healthier, happier and richer

The Centre for European Reform has published my policy brief Connecting Europe’s energy systems.  In this, I argue that Europe’s energy infrastructure urgently needs to be modernised, to maximise renewable energy use, so the Commission’s proposals on infrastructure should be adopted as soon as possible (see Centre for European Reform: Connecting Europe’s energy systems).

The European Emissions Trading System must be overhauled. The cap should be lowered, and combined with a price floor and ceiling and border tax adjustments.

President Obama has again asked the US Congress to agree a budget which cuts the more than $40 billion in tax breaks for oil, gas and coal producers over the next decade. The president’s budget proposals are sensible and should be passed by Congress. But they won’t be. The left-right divide on climate in US politics is unnecessary.

The UK government is strongly supportive of biomass as a means of increasing energy security. It also regards biomass as a major contributor to meeting the UK’s EU renewable energy target, and as an important contributor to carbon reductions – though it has stressed that not all biomass is sustainable.

This is a summary and analysis of UK’s white paper on Electricity Market Reform and Renewables Roadmap, published this week.

The EU should spend less money on agriculture and more on improving the econommies of poorer member-states and on climate protection.

The EU has made some progress on large scale CCS demonstration projects, but needs to speed up.

The US federal government passed energy acts in 2005, 2007 and 2008, each aiming to increase energy efficiency and expand renewables. The 2009 Recovery Act also had money for these, However, to get a clear picture of American energy policy, we need to look not just at federal programs, but also at what state governments are doing.

It is good news that the European Commission is addressing the nuclear waste issue. However, the draft directive is not particularly strong, not very ambitious and wrong to promote deep disposal as its preferred waste management option.

The European Union cannot be accused of failing to see the big picture on climate change. The only problem, and it is major, is that Europe lacks followers of its lead. However, for years, EU policy on energy – responsible for around two-thirds of all greenhouse gases – has seemed remarkably narrow. It has focused almost exclusively on networks and, among networks, almost exclusively on electricity and gas.

In his new book, ‘The Rough Guide to the Energy Crisis’, David Buchan outlines the ways forward.