Sustainable Energy Law Notebook

The European Commission sent on 22 March 2012 reasons opinions - first stage in the infringement procedure before referring them to the Court - to four Member States for lacking transposition of EU l egislation on support to renewable energy sources (Directive 2009/28/EC) and energy labelling (Directive 2010/30/EU). The press releases are available below: Renewable energy: Finnish, Greek and Polish legislation still not in line with EU rules   Here the Commission comments that: " The timely transposition of EU legislation is a priority for the Commission, especially since unnecessary delays in implementing may jeopardize the achievement of the EU  renewable energy objective . However,  Finland, Greece, and Poland have not yet informed the Commission of the full transposition of the Directive into their national legislation ." Energy Labelling: Commission urges Czech Republic and Poland to adopt consumer-friendly legislation   The Commission sta...

Two new texts relating to the certification criteria for biofuels and bioliquids have been published in the Official Journal of the EU: Communication (2010/C 160/01) from the Commission on voluntary schemes and default values in the EU biofuels and bioliquids sustainability scheme ; Communication (2010/C 160/02) from the Commission on the practical implementation of the EU biofuels and bioliquids sustainability scheme and on counting rules for biofuels . Reference : OJEU C160 of 19 June 2010 .

Two important Directives have been published in today's Official Journal of the EU ( OJEU L 153 of 18.06.2010 ): Directive 2010/30/EU of 19 May 2010 on the indication by labelling and standard product information of the consumption of energy and other resources by energy-related products ; Directive 2010/31/EU of 19 May 2010 on the energy performance of buildings (recast).

The European Commission has adopted on 10 June two Communications and one Decision on the issue of sustainable biofuels certification : Communication on the practical implementation of EU biofuels and bioliquids sustainability scheme and on counting rules for biofuels; Communication on the voluntary schemes and default values in the EU biofuels and bioliquids sustainability scheme; Commission Decision on guidelines for the calculation of land carbon stocks for the purpose of Annex V of Directive 2009/28/EC. A forthcoming post will detail the content of these measures. References : Press release, European Commission, IP/10/711 ; FAQ, European Commission, MEMO/10/247 .

What is embodied energy ? Qu'est-ce que l'énergie grise ? Hva er grå energi ? Short definition - Embodied energy relates to the total quantity of energy which is necessary to the production, transport, manufacturing, and further transport of a good until the place of consumption. Embodied energy can be calculated for any good, from electronic devices, household appliances, car or construction materials. It can be described as the energy counterpart of life cycle analysis resulting in life cycle energy analysis. Where the embodied energy for the production of a certain good or the functioning of certain plants is so high that it overcomes the benefits of the resulting product, one can talk about energy cannibalism . Orientate customers - If embodied energy information is disclosed on the packaging, customers will be able to make their own assessment and orientate their consumption choice towards a less energy demanding product. The same reasoning already apply to the food sec...