No public money for mega-gas pipeline projects – Projects of Common Interest for gas imports will be harmful
June 12, 2014
Projects aimed at increasing EU gas imports, included in the European Commission’s Projects of Common Interest (PCI) would surpass the five scenarios of the EC’s own Energy Roadmap 2050 which all foresee an overall decrease in gas imports. Additionally, they would support authoritarian regimes which repeatedly violate human rights and limit space for democratic expression.
New mega gas pipelines redundant according to EU’s own projections
June 12, 2014
The EU’s plans for large new gas import pipelines and LNG terminals to Europe, outlined in the European Commission’s October 2013 list of priority energy projects as well as in the May blueprint for energy security to be discussed during tomorrow’s Energy Council, are not only counter to the EU’s long-term climate goals but also unjustified according to the EC’s own demand forecast.
EBRD maintaining relations with Turkmenistan regime
May 14, 2012
Following the EBRD’s controvesial adoption in 2010 of a ‘calibrated strategic approach’ to guide its activities in the totalitarian state of Turkmenistan, annual discussions between the bank and civil society organisations have been taking place, with the most recent last month.
Europe’s energy games are not child’s play
April 23, 2012
A new campaign video illustrates Europe’s self-absorbed approach to its energy policy outside Europe. (A blog entry Cross-posted from the Counter Balance blog.)
Energy Security For Whom? For What?
February 16, 2012
How can fossil fuels and uranium be kept in the ground and agrofuels off the land in ways that do not inflict suffering upon millions? Mainstream policy responses to these issues are largely framed in terms of “energy security”. Yet far from making energy supplies more secure, such policies are triggering a cascade of new insecurities for millions of people.
Tragedy or comedy, what is the Nabucco pipeline really?
January 19, 2012
The announcement of German energy giant RWE to reconsider its plans for the Nabucco pipeline is just the last in a series of confusingly conflicting signals regarding the fate of this gargantuan project.
Mechanism for international cooperation: Necessary or unfeasible?
September 8, 2011
The European Commission’s communication on security of energy supply and international cooperation (1)(see Europolitics4259), published on 7 September, was welcomed by the European People’s Party (EPP), but was labelled as one-sided, unfeasible and potentially problematic by British Conservatives, Greens and industry representatives.
Contemplating secure and insecure energy supply
September 7, 2011
The EU external energy policy Communication published today by the European Commission continues the decade-long approach of the EU to ensure the unhindered flow of fossil fuel energy supplies to Europe without a real recognition of the problems this drive creates both inside and outside of the EU.
Nabucco and the Arab Spring
May 15, 2011
The democratic revolutions in North Africa and the Middle East have not quite spread it to the authoritarian regimes of Central Asia. Nevertheless nervous reactions among leaders in these countries have proven another weakness of the proposed Nabucco pipeline project, in that the stable gas supplies promised by the project under the capacious term “energy security” are much less “secure” than previously expected.
Russian activist wins Goldman Environmental Prize
April 12, 2011
Russian environmentalist Dmitry Lisitsyn is one of the six winners of the Goldman Environmental Prize, often referred to as the Nobel Prize for environmentalism.