Energy and Climate Law

    By Ceciel Nieuwenhout, Post-Doctoral Researcher, Groningen Centre of Energy Law and Sustainability; Lead Author of WP 1 T1.2 Report to the H2020 POCITYF-project A substantial part of energy in the EU is consumed by households , for powering electric appliances and for heating and cooling. This presents an opportunity to reduce the consumption of (fossil) energy, with the built environment becoming a key-sector in the energy transition. Buildings, both houses and buildings that are used for other purposes, can be retrofitted and isolated to reduce the energy consumption (energy efficiency) and they can be equipped with small-scale renewable energy production units, such as solar cells (energy production). Combined, these measures may make a building “energy positive”, when the production of energy in a building is higher than its consumption. This energy can also be shared over a larger area, creating so-called “positive energy districts”. This blogpost first explains what posi

Yesterday and today the European Parliament approved of the central backbone legislation of the European Green Deal, the so called European Climate Law . The initiative came from the European Commission and it is undergoing the ordinary legislative procedure, under which the European Parliament and its Committees first have to form an opinion, before negotiations with the European Council shall then result in a final law. The European Parliament is well know for being slightly more ambitious in terms of climate action than the European Commission, with yesterday`s vote being no exception. This blog entry takes a look at the main points of the proposed European Climate Law, the European Parliament`s take on it and the likely prospects of the law.