Analysis 26 January 2012 The Myth of Isolated Iran The US has framed the question of Iranian sanctions as being about the threat of an Iranian atom bomb. In reality, argues Asia Times correspondent Pepe Escobar, it is about oil, the struggle with China for Asian dominance and the future of the US dollar as a global reserve currency. And although the US claims Iran is "isolated", writes Escobar, this is only true from a western perspective. According to Escobar, the EU is making a costly mistake by "meekly following the US oil boycott". Tom Engelhardt, editor of tomdispatch.com, introduces Escobar's story with some history on the growing crisis in the Gulf. He notes that "in more than 50 years, America’s leaders have never made a move in or near Iran that didn’t lead to unpleasant blowback." More
Advertisement		Analysis 23 January 2012 Time to reform the EU Emission Trading Scheme By Thomas Spencer and Emmanuel Guérin While the ongoing debt crisis has absorbed European attention, another centrepiece of European economic integration is also seeing hard times: the European Emissions Trading Scheme (EU ETS). According to Thomas Spencer and Emmanuel Guérin of the French think tank IDDRI (Institut du Déeveloppement durable et des relations internationales), the ETS needs to be urgently reformed if it is to play its role as backbone of European climate change policy. Failure to do so will lead to huge extra costs and damage the credibility of the EU. They analyse the key weaknesses of the ETS and suggest three steps that could be taken to salvage the system. More
Interview 23 January 2012 The ambitions of Gottfried Steiner, CEO of Austria's Central European Gas Hub 'This will be a heaven for traders' By Alexander Bakst Austria's Central European Gas Hub (CEGH), situated at the crossroads of gas routes between East and West, wants to become one of Europe's major trading hubs. In an interview with European Energy Review, CEO Gottfried Steiner reveals CEGH's strategy to expand the hub's spot-market trading, raise its liquidity and diversify the supply lines to the physical hub at Baumgarten that is connected with the CEGH. 'There will be a lot of gas from different sources all coming to Baumgarten. It will be like heaven for traders.' More		Report 19 January 2012 BP Group Chief Economist Christof Rühl draws optimistic lessons from BP Energy Outlook 2030 "Availability of affordable energy no obstacle to long-term growth" By Christof Rühl For the second time BP has published its annual Energy Outlook 2030, which contains the energy company's projections of future energy trends. In an article for European Energy Review, BP's Group Chief Economist Christof Rühl discusses some of the major implications of the report. He draws a number of important and surprisingly positive conclusions: market forces, he writes, are driving massive and accelerating energy efficiency gains across the world. Thanks to this trend, and to the innovations produced by the market, there will be enough affordable energy available to support global economic growth. More
Recent posts The Vital Relationship: Why Russia needs Qatar (and Qatar could use Russia) - 19 January 2012 Russia is under pressure in the gas market - but it could find a way out: by working together with Qatar. 'Unconventionals are easy to find but hard to get' - 16 January 2012 Jan de Jager, ex-Shell and newly appointed Professor in Regional and Petroleum Geology at the University of Utrecht, does not expect a US-style shale gas boom in Europe. The Southern Gas Corridor: Reaching the Home Stretch - 12 January 2012 Which will be the first pipeline to be built in the Southern Corridor? Friedbert Pflüger, Director of EUCERS, is not afraid to make a prediction. 11 tips, trends and traps for 2012 - 9 January 2012 Matthew Hulbert and Karel Beckman's quick guide to 2012 for European energy decision-makers. "Oettinger's think piece" now needs to be backed up with concrete actions - 22 December 2011 EER puts together the responses to the 2050 Energy Roadmap from many of the major energy and climate lobby groups in Brussels. And the winner is ... Dutch windmills - 22 December 2011 Editor Karel Beckman looks back on the second year of EER's online existence and reveals the top-10 of most-read stories. 'My smart meter should belong to me, not to the network company' - 19 December 2011 Pier Nabuurs, Chairman of the Dutch Smart Energy Collective, argues that the platform for smart grids should be developed by a wide range of companies, not just the grid operators. It's energy that will make or break the BRICs - 15 December 2011 Matthew Hulbert argues that energy is the crucial factor in the development of BRIC relations. Durban leaves large question marks hanging over climate policy - 15 December 2011 Does the outcome of "Durban" give energy companies the signals they need to invest in a low-carbon future? Danes decline oil, gas, coal and nuclear - 12 December 2011 The newly elected Danish centre-left government has set Denmark on a radical decarbonisation course.

All articles published by European Energy Review are filed in our files section.