ORF ENERGY NEWS MONITOR - Observer Research Foundation

esulting in revised year-on-year changes of -2.74 percent, -5.04 percent and -5.2 percent for 2006, 2007 and
2008, respectively. Previous official data showed energy intensity fell 1.79 percent in 2006, 4.2 percent in 2007
and 4.59 percent in 2008. Those numbers had already been revised at least once to put China closer to
achieving its target. The latest data suggests energy intensity fell a total of nearly 16 percent in the past four
years, compared with an estimate of 14.38 percent in the government's previous report, leaving Beijing in a
better position to declare it will fulfill its five-year target.
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European emissions cut should be 30 pc, not 20 pc, U.K. French Ministers say
July 15, 2010. The European Union should raise its target to cut greenhouse-gas emissions to 30 percent by
2020 or risk falling behind the U.S. and China in developing low-carbon technology, French, German and U.K.
officials said. The 27-nation bloc’s current 20 percent goal isn’t enough to drive the investment needed to
slash emissions further, German Environment Minister Norbert Roettgen, U.K. Climate Change Secretary Chris
Huhne and their French counterpart, Jean- Louis Borloo, wrote in an article. Europe is likely to lose the race to
compete in the low-carbon world to countries such as China, Japan or the U.S.,” the ministers wrote. “Ducking
the argument on 30 percent will put us in the global slow lane.” EU leaders held back from raising their target
at the UN climate summit last December in Copenhagen, saying more nations needed to make comparable
cuts. Industry groups have warned of job losses should European companies be put at a competitive
disadvantage by having to make costly emissions cuts.
Clean energy beat fossil fuels for share of new power generation in 2009
July 15, 2010. Wind, solar and other forms of renewable power accounted for more new electricity generation
than fossil fuels in the U.S. and Europe for a second year in 2009, the United Nations Environment Program
said. Clean energy accounted for 60 percent of new capacity in Europe, and more than half of new power
generation in the U.S., UNEP said today in an e-mailed statement. Alternative power now accounts for about a
quarter of global generating capacity, or 1,230 gigawatts out of 4,800 gigawatts, the group said. Governments
from China to the U.S. and Brazil to South Africa are seeking to boost renewable power to lower their
dependence on fossil fuels and limit emissions of the greenhouse gases blamed for global warming. Globally,
about 80 gigawatts of renewable power capacity was added last year, almost half of it in China, UNEP said.
That compares with the 83 gigawatts of fossil fuel plants added. Investment patterns in renewable energy are
also changing, with Asia overtaking the U.S. to move into second place last year, and now threatening Europe’s
lead. China in 2009 replaced the U.S. as the biggest investor in renewable energy, pumping $34.5 billion into
wind turbines, solar panels and other low-carbon energy technologies, new energy finance said in March. U.S.
spending was just over half that, at $18.6 billion. The U.K. ranked third. More than 100 countries have now
brought in policies to promote renewable, UNEP said. The group’s statement was based on twin reports by
UNEP and by the Renewable Energy Policy Network for the 21st Century, or REN21.
Ethanol industry splits on future of U.S. tax breaks
July 15, 2010. A group of U.S. ethanol makers proposed a phase-out of federal subsidies -- the first such offer
by a biofuels group, although the offer was tied to the creation of a more open market for the alternative fuel.
Growth Energy, a trade group that produces 30 percent of U.S. ethanol, presented its idea as Democratic
leaders in the Senate sought consensus on an energy bill. Ethanol incentives worth $6 billion annually are due
to expire at year's end. U.S. support for ethanol, popular in the Farm Belt as a home-grown fuel, may be at a
turning point. Congress has been unable to extend the less-costly biodiesel tax credit, which expired at the end
of 2009, partly out of concern about the federal deficit. Other leading ethanol trade groups support an extension
of the existing incentives through 2015. They said it was too late in the congressional session to suggest
broader-scale changes. The American Coalition for Ethanol and three farm groups said they support the
straight-forward extension. A 2007 law guarantees renewable fuels a share of the U.S. market of at least 36
billion gallons from 2022. The mandate for this year is 12.95 billion gallons, most of it made from corn. The
largest ethanol makers are Archer Daniels Midland Co, Valero Energy Corp and privately owned POET. TOP