1. Commission launches plans to curb energy use and security in heating and cooling
The European Commission has released new proposals for a raft of measures which will shore-up prevention of gas crises and ensure better coordination and support between EU countries in any gas supply disruption. Furthermore, addressing the potential for improving energy efficiency and the use of renewable energy in the sector with the first ever dedicated strategy.
District heating and cooling networks can use and store electricity powered by renewables and then distribute it to buildings and industrial sites, boosting the level of renewable heating and cooling.
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2. New round - Reduction of electricity price.
The main activity of the government during the last few years is looking for new reserves for the reduction of electricity prices. The search for new sources of electricity price reduction is probably related not only with employers’ pressure. The mechanism for the reduction of “obligation to the society” fee for the industry, suggested by ministry of energy in 2015 is seriously criticized by the European Commission so it will be probably revised.
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3. Canada, the United States and Mexico have signed a trilateral agreement
Natural Resources Minister Jim Carr on Friday met in Winnipeg with U.S. Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz and Mexico’s Pedro Joaquin Coldwell, and agreed the three nations should heighten their joint efforts to meet clean energy and climate challenges.
At their two-day meeting in Winnipeg, the energy ministers signed a memorandum of understanding that established working groups covering: low-carbon electricity; clean energy technologies; energy efficiency; carbon capture, use and storage; climate change adaptation; and reducing emissions from the oil and gas sector, carbon capture, use and storage; climate change adaptation; and reducing emissions from the oil and gas sector.
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4. Bulgarian, Romanian Energy Regulators Sign Memorandum for Cooperation
Bulgaria’s Energy and Water Regulatory Commission (EWRC) chairman Prof. Ivan Ivanov and Mr. Niculae Havrilet, president of the Romanian energy regulator ANRE, signed today in Sofia a memorandum for cooperation.
The memorandum is the basis for improvement in the interaction between the two regulators in the framework of the third energy package. They will exchange data and experience regarding the REMIT reporting and mutual work on the vertical gas corridor, the EWRC said in a press release following the meeting.
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5. Statoil to Invest $200 Million in Renewable Energy by 2022
Statoil ASA, Norway’s biggest oil and gas producer, will invest as much as $200 million in renewable energy over four to seven years as part of Chief Executive Officer Eldar Saetre’s plan to diversify the company’s portfolio.
A new fund, Energy Ventures, will take a minority stake in startups developing technologies including wind power, energy storage and smart grids.
„The transition to a low carbon society creates business opportunities, and Statoil aims to drive profitable growth within this space,” Irene Rummelhoff, executive vice president of the clean energy unit, said in the statement.
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6. Power walk: Footsteps could charge mobile electronics
When you’re on the go and your smartphone battery is low, in the not-so-distant future you could charge it simply by plugging it into your shoe.
An innovative energy harvesting and storage technology developed by University of Wisconsin–Madison mechanical engineers could reduce our reliance on the batteries in our mobile devices, ensuring we have power for our devices no matter where we are.
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