Check out our latest coverage in our Energy & Environment policy hub or follow our latest updates on @eaEnergyEU By Frédéric Simon (@FredSimonEU) and Sam Morgan (@SamJamesMorgan)
[Energy & Environment] Fourteen years after receiving the official go-ahead, scientists began to assemble a machine in southern France on Tuesday (28 July) that will seek to prove whether nuclear fusion, the process which powers the Sun, can be a safe and viable energy source for Earth.
[Energy & Environment] It is the industry’s responsibility to roll-out the fifth generation (5G) of wireless communication networks without increasing energy consumption, Swedish telecoms giant Ericsson writes in a report outlining how this can be done. “Energy consumption is set to increase dramatically...
[Energy & Environment] The European Parliament rejected on Thursday (23 July) the hard-won decisions of the EU Council. MEPs criticised, among other things, cuts to climate programmes and voiced fear that billions of euros could fall into the wrong hands. EURACTIV Germany reports.
[Renewable energies] Renewable sources have overtaken coal, oil and gas in EU electricity generation for the first time, new analysis shows. EURACTIV's media partner, Climate Home News, reports.
[Energy & Environment] EU leaders agreed to slash funding for Just Transition policies at a crucial budget summit on Tuesday (21 July) and also watered down a set of green conditions that could hamper the bloc’s long-term climate efforts.
Under the theme "Dancing with elephants", the online EHFG 2020 will explore new partnerships for health, democracy, and business. Which health policy elephant will you invite to the dance floor? View the conference programme and register now Continue Reading >>
[Energy & Environment] Egypt on Tuesday (4 August) called for a suspension of meetings with Ethiopia on Addis Ababa's massive dam construction project on the Nile.
[Energy & Environment] Ukraine's state energy firm Naftogaz said it would not resume buying natural gas from Russia, suspended since late 2015, until Moscow offered it competitive prices and conditions.
[Energy & Environment] The European Commission has proposed to strengthen its 40% greenhouse gas emission reduction target to 50% or 55% on 1990 levels in the next ten years. But this step does not meet the minimum level of ambition that climate science,...
[Politics] As the EU institutions - and the EURACTIV newsroom - wind down for the summer break, take a look at some of the biggest, most popular and unusual stories published so far in 2020, as well as the catalogue of our best videos this year.
[Batteries] The European Investment Bank issued a €350 million loan on Thursday (30 July) to a Swedish company that hopes to corner a significant share of the global battery market by building the greenest power packs available.
[Renewable energies] Despite major disruptions to production and assembly in the first semester, installation of new wind farms over the first half of 2020 was comparable to previous years, industry figures show.
[Hydrogen] Europe’s hydrogen strategy mostly points in the right direction by identifying renewable hydrogen as a key energy vector and necessary storage solution for delivering a zero-carbon EU, but it side-steps several key problems that go to the core of what...
[Transport] Prime Minister Boris Johnson launched a £2 billion package on Monday (27 July) aimed at incentivising walking and cycling as the UK lockdown eases. EURACTIV's partner edie.net reports.
[Railways] Rail operators could make big savings by choosing electric battery power over hydrogen fuel cells when replacing diesel engines, a new study has suggested, although the ever-changing price of energy means the jury is still out on the best power source.
[Energy & Environment] US pipeline sanctions suggest a deliberate misreading of the European gas market and a paternalistic “America knows best” view of how Europeans should manage their energy commerce, writes Danila Bochkarev.
[Economy & Jobs] Russia’s economic development minister warned last week that the EU’s plans to deploy a carbon tax at the bloc’s borders will not be in line with World Trade Organisation (WTO) rules, just as Brussels doubled down on the idea of green tariffs.
[Energy & Environment] Fossil gas boilers may continue to be labelled ‘green’ for another decade or so if EU leaders fail to review energy labelling rules for heating appliances within a year. This would be very bad news for an overheating world, write...
[Energy & Environment] Too lazy to read 26 National Energy & Climate Plans? No problem! WindEurope has assessed them, focusing on three crucial dimensions for the expansion of wind energy: auction schedules, electrification and permitting. Amongst these, permitting remains the biggest bottleneck in...
[5G] EU nations must make urgent progress on mitigating the risks to 5G telecommunications networks posed by certain high-risk suppliers, the European Commission said in a progress report published on Friday (24 July).
[Innovation in agriculture] Over the past 30 years, the harvest of France's Languedoc wines has progressed by three weeks and the alcohol content of the wine has risen by four points. Faced with the already sensitive impact of climate change, the region's winegrowers are adapting their practices and grape varieties. EURACTIV France reports.
[Biomass] Despite the considerable challenge of the Covid-19 pandemic, the European Commission continues to push ahead on the implementation of its ambitious European Green Deal agenda. Its latest proposals include a new 2030 Biodiversity Strategy and, most recently, the ambitious Energy...
[Railways] The Swedish government announced on Thursday (23 July) night train routes that will link the cities of Stockholm and Malmö with Hamburg and Brussels, in the latest indication that sleeper services are on the cusp of a renaissance in Europe.
[Energy & Environment] After five long days and nights of negotiations, European leaders struck a deal on the seven-year EU budget and “Next Generation EU” recovery plans on Tuesday. What did this European Council tell us about the politics of green and resilient recovery in the EU? Jennifer Tollman, Johanna Lehne and Rebekka Popp explain.
[Arctic Agenda] A year after the US and Denmark butted heads over President Donald Trump's offer to buy Greenland, his secretary of state is visiting the Nordic country on Wednesday (22 July), with Arctic issues at the top of the agenda.
[Renewable energies] The Netherlands should phase out the use of biomass for generating electricity as soon as possible, the advisory board of the Dutch government said in a report presented earlier this month.
[Economy & Jobs] In order to make the post-pandemic recovery as sustainable as possible, long-term green investments will be in hot demand. Participants at a virtual conference called “Investing post-COVID: is a green recovery assured?” called for more opportunities and a viable framework.
[Green finance] The European Commission is looking into whether nuclear energy can be classed as a sustainable green investment. But the EU executive's decision to task its research centre with the assessment has already prompted criticism. EURACTIV Germany reports.
[Oil and Industry] The spectacular collapse in oil prices caused by the coronavirus pandemic has brought the costliest – and most polluting – oil projects such as tar sands to a standstill, a development some analysts say could be definitive.
[Hydrogen] A group of eleven European gas infrastructure companies from nine EU member states presented on Friday (17 July) a plan to create a dedicated hydrogen pipeline network of almost 23,000 km by 2040, to be used in parallel to the natural gas grid.
[European Green Deal] The European Union’s decisions on the economy and the environment have far-reaching impacts. By endorsing the European Green Deal, EU member states can drive positive change for their citizens and with partners worldwide, writes Inger Anderson.
[Batteries] BAE Systems, the defence company behind the British air force’s new fighter jet, has teased the prospect of electric-battery systems playing a substantial role in powering the RAF’s next-generation Tempest warplane, due to enter service in the 2030s.
[European Green Deal] The Norwegian government’s decision to fund the scale-up of carbon-capture-storage (CCS) technology with more than €2 billion got the green light from a state aid regulator on Friday (17 July). It is the largest tranche of funding ever approved by the European Free Trade Association (EFTA) body.
[Outer space] A joint European Space Agency (ESA) and NASA mission aimed at observing the Sun in unprecedented detail has started to beam back the first images of our nearest star this week. Scientists have already noticed features that have never been observed before.
[Batteries] German carmaker BMW signed a battery-supply contract worth €2 billion with Swedish manufacturer Northvolt this week, in the latest example of Europe’s big auto firms preparing to ramp up electric vehicle production.
[Energy & Environment] One fifth of beef and soybean exports from Brazil to the European Union is produced on land that was illegally deforested, according to a report published in Science magazine on Thursday (16 July).
[Economy & Jobs] In his presentation of the German EU presidency's priorities, Economy Minister Peter Altmaier (CDU) urged MEPs on Thursday (16 July) to be more realistic, particularly on renewable energy and relations with China. But he continues to believe that barring Huawei, as the UK recently did, is wrong. EURACTIV Germany reports.
[European Green Deal] The EU hydrogen strategy opens the a new era of the low carbon economy. Fertilizer producers are among the biggest producers and users of hydrogen in Europe and low carbon ammonia could be used as maritime shipping fuel and to store energy.
[Energy & Environment] Escalating pressure on Germany, US President Donald Trump's administration opened the way Wednesday for tough sanctions as the ally moves forward with the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline with Russia.
[Oil and Industry] A group of the world's top oil companies including Saudi Aramco, China's CNPC and ExxonMobil have for the first time set targets to cut their combined greenhouse gas emissions as a proportion of production, as pressure on the sector's climate stance grows.
[Energy & Environment] A cross-party group of lawmakers in the European Parliament – ranging from the far-left to the centre-right – have penned a joint letter calling for the EU’s proposed €750 billion recovery fund to be closely aligned with the bloc’s climate goals.
[Circular Manufacturing] The research promises behind the European Green Deal and the motivation behind the buzzword Green Recovery must be transformed into concrete sustainable changes, writes Markus Steilemann.
[Renewable energies] Maintaining base electricity production and the security of supply will be indispensable for enabling more renewables in the grid as Europe’s electricity demand continues to grow. This requires the pace of transition to be gradual to avoid stranding assets, which are operating today under existing legislation and market conditions.
[Green finance] France, Germany and Italy have collectively spent $44 billion on fossil fuels during the coronavirus crisis, compared to $29 billion for clean energy, according to fresh data released on Wednesday (15 July).
[Energy & Environment] Portuguese energy utility EDP has announced the closure of its Sines coal power plant, bringing forward the planned shutdown of coal-fired power plants in the country by two years, from 2023 to 2021.
[European Green Deal] Plans to reserve 30% of European Union spending for climate objectives will not be the hottest topic on the agenda when EU leaders meet on Friday (17 July). And that may be good news for the climate.
[Transport] Belgium, Luxembourg and the Netherlands mapped out on Tuesday (14 July) how the humble bicycle could become king of the road and urged the EU to prioritise two wheels in the post-virus recovery.
[Energy & Environment] The German Presidency should end the comedy of the modernisation of the Energy Charter Treaty and work on a decision to withdraw en masse from the treaty without further delay, argues Yamina Saheb.
[Energy & Environment] Germany is taking over the EU Council Presidency at a time when Europe is facing a key challenge for the future. The coming months will be decisive in many ways. Germany has a great opportunity to assume a positive leadership role. And, like any great opportunity, this entails considerable responsibility.
[Energy & Environment] A European Commission proposal for the European Union’s long-term budget and recovery fund risks leaving a huge shortfall in the “green” investment needed to meet Europe’s climate goals, researchers said on Tuesday (14 July).
[European Green Deal] There’s no better way to express our commitment to the future of Europe than to invest in research and innovation, as it will help Europe develop the next generation of clean technologies and speed up its economic recovery. This is something EU leaders should keep in mind when they meet on Friday, writes Pascal Lamy.
[Biomass] Leading industry figures acknowledge that not all biomass brings benefits to the climate, insisting that only low-value wood and forest residues should make the cut under EU law.
[Circular economy] Participants at a virtual conference called “Re-starting the EU economy - How can industry contribute to a resilient and sustainable industry?" agreed on one point: the key is to keep the market open, but with new inputs.
[Transport] United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres has called on governments to make sure coronavirus bailouts, especially those in the transport sector, are compatible with the goals of the Paris Agreement on climate change.
[Hydrogen] This week, the European Commission presented its hydrogen strategy. It sets out how to make clean hydrogen a viable solution for a climate-neutral economy and build a dynamic hydrogen value chain in Europe in the next five years, writes Kadri Simson.
[Energy transition] The energy network of the future will be equipped with a wide variety of storage methods, although constructing storage facilities, in itself, comes with many obstacles. The lack of a uniform concept on the matter is something which some MEPs want to change. EURACTIV Germany reports.
[Energy & Environment] The EU must take an aggressive “stick and carrot” approach to trade deals in order to put an end to deforestation and avert a next pandemic, writes Fazlun Khalid.
[Railways] Air France's pledge to end some of its domestic flights in return for billions of euros in government aid is a weak contribution to climate action, as weak railway infrastructure stands in the way of a plane-to-train shift. EURACTIV France reports.
[Energy & Environment] The European Commission on Wednesday (8 July) unveiled its “energy system integration strategy” which aims to link different energy carriers, infrastructure and consumption sectors together in order to boost renewables and reduce carbon emissions.
[Energy & Environment] European Central Bank chief Christine Lagarde on Wednesday (8 July) said she would consider "every avenue available" to tackle climate change, signalling that the bank could use its massive stimulus scheme to target green bonds.
[Aerospace] European aerospace giant Airbus sees hydrogen power as “one of the most promising technologies available” to decarbonise air travel and is looking to utilise it as part of plans to roll out a zero-emission aircraft by 2035.
[Hydrogen] The European Commission unveiled plans on Wednesday (8 July) to promote hydrogen based entirely on renewable electricity like wind and solar, but said low-carbon hydrogen derived from fossil fuels will also be supported in order to scale up production in the short term.
[Energy transition] Volkswagen is set to remove production lines for all internal combustion engine vehicles from one of its key factories this year, replacing them with electric vehicle production capacity. EURACTIV's media partner, edie.net, reports.
[Energy transition] In spite of the economic crisis posed by the coronavirus pandemic, the EU, China and Canada sent “a clear political signal” on Tuesday (7 July) that they are still committed to the Paris Agreement on climate change.
[Energy & Environment] The Renovation Wave sets high expectations. Considering buildings’ energy consumption, this initiative provides the perfect framework to address the upscaling of renewables in buildings, with a specific focus on heating and cooling. Bioenergy represents the main source of renewable heat and must be scaled up in order to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050.