Connie Hedegaard, the EU's climate action commissioner, has rejected calls to introduce a price floor to sustain Europe's depressed carbon market, saying she does not want a "politically regulated system". In a wide-ranging interview with EurActiv, she also called for rolling back fossil fuel subsidies and shifting them to renewable energies instead....Europe's economic crisis has pushed down carbon prices to around €7 per tonne of carbon emitted, way below the €25 to €40 considered necessary to have a significant influence on business decisions.But according to Hedegaard, economic crises are part of life and markets should be left alone. "None of us should be surprised when there is a huge crisis in Europe, and production is coming down, it is no wonder then that in a market-based system, that demand will come down and therefore also the price. That is how the market works.""We will be in for so much more trouble if we had a politically-regulated system all the time."
...Europe's economic crisis has pushed down carbon prices to around €7 per tonne of carbon emitted, way below the €25 to €40 considered necessary to have a significant influence on business decisions.
But according to Hedegaard, economic crises are part of life and markets should be left alone. "None of us should be surprised when there is a huge crisis in Europe, and production is coming down, it is no wonder then that in a market-based system, that demand will come down and therefore also the price. That is how the market works."
"We will be in for so much more trouble if we had a politically-regulated system all the time."
Suuuuure. Because setting up the market itself was not political regulation... *Lunatic*, n. One whose delusions are out of fashion.
So what does she think the current carbon trading system is? Peak oil is not an energy crisis. It is a liquid fuel crisis.
A cold front blamed for more than 100 deaths is lashing the continent, bolstering demand for heating and forcing countries to tap stored gas supplies. "I can confirm that there has been a decrease in gas deliveries in various member states: Poland, Slovakia, Austria, Hungary, Bulgaria, Romania, Greece and Italy," EU energy spokeswoman Marlene Holzner told a regular news briefing. "Yesterday, we saw in Austria a decrease of 30%, Italy of 24 percent and Poland 8 percent. But I must also say that it's not a situation of emergency yet."...Reduced supply of Russian gas via Ukraine has raised EU fears of a repeat of the gas crisis in 2009, when supplies to Europe were suspended for about two weeks because of political tensions between Moscow and Kiev. On Thursday, Russian gas export monopoly Gazprom said it was sending as much gas as it could spare to Europe, and that Ukraine, whose pipelines carry Russian gas to the EU, must be taking more than its contracted share. Kiev has flatly denied doing so.
A cold front blamed for more than 100 deaths is lashing the continent, bolstering demand for heating and forcing countries to tap stored gas supplies.
"I can confirm that there has been a decrease in gas deliveries in various member states: Poland, Slovakia, Austria, Hungary, Bulgaria, Romania, Greece and Italy," EU energy spokeswoman Marlene Holzner told a regular news briefing.
"Yesterday, we saw in Austria a decrease of 30%, Italy of 24 percent and Poland 8 percent. But I must also say that it's not a situation of emergency yet."
...Reduced supply of Russian gas via Ukraine has raised EU fears of a repeat of the gas crisis in 2009, when supplies to Europe were suspended for about two weeks because of political tensions between Moscow and Kiev.
On Thursday, Russian gas export monopoly Gazprom said it was sending as much gas as it could spare to Europe, and that Ukraine, whose pipelines carry Russian gas to the EU, must be taking more than its contracted share. Kiev has flatly denied doing so.
One would think increased consumption upstream during a continent-wide cold spell would be the most obvious explanation, but a part of the Western European news media thinks of the Evil Russian Gas Weapon first... *Lunatic*, n. One whose delusions are out of fashion.
German utilities get less Russia gas, tap reserves | Reuters
"Gazprom is sending around a third less today, with the bulk of volumes for E.ON Ruhrgas shipped via the Czech-German border point Waidhaus," E.ON's Essen-based subsidiary said in a statement.On Thursday, E.ON had said supplies were still running at normal levels. It reiterated in the statement that storage levels at its subsidiary EGS were at 74 percent, which is high for the time of year."Our customers in Germany are being served without any limitations," E.ON said.A spokeswoman for RWE said: "We are receiving around 30 percent less gas from Russia than normal, due to the big freeze in Eastern Europe."
"Gazprom is sending around a third less today, with the bulk of volumes for E.ON Ruhrgas shipped via the Czech-German border point Waidhaus," E.ON's Essen-based subsidiary said in a statement.
On Thursday, E.ON had said supplies were still running at normal levels. It reiterated in the statement that storage levels at its subsidiary EGS were at 74 percent, which is high for the time of year.
"Our customers in Germany are being served without any limitations," E.ON said.
A spokeswoman for RWE said: "We are receiving around 30 percent less gas from Russia than normal, due to the big freeze in Eastern Europe."
Gazprom on Friday insisted it was fulfilling all of its contracts. "Now these obligations are being carried out, but the customers are asking for larger volumes than we are obliged to supply to them," the head of pricing at Gazprom Export Sergei Komlev was quoted as saying.
OAO Gazprom is "perplexed" by reports of a decline in Russian natural-gas supplies to Europe, said Deputy Chief Executive Officer Alexander Medvedev, adding Ukraine is taking more fuel than contracted during a cold snap. Gazprom, Russia's gas exporter, is boosting gas supplies to the "maximum" to Europe, Ukraine and Belarus as the freezing weather raises demand, Medvedev said today in an e-mailed statement, after Austria, Poland and the Czech Republic reported imports had fallen. "Amid the freezing winter in Russia and Europe, our company has boosted gas supplies to the maximum," Medvedev said. "Offtake of gas from European storage has quadrupled in the past week."
Gazprom, Russia's gas exporter, is boosting gas supplies to the "maximum" to Europe, Ukraine and Belarus as the freezing weather raises demand, Medvedev said today in an e-mailed statement, after Austria, Poland and the Czech Republic reported imports had fallen.
"Amid the freezing winter in Russia and Europe, our company has boosted gas supplies to the maximum," Medvedev said. "Offtake of gas from European storage has quadrupled in the past week."
I find it fascinating that there can be so much condusion on these issues. Some technical complexity, vested and or criminal interests and confused reporting, and no one who hasn't got a Ph.d. in Russo-Ukrainian gas relations get what's actually happening. Peak oil is not an energy crisis. It is a liquid fuel crisis.
Ironically, natural gas-free Sweden is in truble as well, and we've had to start our reserve oil-fired power plants. Why? Because 4 out of 10 reactors are offline, due to repairs, uprates, problems and so on. This is the third winter in a row with this problem. Conspiracy theories refuse to go away from the media (and they might be true), about how the power oligopoly keep the nukes offline to maximise their profits. The beauty of oligopoly combined with marginal cost power pricing... Thank god for my hedge in the form of Fortum stock.
Stenungsund power plant. At 820 MW, it's the biggest oil-fired power plant in Europe, located completely underground to boot. As a reserve plant, it's still in mint condition, with block 1-2 a 50's vintage work of art, and block 3-4 the 60's variety. Peak oil is not an energy crisis. It is a liquid fuel crisis.
Modern wind turbines do not use such stacks.
PS. The attempt managed by the States of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern and Brandenberg to reverse the wind turbines and prevent the Russian high pressure-induced icy cold front from crossing the border ended in failure. The turbines were simply not strong enough, and the icy Siberian winds continued their march. The general population was outraged, and blamed the government and environmentalists for not developing enough wind turbines to get the job done. They cited the extra costs of icebreakers on the Elbe as an example of how wind can avoid costs which the politicians seem unaware, but which society must bear. FC Schalke fans, proudly wearing their Gazprom Trikots, demanded that wind turbines be erected on the roof of the Stadion to prevent the frigid winds from freezing their Veltins. Some scientists reported that the experiment was not only a failure, but slowed down the earth's rotation enough to actually accelerate the intrusion of the icy winds. The Frauenhofer Institute for Wind Reversal dismissed the claims as "unscientific poppycock," although the Stop Earth's Revolution Party, or Syrup dismissed Frauenhofer as "unscientific poppycock."
The general population was outraged, and blamed the government and environmentalists for not developing enough wind turbines to get the job done. They cited the extra costs of icebreakers on the Elbe as an example of how wind can avoid costs which the politicians seem unaware, but which society must bear.
FC Schalke fans, proudly wearing their Gazprom Trikots, demanded that wind turbines be erected on the roof of the Stadion to prevent the frigid winds from freezing their Veltins.
Some scientists reported that the experiment was not only a failure, but slowed down the earth's rotation enough to actually accelerate the intrusion of the icy winds. The Frauenhofer Institute for Wind Reversal dismissed the claims as "unscientific poppycock," although the Stop Earth's Revolution Party, or Syrup dismissed Frauenhofer as "unscientific poppycock."
BILD noted rich Germans may have decreased the efficiency of the wind turbines by their habit of stealing the copper cabling to wire their vacation homes in non-windy areas. UBS will not release the names of those accumulating copper. "Life shrinks or expands in proportion to one's courage." - Anaïs Nin
Farmers in the UK are being encouraged to plough up some of the most quintessential English landscapes so that they can continue to claim European subsidies, experts have warned. Wildlife-rich pastures - which have made famous the New Forest clearings, the South Downs, the Cotswolds and the Chilterns - are under threat after the EU proposed rule changes to the Common Agricultural Policy. Experts have warned that to escape the penalties, farmers are already mowing down the grassland ahead of the 2014 deadline for registering their permanent pasture - in case they want to plant them later.
Farmers in the UK are being encouraged to plough up some of the most quintessential English landscapes so that they can continue to claim European subsidies, experts have warned.
Wildlife-rich pastures - which have made famous the New Forest clearings, the South Downs, the Cotswolds and the Chilterns - are under threat after the EU proposed rule changes to the Common Agricultural Policy.
Experts have warned that to escape the penalties, farmers are already mowing down the grassland ahead of the 2014 deadline for registering their permanent pasture - in case they want to plant them later.
In a letter to Agriculture Commissioner Dacian Cioloş, the Lords' EU Committee says the Commission is missing the opportunity to redirect money in the 2014-2020 round of funding for the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) towards research and innovation. But the letter supports the EU executive's decision to strengthen funding for research in the CAP's second pillar - which provides support for rural development and preservation. The much larger first pillar provides direct payments to farmers.
In a letter to Agriculture Commissioner Dacian Cioloş, the Lords' EU Committee says the Commission is missing the opportunity to redirect money in the 2014-2020 round of funding for the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) towards research and innovation.
But the letter supports the EU executive's decision to strengthen funding for research in the CAP's second pillar - which provides support for rural development and preservation. The much larger first pillar provides direct payments to farmers.
Biotech companies should agree not to market genetically modified (GM) crops in member states wishing to ban their cultivation before seeking EU approval for their products, a draft Danish proposal shows. The compromise is designed to break a deadlock in talks among EU countries on draft EU rules to allow them to decide individually whether to grow or ban GM cultivation, which have made little headway since being proposed by the European Commission in 2010. "We are working on it. There is a blocking minority on the GMO proposals, and we are trying to do our utmost to find a solution and get agreement among member states," said a spokesman for the Danish EU presidency, who declined to comment on the details of the compromise.
Biotech companies should agree not to market genetically modified (GM) crops in member states wishing to ban their cultivation before seeking EU approval for their products, a draft Danish proposal shows.
The compromise is designed to break a deadlock in talks among EU countries on draft EU rules to allow them to decide individually whether to grow or ban GM cultivation, which have made little headway since being proposed by the European Commission in 2010.
"We are working on it. There is a blocking minority on the GMO proposals, and we are trying to do our utmost to find a solution and get agreement among member states," said a spokesman for the Danish EU presidency, who declined to comment on the details of the compromise.
"The United Nations declares an end to famine conditions in Somalia," the UN Somalia Food Security Nutrition Analysis Unit (FSNAU) and the US famine warning network, known as FEWS NET, said in a statement. "The combination of the massive scale-up in humanitarian assistance and an exceptional harvest have helped to improve the humanitarian situation," the statement added. Three areas had been in famine: southern Somalia's Middle Shabelle, in Afgoye -- the world's largest camp for displaced people -- and inside camps in the anarchic capital Mogadishu. However, those areas "have now improved to emergency level," the UN said, while warning that the situation remains critical.
"The United Nations declares an end to famine conditions in Somalia," the UN Somalia Food Security Nutrition Analysis Unit (FSNAU) and the US famine warning network, known as FEWS NET, said in a statement.
"The combination of the massive scale-up in humanitarian assistance and an exceptional harvest have helped to improve the humanitarian situation," the statement added.
Three areas had been in famine: southern Somalia's Middle Shabelle, in Afgoye -- the world's largest camp for displaced people -- and inside camps in the anarchic capital Mogadishu.
However, those areas "have now improved to emergency level," the UN said, while warning that the situation remains critical.
In the first major study of the impact of the world's worst nuclear crisis in 25 years, the researchers, from Japan, the US and Denmark, said their analysis of 14 species of bird common to Fukushima and Chernobyl, the Ukrainian city which suffered a similar nuclear meltdown, showed the effect on abundance is worse in the Japanese disaster zone. The study, published next week in the journal Environmental Pollution, suggests that its findings demonstrate "an immediate negative consequence of radiation for birds during the main breeding season [of] March [to] July".
In the first major study of the impact of the world's worst nuclear crisis in 25 years, the researchers, from Japan, the US and Denmark, said their analysis of 14 species of bird common to Fukushima and Chernobyl, the Ukrainian city which suffered a similar nuclear meltdown, showed the effect on abundance is worse in the Japanese disaster zone.
The study, published next week in the journal Environmental Pollution, suggests that its findings demonstrate "an immediate negative consequence of radiation for birds during the main breeding season [of] March [to] July".
Who Could Have Predicted?
