Fossil Energies
The geopolitics of hydrocarbons - how are global balances changing, and what are the implications for Europe, emerging and rentier states, as well as for energy transitions?
Related Subjects
COP28: Daunting Stakes and Pivotal Decisions on the Table
The UN climate conference in Dubai faces a moment of troubled geopolitical agenda lowering the focus on the climate emergency, but natural ecosystems will not wait for human decisions. A challenging test for the survival of diplomacy.
COP28: A Tale of Money, Fossil Fuels, and Divisions
“Humanity has opened the gates of hell”, said the UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres during the Climate Ambition Summit, in New York, in September 2023, three months before COP28. The sense of urgency that he conveyed seems shared across the international community.
Pétrole : l’attaque du Hamas contre Israël nourrit des craintes autour de l’Iran
Les Etats-Unis, alliés traditionnels d’Israël, pourraient être amenés à encadrer plus strictement l’application des sanctions contre Téhéran, pays qui représentait 4 % de l’offre mondiale de brut en 2022. Voire à les durcir s’il est avéré que l’Iran a aidé à planifier les actes terroristes du Hamas.
Global Coal Markets at a Climax. An Era of Coal Decline is Finally about to Begin
In a previous note published in 2018, we noted that global coal demand had flattened. Several governments had announced coal phase-out plans, global coal power investment had contracted, and investment in greenfield coal mines was also at a standstill. The freezing of financial resources for coal projects might have indicated the beginning of a structural decline in coal demand and supply.
Long-Term Operation Of Nuclear Plants Vital For Future Of Grid, Says Expert
Argument that reactors are expensive "does not hold any more", conference hears. Nuclear plants will be needed for the future stability of Europe’s grid, Marc-Antoine Eyl-Mazzega said.
The Europeanisation of the Energy Transition in Central and Eastern EU Countries: An Uphill Battle that Can Be Won
Russia’s war in Ukraine, and the brutal decoupling from Russian fossil fuels, is a game changer for the Central and Eastern Europe region which was still heavily dependent on Russia for its energy supply.
Strengthening the Dynamics of Renewable Electricity in Europe
We have made considerable progress in twelve years and the new European Union targets change the scale of renewables, facilitating the electrification of uses. Renewable energies must be pushed to the maximum regardless the future of nuclear power generation.
European Green Deal, Three Years Later
The European Green Deal (EGD) is the single most defining policy initiative of the Von der Leyen Commission. Since its publication in December 2019, it has become the European Union’s (EU) new raison d’être.
The European Green Deal Three Years On: Acceleration, Erosion, Fragmentation?
The European Green Deal (EGD) is the single most defining policy initiative of the von der Leyen Commission. Since its publication in December 2019, it has become the European Union’s (EU) new raison d’être: protecting the planet and Europeans from environmental degradation, through a holistic approach to the energy transition, while promoting sustainable growth and a just transition with no social group or territory left behind.
Moving towards a metallic age: building industry resilience through a strategic storage mechanism for Rare Earth Metals
The decarbonisation of our economies, along with the challenges of strengthening the resilience of industrial value chains, reindustrialisation, notably through low-carbon and digital technologies, and the end of a period of cheap oil and gas, are accelerating the advent of an era of increased dependence on metals in a context of new and growing competition for access to resources.
COP28: Daunting Stakes and Pivotal Decisions on the Table
The UN climate conference in Dubai faces a moment of troubled geopolitical agenda lowering the focus on the climate emergency, but natural ecosystems will not wait for human decisions. A challenging test for the survival of diplomacy.
COP28: A Tale of Money, Fossil Fuels, and Divisions
“Humanity has opened the gates of hell”, said the UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres during the Climate Ambition Summit, in New York, in September 2023, three months before COP28. The sense of urgency that he conveyed seems shared across the international community.
Global Coal Markets at a Climax. An Era of Coal Decline is Finally about to Begin
In a previous note published in 2018, we noted that global coal demand had flattened. Several governments had announced coal phase-out plans, global coal power investment had contracted, and investment in greenfield coal mines was also at a standstill. The freezing of financial resources for coal projects might have indicated the beginning of a structural decline in coal demand and supply.
The Europeanisation of the Energy Transition in Central and Eastern EU Countries: An Uphill Battle that Can Be Won
Russia’s war in Ukraine, and the brutal decoupling from Russian fossil fuels, is a game changer for the Central and Eastern Europe region which was still heavily dependent on Russia for its energy supply.
After the Hydrogen Bubble Bursts: The Factors Shaping and Possibly Unfolding International Hydrogen Value Chains
The laws of physics and the geographic realities will prevail over the myths of hydrogen (H2): it will essentially be delivering carbon-neutral feedstocks to the chemical and steelmaking industries, carbon-neutral fuels to shipping and aviation, and eventually ensuring security in fully decarbonized power grids.
Norway as a Decarbonization Hub for the European Union
The European Union (EU) is committed to reach climate neutrality by 2050. Similarly, Norway aims to create a zero-emission society by that same year.
Russia’s Energy Strategy-2035: Struggling to Remain Relevant
Russia’s Energy Strategy to 2035 (ES-2035) enters, finally, the home stretch. The Ministry of Energy submitted its version of the document to the Russian Government in early October 2019.
(De)globalization of International Plastic Waste Trade: Stakes at Play and Perspectives
The world plastic production has been multiplied by 23 since 1964 to reach 348 million tonnes (mt) in 2017. This production level is expected to double in the next 20 years, largely because of the significant growth in plastic consumption in developing countries. Today, China is the largest producer of plastics (representing nearly 30% of global production) and the European Union (EU) comes second (18.5%) with 64 mt.
The European Battery Alliance is Moving up a Gear
French battery cell manufacturer Saft and Opel, the German subsidiary of automaker PSA Group, are finalising the details of a major investment project in battery cell manufacturing. Is the European Union (EU) finally challenging Asia’s dominance on battery cells production? What chances of success for the European Battery Alliance (EBA) and what implications for the EU industrial policy?
The Political and Commercial Dynamics of Russia's Gas Export Strategy
A wide-ranging look at the way Gazprom interacts with an increasingly challenging global gas market for Russia.
Pétrole : l’attaque du Hamas contre Israël nourrit des craintes autour de l’Iran
Les Etats-Unis, alliés traditionnels d’Israël, pourraient être amenés à encadrer plus strictement l’application des sanctions contre Téhéran, pays qui représentait 4 % de l’offre mondiale de brut en 2022. Voire à les durcir s’il est avéré que l’Iran a aidé à planifier les actes terroristes du Hamas.
Long-Term Operation Of Nuclear Plants Vital For Future Of Grid, Says Expert
Argument that reactors are expensive "does not hold any more", conference hears. Nuclear plants will be needed for the future stability of Europe’s grid, Marc-Antoine Eyl-Mazzega said.
What can we expect from Russia at COP26?
We ask experts whether the Kremlin’s latest moves on climate, including its 2060 net-zero target, heralds genuine change or more greenwash.
Russia has been seen as a climate pariah by the international community for some years. It was one of the last counties to ratify the 2015 Paris Agreement – not until September 2019, at the UN’s Climate Action Summit.
From Russia, with love
Russia is trying to “sow chaos” in Europe by betting big on Marine Le Pen and France's far right.
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