Environmentalists around the world had special reason to enjoy the triumph of Barack Obama last week. The election of the new president has put the wind back into the sails of the renewable energy sector. His landslide victory should see the introduction of a major climate change bill in an attempt to kickstart the new US environment policy.

Continue reading “Will Obama’s Victory Provide the US Green Energy Market with the Spur it Needs?” »

Looking at the figures of food wastage in the UK, something clearly needs to be done – we throw away £10.2bn of avoidable food waste every year. This equals 16-18 million tonnes of waste food that is buried as landfill each year.

Sweden is a nation which intends to lead the world in renewable fuels. It is not surprising then that it is one of the leading countries in turning leftovers into – yes – electricity. This is the start of a new generation – anaerobic digestors (AD).

Continue reading “Electricity could be Generated from Waste Food” »

The French state owned energy supplier EDF has increased its presence in the UK electricity retail market by acquiring British Energy, thereby extending its market share in the UK business segment to around 30%. This is, however, unlikely to affect competition in the UK market.

Continue reading “UK Energy Retail: EDF/BE Merger Will Dominate, But Not Monopolise” »

The European Union’s industry committee has voted to half its biofuels target for 2020, reducing it from 10% to 5% of total road fuel in energy terms. Given the large differences in the consumption of biofuels across Europe, the effect of this change, if implemented, would differ greatly between markets.

Continue reading “Despite Environmental Benefits: EU Committee Votes To Cut Biofuels Target by Half” »

Strange things have been happening in oil markets of late. Classic price signals such as falling inventories, economic quagmire in the OECD and slackened growth in emerging markets all failed to quell a bull market on the way up to July, while geopolitical flashpoints, storms looming over the Gulf of Mexico, and the persistence of tight markets are failing to stop its bearish decline on the way back down. This raises a number of ‘inconvenient’ truths as to the self selecting nature of ‘fundamentals’ in play at any given time in oil markets.

Continue reading “Oil Markets: Some Inconvenient Geopolitical Truths” »

BP and Verenium Corporation have announced a joint venture to accelerate the development and commercialisation of cellulosic ethanol, a biofuel that can be made from waste biomass products. BP’s partnership with Verenium is a reflection of the high rewards available to the first company to commercialise second-generation biofuels on a large scale.

Continue reading “BP and Verenium Lead Way For Second-Generation Biofuels” »

Yes they are ugly and no, they don’t really ‘fit in’. However, wind turbines are definitely here to stay. A study shows that the global wind energy industry is expected to produce 107,000 MW energy by 2017 as the industry is getting strong government support, huge investment and subsidies.

Continue reading “Opposition Still Blowing at Wind Power” »

The UK Government’s Renewable Fuels Agency’s report said in early August, 2008 that of the biodiesel used in the UK from mid-April to mid-May, only a fifth of the total quantity of biofuels sold met recognised environmental standards.

The time has come for differentiation among biofuels. Some biofuels are clearly superior to others in terms of environmental benefits, and the standards that they adhere to. An unambiguous trend is emerging in the biofuels industry that recognises the fact that there is a premium on biofuels which meet sustainability criteria.

Continue reading “‘Greener’ and Sustainable Biofuels Attract Interest and Investment” »

Following Croatia’s announcement that it is looking to sell more of its stake in state oil company INA, MOL and OMV have both shown an interest. However, as the companies attempt to try to assert de facto dominance in south-eastern Europe by buying a controlling stake in the Croatian oil major, MOL’s expansion plans may be hampered by OMV’s ongoing efforts to purchase its Hungarian counterpart.

Continue reading “MOL and OMV Continue to Struggle for Regional Pre-eminence as they Vie for Control of Croatia’s INA” »

OMV, Rompetrol and Petrom are to build 10 new service stations on the Sun Motorway in Romania. Although these additional sites alone will see the total number of motorway sites more than double, the vast motorway construction project that is currently underway could see a further 87 stations added between now and 2016.

The Romanian Ministry of Transport has announced that 10 motorway stations will be built along the Sun Motorway (A2), more than doubling the number of motorway service stations from the current eight. OMV, Rompetrol and Petrom are the companies that have won the concessions, which will run for a maximum of 29 years. Upon signing the contract they were obliged to set up temporary service stations within 60 days, after which they will have four months in which to establish permanent structures. Continue reading “Romania to Build 10 New Motorway Service Stations” »