Understanding the electrification of industrial energy consumption in Europe

By
Nathalie Desbrosses
Mon, 07/02/2012 - 17:59

Over the last 20 years, coal consumption and -to a lesser extent- oil consumption have steadily decreased to the advantage of electricity in the European industry. In the meantime the natural gas penetration slowed down, stabilizing during the 2000s. What are the uses of electricity in industry? What are the reasons for this large penetration?

Electricity covers a rising share of industrial energy needs

Read full article

Webinar - Nearly Zero-Energy Buildings and Offsite Renewables

By
Andreas Hermelink
Tue, 05/14/2013 - 10:59

Date : 29th May 2013

Summary : The energy performance of buildings is key for reaching the European Union’s very ambitious climate targets. “Nearly zero energy building (nZEB)” is the term for a building standard that complies with this ambition.

Living in 2013 we have 8 years to go until every single Member State will have to build every new building as nearly zero energy building, and even only 6 years to go for nearly zero energy public buildings.

Read full article

International Energy Agency - Photovoltaic Power Systems 2012 Annual Report

By
Fernando Nuno
Mon, 05/06/2013 - 22:09

As a leading international network of expertise, IEA PVPS has the mission to cooperate on a global level in this rapidly evolving technology area.

Read full article

Panorama of the European non-residential construction sector

By
Sven Schimschar
Tue, 04/23/2013 - 16:38

The present study provides background information about the European non-residential building stock, to be used for the assessment of the market potential of building energy technologies.

Read full article

Incentives to improve energy efficiency in EU Grids

By
Georgios Papaef...
Mon, 04/22/2013 - 14:55

This paper investigates the energy efficiency aspects in the network design and operation based on the Energy Efficiency Directive (2012/27/EU) and its provisions related to network tariffs and regulation.

The analysis on the possible technical efficiency measures to reduce losses (chapter 2), shows that a variety of both equipment replacement and operational improvements can lead to greater efficiency.

Read full article

Case Study: Dynamic modeling of the performance of safety electrical circuits during a fire

By
Diedert Debusscher
Tue, 04/16/2013 - 13:54

The conductivity of copper is a factor of 5 less during fire. However, this is not taken into account in the current fire safety standards for cables. Consequently, a simulation case study was carried out on safety cables during a fire based on the design data of an actual large building—the GaleriaTarnovia shopping mall in Tarnow, Poland—in order to investigate cables’ properties in this situation and ensure future cable effectiveness.  

Read full article

A Snapshot of Global PV 1992 / 2012 - IEA PVPS Programme

By
Fernando Nuno
Thu, 04/11/2013 - 19:48

After several years of the PV market’s rapid growth, 2012 has been a year of market consolidation. In total, about 28.4 GW of PV capacity were installed in the IEA PVPS countries and the major other markets during 2012 (2011: 28.9 GW; 2010: 16.7 GW). This raised the total installed capacity in IEA PVPS countries close to 89.5 GW with another estimated 7 GW of capacity installed in other major countries. 

Read full article

The need and necessity of an EU-wide renewable energy target for 2030

By
Rolf de Vos
Mon, 04/08/2013 - 17:47

In 2020, some leading EU energy and climate policies will expire. At present, the EU and its Member States are discussing the design of a post-2020 policy portfolio regarding greenhouse gas emissions and low-carbon energy. The central question is: which portfolio provides the most cost-efficient pathways towards a low-carbon energy system by 2050? This paper addresses the need and necessity of an EU-wide renewable energy target for 2030.

Read full article

Nearly Zero-Energy Buildings and Offsite Renewables

By
Andreas Hermelink
Tue, 03/05/2013 - 14:38

The energy performance of buildings is key for reaching the European Union’s very ambitious climate targets. “Nearly zero energy building (nZEB)” is the term for a building standard that complies with this ambition. Living in 2013 we have 8 years to go until every single Member State will have to build every single new building as nearly zero energy building, and even only 6 years to go for nearly zero energy public buildings.

Read full article

World Energy Use in 2011: Slowdown in global energy demand

By
Geraldine Duffour
Fri, 09/14/2012 - 17:03

After the strong growth noticed in 2010, global energy consumption increased at a much slower pace in 2011 (2.2% to 4.9%). While this slowdown is mainly due to the economic crisis that hit OECD countries, the record oil prices also played a role, limiting the growth in global oil consumption even in energy-hungry countries such as China or India.

Read full article

Energy-related renovations of Europe’s building stock must accelerate

By
Diedert Debusscher
Mon, 08/13/2012 - 01:00

The cost of energy consumed during a building’s lifetime can be two-thirds of the construction cost. But across Europe, potential savings from energy-efficiency renovations have been largely ignored. There is little evidence that the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive has changed behaviour, according to a recently published report from Ecofys.  If the number of major energy-related renovations to European buildings does not accelerate dramatically, it is clear from the data in the ‘Panorama of the European non-residential construction sector’ report that the European Union’s goal of an almost carbon-neutral building stock by 2050 is not achievable.

Read full article

Up to 30 percent higher earnings for companies that invest in energy efficiency

By
Diedert Debusscher
Wed, 06/06/2012 - 13:48

Energy conservation measures have a significant positive impact on the earnings (EBIT) and the return on equity (RoE) of European energy-intensive companies. That is a conclusion of a study in four energy-intensive sectors, conducted by 3E Energy Consultants and commissioned by the Copper Alliance. 3E developed a user friendly spreadsheet tool that calculates the impact of concrete energy efficiency measures on the short, mid and long-term financial accounts of a company.

Read full article

High primary energy factor jeapordizes renewable development

By
Edith Molenbroek
Wed, 03/21/2012 - 03:00

Within the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive the Primary Energy Factor (PEF) is used when calculating the energy performance. The PEF accounts for the energy losses of electricity generation and transport when comparing electricity use with other types of energy use in the building.

Read full article

Solar water heating in the world: Strong diffusion due to the large impact of incentives

By
Geraldine Duffour
Thu, 01/05/2012 - 16:38

Water heating represents about 15% of households’ energy uses in Europe, 20% in the United States and even 30% in Japan. Switching from electricity and gas to solar water heating could strongly reduce fossil fuel consumption and CO2 emissions.

Read full article

China - Europe competitiveness

By
Aedan Kernan
Mon, 03/14/2011 - 15:32

Our economies are growth-dependent. But we are consuming resources at an unsustainable rate. The first steps out of this dilemma may be taken in a couple of months by an unlikely source – China.

Read full article

Desert Energy for Europe

By
Bruno De Wachter
Tue, 04/20/2010 - 05:30

Transgreen is one step forward, but not the entire trip

At the end of March, the French press scored a remarkable scoop: the Transgreen project will be officially launched at the coming summit of the 'Union pour la Méditerranée' (UPM) scheduled for 25th May in Cairo. Other European newspapers from several countries subsequently reported the story, eliciting a heated debate. By looking at a few numbers, however, the project can be seen in a more modest perspective. Huge as it may seem, it is only a small step in the creation of a sustainable energy system for Europe. There is plenty of room left for other initiatives, such as Desertec.

Read full article

Electrical Safety in the Home

By
Benoit Dome
Mon, 04/12/2010 - 20:11

The presence of electricity in a dwelling involves two kinds of safety risks. The first is the most obvious and direct: the risk for the residents on electro-shock. The second safety risk is indirect and therefore more difficult to map: the risk of electrical faults causing fire.

Those risks can be reduced by the usage of safe electrical appliances and by a responsible behaviour of the residents. However, to make the system humanfail- proof, a proper design of the electrical system in the house is imperative.

Read full article

Research needs for EVs

By
Sergio Ferreira
Thu, 12/10/2009 - 12:20

The success of the electric vehicle will depend on a number of factors that need to be tackled within the near future.  Incentives by governments and the premise of environmental concerns will probably not balance the limited range or the grid integration issues.

Read full article

Integrating wind power in European power systems

By
Isabelle Heriakian
Fri, 10/02/2009 - 14:47

From Low Carbon Electricity Systems congress, here is the full recorded video presentation made by Frans van Hulle from EWEA including slides.




Read full article

Research Priorities for Renewable Energy Technology by 2020 and Beyond

By
Fernando Nuno
Thu, 06/11/2009 - 13:14

Our partner EUREC, the European Renewable Energy Research Centres Agency, has launched this 45-page publication as the result of a very broad consultation of the European scientific community in renewable energy research.

Read full article

Pages

Follow us