Union, he can make or influence decisions that have consequences well beyond the borders of Europe. How does he see his role? And what’s his position on the key energy issues facing Europe – and the world?
 

Green IT – going beyond the data centre
When asked about a ‘Green IT’ agenda, most people start and end with the power consumed by the data centre. Gartner famously cited IT as being responsible for two percent of the world’s CO2 emissions, and various companies have interpreted that to suit their own interests. Many have assigned the full two percent of impact solely to the data centre – but it goes further, to the desktop and beyond.
 

Until recently there seemed to be no limit to the apparently inexorable rise of commodity prices, with analysts, governments and leader-writers scrambling to find the culprits in a new Blame Game. We went behind the headline to sift the research and come up with a realistic estimate of the relative importance of the factors at play.

 

Technologies may save the world – but they have to be right technologies. In addition to the new food-producing technologies we need to feed us, Terry Barker argues we also now need GHG-reducing technologies allied to carbon taxes and carbon trading if we are to accelerate decarbonisation and reduce the risks of climate change.

 

Jeroen van der Veer, chief executive of Royal Dutch Shell, argues that cap-and-trade mechanisms like the EU ETS need CO2 Capture and Storage as a supporting technology to reduce emissions drastically. And CCS can only materialise with the CO2 price that is delivered by cap-and trade mechanisms.

 

The public is deluged with misleading information from expects and interpreters – peak outputs are confused with averages, emissions reduction targets are reported without saying whether they are for total power production or only for electricity, and so on. So here is the Big Picture in ten-point form, with comments and conclusions ... and your input is welcome!

 

The Climate Package being debated in Brussels offers the opportunity to move the European economy towards 60-80 percent emissions reductions by 2050. The challenge for all participants in the discussions over the next months will be to keep the big picture in mind while working on the fine details, says Karsten Neuhoff.

 

Renewable tax credits are included in US financial bailout plans ... Masdar City emissions are to be monitored in the construction phase ... Nokia is back on top in Greenpeace green electronics league ... Google to develop green energy technology with GE ... IEA has reported on Europe’s energy policies, and likes them ... The World Future Energy Summit scoops two more awards ...

 

New thinking in wavepower generation: side-on turbines from Oxford University researchers harvest more energy in shallower waters ... Atlantis Resources has acquired Morgan Stanley’s Current Resources project development business ...

 

Carbon storage will be competitive by 2030, says McKinsey – costs could come down to €30-45 per tonne of CO2. But time is running out for get commercial projects in place; and in the short term CCS is going to expensive, thanks to transport and storage costs ...

 

Last year BMW improved the fuel efficiency of its cars at four times the average rate of other major manufacturers, but overall the motor industry isn’t doing well enough to meet proposed targets for new cars ... General Motors has unveiled the final production version of its innovative hybrid-fuel Chevrolet Volt ... Tesla is to build an all-electric saloon car good for 240 miles per charge ...

 

BP is partnering with ethanol specialist Verenium that matches the US company’s technical expertise with BP’s marketing and distribution clout ... Belarus is to build a huge biofuels sector to rid itself of post-Chernobyl contamination ... UK researchers have developed a new strain of ethanol-producing bacteria based on microorganisms found in compost heaps ...

 

Carbon markets can beat the economic slump, thinks Point Carbon, thanks to a shortage of future CDM CERs and JI ERUs ... Cleantech has posted another record-breaking investment quarter globally, with $2.6 billion put into 158 companies worldwide ... Some US states are experimenting with cap-and-trade, and the RGGI group has had its first auction of allowances ... the EU looks set to bring rainforests into the Emissions Trading Scheme ...

 

Britain’s commitment to a nuclear future seems assured after EDF bought British Energy ... The cost of the multinational ITER fusion reactor project is certain to rise, says its deputy director ... The IAEA has raised its forecasts for growth in nuclear power capacity, to between 473 and 748GW in 2030 ... Europeans would be happier about nuclear if there was more attention to waste disposal ...

 

US wind capacity has doubled since 2006 to pass 20GW ... The world’s largest offshore wind farm project, the London Array, is back on track now Shell’s partners have bought out its stake ... Siemens Energy and E.ON have signed one of the largest ever wind power deals – 500 turbines and 1150MW capacity ...