In brief | 17 July '24
EU Council greenlights €2.3 billion energy transition support for Germany
The EU approved Germany’s amended recovery and resilience plan, which now includes an additional €2.3 billion to contribute to accelerating Germany’s transition towards clean energy by increasing the share of renewables in the German energy mix.
Euractiv: Brake on Green Deal and simpler rules: Agricultural ministers’ wish list for next term
Exempting agriculture from net-zero climate plans, stronger support for farmers and the demand for simpler rules for national administrations are among the key requests emerging from a debate held in the Council on Monday (15 July).
Bruegel: Transatlantic clean investment monitor
A comparison of clean-tech manufacturing and deployment trends in the U.S. shows rapid advances but still under-used capacity.
ECA: Renewable hydrogen-powered EU: auditors call for a reality check
The EU has had mixed success in providing the building blocks for the emerging renewable hydrogen market, according to a report by the European Court of Auditors.
Bloomberg: Germany’s Scholz plans lithium deal with Serbia after Rio ruling
- Chancellor will visit Belgrade this week to secure supplies
- Serbian court last week cleared the way for Rio Tinto project
Bloomberg: EU nations signal support for provisional tariffs on China EVs
- Several governments abstained in secret non-binding ballot
- The bloc is acting on findings of anti-subsidy investigation
Bloomberg: Germany plans overhaul of climate fund in coalition budget deal
- One option under discussion includes scrapping the fund
- Utilities warn of funding gap from looming uncertainty
Communications Earth & Environment: Researchers evaluate near and long-term role of carbon dioxide removal in meeting global climate objectives
Novel carbon dioxide removal technologies, such as direct air carbon capture and storage, scale to multi-gigatonne levels by 2050 and beyond to balance residual emissions and draw down warming.
Euractiv: France unexpectedly includes renewables target in its energy and climate plan
France submitted its final national energy and climate plan (NECP) to the European Commission on Wednesday (July 10), ten days after the legal deadline. The plan includes a 2030 target for renewable energy, which the French government had previously resisted.
Reuters: Greece to impose windfall levy on power producers in August, Sept
Greece will impose a one-off windfall tax on its power producers over the next two months and use the proceeds to help subsidise power bills for households already strained by a cost-of-living crisis, prime minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said.
