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Europe is Leading the Fight Against Climate Change

November 27, 2013 Add Comment Edit

Despite its ongoing economic woes and high unemployment, Europe has shown that it is serious about tackling climate change. They have demonstrated leadership on the level of individual nation states and in terms the EU as a whole.

According to the Climate Change Performance Index, the top ten climate change fighting nations are European and eight of those ten countries are part of the European Union. The rankings are based on countries greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, emissions-reduction efforts, energy efficiency, renewable energy portfolios, and policies aimed at slowing climate change.

Europe is putting their money where their mouth is. The European Parliament has adopted a seven-year budget that includes an unprecedented $243 billion for climate projects which will be invested both in Europe and go towards aid for developing countries.

The European Union also has a comprehensive energy and climate plan. The plan has three primary objectives:

1. to slash its greenhouses gases emissions by 20 percent from 1990 to 2020
2. to increase its energy efficiency by 20 percent
3. to increase its share of renewable energy sources to 20 percent of the mix by 2020.

The European Environment Agency, indicates that the European Union is already close to its 2020 climate objectives as it has decreased its emissions by no less than 18 percent between 1990 and 2012. European emissions have fallen by almost one percent in 2012 alone. Over the first commitment period of the Kyoto Protocol (2008 to 2012) the first 15 EU members saw their emissions decrease by 12.2 percent, compared to a Kyoto objective of 8 percent.

Europe is also heavily invested in renewable sources of energy which as of 2011 already accounted for 13 percent of their energy mix.

© 2013, Richard Matthews. All rights reserved.

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Investment in Fossil Fuel & Renewables in South East Europe

July 09, 2013 Add Comment Edit

The European Investment Bank (EIB), and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), invest more in fossil fuels than they do in renewable energy.

According to EIB officials, between 2007 and 2011 their bank invested €15 billion in fossil fuel projects compared to €14.8 billion in renewables.

According to the new South East Europe Change Network (SEECN) report, (which covers Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Kosovo, Macedonia, Montenegro and Serbia), between 2006 and 2012, 32 times more of the €1.68 billion invested by development banks in the Western Balkans’ energy infrastructure went to fossil fuels than to non-hydropower-based renewables.

The SEECN report found that fossil fuels accounted for 36 percent of all bank loans in the region and almost half of the lending from the biggest regional lender, the EBRD. Half of the EBRD’s annual €6.7 billion of energy lending goes to fossil fuels.

The report found that only 17 percent of bank lending to the Western Balkans currently goes to energy efficiency projects.

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Wind Farm Construction & Operations Procurement Seminar (Event)

October 28, 2012 Add Comment Edit

The Wind Farm Construction and Operations Procurement Seminar will take place on November 29, 2012, at Wolverton House, in London, UK. Attendees will gain an in-depth understanding of the procurement and contracting process for wind farm projects.

Getting the procurement and contracting process right first time is all important; making a mistake can be very costly in terms of time and money. This seminar is designed to develop your knowledge of construction procurement and operational procurement and the day is split into focusing on these two distinct areas.

In the first section you will gain the knowledge required to support the construction procurement process, including the advantages and disadvantages of the different structures and forms of construction contract, the purpose of common contractual clauses and typical associated benchmarks, and the importance of developing a comprehensive and appropriate Employer’s Requirements.

The second section, in the afternoon, focuses on the intricacies of the operational procurement process, including the advantages and disadvantages of the different structures and forms of operations contract and current contracting trends, the typical scopes of service works and acceptable exclusions and the purpose of common contractual clauses and typical associated benchmarks.

All attendees will receive notes, and each section is integrated with interactive group discussion and series of case studies to illustrate the value of getting the contracting process right for the construction and operational phases.

Who should attend:

From Developers/Owners/Operators/Utilities/ISP

Project Manager/Coordinator
Project Developer
Project Executive Development Manager/Coordinator
Development Executive
Investment Manager
Finance Manager
Senior/Principal Engineer
Buyer Sales/Business
Development Manager

FP7 Public Private Partnerships (Event)

June 24, 2012 Add Comment Edit

Information Day on FP7 Public Private Partnerships Information Day on 2013 Calls for Energy Efficient Buildings, Factories of the Future and Green Cars PPPs will be held on 9-10 July 2012 in Brussels. The agenda includes roundtable discussions on future outlook of these three PPPs under the EU’s next research and innovation programme. More than 800 participants coming from the EU and beyond are expected. Commission representatives and industrial partners will present the PPPs progress and success stories, and discuss about future opportunities and challenges. For more information or to register click here.

European Elections and Sustainable Development

May 10, 2012 Add Comment Edit

In Europe voters have chosen growth over austerity and this has implications for the U.S. economy and sustainable development. The Greek and French electorate’s rejection of austerity will have a dramatic effect on European spending, including investments in sustainability. These changes can also be expected to reverberate across the Atlantic.

In France, Francois Hollande’s presidential victory has derailed Nicholas Sarkozy’s austerity policies and in Greece, the parties supporting the international rescue package have lost control of parliament. In both countries, voters decisively said no to austerity and yes to growth.

France and Greece Choose Growth over Austerity

Both France and Greece appear to be doing a 180 on austerity. Hollande has been critical of the austerity policies central to European bailout deals. He promises to ease austerity measures and increase taxation on the wealthy. Hollande has pledged to renegotiate the European fiscal pact that was signed in December 2011 and he wants to issue common European bonds to finance growth through investment in sectors like renewable energy.

Investment in renewable energy is only one of several commitments that have pleased France’s Green Party (which received 2 percent of the French vote). During the campaign, Hollande promised to diversify France’s energy, including promises to cut the country’s nuclear dependence in half by 2025. He also vowed to increase renewable energy and respect France’s international engagements to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. This will help France reach and perhaps even surpass its EU-backed sustainability goals of 20 percent by 2020. Greenpeace France notes that the newly elected President of France has called for the EU to increase its GHG emissions target to 30 percent by 2020.

Prior to the election, France’s right leaning Sarkozy government was criticized for doing little for the environment. In an October, 2011 article published in the French daily Le Monde, MPs from the “ecological” wing of the Socialist party derided the center-right’s environmental record. They chided the “environmental passivity of the right” saying that after 10 years of leadership, “France invests nine times less than Germany and five times less than China in clean energy.” They further drew attention to the fact that there are no French businesses among the top 10 producers of wind turbines or photovoltaic panels. They also pointed out that in terms of wind production per inhabitant, France was in thirteenth place in Europe and the country had no offshore wind developments.

The fate of Greece is much less certain. The results of Greek parliamentary elections are inconclusive, fueling fear that Greece will become the first developed nation to default on its debt.

If a coalition government cannot be formed, Greece will go back to the voters some time in June, but this will be too late for the bailout package being offered by the EU. If Greek political leaders cannot form a government, the country will default on its debt and cease to be part of the EU. This will have a calamitous impact on the economy of the entire continent and the wider world. Whatever the future holds, it is now clear that Greeks have refused austerity.

Rio+20

All of this intrigue takes place just ahead of the Rio+20 conference, which will take place on June 20 – 22, 2012. This is the fourth major summit on sustainable development since 1972. The summit brings together at least 100 global leaders and 50,000 participants from around the world, including corporate executives and representatives of various social movements. Participants will focus on growth, and address specific concerns as they relate to oceans, food, energy, biodiversity and climate. The summit aims to find ways to support sustainable development.

U.N. Secretary General Bank Ki Moon wants to bring sustainable energy to even the most remote corners of the planet and 3,000 scientists will present a new science for Planet Earth at Rio 20 known as the State of the Planet Declaration.
However, some of Europe’s key players will not be attending the Rio Conference. German Chancellor Angela Merkel will not attend nor will British Prime Minister David Cameron. Despite rearranging the summit’s dates so they would not coincide with Queen Elizabeth II’s Diamond Jubilee celebrations, Cameron announced he will not be attending Rio. US President Barack Obama is also likely to stay on the campaign trail rather than go to Rio.

Whatever happens in Rio, the elections in Europe have changed the political map and this has implications for the forthcoming American election.

Sustainable Development in America

Austerity in Europe was not good for the growth of sustainability or the American economy and social unrest born of economic hardship compounded the problem. The end of austerity is good news for advocates of sustainable development and those who want to see more growth in the American economy.

In Europe, government investment to stimulate growth will benefit the American economy. It may also make it easier for the Obama administration to increase its commitment to sustainable development. As should be obvious to all with even a passing interest in American politics, when it comes to sustainable development, the Democrats are the only game in town.

Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney has an economic strategy that has austerity at its heart. Events in Europe may encourage Americans to question the Republican vision for America. According to the European narrative, spending cuts further slow the economy and actually increase debt. This puts Republicans squarely at odds with the new economics sweeping across Europe.
As stated by Richard Eskow, a senior fellow at the liberal Campaign for America’s Future, this should bode well for the Democrats:

“This should be the Democrats’ moment, a time to make political gains in the most honorable way possible: by fighting for what’s right. Today’s radical Republicans want to destroy government and slash the very spending that’s needed to rescue the economy. The GOP is even rejecting the common sense spending on roads and bridges embraced by past Republicans from Dwight D. Eisenhower to George W. Bush. As austerity measures eviscerate Europe’s economy and undermine the political popularity of its leadership, this should be the Democrats’ finest hour. Unfortunately, too many Democratic leaders have preferred to echo the austerity rhetoric of their Republican opponents — and of Europe’s embattled leaders. The president’s last debt deal with John Boehner was a milder version of European austerity, and it slowed our country’s tentative growth. And yet he’s reportedly pushing for another “Grand Bargain,” leaving him with a muddled economic message, and Americans in a prolonged state of fear.”

There is reason to believe that Americans may support government spending at least until there is stronger growth and more jobs. Americans may very well follow the French and the Greeks who have chosen to abandon austerity in favor of growth.
The near term fate of sustainable development hinges on governments adopting a policy of growth rather than a policy focused on austerity.

Source: Global Warming is Real

The EU Debt Crisis did Not Curb the Growth of Renewables in 2011

February 13, 2012 1 Comment Edit

A Think Progress article by Stephen Lacey, asked whether the European sovereign debt crisis derailed renewable energy in 2011. Even though financial difficulties have caused a few countries to reduce their support, Lacey concludes that "2011 was still a huge year for deployment — with wind and solar alone representing almost 70% of new capacity."

According to a report from the European Wind Energy Association, Renewable energy has increased more than ten times in the last eleven years. In 2000 there was only 3.5 GW of installed renewable energy in Europe, in 2011 that number had grown to 32 GW (mostly wind and solar).

The growth of renewable energy in Europe has already outpaced forecasts in many countries. The EU currently has a target of 20 percent of its final energy (heat, electricity and fuels) from renewable energy. Numerous countries have already surpassed their targets in the electricity and heating sectors, and it’s likely that the entire region will move past the goal well ahead of schedule.

It’s expected that renewable electricity sources will meet 34 percent of demand in Europe by 2020, with 25 of 27 countries to surpass their targets beforehand.

In 2011, solar PV accounted for 26.7% of capacity additions, wind power accounted for 21.4% of additions, and natural gas made up 22% of installations. Below that was coal at 4.8%, fuel oil at 1.6%, large hydro at 1.3%, and concentrating solar power at 1.1% of capacity.

© 2012, Richard Matthews. All rights reserved.

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EWEA's Offshore Wind Statistics for 2011

February 06, 2012 Add Comment Edit

On January 31, 2012 the European Wind Energy Association (EWEA) published its annual offshore wind statistics for 2011. According to these 2011 statistics there were 235 new turbines with a power capacity of 866 Megawatts (MW) on nine offshore wind farms. These new fully grid connected wind installations are worth approximately 2.4 billion Euros.

With the exception of a minor decline in 2011, there has been a consistent year over year increase in installed wind capacity in Europe. Annual installed new offshore wind turbine capacity (fully grid connected) were 327 MW in 2008, 584 MW in 2009, 883 MW in 2010 and 866 MW in 2011.

Describing the 2011 results as "stable," Justin Wilkes, the Policy Director of EWEA, said “Despite the economy-wide financial squeeze, 2011 saw a 40 per cent increase on the previous year in offshore non-recourse debt financing , up from 1.46 billion Euros in 2010 to 2.05 billion Euros in 2011.”

Nine offshore wind farms currently under construction will bring online an additional 2375 MW – increasing the EU’s total installed offshore wind power capacity by 62%.

Across the EU, a total of 1371 offshore turbines have now been grid connected, with a total power capacity of 3813 Megawatts in 53 wind farms in 10 European countries.

EWEA’s target for installed EU offshore wind power capacity by 2020 is 40,000 MW, producing approximately 4% of the EU’s total electricity consumption.

The majority (87%) of all newly installed and grid connected offshore wind power in 2011 was in British waters. Siemens supplied 80% of the MW installed offshore last year while SSE and RWE Innogy were the most active developers and DONG Energy continued to be the most active equity player in offshore wind power.

© 2012, Richard Matthews. All rights reserved.

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Competing National Priorities

June 26, 2010 Add Comment Edit

The members of the G8, G20 and other nations all have their own interests, the way these competing interests come together will ultimately determine the strategic direction of the global economy. Here is a simplified summary of the national priorities of eight key players:

Canada: Sustainable global growth, avoiding a bank tax, and the stabilization of government debt particularly in Europe.

The United States: Slow the global removal of fiscal stimulus to protect the recovery.

The European Union: Financial reform regulation, (bank tax and IMF reforms), fiscal sustainability and growth.

China: Ward off protectionism.

Japan: Avoid a bank tax, and free trade.

Russia: Medium-term European fiscal sustainability and preserving the recovery.

Brazil: More rights within the IMF.

India: Greater representation in the IMF and opposition to a bank tax.

Competing national interests will make it difficult to find agreement. The need for economic stewardship demands that our leaders look beyond local and regional interests to forge the basis of a consensus.
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