Solar cookers in Tajikistan help to survive blackouts and reduce CO2 emissions

Tajikistan suffers blackouts during winter due to the declining capacity of its domestic energy infrastructure, yet hosts strong potential for renewable energy with over 200 sunny days during the average year and significant hydro resources. In  December 2014, the village of Roshorv, located at an altitude of more than 3000m in the Bartang Valley of Tajikistan was presented with a solar cooker by Tajik environmental organization Little Earth.

75 countries signed a new International Energy Charter at a High-Level Ministerial Conference held in The Hague, the Netherlands.

The new Charter modernises the existing European Energy Charter of 1991 and widens its scope to a global level. The purpose of the new Charter is to engage as many new countries as possible who are willing to cooperate in the field of energy and who recognise the importance of energy security for energy producing, transit and consuming countries. Document promotes such important principles as efficient functioning of energy markets, investment protection, free transit of energy resources, facilitating trade in energy and energy-related goods, and cooperation in energy policy development, including energy efficiency and environmental protection. Key new points are the recognition of the importance of access to modern energy for all and the growing share of low-carbon and renewable energy. Read more at http://international.energycharter.org/

More about Ministerial Conference on the International Energy Charter, May 20-21

Africa’s power sector offers ‘potentially attractive opportunities’

Using per-capita data, a US citizen on average uses 12,461 kilowatt hours of electricity per annum; a citizen of Ethiopia uses 52. On average, only 30% of Sub-Saharan Africa citizens have any access to electric power, and even where power is available, provision can be sporadic, with frequent power cuts and “brown-outs”.   A US government-sponsored initiative, Power Africa, is looking to provide financing and expertise to encourage investment links between businesses and African governments to develop smaller-scale, technologically innovative generation projects. The projects are slanted toward renewable energy solutions that utilise Africa’s abundant resources of solar, wind and geothermal power, but are not neglecting the growing potential of natural gas as the number of hydrocarbon discoveries across Africa multiplies. The Power Africa initiative has been ongoing for a little over a year, but additional funding announced at the US-Africa Leaders Summit in August 2014 has increased the potential budget for the operation to US$26bn in direct financing and investment guarantees. The China-supported dam building efforts, supplemented by other major projects, including proposed nuclear plants in South Africa and a major coal-fired power station in Zimbabwe, could potentially make a huge difference to Africa’s generating capacity. Read more at http://www.blackstarexodus.com

European Commission published its proposals for the Energy Union

The paper sets out the Commission’s thinking on what it describes as the biggest energy project since the creation of the Coal and Steel Community. The vision, put simply, is to create a bloc where surplus energy in one place can be moved to where there is a shortage, thereby bolstering the EU’s resilience to shortages. The Energy Union was given political impetus after the Ukraine crisis brutally exposed Europe's energy dependence and vulnerability. Shortages caused by Russia turning off the taps in 2009 have prompted the union to develop plans which go beyond to encompass issues such as climate change. Read more at http://www.euractiv.com

EU unveils plans for historic single energy market

The EU unveiled plans on Feb. 25 for a continent-wide single energy market to reduce its uneasy reliance on Russian supplies and cut a massive annual import bill of 400  billion euros. The European Union imported 53 percent of its energy needs last year , a dangerous vulnerability in itself at a time of growing global insecurity, not least tensions with Russia. The plans for 'energy union' include completing the single market, increasing energy security, boosting efficiency, reducing the use of fossil fuels and increased research on new energy sources. Some 75 percent of the EU housing stock is energy inefficient, the transport sector relies on oil, 90 percent of which is imported, while distorting subsidies cost 120 billion euros, the report said. Worse still, EU electricity prices are 30 percent higher than in the United States and gas prices more than double, putting the bloc at a serious economic disadvantage. Read more at http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/

IEA released its Energy Efficiency Market Report 2014

The global energy efficiency market, according to IEA, is worth at least $310 billion a year and growing, making it the world’s first fuel. Among 18 IEA countries examined, total energy consumption was down 5% between 2001 and 2011 primarily as a result of investments in energy efficiency. Read more >>>
Breaking Energy

The Global Energy Security War

In his opening address at the Atlantic Council’s Energy and Economic Summit 2014 in Istanbul (19-20 November), President and CEO Frederick Kempe immediately made it clear the Atlantic Council is playing for high stakes. “Europe is in the middle of an inflection point of its history”, he said. 2014 “is every bit as dramatic as 1815 – the year of Versailles”. Or, he added, 1989, the year of the fall of Communism. “The future of the international liberal order”, said Kempe, “is at stake”. Read more >>>
Energy Post

Reuters - Why Energy Leaders Need to Read Cicero

As technologies unlock new resource opportunities and redefine relationships between producers and consumers, geopolitical events are posing new supply threats and difficult policy and investment decisions, all against a backdrop of the growing need for action on climate change. Successfully navigating such a complex landscape, whether in government, non-profit or private sector, requires a vastly different skill set than was needed not long ago.  Read more >>>
Reuters

Joint Statement of the U.S.-EU Energy Council

The sixth United States-European Union Energy Council met on Wednesday in Brussels.  The Energy Council, a forum on EU-U.S. energy priorities, promotes transparent and secure global energy markets, fosters policy and regulatory cooperation on efficient and sustainable energy use, and pursues joint research and development on clean energy technologies.  Energy security, Ukraine, energy policy & technology, climate & energy were among the issues discussed by Councsil. Read more
OfficialWire
 

How Ukraine Is Changing Global Energy Flows

Increasingly isolated by the crisis, Russia is looking East for new energy markets. On September 1, 2014, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese Premier Zhang Gaoli initiated the construction of what they claim will be “the world’s largest construction project.” This 3,968 km “Power of Siberia” pipeline connecting gas fields between Russian’s Siberia and China’s Northeast region is expected deliver four trillion cubic meters of gas to China over the next thirty years. Read more ...
The Diplomat