COGEN Europe News Archive 2001

20/12/2001	Mini and Micro-Cogeneration: European Parliament vote supports future opportunities As expected, Members of the European parliament's Energy Committee have voted for the EU Directive on the Energy Performance of Buildings to come into force by the end of 2003 - five years earlier than 2008, foreseen under an accord of national government's energy ministers earlier this month (See news from 07/12/2001). If the full Parliament confirms the committee opinion, ministers will only be able to impose their preferred date by voting unanimously for it. The Directive would push mini and micro-cogeneration in buildings and provide significant business opportunities for this emerging market. Its later entry-into-force would also remove the Directive from the effort to meet the EU's targets under the Kyoto Protocol.
10/12/2001	Second edition of the EDUCOGEN Tool: All about cogeneration - for free "EDUCOGEN - The European Educational Tool on Cogeneration" is the most comprehensive academic book on cogeneration in Europe. Elaborated and tested by the partners of the EU-funded EDUCOGEN project, the book explains on 176 pages all you need to know about cogeneration principles, technologies, applications, economies, impacts, policy frameworks etc. A second, improved version of this popular publication can now be downloaded for free in two different formats: 2.1 Mb download 4.0 Mb download
10/12/2001	New Webpage of Flemish Cogeneration Association The recenly created Flemish association for the promotion of cogeneration, COGEN Vlaanderen, is now online on http://www.cogenvlaanderen.be
07/12/2001	EU Building Energy Performance Directive: EU energy ministers weaken proposal On 4 December 2001 EU energy ministers reached an informal agreement which significantly weakens the proposed Directive on the energy performance of buildings. The proposal aims to reduce energy losses from non-industrial building stock, the largest single consumer of energy at over 40%. Amongst other things, the planned Directive would support residential CHP schemes by requiring mandatory feasibility studies for larger new residential buildings. Under the ministerial accord, member states would until 2009 to implement the Directive - five years longer than proposed by the Commission and too late to contribute to the first Kyoto commitment period. The Commission has opposed the move, and the European Parliament is likely to follow suit when it completes its first reading in February 2002.
07/12/2001	European Commission seeks input into planned CHP Directive The European Commission is currently consulting all interested stakeholders prior to drafting a proposal for the forthcoming CHP Directive. COGEN Europe is alreday closely involved in this process. A consultation meeting with member states and other stakeholders occured on 26 November 2001 in Brussels, where a background document on the planned Directive has been distributed. Your comments, opinions and suggestions are welcome and should be sent to Lars Nielsen from the European Commission, DG TREN (E-mail: lars.nielsen@cec.eu.int) and/or Dr Simon Minett at COGEN Europe (E-mail: simon.minett@cogen.org) by 21 Deecember 2001 at the latest. Documentation: Background Document on the planned CHP Directive (190 KB, important questions on page 13ff) COGEN Europe Position Paper "Elements needed in a Directive on Cogeneration" (30 KB)
07/12/2001	Renewable energy combined with CHP: the success factors A report published yesterday by the European Environment Agency (EEA) highlights the factors and government action resulting in outstanding growth of renewable energies in certain EU member states. Two of the top success stories - biomass used for district heating in Austria and Sweden - are linked to CHP. A press release and a full report are available on-line.
05/12/2001	CHP - UK Government takes (very) small steps In the last six months the UK's CHP industry has been devastated by the New Electricity Trading Arrangements (NETA) that have marginalised green power generators and undermined even the limited measures designed to support the industry. A combination of weak incentives along with NETA means that it is now virtually impossible to export green power from CHP. First steps of the UK government in response to this situation are considered largely insufficient by the national CHP Association CHPA. More information on the website of the CHP Association or from David Green, Director, on +44 20 7828 4077 or +44 7802 242487
30/11/2001	COGEN Europe contribution to IEA Workshop The Director of COGEN Europe presented the case for the removal of policy, administrative, regulatory and market obstacles for the deployment of cogeneration at an IEA Workshop on Best Practices and Lessons Learned in Energy Technology Deployment Policies, Paris 28-29 November 2001 (Slides from the presentation, ppt, 134 KB). The meeting comprised members of the Committee of Energy Research Technologies for all the countries of the International Energy Agency. COGEN Europe presented the case for Governments need to focus their efforts on the removal of barriers to cogeneration in an holistic way. One of the examples presented was that of the UK. Within an emerging positive environment for cogeneration, the regulatory regime through the implementation of NETA has destroyed the market for cogeneration. The UK is, therefore, a prime example of incoherent government support for cogeneration. COGEN Europe urged delegates to focus on improving the market and policy frameworks so that cogeneration is able to provide the environmental and security of energy supply benefits.
29/11/2001	Cogen Germany '02 Cogen Germany `02 will be a key conference and exhibition for the German and international cogeneration business (Berlin, 17-19 January 2002). It forms part of the RENEXPO Germany 2002 event, which also includes Biogas International 2002 and Green Invest 2002. More than 5000 visitors and participants are expected. Read the brochure (pdf) or contact the office of erneuerbare energien (T: +49 7121 30 16 - 0) for more information.
28/11/2001	Marrakesh Accords and Declaration An advance version of the decisions and other action adopted by the parties at the Marrakesh Climate Summit has been made avilable on the UNFCCC website in unedited form (pdf, 667 KB)
21/11/2201	Position Paper on Security of Energy Supply Green Paper EREC, EUFORES, FEDARENE and COGEN Europe jointly published a Position Paper on the Green Paper of the European Commission "Towards a European strategy for the security of energy supply" (pdf, 247 KB). In response to the Green Paper, the Position Paper outlines necessities for any future energy strategy considerations.
19/11/2001	Commission publishes Overview of Climate Talks in Marrakesh The European Commission has published an overview of the proceedings and results of last week's world climate talks in Marrakesh (pdf, 79 KB). The document sets out the final agreement, plus what has been left to be resolved by the first meeting of parties. It also provides an EU perspective on the political struggles in Marrakesh.
13/11/2001	COGEN Europe Position Paper on the planned Cogeneration Directive In its recent Communication on the Implementation of the European Climate Change Programme the European Commission has announced the presentation of a proposal for a EU Cogeneration Directive in 2002. As input into this process, COGEN Europe has issued yesterday a Position Paper "Elements needed in a Directive on Cogeneration" (pdf, 30 KB). Contact: Dr. Simon Minett, COGEN Europe.
02/11/2001	Proceedings of the 2nd International CHP Symposium freely available The 2nd International Symposium on Combined Heat and Power in Amsterdam, Netherlands, (9-10 May 2001) was a major event organised by the International Cogeneration Alliance. The symposium proceedings and presentations can now be obtained in ppt, pdf or doc format from a special download page (use user-ID: chp2001, password: chp2001delegate).
25/10/2001	Download final reports of the 'future cogen' project Future cogen is considered one of the most important inputs to the European cogeneration debate. The study assessed the current status, future markets and conditions for cogeneration in 28 European countries using a range of scenarios. The final report of the study (pdf, 712 KB) and a summary report (pdf, 212 KB) are now available. For more information have a look at the future cogen homepage or at the project's fact sheet on this webpage.
24/10/2001	COGEN Europe becomes CENELEC's 31st Cooperating Partner CENELEC, the European Electrotechnical Standards Organization and COGEN Europe, signed yesterday an important cooperation agreement in Brussels guaranteeing direct input from COGEN into the standardisation work undertaken by CENELEC. Please read the press release (pdf, 91 KB) to obtain full information.
23/10/2001	New European Climate Change Package Today the European Commission announced in a press release the adoption of a major package of initiatives to implement the EU's 8% greenhouse gas reduction commitment. It comprises a proposal for the EC to ratify the Kyoto Protocol; a draft Directive on greenhouse gas emissions trading within the EU; and a Communication on the Implementation of the European Climate Change Programme. The latter announces the Commission's intention to present a proposal for a CHP Directive in 2002 and outlines elements of it.
17/10/2001	COGEN Update 55 issued The latest news on COGEN Europe, European CHP policies, climate change, publications, and events. Available to COGEN Europe members only. You need a user name and password to download COGEN Update 55 (pdf format). Further information on the login procedure is provided on the member area of this page.
12/10/2001	The Environmental Aspects of Cogeneration in Europe This paper from Simon Minett, COGEN Europe, has been presented at the Congress "Power Plants 2001", 10-12 October 2001, Brussels. You can download it for free (pdf, 38 KB)
10/10/2001	COGEN Europe Member Area on this Webpage opened Only COGEN Europe members will have access to the new Member Area area which offers the latest COGEN updates, COGEN Europe briefings, and a Bulletin Board. Further items will be added soon. Contact persons from paid-up member organisations of COGEN Europe will receive today by e-mail the User name and password to access the new Member Area. If you did not receive them, please contact Peter Löffler
05/10/2001	CHAPNET project to start in November 2001 Co-ordinated by COGEN Europe, the CHAPNET project will start in November 2001. The project concerns the creation & operation of a Thematic Network on Combined Heat & Power. CHAPNET will contribute to the dissemination and exploitation of RTD results and a successful development of a RTD strategy for CHP thus providing input into the European Research Area. For further information have a look at the CHAPNET project factsheet on this webpage.
05/10/2001	Final workshop of the 'future cogen' project in Brussels The future cogen project has examined the prospects for cogeneration growth in 28 countries across Europe. A final workshop to discuss the results of this project and to consider the future policy needs for cogeneration in Europe will take place on 25 October 2001 between 10:00-13:00 in Brussels. If you wish to attend the workshop, please download the invitation letter and a draft programme for the workshop (pdf)) and contact Dr Simon Minett from COGEN Europe who is also available for any further information (Email: simon.minett@cogen.org or tel +32 2 772 8290).
20/09/2001	Welcome to the new COGEN Europe Webpage! This is the new interface of COGEN Europe's webpage. We decided to develop and maintain this webpage at our Brussels Office in order to provide you with easier access to more up to date information on Cogeneration in Europe. Any comments and suggestions to the webmaster on the design and content of this page are welcome.
20/09/2001	COGEN Europe's Annual Conference postponed COGEN Europe's Annual Conference 'Cogeneration in the New Energy Market has changed its date and will occur on 19-21 March 2002 in Brussels. Conference participants can kill two birds with one stone and go also to the COGEN EXPO which will take place at the same time in Brussels. For further details register your interest by contacting us and giving us your name, address, telephone, fax and email address. Information will be sent to you as it becomes available.