Gas trade flow in Europe

IEA just launched a European map of natural gas trade flows.

Powering a Green Planet: Sustainable Energy, Made Interactive

An article in Scientific American sets a radical plan to achieve 100% clean energy in 20 years (2030).

Goals for 2020 according to the SET plan

According to the Strategic Energy Technology Plan the contribution in 2020 in electricity and energy should be:
1. Electricity
- Wind: 20%
- Solar : PV 12%
- Solar: Concentrating Solar Power (CSP): 3% -- 10% in 2030
- Nuclear: currently responsible for 30% of EU electricity.

2. Energy
- Bioenergy: 14% bioenergy in the EU energy mix by 2020, and at the same time to guarantee greenhouse gas(GHG) emission savings of 60% for bio-fuels and bio-liquids under the sustainability criteria of the new RES Directive.

Electricity grid: enable the transmission and distribution of up to 35% of electricity from dispersed and concentrated renewable sources by 2020 and a completely decarbonised electricity production by 2050.

Carbon capture and storage commercially feasible by 2020.

Energy efficiency: 40% reduction of greenhouse gas emissions through sustainable use and production of energy in 2020.

European Commission defines 6 sectors in clean energy

From Reuters:

Strategic Energy Technology Plan
WIND ENERGY
The windpower industry needs 6 billion euros for research over the next decade. It must reduce costs faster and build more wind farms offshore where the wind is more reliable.
This will require up to 10 new testing facilities for turbine components, up to 10 demonstration projects of next generation turbines and at least 5 prototypes of offshore substructures.
The goal is fully competitive wind power capable of contributing up to 20 percent of EU electricity by 2020 and a third by 2030. Over 250,000 jobs could be created.
SOLAR POWER
The overall solar sector needs 16 billion euros for research over the next decade.
The photovoltaic sector must reduce costs and speed up manufacturing. This will require up to 5 pilot plants for automated mass production and several demonstration projects for both decentralized and centralized power production.
The concentrated solar power sector must reduce costs, improve system efficiency and develop storage systems. Up to 10 large "first of a kind" power plants must be built.
The programme envisages that up to 15 percent of EU electricity could be generated by solar power in 2020. Over 200,000 skilled jobs could be created.
POWER GRID
Electricity networks need 2 billion euros of research funds over the next decade.
The focus will be on building "smart grids" that can balance the fluctuating supply of electricity from renewable energy sources with fluctuating consumption by EU citizens. Up to 20 real-life scale demonstration projects will be needed.
The goal is that by 2020, half of networks in Europe would allow the seamless integration of renewable energy.
SMART CITIES
Smart cities will glean renewable energy from the sun and wind and from their own waste, feeding it into the electricity network and to trams and cars.
Between 25 and 30 pioneer cities will transform their buildings, energy networks and transport systems. The initiative will need 11 billion euros over the next decade.
BIOENERGY
The sector needs 9 billion euros for research over the next decade and must demonstrate technology at greater scale.
Up to 30 such plants will be needed across Europe in differing geographical and climate conditions.
By 2020, the contribution to the EU energy mix from cost-competitive, sustainable bioenergy could be at least 14 percent. More than 200,000 jobs could be created.
CLEAN COAL
The European Union has laid out plans to have 12 Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) pilot plants up and running by 2015.
The CCS sector needs to spend 13 billion euros on research over the next decade. The target is to reduce the cost of CCS to 30-50 euros per tonne of carbon dioxide (CO2) captured by 2020, making it cost-effective within a carbon pricing environment.
NUCLEAR
The industry will have to move toward a new generation of reactor type -- the so-called Generation-IV nuclear reactor, which will not be commercially delayed until 2040.
Solutions for nuclear waste must be identified. Around 7 billion euros must be spent on research over the next decade.

My comments on this are:
1. Where is energy efficiency?
2. What bioenergy is the EC talking about?
3. Various european state members are thinking of decommissioning old nuclear power plants and abandon nuclear power. How does nuclear contributes to the energy plan?

Green Week

Go to the Green Week website to view presentations.

World's climate could cool first, warm later

NewScientist published a report on the conclusions of the UN's World Climate Conference held in Geneva.

According to some experts we could be about to enter one or even two decades during which temperatures cool.

The short-term predictions are more uncertain that everyone expected, even IPCC.

Portuguese readers go to Mitos Climáticos.

Key Enablers of a Shift to Clean Energy

"1. Energy Efficiency. It has been frequently said that the cheapest source of energy is the energy never used. There are enormous opportunities for improving the efficiency of the world’s energy infrastructure, both on the supply side and the demand side – and many of them could even produce returns above the cost of capital of major businesses. In a recent report, the McKinsey Global Institute estimated that there are US$ 170 billion of energy efficient investment opportunities that would produce an IRR of 17% or more.

2. Smart Grid. The world’s electricity grids were designed to distribute power cheaply and reliably from large, centralized, predictable power stations. The grid
of the future will have to cope with decentralized, fluctuating supply. It will also be expected to deliver a far more sophisticated range of services to help with
demand-side energy management. Only a new and fully digitally-enabled grid architecture will be able to meet these needs, and the investment requirement is
estimated by New Energy Finance at US$ 8.6 trillion (including US$ 6.8 trillion to repair and replace the existing transmission and distribution network).

3. Energy Storage. The need for energy storage is increasing – whether to power hybrid electric vehicles, to smooth out fluctuations in supply and demand, or to
extend appliance functionality. The cost of storing 1MWh of electricity ranges from US$ 50 to US$ 180, depending on the technology used. As power storage prices come down, it can increasingly be used to smooth the supply of power or to bridge the gap
between peak and night-time electricity rates.
Improved power storage is also required by ever more advanced mobile appliances and ubiquitous communications.

4.Carbon Capture and Sequestration. No discussion of the future energy infrastructure can be complete without considering Carbon Capture and Storage
(CCS). Although there are no installations at scale yet, there are almost 200 projects at varying degrees of completion around the globe. With so many countries
– including China and the US – overwhelmingly dependent on coal for their electricity, CCS needs to form part of the solution if we are to restrict CO2e
concentrations to 450ppm."

Source: Green Investing - Towards a Clean Energy Infrastructure