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CBAM! The Global Energy Transition Podcast – Episode 2
This summer the European Commission finally unveiled their “Fit for 55” policy package. Aimed at ensuring the European Union reduces emissions and reaches climate neutrality by 2050, a key part of their plan is phasing in a “Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism” or CBAM. Framed as a pollution solution, it’s been met with howls of protest, threats of trade wars and frustration from many corners....
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Carbon fighting tool or economic bomb: Reviewing the EU’s new CBAM
In July the European Commission unveiled its Fit for 55 package aimed at pushing EU member states to reduce emissions by at least net 55% (compared to 1990 levels) by 2030. One of the most widely anticipated parts of the package – at least among policy wonks – is the introduction of the world’s first carbon border adjustment mechanism (CBAM). Intended to level the...
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Lesson learned: To blunt energy price spikes, the EU needs more renewables, faster
With energy prices soaring across Europe, more gas and coal plants are firing up. Ahead of COP26 in Glasgow, emissions – along with bills – were skyrocketing. Though fossil energy dependent countries like Poland and other allies of dirty fuels are using the crisis to push back on Brussels, putting more scrutiny on the bloc’s overall decarbonization strategies, leadership is standing firm. As imported...
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Hydrogen in Latin America. Handle with care? (II)
Part two of the series on hydrogen (H2) in Latin America surveys the playing field regarding strategies and regulation. Large investments, mega projects and familiar actors dominate the scene, while there is a lack of proposals for a new governance model towards an inclusive socio-ecological transition.
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Entrenched advantage: Fossil fuels-produced hydrogen dominates the EU’s Fit for 55 package
The hydrogen transition – a crucial political, economic and climate initiative for the European Commission – got a massive boost from their newly released Fit for 55 strategy. But despite growing concerns about how dangerous the expanded carbon footprint of H2 produced from fossil gas will be, many policymakers like EU Energy Commissioner Kadri Simson remain firm on backing both “blue” and “grey” H2....
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Greek islands are beautiful – but can they go green, too?
The energy transition on the Aegean islands is finally shifting gear. In June, prime minister Mitsotakis and the CEO of the global carmaker Volkswagen, Herbert Diess, visited the small island of Astypalea located in the Aegean Sea. The goal of a joint project between the Greek government and VW is to turn Astypalea into a “green and smart” island, replacing all cars on the...
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Hydrogen in Latin America. Handle with Care (I)
Latin America’s hydrocarbon producers have long considered hydrogen as a good opportunity to render their extractivist models “greener”. There are a range of concerns about blue and grey hydrogen, but even large-scale green hydrogen may have negative social and environmental impacts. This is part one in a series exploring the background of hydrogen and its risks across the region.
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Fit for 55: The EU launches ambitious plan to cut emissions by net 55% by 2030
In mid-July, the EU published sweeping cross-sector plans intended to cut emissions by 55% compared to 1990 by the end of the decade. Using rising carbon prices under the Emissions Trading System (ETS) to literally fuel the clean energy transition, the proposed legislation covers a lot of ground: it increases renewable energy targets, sets in place the phase-in of hydrogen, increases energy efficiency and...
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The quest for equity, fairness and justice in an international carbon market
A carbon market may reduce carbon emissions as shown by the European Union’s Emissions Trading System (EU-ETS). But market-based approaches to climate change raise several issues that politicians need to resolve during COP 26 in Glasgow. In this last article in a series of analysis into Article 6 of the Paris Agreement, Michael Davies-Venn explores how injustice, unfairness and inequity are implicit in any...
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Livestock and maize at sharp edge of climate emergency in southern Africa
Southern Africa is warming at twice the rate of the global average. Worsening drought and rising temperatures are likely to bring about a collapse of two keystone agricultural activities — livestock and maize farming — warns the latest climate science, presented in the long-awaited United Nations’ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) new report.
This website highlights how energy transitions around the world are moving forward. It shows how they work, and what challenges lie ahead. The e-book on Germany’s Energiewende explains the country’s politics and policies, often regarded as the front runner in the global energy transition.