Roadmap to a resource efficient Europe

Yesterday the European Commission presented the Roadmap to a resource efficient Europe.

Some highlights:

Today in the EU, each person consumes 16 tonnes of materials annually, of which 6 tonnes are wasted, with half going to landfill.

The Vision: By 2050 the EU's economy has grown in a way that respects resource constraints and planetary boundaries, thus contributing to global economic transformation. Our economy is competitive, inclusive and provides a high standard of living with much lower environmental impacts. All resources are sustainably managed, from raw materials to energy, water, air, land and soil. Climate change milestones have been reached, while biodiversity and the ecosystem services it underpins have been protected, valued and substantially restored.

Computer energy efficiency doubles every 18 months

An interesting article in Ecogeek states that computer energy efficiency doubles every 18 months. This comes as a indirect consequence of the Moore's law (power doubling every 18 months) because what contributes to the power improvement (reducing component size, capacitance and communication time between them) also increases energy efficiency.

More information A new and improved Moore's law

Energy efficiency directive

The Commission is proposing a new energy efficiency directive to cut energy consumption by 20% in 2020. With all the measures on EU and national level in place so far the EU only reached 9% of savings.
The measures proposed include:
- Legal obligation to establish energy saving schemes in all Member States: energy distributors or retail energy sales companies will be obliged to save every year 1,5 % of their energy sales, by volume, through the implementation of energy efficiency measures such as improving the efficiency of the heating system, installing double glazed windows or insulating roofs, among final energy customers;
- Public sector to lead by example: public bodies will push for the market uptake of energy efficient products and services through a legal obligation to purchase energy efficient buildings, products and services. They will further have to progressively reduce the energy consumed on their own premises by carrying out every year the required renovation works covering at least 3% of their total floor area;
-Major energy savings for consumers: easy and free-of-charge access to data on real-time and historical energy consumption through more accurate individual metering will now empower consumers to better manage their energy consumption. Billing should be based on the actual consumption well reflecting data from the metering;
- Industry: Incentives for SMEs to undergo energy audits and disseminate best practices while the large companies will have to make an audit of their energy consumption to help them identify the potential for reduced energy consumption;
- Efficiency in energy generation: monitoring of efficiency levels of new energy generation capacities, establishment of national heat and cooling plans as a basis for a sound planning of efficient heating and cooling infrastructures, including recovery of waste heat.

For public buildings, from 2014 onwards, 3% of public buildings should be renovated each year with energy consumption reductions in mind. This percentage is renovated per year, but in only half of the cases efficiency improvements are included. In practice, this could mean that walls are insulated, double glazing windows are installed in kindergardens, schools or townhouses, roofs are redone and inefficient heating boilers replaced.

How can you force government to spend money in times they have to save money?

The renovation of public buildings would to a significant extent pay for itself through the savings on the energy bills and would also help the economic recovery by stimulating business activity and jobs.

However, still there is a need for upfront investment in the implementation of energy efficiency improvements. For this reason, the proposed Directive includes provisions to strengthen the energy services markets. In these markets energy service companies (ESCOs) would pay for the initial investments and get their money back from the savings on the energy bills. In addition to energy savings, this will create business opportunities and new jobs, for example, for construction companies, equipment providers. The energy service market currently accounts for about € 6 billion. The EU potential for such market is estimated at € 25 billion.

In addition to the private funding, Member States can also use their allocations under the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) to finance the renovation of public buildings. In the period 2007 – 2013, 4.4 billion Euro where available for that purpose.

New measures for increased energy efficiency to reach 20% goal in the EU

Having in mind that the cheapest energy is the one we do not consume, the European Commission proposed a new set of measures for increased Energy Efficiency.
The proposal for this new directive brings forward measures to step up Member States efforts to use energy more efficiently at all stages of the energy chain – from the transformation of energy and its distribution to its final consumption.

More information: Energy Efficiency Directive

EC approves energy efficiency plan, references set-aside

The European Commission finally approval the energy efficiency plan on Wednesday after reaching a resolution of debates about the impact of extended energy efficiency targets on the carbon market. The plan, which pursues a non-binding, EU-wide reduction in energy use of 20 per cent by 2020, now incorporates an explanatory Memorandum which provides for the possible set-aside of carbon allowances in the event that the market is affected. The plan now requires approval from the parliament and council and it remains to be seen whether these provisions will be incorporated into the main text of the Directive or left without legal effect.

Source: Energy Efficiency and Climate Change News: 24 June 2011, IEA

Germany will fase out nuclear power in 2022

The German government decided that the country will phase out nuclear power by 2022. Seven out of 17 stations will remain closed, while the rest will gradually be shut down within the next ten years and be replaced by alternative energies, whose development the country now must push ahead with.
This decision will be costly (estimated two billion euros every year) with the consumer paying the bill.
There are also some issues with the security in energy supply and changes in the German energy network.

In nuclear energy, the global leader is France. Germany lags behind. Angela Merkel has concluded that it is better to engage in another sphere and to explore other markets, including renewable energies. There, the future belongs to Germany. One will tuck away the fact that in the meantime Germany will consume more coal and will generate even more CO2, which reached record levels last year. One will neglect to mention that the country will import more Russian gas and – nuclear power from France. But who will report that this decision, radical and energetic, will break up the foundation on which the European Union originally was built, the Europe that pooled the energies of that era, coal and steel?

Yves Harté, columnist from a french newspaper
More information: Where does nuclear exit lead to?

Greenhouse gas emissions decreased very sharply in 2009

In the European Union!

According to the EEA, greenhouse gas emissions decreased by 7.1% in the EU-27 and 6.9% in the EU-15. This is mainly due to the economic recession of 2009. There is a minor contribution of renewable energy policies.

Although much of the decrease in greenhouse gases is due to the recession, we are starting to see the results of many EU and Member States’ proactive policies in renewable energy. We hope that policy makers continue to build on this success to cut emissions further.

Prof. Jacqueline McGlade, Executive Director of the EEA
Portugal had a decrease of 4.3% in 2009, compared with 2008. Greenhouse gas emissions increased from 1990 to 2009 about 25.5%.
We choose end this commitment period (2008-2012) with 60.1 million tons of CO2. In 2009, emissions were of 74.6 million tons.

Verified 2010 emissions from the EU-ETS point to a 3% emissions increase over the course of the year, which is still far below pre-recession levels. The EU ETS covers more than 12,000 power plants and manufacturing installations, or approximately half of all emissions. This rebound in emissions partly reflects the economic recovery.