Last week, the Czech government proposed a bill, which is now to be reviewed in Parliament. The renewables community is speaking of a step in the right direction, but the battle is still uphill, as a sociologist explained at a conference our Craig Morris attended.
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Analysis: Who wants what from the EU 2030 climate framework
An ambitious EU 2030 climate framework could be crucial to unlocking a global climate deal in Paris next year. Yet EU leaders still can’t agree on the details. Simon Evans compares the ambitions and goals ahead of today’s negotiations.
Germany’s Energiewende proves electricity can be clean and reliable
Germany has rapidly increased the share of renewables in its power mix. Critics claim that this has lead to grid instability. Peter Sopher looks at the numbers and shows that German grid stability has actually increased and is much higher than in most other countries.
How competitive are renewables with conventional power?
A new meta-study published by German renewables organization AEE reviews around a dozen recent studies on power generation costs from both renewable and conventional energy sources. The trend is clear, and one of the studies is a clear outlier. Craig Morris explains.
German reliance on market players makes energy policy legal
In his previous post, Craig Morris talks about how the renewable surcharge will drop for the first time in 2015. But there is another interesting aspect to the issue. Germany allows transmission grid operators (TSOs), rather than a government entity, to calculate the charge. For the EU, that distinction is the difference between legal and illegal.
A first: German renewable energy surcharge shrinks
The outcome was roughly predictable at least as far back as January, but today Germany’s four transit grid operators (TSOs) announced the specific figure for the renewables surcharge for 2015. But the decrease is so small that retail rates might not even be affected. Will the government at least admit its new policies are not the reason? Craig Morris investigates.
Is offshore wind the big story?
Increasingly, we read that offshore wind in Germany is getting going. While the news is good, it overstates the role of offshore wind in the country’s energy transition. Craig Morris explains.
While critics debate Energiewende, Germany is gaining a global advantage
An often heard criticism of Germany’s Energiewende is its high price tag for consumers. Peter Sopher argues that a focus on price alone is shortsighted – as the economic and societal benefits outweight the cost by far.
The price of new nuclear revisited
Cash cow of power sector goes dry
Over at Renew Economy, our colleague Giles Parkinson reviews a study by HSBC showing that “generators are to be the biggest losers” in the energy transition currently taking place worldwide. Today, Craig Morris talks about what that looks like in Germany.