| Today - State of the Energy Union Energy Commissioner Kadri Simson will drop the 9th State of the Energy Union' report later today. Euractiv polled EU industry associations, NGOs and think tanks to get their take on how the Energy Union is going, and where the Commission should focus in the year ahead. As you might expect, Brussels energy players had a mix of views. More surprisingly, their priorities differ widely from those of Mario Draghi. You can read all about it here. [Donagh Cagney] Draghi's devil is in the details Brussels spent the last 48 hours digesting the shorter 'Part A' of Mario Draghi's competitiveness report.
However the more detailed (and 328-page) 'Part B' slipped in proposals to reallocate decision-making power, which will not please everyone in the European energy scene. Nothing that "private bodies with commercial interests" are currently undertaking some regulatory decisions, Draghi calls for this power to be taken back by regulators.
He singles out grid operator body ENTSO-E, and "several market operators established in different EU Member States" who control the bloc's power trading algorithms. [Donagh Cagney] EU imports another €400 million of Russian fossil fuels. In the last week of August, EU countries wired some €400 million in exchange for mostly pipeline gas and LNG, research by the Centre for Research on Clean Energy and Air (CREA) shows. [Nikolaus J. Kurmayer] Annual global climate data table. The annual collection of climate metrics compiled by the EU’s research body JRC was released in early September, which among other things confirms the progress made by the EU on climate action. In 2023 the bloc slashed CO2e by 7.5% in a single year. Bad news: overall global emissions grew by 1.9% to an unprecedented 53 gigatonnes of CO2e. [Nikolaus J. Kurmayer] Global climate strike back in Brussels. Next Friday (20 September) Greta Thunberg's 'Fridays For Future' movement will relaunch its global programme of climate strikes. The relaunch is aimed at heads of state who will be meeting at a high-level UN 'Summit of the Future' in New York on 22 - 23 September. Their demands include compliance with the Paris Agreement and the European Green Deal, an end to public subsidies for fossil fuels, and the protection of ecosystems. In Brussels, a march and concerts are scheduled to start at 17:30 from Central Station. [Nathan Canas] Earth reaches plastic overshoot day. 5 September was Plastic Overshoot Day, the date that marks the point in the year when humanity's plastic waste exceeds the capacity of waste management systems to deal with it. According to the Earth Action report, 220 million tonnes of plastic waste are expected to be generated by 2024, and almost 66% of the world's population now lives in areas where plastic waste has already exceeded their waste management capacity. For Nicolas Rochat, founder of Mover Plastic Free Sportswear, “Continuing down this path of uninhibited plastic production is unconscionable and threatens the prosperity of both businesses and humankind.” [Nathan Canas] Innovative technologies could boost Latvia's electricity grid capacity by 40%. A study by consultancy Artelys shows that network improvement technologies (IGTs) can increase the capacity of the Latvian electricity grid by up to 40%, without building new infrastructure. "Innovative network technologies allow us to make the most of existing infrastructure, reduce investment needs and increase network capacity" said Arnis Daugulis, member of the board of Latvian transmission network JSC Augstsprieguma tīkls (AST). With the rapid deployment of renewable energy production projects in Latvia, the network needs to accommodate more than 6 GW of new renewable projects. [Nathan Canas] | 