28 June, 2007
Our climate change/energy security predicament will need a global solution. There is no country in the world (not even the US) which will be able to win the climate/energy war on its own. But do we have the global governance structures in place that reflect this global interconnectedness? How do we achieve the “one planet… » read more
Posted by Willy De Backer
From the Oil Drum: “On Tuesday 26th June 2007, Tony Blair’s last full day as Prime Minister, the All Party Parliamentary Group on Peak Oil and Gas (APPGOPO) held its inaugural Annual General Meeting, ensuring that the issue of declining global oil supplies will feature much more prominently in Parliament in the Gordon Brown era.… » read more
Posted by Willy De Backer
German government plans for a 40% reduction of greenhouse gas emissions and a 3% yearly improvement of energy efficiency will lead to the “de-industrialisation” of the country, warns the German Federation of Industries BDI. The warning came a few days before Chancellor Merkel’s third energy summit between government and industry representatives. The summit is supposed… » read more
Posted by Willy De Backer
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Business and climate change, Climate change, Energy efficiency, Global Warming |
26 June, 2007
Are the BRIC countries overtaking the US in terms of controlling energy companies? Yes according to an upcoming report to be pubished next week by Goldman Sachs. Read the AP article but look also at some good counterpoints made on the No 1203 blog. The Guardian has a good article warning that EU countries are… » read more
Posted by Willy De Backer
Shell’s CEO Jeroen van de Veer has a remarkable editorial in The Times today, pointing to three “hard truths” about the future of energy. First of all, “global demand for energy is growing, but the reality of how fast hasn’t really sunk in”. Secondly, “the growth rate of supplies of “easy oil”, conventional oil and… » read more
Posted by Willy De Backer
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Climate change, energy security, Global Warming, Peak oil, Population growth, renewable energy, resource depletion |
25 June, 2007
Next Tuesday 26 June, I will be moderating an interesting session of this year’s Energy Europe Policy Summit organised by Friends of Europe in Brussels. The Conference consists of three different debates and focuses on the role of consumers and how to change their behaviour to tackle climate change. My own session will look at… » read more
Posted by Willy De Backer
23 June, 2007
The US Senate approved on 22 June new energy legislation that will increase fuel-efficiency standards for new cars. The new standards require cars, light trucks and SUVs to reach 35 mpg (miles per gallon) or about 6.7 l/100km by 2020. Currently the average fuel economy of cars in the US is 25 mpg. A proposal… » read more
Posted by Willy De Backer
22 June, 2007
China’s reaction to the news that is has become the world’s biggest greenhouse gas emitter underlines that in a globalised world without borders it is a an absurdity to blame individual countries for their share of emissions. According to Associated Press, the Chinese government criticised developed countries for being “hypocritical” when they criticise China’s greenhouse… » read more
Posted by Willy De Backer
The 4th ministerial-level meeting of the EU-OPEC energy dialogue took place on 21 June in Vienna. The European Commission issued a press release on the outcome of the meeting. The EU delegation tried to ease OPEC’s fears of the bloc’s biofuels policy. In March 2007, the EU Council set the member states a 10% minimum… » read more
Posted by Willy De Backer
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energy security, European Union, OPEC, Peak oil, resource depletion |
21 June, 2007
A new report by the National Academy of Sciences in the US has raised serious questions marks about America’s coal reserves, according to an article in the International Herald Tribune today. The report recommends the federal government to undertake a serious study to “determine the size and characteristics of the nation’s recoverable coal, with the… » read more
Posted by Willy De Backer
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coal, energy security, resource depletion, sustainable development |
