Ben McWilliams
Ben is working for Bruegel as an Affiliate fellow in the field of Energy and Climate Policy. His work involves data-driven analysis to critique and inform European public policy, specifically in the area of the energy sector and its decarbonisation. Recent work has focussed on the implications of the ongoing energy crisis and policy options for responding. Other topics of interest include tools for stimulating industrial decarbonisation and the implications for new economic geography from the advent of new energy systems, particularly from hydrogen.
He studied his MSc in Economic Policy at Utrecht University, completing a thesis investigating the economic effects of carbon taxation in British Colombia. Previously, he studied his BSc Economics at the University of Warwick, with one year spent studying at the University of Monash, Melbourne.
Ben is a dual British and Dutch citizen.
Featured work
European natural gas imports
This dataset aggregates daily data on European natural gas import flows and storage levels.
Transatlantic clean investment monitor
A comparison of clean-tech manufacturing and deployment trends in the US shows rapid advances but still under-used capacity
European clean tech tracker
This tracker provides an overview of the main innovation, manufacturing and deployment trends in clean tech in Europe
How to finance the European Union’s building decarbonisation plan
This policy brief discusses the challenges of meeting EPBD targets and introducing ETS2 smoothly
Graph examples
European natural gas demand tracker
What did the European Hydrogen Bank auction tell us about the future of clean hydrogen?
Lessons from the European Union’s inaugural Hydrogen Bank auction
The EU’s first subsidy auction for renewable hydrogen went about as well as could have been hoped
The Letta report: an assessment of the energy proposals
The report has the potential to substantially impact the European Union's strategic agenda from 2024-29
Beyond the numbers of EU national energy and climate plans
The authors conduct a simple relative frequency analysis for a series of words mentioned in the NECPs to identify interesting policy insights within
The European Union-Russia energy divorce: state of play
EU-Russia energy trade has fallen hugely since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, but the EU could still do more to reduce dependence
Four questions for Germany’s big hydrogen power plan
Germany’s hydrogen strategy will have ripples across Europe and should be discussed more widely
A smart solar strategy for Europe
Russian crude oil tracker
Smarter European Union industrial policy for solar panels
Accelerating solar deployment, stockpiling and diversifying imports would mitigate the threat to European economic security from solar PV imports
A smart solar strategy for Europe
Smart measures, not tariffs or blunt subsidies, should be deployed to strengthen Europe’s standing in solar power
Electricity pricing is Europe’s hidden industrial policy
Europe’s under-the-radar industrial policy: intervention in electricity pricing
Government efforts to artificially lower electricity prices for one group of consumers will raise prices for others, with cross-border implications.
The European Union is ready for the 2023-24 winter gas season
Demand cuts, alternative supply and the green energy rollout mean the EU likely has enough gas for winter, even if Russian supplies are cut completely
Renewable Hydrogen in Germany, Poland and Portugal
EU trade and investment following Russia's illegal invasion of Ukraine
How Ukrainian gas storage can contribute to Europe’s security of supply
To top up stored gas volumes for the coming winter, Europe can use spare capacity in Ukraine.
Sparking Europe’s new industrial revolution: A policy for net zero, growth and resilience
This book assesses what must be done to implement industrial policy in a way that will achieve overarching goals while minimising distortions.
The EU can manage without Russian liquified natural gas
How can the European Union achieve its target of eliminating all Russian fossil-fuel imports by 2027?
How much will the EU pay Russia for fossil fuels over the next 12 months?
With sanctions incomplete, the European Union could pay Russia about €30 billion for fossil fuels in the next year.
Europe is out of the immediate energy crisis
The challenge now for policymakers and industry alike is to smoothly facilitate a transition toward structurally lower gas consumption.
Europe’s half a million barrels per day diesel supply question
A new European Union embargo on Russian oil products should not affect EU diesel supplies and prices, but could encourage re-routing by Russia.
Preparing for the next winter: Europe’s gas outlook for 2023
We explore in detail the two pillars of energy security: LNG supply and the nature and volume of natural-gas demand reductions.
How would the European Union fare without Russian energy?
This contribution explores how Europe can manage without the imports of Russian coal, crude oil, oil products and natural gas.
Will the European Union price cap on Russian oil work?
The G7 Russian oil price cap is an ambitious but untested instrument. While pitfalls exist, the cap has the potential to be the most potent sanction.
How have sanctions impacted Russia?
In this paper we assess both the immediate economic impact and the likely longer-term impact of sanctions on the Russian economy.
A grand bargain to steer through the European Union’s energy crisis
The current crisis looks set to leave behind it a radically different system, but what that system will look like remains an open question
The grand energy bargain Europe needs to defeat Putin
Europe Needs a Grand Bargain on Energy
Why a “Go It Alone” Approach Will Leave Countries in the Cold This Winter
How it can be done
What would be the economic consequences of a complete halt to Russian gas imports?
What role for China in the global refining crunch?
Despite high prices, China’s substantial spare oil refining capacity remains restricted.
European Union demand reduction needs to cope with Russian gas cuts
Without Russian gas, the European Union would have to reduce demand by approximately 15%, with big differences between different parts of Europe
How to make the EU Energy Platform an effective emergency tool
The platform could become an effective emergency tool to safeguard Europe’s gas supply, but policymakers need to address challenges to make it work.
Europe’s Russian oil embargo: significant but not yet
The ban on most Russian oil significantly scales up the EU response to aggression against Ukraine, but the bloc should stand ready for retaliation.
The EU needs transparent oil data and enhanced coordination
The EU lacks the coordination structure and transparent data necessary to most effectively navigate an embargo on Russian oil.
How a European Union tariff on Russian oil can be designed
The European Union should apply a tariff on imports of Russian oil; it can be accompanied by a quota for a gradual, conditional phase-out.
The European Union demand response to high natural gas prices
Even before Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, high natural gas prices triggered an estimated European Union demand cut of about 7%.
Can Europe manage if Russian oil and coal are cut off?
A stop to Russian oil and coal supplies would push Europe into a short and painful adjustment period.
Preparing for the first winter without Russian gas
The European Union can manage without Russian gas next winter, but must be united in taking difficult decisions.
Can Europe survive painlessly without Russian gas?
If Russian gas stops flowing, measures to replace supply won’t be enough. The European Union will need to curb demand, implying difficult and costly d
Decarbonisation of the energy system
Given the size and urgency of the transition, the current knowledge infrastructure in Europe is insufficient.
How serious is Europe’s natural gas storage shortfall?
Europe may not have enough natural gas in storage for the coming winter; close monitoring of the situation will be essential.
Bruegel electricity tracker of COVID-19 lockdown effects
Decarbonisation of energy
Determining a robust mix of energy carriers for a carbon-neutral EU
A new economic geography of decarbonisation?
Energy transitions manifest themselves across space and time. While necessary targets for decarbonisation are apparent, the accompanying shifts in spa
The contribution of hydrogen to European decarbonisation
What role will hydrogen play in Europe's decarbonisation?
Making sure green household investment pays off
Policies are needed to support green fuel switching by households; support should be phased out as the carbon price rises.
Building the Road to Greener Pastures
How the G20 can support the recovery with sustainable local infrastructure investment.
Ensuring competitiveness of low-carbon investments
At this event, speakers will introduce the core idea of commercialisation contracts, and then discuss key design elements.
Commercialisation contracts: European support for low-carbon technology deployment
We outline the case for ‘commercialisation contracts’ (a form of carbon contracts for difference) to provide this transparent competition.
Navigating through hydrogen
Policymakers must address the need to displace carbon-intensive hydrogen with low-carbon hydrogen, and incentivise the uptake of hydrogen.
Carbon border adjustment in the United States: not easy, but not impossible either
President Biden has promised to implement a levy on carbon-intensive imports, albeit without a federal domestic carbon price. The measure faces a numb
Innovative approaches to monitoring the risks and impact of COVID-19
What new innovative tools can we use to measure real-time economic and social risk?
Greening the recovery by greening the fiscal consolidation
In the wake of COVID-19, some economic recovery policies will help green the economy – for example, energy renovation of buildings.
Lessons learned from the electricity tracker
Since the beginning of the COVID-19 crisis, Bruegel’s new tool has gauged the impact of the crisis on economic activity by tracking changes in electri
Covid-19 crisis: electricity demand as a real-time indicator
Comparing average weekday hourly electricity demand for the last few weeks to the year before, we visualise the moment when the current crisis began t
A European carbon border tax: much pain, little gain
The European Commission should not make the implementation of a carbon border adjustment mechanism into a must-have element of its climate policy. The