It’s cold, inhospitable and deadly. The image of the Arctic in years past is one of bewilderment, ignorance and awe. How the image of the Arctic has changed in recent years can be directly linked to our recognition that the Arctic has a great deal to offer in meeting the basic needs of future generations. 

Community officials and heads of EU states and governments will meet this Friday February 4, 2011, at a Council called by President Herman VAN ROMPUY, to address energy security. There are many critical topics that could be on the table, but there is some considerable risk that the events in Lebanon, Yemen, Egypt, Tunisia and now Jordan could hijack the agenda. That would be unfortunate, as the problems in those countries are precisely why the Council should stay focused on energy and the growing European vulnerability to what happens in world energy markets.

Europe is seeking ways to decrease the growing negative impact of passenger cars on climate, currently responsible for up to 12% of total EU CO₂ emissions. After biofuels in the nineties and hydrogen in 2000, the new answer to climate change appears to be electric. But contrary to many marketing messages, electric cars are not zero emissions cars. They will not necessarily contribute to actual CO₂ emission reductions before 2020 and even then, not in every country. 

Marie C. DONNELLY, DG Energy, reported that the EU is “unlikely to achieve a 20% reduction on the current set of policies” [1] by 2020. According to her, based on a modelling exercise, the estimate of energy savings “would be somewhere between 9 and 11% on current policies” in spite of the contribution of the economic crisis to decreasing the EU primary energy consumption.

The European Union’s hydrocarbon energy supply depends heavily on imports. While the European Commission has recommended diversifying and increasing domestic resources, notably with renewable resources which should grow to 20% by 2020, dependence on hydrocarbon imports will remain not only substantial, but will increase.

In December 2008, as part of the fight against climate change, the European Union adopted the Energy and Climate package that endorsed three objectives toward 2020: a 20% increase in energy efficiency, a 20% reduction in GHG emissions (compared to 1990), and a 20% share of renewables in final energy consumption.

 

There is a valuable lesson to be learned about raw material dependence from the tensions between China and Japan in the East China Sea. It’s not about the oil and gas that is thought to be stored under the seabed in disputed waters, but rather the so-called “rare earth elements”, of which China produces 97% of the global supply.

Last week the gritty Russian/Ukrainian gas relationship was back in the press. This time the issue appeared to be Ukraine’s efforts to secure lower prices for its consumers - perhaps even on a par with Russia’s domestic consumers. The Ukrainians must surely know that to qualify for those kinds of special prices available previously only to politically compliant neighbors - Ukraine would have to return to some form of pre-Orange Revolution relationship with Mother Russia.