Carbon emissions have been falling, but perhaps not for the most sustainable reasons. The graphs below show volumes of carbon emissions produced by the European industrial sector. Read more
Bruegel blog
-
European Emission trading - A blueprint for a countercyclical policy without teeth
11th April 2013
-
Electricity Infrastructure – more border crossings or a borderless Europe?
27th February 2013
Enabling the seamless trade in electricity across borders would help to deliver on all three European energy policy targets – security, sustainability and competitiveness. Security would be increased because local supply shortages can be addressed by importing electricity from elsewhere. A larger-than-national market would mean that competition between national energy companies should lead to increases in efficiency and reductions in prices. Finally, in a European market, intermittent supply of energy from local renewable sources can be reliably averaged across wide geographic areas, reducing the need (and thus costs) of back-up capacity and system-stabilising services. Read more
-
Franco-German energy cooperation – from a joint declaration to measurable results
7th February 2013
At the celebrations of the 50th anniversary of the Elysée treaty the Franco-German Council of ministers issued a joint declaration on guidelines for future cooperation [link]. The document called, in the expectable diplomatic language, for a closer Franco-German cooperation in the energy sector. Read more
-
Decarbonisation is no 100 metre race
16th November 2012
In November 2012, the European Climate Commissioner made a proposal to stabilise the European Union’s emission trading system – a market for greenhouse gas emission allowances that has been in place since 2005. Under the proposal, allowances worth six month of EU emissions (900 mn tonnes) would be temporarily taken out of the trading system, and sold in 2019 and 2020 rather than 2013-2015. Read more
-
Internal energy market: The pieces of the puzzle do not fit
15th November 2012
The internal energy market is the cornerstone of European energy policy. Most consumers like it because it increases competition and eventually reduces their energy bills. Suppliers are partly released from their dependence on the whims of national politicians. Climate activists like it because it allows the renewable resources of an entire continent to be used. And energy security enthusiasts appreciate that internal rebalancing within the single market allows individual foreign supplies to be replaced if needed. The European Commission's energy market communication (to be) published on November 15 indicates that there are major obstacles blocking the implementation of the internal energy market by the political target date, 2014. The communication points frankly to numerous core issues: due to national renewable… Read more
-
Eine schwierige Beziehung
25th September 2012
Bruegel-Forscher Georg Zachmann zu politischen und ökonomischen Hintergründe des Streits zwischen EU und Gazprom Die europäisch-russischen Beziehungen im Energiesektor haben mit der Eröffnung eines formellen EU-Wettbewerbsverfahrens gegen den russischen Gasversorger Gazprom im September 2012 eine neue Wendung erfahren. Die Reaktionen auf diese Entscheidung, die mit Gazproms Preispolitik in Europa begründet wurde, sind ein Beispiel für die zwiespältige Natur von Energiebeziehungen. Während die Generaldirektion Wettbewerb der EU-Kommission betont, dass das Verfahren rein ökonomische Gründe habe, unterstellt Präsident Putin politische Motive. In Wahrheit liegt keiner der beiden Protagonisten falsch. Der Handel von Gas zwischen Russland und Europa hat immer eine politische Dimension. Da Erdgas relativ günstig im Osten produziert und relativ teuer im Westen verkauft werden kann, ist die entscheidende Frage, wie… Read more
-
Market coupling does not lower prices!
25th September 2012
Market coupling is one of the key-policies for achieving the EU single electricity market. The EU Commission praises the price-lowering effects of market integration in the first draft of the Internal Market Communication of August 30th: “wholesale electricity prices in the EU have risen much less thanks to competition facilitated by increasing cross-border trading and market integration”. And common sense would indeed suggest that in competitive markets the average price of two market zones will be equal or lower when they are coupled than when they are separate. In fact, coupling should lead to lower average prices for typical electricity markets (increasing marginal cost on the supply side and price-inelastic demand). The intuitive reason is that the most expensive MWh… Read more
-
Investment and growth in the time of climate change
27th June 2012
Climate policy, like all polices, is about making choices. Taking an economic perspective, the report addresses two major choices of European decarbonisation policies. At the highest level, a decision has to be made whether climate change is best dealt with by reducing carbon emissions into the atmosphere (mitigation), or by investing into assets that allow people to better cope with the consequences of global warming (adaptation). Then, the individual policies to curb emissions and incentivize adaptation Read more
-
Cross-Mediterranean economic and political relationships must be rebalanced to include all of Europe
20th June 2012
In the wake of the Arab Spring the European Union (EU) is eager to foster closer relations with North Africa and the Middle East. Georg Zachmann,Mimi Tam and Lucia Granelli look at the EU’s current policy initiatives and assess which measures countries should undertake to help the economies of the Southern Mediterranean. Read more
-
War against climate change or a broad concept of security?
5th June 2012
Many of the arguments which could justify “green growth” might have been employed equally well in favor of one of the oldest and most sizable government policies: military expenditure. Theoretically, military expenditure has been linked to many productivity-improving civil innovations, such as civil aviation or the internet. Large scale military spending has been used to stabilize business cycles, replace cheap energy imports with expensive domestic energy sources (coal liquefaction), and to create a competitive edge in exporting military equipment. Even improved healthcare has been linked with military expenditure (Benoit 1978). Similarly to green growth policies, the aim of military expenditure has been to create an insurance against “disaster”. Looking only at green growth, Fay, Hallegatte, Heal, Tréguer argue against the common view… Read more