Sustainable Energy Law Notebook

Advocate General Yves Bot delivered on 28 January 2014 his conclusions in case Ålands Vindkraft AC vs. Energimyndighten  ( Case C-573/12 ). The conclusions are clearly in favour of the removal of barriers to the eligibility of foreign produced electricity to national support scheme for renewables , as this is currently  backed in Directive 2009/28/EC on the promotion of the use of energy from renewable sources (RES Directive).  

Hereafter are reproduced the parts of the State of the Union Speech hold by U.S. president Obama on 28 January 2014 which are related to energy and climate change issues.        

Energy efficiency is simple but demanding, because it requires changing our own behaviour . When we are constantly incited to consume more by using new electronic tools, the simplier remains often the better. In addition, consumer have obtain rights that should be exercised. The Norwegian news website KraftNytt published recently a list of 9 simple actions to cut your electricity bill . They are translated below into English. Switch your electricity supplier Read your meter Reduce room temperature Ventilate correctly Use wood-firing when it is cheaper Decrease temperature in the rooms which are not used Insulate better, in particular windows areas Take a shower and avoid bath Limit the use of washing machines and drying drums Read the full article on KraftNytt website here .  

The European Commission has announced on 23 January 2014 that it is referring Ireland to the Court of Justice of the European Union for lack of transposition of Directive 2009/28/EC on the promotion of the use of energy from renewable sources (RES Directive) . Member States had to adopt national transposition measures by 5 December 2010 .

Can climate change still be integrated as an environmental concern in energy and industrial policy, or is competitiveness the strongest argument for decision-makers?   We will soon have an answer by the very fact that agendas and calendars are merging . Rumours are now saying that, in addition to the concomittant presentation of the climate and energy policy and a new industrial policy on 22 January 2014 , EU governments have now announced to merge two consecutive meetings on energy prices (planned in February) and climate policy (planned in March) into one single joint European Council meeting on 20-21 March . The news service Energy Post is reporting in detail on that news. Beside the positive reduction of costs of holding one single meeting instead of two, this reflects the pressure the economic reality of high energy costs (for most EU Member States) is putting on environmental policy, hereby climate policy.   That there is a need for coherence, it is obviou...