Over 97% of recent car sales in Norway are electric and hybrid vehicles

Plugin EVs reached a record 87% share of auto market in September, PHEVs (plugin hybrids) are adding another 6.0%, and the share of hybrid vehicles is 4.3%.

Germany, Spain, Ukraine and Netherlands are the leaders of European PV market

There was a sharp growth during the  last year in solar demand across multiple markets in Europe after several years of modest growth. Demand is concentrated within the top four markets of Germany, Spain, Ukraine, and the Netherlands. At 13 GW of installations, they are collectively representing almost 60% of the European  PV market in 2019.

This rapid rate of utility-scale growth allowed ground-mount installations to pass rooftop installations in 2019 for the first time in four years. Utility-scale installations are expected to account for 43% of total European installations in 2019, but distributed PV (both residential and commercial) are remaining a large and growing market segment, as self-consumption becomes increasingly important. 

How to boost the transition to low carbon technologies?

Source: UK BEIS, 2019

Luck of the strategic incentives is an important reason behind the slow progress in the transition to low carbon technologies. Three major overlapping transition phases may explain where and how technological transition actually occurs: emergence of new technology, diffusion through markets, and reconfiguration of socioeconomic systems.
Based on the detailed analysis of these transitional phases, authors of the report Accelerating the Low Carbon Transition considered ten key economic sectors (see above figure) in a broad sense, including not just the technology and its production, but also the systems of its use, financing, ownership, infrastructure and governance.
The key message for policymakers on a national level is that it is not enough just put a price on carbon or adopt ambitious emissions reduction goals.

Investment stimulated by market-based instruments for energy efficiency has risen six-fold over the last ten years

IEA published the first global overview of market-based instruments (MBIs) for energy efficiency, such as auctions, energy efficiency obligations on utilities and white certificate programmes. Contrary to other policy instruments, MBIs allow market actors to choose the measures and delivery routes that provide the most cost-effective way to achieve the outcomes set out by policy makers.

Average price for carbon offsets looks like a good deal for companies trying to reduce their climate risk

A new report by Forest Trends’ Ecosystem Marketplace “Buying in: Taking Stock of the Role of Carbon Offsets in Corporate Carbon Strategies” found that companies buy carbon offsets to accelerate their deep economic transformation, rather than just to create a good environmental reputation.

Global coal consumption in 2015: largest drop on record.

Total world coal consumption fell by between 90 and 180 million tonnes (2.3% to 4.6%) in the first half of this year.  China's 3-5% decrease  (43-69 Mtce) accounts for more than half of the world’s coal consumption reduction.

Global renewable energy jobs market dynamics: world is 18% up, and Europe is 4% down

Number of renewable energy jobs worldwide is growing fast, over  7.7 million people are employed across the industry now, up 18 percent from 6.5 million last year, according to IRENA’s recent report. The most renewable energy jobs now are located in Asia region, mainly in China, India, Indonesia, Japan, and Bangladesh, while the European Union and the United States now represent 25 per cent of global renewable energy jobs, compared to 31 per cent in 2012. PV sector is employment leader, where jobs have tripled since 2011 and now totals an estimated 2.5 million, most in downstream jobs such as PV system installation. Biofuels (1.8 million), wind power (over 1 million), biomass (822,000), solar heating/cooling (764 000) and biogas (381,000) are also major employers. Read more at  http://www.irena.org/

At the same time, the EU lost 50,000 renewable jobs – a drop from 1.25 million to 1.2 million. The solar energy sector was hit the most with about 35 percent of jobs lost, because of a sharp decrease in overall investment. The EC defends the EU’s renewable industry saying that  it still has twice more renewable jobs per capita than the global average. Read more at http://eubulletin.com/

European carbon market reform set for 2019

European parliament vote to strengthen emissions trading scheme by taking 1.6bn surplus credits off the market to boost carbon prices, but critics call for steps to be taken earlier. Reforms to strengthen the EU’s flagship policy for cutting carbon, the emissions trading scheme (ETS), will start at the end of 2018. The carbon market is supposed to drive Europe’s transition to cleaner sources of energy, but a cocktail of recession, free allocations to polluters and over-achievement on green energy targets have created a flood of 2bn allowances. That has led to a carbon price of around €7 (£5) per tonne, too low to encourage power companies to switch from polluting fuels such as as coal. A new report by analysts Reuters Thomson Point Carbon estimates that by 2020, the reforms could nudge carbon prices up to €20 per tonne. Read more at http://www.theguardian.com

                    

 

A new path forward for energy efficiency based on markets

How to overcome the limitations of top-down energy efficiency programs and to lay out a pathway toward a market where energy efficiency is treated as a tradable resource, spurring business model innovation and private investment? Energy efficiency needs a version of the net energy meter, where savings can be calculated, tracked and valued, and programs can give way to competitive scalable markets. The lack of such a meter is the Achilles heel of energy efficiency. However, with recent investments in smart meters and data standards, it is now possible to reliably track savings at a portfolio level in near-real time. Read more at www.greentechmedia.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/

Global carbon market to reach record volumes by 2017

The value of the global carbon market grew by 15 percent during 2014 to €45 billion, according to the latest analysis from the Point Carbon team at Thomson Reuters. Higher prices in the European emissions trading scheme (EU ETS) and steady liquidity and prices in the North American markets were the main reasons for the increasing value of carbon markets. In terms of trading activity, however, the traded volume shrank by 17 percent to 7.7 billion (Gt) in 2014. In 2015, the world’s carbon market will grow by 10 percent to 8.5 Gt while its value will increase by half to €69.5 billion. Read more >>>
Commodities Now

Top 10 Carbon Market Predictions for 2015 from The Climate Trust

The trends, which range from increased climate change adaptation measures at the state and city-level to new protocols for agriculture and forestry, were identified by The Climate Trust based on interactions with their diverse group of working partners—government, utilities, project developers and large businesses. Read more >>>
PRWeb

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

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

Good, Bad and Ugly of Lower Oil Prices

The net overall impact of this year’s 28 percent plunge in oil prices is positive for the global economy. But it isn’t universal, and it comes with negative dimensions that need to be well understood, lest they end up reversing the benefits. Read more>>>
BloombergView