ECN: Newsletter February 2009
Extra - Newsletters
February 2009
How to support the use of more alternative fuels and innovative propulsion technologies in road transport?
Energy consumption in the transport sector and its corresponding greenhouse gas emissions are increasing steadily. Main reason is that transport volumes are growing faster than energy efficiency in the transport sector. The use of alternative fuels such as biofuels, natural gas or hydrogen and the use of alternative automotive technologies such as hybrid, battery electric and fuel cell vehicles will significantly contribute to reduce dependency from an oil-based transport system. The ALTERMOTIVE project aims to develop a toolbox of the most effective strategies to implement alternative fuels and propulsion systems. By means of this toolbox, policy makers can more effectively plan selected support measures. The heart of the project is an investigation of about 80 recently implemented successful case studies of pilot projects for marketing alternative fuels and technologies from all over Europe and beyond. Finally, the results will be linked to develop prospective scenarios which show in a dynamic context up to 2020 how different alternative fuels and technologies may enter the market depending on the applied policy mix and depict the resulting cost and ecological impacts. The project is coordinated by the Energy Economics Group Vienna and ECN is leading the work package on policy effectiveness. The major output of the project will be a detailed action plan for practical implementation within Europe as a whole as well as for specific regions & countries, describing step-by-step how to transfer & disseminate the most promising current local initiatives for promoting alternative fuels and technologies.
Client | European Commission, Intelligent Energy Europe |
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A European Tracking System for Electricity – Phase II (E-TRACK II)
ECN is, again, involved in Phase II of the ETRACK project, which is led by Öko Institut. This project seeks to continue the process of harmonisation of tracking systems across Europe, including the new Guarantees of Origin for cogeneration, and to better reflect the specific requirements from new Member States and from consumers and their organisations. ECN focuses on tracking systems of generating attributes regarding, specifically, co-generated electricity and on gaining insights in the interests of consumer perspectives in tracking electricity generation attributes.
Client | European Commission, Intelligent Energy Europe programme (Co-funding) |
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ECN on Poznan: Health exchange of views
The 14th Conference of Parties to the UNFCCC, which took place in December in the ancient Polish town of Poznan, generated mixed feelings ‘cross the world. Comments alternated between ‘constructive’ and ‘complete failure. To those who think that the half-way mark means that 50% of the Copenhagen agreement, which is expected to be the follow-up of the Kyoto Protocol, is written, the results of Poznan are indeed disappointing. Particularly environmental organisations have voiced their concerns about progress made. Those familiar with negotiation processes with some 190 countries on extremely complicated issues, however, should not be surprised about the outcome. Poznan was an important meeting as it allowed parties to voice their views in a climate context that is changing rapidly. Various policy researchers of ECN attended Poznan as observers, presented research results in the fields of CO2 capture and storage, the Clean Development Mechanism, and the finance and technology discussions. A more extensive comment on the Poznan outcomes can be found on the ECN website.
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SDE - Assessing costs of renewable energy
In the second half of 2008, the Renewable Energy team of Policy Studies assisted the Ministry of Economic Affairs in assessing the cost of new renewable energy projects. ECN teamed up with KEMA to investigate technological and market developments and to enter into an extensive dialogue with various entrepreneurs and experts. The cost assessment will be used by the Ministry for setting the subsidy levels of the SDE feed-in scheme. Some remarkable observations: prices of wind projects remain high due to stress along the entire production chain, although there are signs that the manufacturers’ market power diminishes. In the biomass field little or no price reductions in project cost and feedstock prices are observed, except for a sharp decline in the prices of vegetable oil over the last year. Solar PV prices have dropped substantially since scarcity of silicon has diminished somewhat. Assessing the costs of offshore wind, the projected ‘work horse’ of the Dutch renewables policy until 2020, was not part of the study - this is done in a separate track, again in close collaboration with experts and market stakeholders. One of the main challenges faced this year was to adequately address the consequences of the financial and economic turmoil in 2008. The character and extent of the effects appeared unclear at the time of reporting.
Client | Dutch Ministry of Economic Affairs |
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Historical EU climate deal despite weakening
After its decision to pass the energy and climate policy package, the European Union has been sprayed with both praise and criticism. The main reason for the criticism was the considerable weakening of the far-reaching climate deal that was proposed by the European Commission earlier this year. Conversely, the praise acknowledged the leadership role the EU still takes compared to other countries in addressing climate change and promoting renewable energy and energy efficiency. In December 2008, Jos Sijm of ECN Policy Studies released an important report for the Environment Directorate of the European Commission on the impact of the flagship of European climate policy, the EU Emissions Trading Scheme, on electricity prices. In addition, ECN released a viewpoint on the outcome of the EU climate and energy package.
Client | European Commission |
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