Europe Energy back issues from Wednesday, July 11:
EU ENERGY AGENDA.
Jul 11, 2007 ... 3-6 September 2007 International Bioenergy Conference Subject: This Conference analyses the future of the bioenergy, biopower and bio-based modern technologies and products, including logistic systems, management, total procurement chains, the effects of the energy ...
CLIMATE CHANGE : ADAPTING TO CLIMATE CHANGE IS A NECESSITY, SAYS COMMISSION.
Jul 11, 2007 ... Adapting to climate change does not stop us from fighting climate change' is the principle underlying the Green Paper on Adapting to Climate Change in Europe, adopted by the European Commission on 29 June . It opens a public consultation period that will be officially launched on 3 July ...
DECENTRALISED GENERATION : ADVOCATES OF DECENTRALISED GENERATION LOSING PATIENCE.
Jul 11, 2007 ... A joint letter by nine renewable energy associations urges the European Commission and the European Regulators Group for Electricity and Gas (ERGEG) to remove existing barriers to decentralised generation. The nine associations criticise current regulations creating often "insurmountable" ...
ENERGY INFRINGEMENTS : A FLURRY OF ENERGY INFRINGEMENTS.
Jul 11, 2007 ... Ahead of the liberalisation of the gas and electricity markets on 1 July, the energy sector saw a flurry of actions over infringement of EU legislation. The European Commission sent, on 27 June, reasoned opinions for failing to implement the Directive on security of gas supply to Ireland ...
CAUTION ON BIOFUELS.
Jul 11, 2007 ... On the sidelines of the International Conference on Biofuels on 5-6 July, with Brazilian President Luiz Inacio da Silva in Brussels,MEP Friedrich-Wilhelm Graefe zu Baringdorf (Greens-EFA, Germany) criticised financial commitments to projects in Brazil as threatening the Amazon and ...
INTERVIEW WITH EUROPEAN CHEMICAL INDUSTRY COUNCIL (CEFIC) : CHEMICAL SECTOR BEMOANS ENERGY PRICES.(Interview)(Industry overview)
Jul 11, 2007 ... The chemical industry claims to be the most energy-intensive industrial sector, accounting for 12% of the European energy demand. The European Chemical Industry Council (CEFIC) talks of energy costs representing some 9%, on average, of the industry's cost structure. In the chlor-alkali ...
AIR QUALITY : CO2 EMISSIONS LEVELS FOR CARS AGREED.
Jul 11, 2007 ... A plan to reduce car emissions to 120gr CO2/km has won the support of EU environment ministers, but will not be introduced until at least 2012. The ministers, who met in Luxembourg on June 28, are still struggling with their colleagues on Competitiveness and Council Transport councils to ...
BIOFUELS : COMMISSION CONFERENCE PUSHES BIOFUELS, BUT CRITICS NOT CONVINCED.
Jul 11, 2007 ... The European Commission hosted a high-level conference on biofuels trade on 5-6 July. Aside from keynote speeches by Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso, Commissioners Benita Ferrero-Waldner and Andris Piebalgs, as well as three other commissioners, the conference also brought ...
ENERGY CONSUMERS' CHARTER : COMMISSION LATE WITH NON-BINDING ENERGY CONSUMERS' CHARTER.
Jul 11, 2007 ... The European Commission published its long-awaited and delayed draft Charter on the Rights of Energy Consumers. Originally planned as part of a media campaign together with the opening of the gas and electricity markets to all customers on 1 July, the charter was delayed due to legal ...
BIOFUELS : CONFERENCE PROMOTES SUSTAINABILITY AND OPEN MARKET.(Conference news)
Jul 11, 2007 ... Are biofuels the universal panacea against global warming and to ensuring the security of energy supply? These two questions were at the core of debates held at the first international conference on biofuels organised in Brussels by the European Commission on 5 and 6 July. "Neither one nor ...
CLIMATE CHANGE : COUNCIL WANTS GREATER HARMONISATION OF ETS RULES.
Jul 11, 2007 ... EU environment ministers meeting in Luxemburg on June 28 sought to further harmonise the EU Greenhouse Gas Emission Trading Scheme (ETS), particularly with regards to quota allocation and the rules that apply to new installations. In its conclusions the Council recalls the targets set by ...
ENERGY UNBUNDLING IS NECESSARY.
Jul 11, 2007 ... The separation of European energy producers from crucial distribution networks is totally necessary', the head of the International Energy Agency (IEA) said on 2 July. "Efficient unbundling is totally necessary," Claude Mandil told a news conference in Madrid. Mandil considers ...
ENERGY STAR PROGRAMME : EP TOUGHENS ENERGY STAR PROGRAMME.
Jul 11, 2007 ... The European Parliament adopted, on 10 July, a revamped version of the Community Regulation governing the Energy Star programme. This calls on member states to integrate energy efficiency criteria required for the Energy Star label into their public procurement procedures for office ...
ECO-INDUSTRIES : EU MUST DO MORE TO HELP NEW ECO-INDUSTRIES, SAYS COMMISSION.
Jul 11, 2007 ... New initiatives are to be launched at EU level in order to promote the development of environmental industries, it was announced on 4 July, as part of a mid-term review of the European Commission's industrial policy. The review highlights the fact that regulatory and other ...
EU-RUSSIA SUMMIT ON 26 OCTOBER.
Jul 11, 2007 ... The next EU-Russia Summit will take place on 26 October in Mafra, Portugal, the European Commission's Delegation to Russia announced on 3 July. The twice-yearly summits are hosted alternately by Russia (in the first ...
ENERGY EFFICIENCY : FINLAND FIRST TO SUBMIT ENERGY EFFICIENCY ACTION PLAN.
Jul 11, 2007 ... With just days to go before a deadline of 1 July 2007, Finland became the first member state to submit its national energy efficiency action plan (NEEAP). The Directive on energy end-use efficiency and energy services (2006/32) of 5 April 2006 requires member states to "aim" for an overall ...
EU/CENTRAL ASIA : GERMANY URGES CENTRAL ASIA TO STEP UP ENERGY DIALOGUE WITH EU.
Jul 11, 2007 ... At the end of Germany's EU presidency of the EU, Germany's Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier urged leaders of the five central Asian countries of Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Turkmenistan to step up their energy dialogue with the Union and to pool efforts to ...
HANS GRUNFELD/IFIEC.
Jul 11, 2007 ... Hans Grunfeld was elected the new president of the International Federation of Industrial Energy Consumers (IFIEC). Previously, he was chief executive of IFIEC's member associationa(VEMW) in the Netherlands. Grunfeld, who takes over from Peter Claes, has been calling for fairer ...
COMPETITION POLICY/UNBUNDLING : KROES WARNS OF MORE INFRINGEMENT CASES.
Jul 11, 2007 ... Speaking at the General Assembly of the International Federation of Industrial Energy Consumers (IFIEC), Competition Commissioner Neelie Kroes reaffirmed her commitment to tackling abuse of market power. Kroes also called on energy users to speak up for ownership unbundling. The ...
RENEWABLES : MEPS PREPARE TO VOTE ON RENEWABLES REPORT.
Jul 11, 2007 ... After a delay due to problems translating over 250 amendments, the European Parliament's Energy Committee (ITRE) was set to vote, on 9 July, on a report by Britta Thomsen (PES, Denmark) on A road map for renewable energy in Europe'. Thomsen notably calls for a sectoral approach to ...
ENERGY EFFICIENCY : NATIONAL ENERGY EFFICIENCY ACTION PLANS SLOW IN COMING.
Jul 11, 2007 ... At the end of June, Energy Commissioner Andris Piebalgs praised Finland for being the only member state to respect the 1 July 2007 deadline for handing in its National Energy Efficiency Action Plan (NEEAP). Despite obvious disappointment at the lack of response from others, Piebalgs talked ...
ENERGY LIBERALISATION : NO JOY AT OPENING OF GAS AND ELECTRICITY MARKETS.
Jul 11, 2007 ... As of 1 July 2007, all customers are entitled to choose their electricity supplier as provided for by the 2003 Electricity Directive. Until now, 13 member states had opened their electricity and/or gas markets. The countries opening their markets are Bulgaria, France, Hungary, Lithuania, ...
ENERGY INFRINGEMENTS : PORTUGAL ORDERED TO GIVE UP ENERGY GOLDEN SHARES.
Jul 11, 2007 ... On 27 June, the European Commission sent a formal request to Portugal requiring it to abolish the special rights it holds in two energy companies, EDP (Energias de Portugal) and GALP Energia. This is the second stage in enforcement action, as Portugal has declined to let go of the special ...
COMPETITION : SALE OF SPANISH ENDESA FINALLY SETTLED.
Jul 11, 2007 ... The 43.7 billion takeover of Spain's largest electricity firm Endesa by a collaboration of Spanish rival Acciona and Italy's Enel got the European Commission's go-ahead on 5 July. Endesa has been hard fought over in recent months, with Germany's E.ON and Gas Natural also vying for the ...
ENERGY COMMUNITY : SERBIA TAKES OVER ENERGY COMMUNITY PRESIDENCY.
Jul 11, 2007 ... As of 1 July, Serbia holds the Presidency of the Energy Community with the next Ministerial Council due to take place in Belgrade in November 2007. At a Ministerial Council meeting, co-chaired by EU Energy Commissioner Andris Piebalgs and Montenegrin Economic Development Minister Branimir ...
AIR TRANSPORT/ETS : UNITED STATES MORE THAN EVER OPPOSED TO AVIATION IN THE ETS.
Jul 11, 2007 ... The EU and the United States continue to have diametrically opposed opinions on the inclusion of the aviation sector in the European Emission Trading Scheme (ETS). At a hearing organised by the European Parliament's Transport Committee on 27 June in Brussels, Andrew Steinberg, assistant ...
EU/US/CENTRAL ASIA : WASHINGTON URGES EU TO USE CENTRAL ASIA AS ENERGY SUPPLIER.
Jul 11, 2007 ... The EU should look to Central Asia and the Caucasus, notably Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Azerbaijan as a solution to its problem of over-reliance on Russian gas, US diplomats and politicians have said. Universal support for the forging of a common EU energy policy was voiced ...
WLADYSLAW MIELCZARSKI/EC.
Jul 11, 2007 ... In a move to speed up construction of a power bridge network between Poland, Lithuania and Germany, the European Community appointed Wladyslaw Mielczarski, professor at Lodz University of Technology, as the coordinator of the project. His candidacy is expected to be approved soon by the ...
ENERGY SUBSIDIES : WWF DENOUNCES "DRAMATIC" IMPACT OF SUBSIDIES.
Jul 11, 2007 ... With the European Commission set to adopt, on 24 July, a new regulation on de minimis aid for fisheries, the Worldwide Fund for Nature (WWF) denounces the "dramatic" impact of fuel subsidies on fishing activity in a study published on 5 July. In the report entitled Fuelling the ...