Energy
The Institute’s Energy Group focuses on critical issues concerning the ongoing low-carbon energy transition analysing topics such as: decarbonisation, renewable energy sources, energy security, and energy efficiency. The Group also monitors energy policy developments on global, European, and domestic levels.
Publications
Reviewing the Co-Benefits of Energy Efficiency in an Irish Context
This paper provides an analysis of the range of direct and indirect co-benefits of energy efficiency upgrades in the residential and non-residential building sectors, with a particular focus on the Irish context.
Learn MoreEurope’s Long Winter: Escaping the Energy Crisis
This paper makes recommendations that policymakers should consider to enhance the resilience of the EU’s energy sector.
Learn MoreFood for Thought Ireland and the UN Food Systems Summit
The UN Food Systems Summit will take place on Thursday, 23 September 2021 and this will be a critical moment for the achievement of the UN Sustainable Development Goals. Ireland goes into the Summit with leadership ambitions as it seeks to champion its ‘food systems approach’.
Learn MoreCourse Correction: China is going Carbon Neutral
This paper considers China’s ambitions to hit peak greenhouse gas emissions before 2030 and become carbon neutral by 2060, arguing that such a significant shift would make a profound contribution to the effort to keep global temperatures well below 2oC and would play an enormous part in possibly achieving the targets of the Paris Climate Agreement.
Learn MoreGreening the European Investment Bank
This briefing examines the European Investment Bank’s recent activities in support of climate action and considers its capacity to finance the green transition in the EU.
Learn MoreOne Step Forward, One Step Back Again: Assessing the Consequences of Three Decades’ Climate Gridlock in the US
This IIEA report reviews three decades of US Federal climate “gridlock” and estimates the damage caused to the global economy from “unnecessary” greenhouse gas emissions.
Learn MoreIreland’s Energy and Climate Plan: Consolidation, Cohesion, Consultation
It has been well-documented that Ireland is unlikely to meet its 2020 climate and energy targets. To meet the country’s 2030 targets, an ambitious, but realistic, climate and energy roadmap is needed now.
Learn MoreBrexit and Electricity Cooperation between Northern Ireland and Ireland
This paper is the second in the IIEA’s series of reports on the sectoral implications of Brexit.
Learn MoreA New Wave of European Climate and Energy Policy: Towards a 2030 Framework
Against a complex, challenging, and often contradictory background, the EU is currently trying to decide what kind of climate and energy regime it wants and needs in the post-2020 period. Should it replicate the formula of the 2008 Climate and Energy Package to 2030 and beyond? Or are there other pathways that may prove more effective or politically palatable? The European Commission has recently published a consultation paper on a 2030 climate and energy framework and enormous efforts are being expended in Brussels and across the Member States as stakeholders work to shape to terms of the debate. This policy brief attempts to provide an understanding of the current debates and to illuminate the key challenges in designing a new wave of European climate policy. It first sets out the current EU energy and climate framework and discusses progress made to date, before going on to outline a range of key challenges in the design of a 2030 framework. This is the fourth in a series of Environment Nexus policy briefs by experts in the field of climate, energy, agriculture and water.
Learn MoreShifting the Climate Finance Paradigm: Nine Key Challenges for Developed Countries
This policy brief explores the policy context defining the current climate finance debate; examines the extent to which commitments have been met; and identifies nine key challenges for developed countries as they enter the new climate finance paradigm, drawing on the lessons of the fast start finance period.
Learn MoreJobs, Growth and Reduced Energy Costs: Greenprint for a National Energy Efficiency Retrofit Programme
Learn MoreEvents
The Royal Society Report on Large-Scale Energy Storage
Professor Chris Llewellyn will discuss the Royal Society Report on Large-Scale Energy Storage.
Learn MoreThe European Commission as a Global Energy Player
The European Commission as a global energy player
Learn MoreEnergy Security in Central Europe: A Conversation with Ambassador-at-Large Václav Bartuška
A presentation by Václav Bartuška, Ambassador-at-Large for Energy Security at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Czechia.
Learn MoreFighting Climate Change with Dialogue
A Webinar presentation by Katherine Hayhoe on Fighting Climate Change with Dialogue
Learn MoreThe Architecture of the New Decarbonised Energy System
In the third installment of the REthink Energy series, Laura Sandys, CBE, will discuss the architecture of the modern energy system.
Learn MoreGetting Past Fire: Moving Fast to a Post-Combustion Planet
Renowned author, environmentalist, and founder of the climate campaign organisations Third Act and 350.org, Bill McKibben, shares his thoughts on how to end large-scale combustion on our planet.
Learn MoreEnergy transition outlook: a focus on Global and European trends’ – a presentation by DNV
Learn MoreThe Geopolitics of Energy in Europe
Tim Gould assesses the geopolitics of energy in Europe following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
Learn MoreThe Future of the European Hydrogen Economy
In this session, three international experts explore the potential of green hydrogen in the EU’s transition to a carbon-neutral future.
Learn MoreThe Geopolitics of the Energy Transition: How Will the Pursuit of Net-Zero Change International Politics?
Professor Meghan O’Sullivan will discuss how the transition away from fossil fuels will remake the geopolitical landscape.
Learn MoreThe World Energy Council’s Vision to Humanise the Global Energy Transition
Dr Wilkinson will outline the World Energy Council’s vision to reconnect people with the planet and to meet the global imperative of a net-zero energy future.
Learn MoreA Secure, Stable and Clean Electricity Future: Perspectives from Europe and the USA
Thomas R. Kuhn and Pat O’Doherty will assess the role of secure and clean electricity in the net-zero energy future.
Learn MoreThe Value of Energy: A New Framework for the Transition to Net Zero
Three expert speakers assess the implications of a new framework to accelerate economic growth and facilitate a clean energy transition.
Learn MoreWEBINAR: The Future of Flying: Zero-Emission Aviation
Mr Llewellyn will highlight the factors needed to lay the groundwork for a climate-neutral commercial aircraft.
Learn MoreIntegrating Renewables Across the EU
The 2030 Climate and Energy Policy Framework agreed by the European Council in 2014 set a target of 27% of energy to come from renewables by 2030.
Learn MoreBriefings
COP26: A Pivotal Moment for the Planet
This paper analyses COP26 and examines the four primary objectives of the summit. It also looks at the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on international climate negotiations and argues that a more equitable global vaccine rollout may strengthen the prospect of an agreement at COP26.
Learn MoreThe Paris Climate Agreement versus the Trump Effect: Countervailing Forces for Decarbonisation
In this publication, IIEA Senior Fellow Joseph Curtin argues that the “Trump Effect” has created a powerful countervailing force acting against the momentum which the Paris Agreement on climate change hoped to generate.
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