David Donnerer

New LIFE PlanUp project shines a light on EU National Energy and Climate Plans

Through the recently launched LIFE PlanUp project, Energy Cities and its civil society and research partners across Europe will closely track the NECP process in its five focus countries Spain, Italy, Poland, Hungary and Romania. LIFE PlanUp (...)

By David Donnerer, on 14 February 2019 | 15h28 | 550 visits
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These are the 10 trends reshaping climate and energy policies

The EU Commission has recently presented its vision for a climate-neutral Europe by 2050. It has emphasized that this aim is possible and desirable, and would provide major social, economic and health benefits to citizens. But uttering such a (...)

By David Donnerer, on 7 January 2019 | 10h48 | 796 visits
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How Milton Keynes used artificial intelligence to better engage with its citizens

Recently, the Energy Cities member Milton Keynes ran a pilot project that used a different approach. Thanks to the artificial intelligence (AI) tool “Citibeats”, developed by the Barcelona-based startup Social Coin, Milton Keynes was able to (...)

By David Donnerer, on 12 décembre 2018 | 10h48 | 964 visits
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4 takeaways from the European Commission's 2050 vision for a climate-neutral Europe

“A Clean Planet for all: A European strategic long-term vision for a prosperous, modern, competitive and climate neutral economy”: this is how the Commission is unveiling its proposal for a climate-neutral Europe by 2050. The strategy arrives (...)

By David Donnerer, on 28 November 2018 | 18h10 | 1450 visits
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New publication out: Local energy and climate roadmaps - 5 city visions for 2050

Going beyond energy and climate policies in long-term roadmaps On the surface, developing a mid-century energy and climate roadmap appears as an undertaking solely focusing on energy and climate policies. Yet, it is much more than that. (...)

By David Donnerer, on 22 October 2018 | 08h49 | 972 visits
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Serious play: a game-changer for local climate action?

Serious games, whether board or video games, have been around for decades already. In schools for example, such games are used to teach children mathematics or languages in a playful and accessible way. For many professions such as doctors, (...)

By David Donnerer, on 4 September 2018 | 11h57 | 716 visits
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Apply for the next edition of the European Covenant of Mayors twinning programme!

The Covenant twinning programme offers cities, regions and provinces across Europe the opportunity to take part in twinning exchanges aiming to increase local authorities’ capacity and knowledge to mitigate and adapt to climate change. The (...)

By David Donnerer, on 31 August 2018 | 11h30 | 604 visits
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Artificial Intelligence - the next frontier for local energy transition

Artificial intelligence, which is the ability of machines to perform at the level of human intelligence, has been around for decades. In 1997, IBM developed the supercomputer "Deep Blue", which managed to beat the world’s best chess player (Garry (...)

By David Donnerer, on 7 août 2018 | 15h13 | 830 visits
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EU energy policy: what’s in store for you in the fall?

The month of June was hectic. Negotiations on the renewables and energy efficiency directive and on the governance of the Energy Union regulation finally came to an end. For this newsletter edition, we decided to take you through the key (...)

By David Donnerer, on 30 juillet 2018 | 10h08 | 841 visits
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EU deal on Energy Union Governance enables local authorities to participate in designing national climate and energy futures

After a negotiation marathon driven forward by the Bulgarian Council Presidency, which wanted to deliver results at all costs ahead of the end of its mandate on 30 June, the EU Parliament, the Council and the EU Commission agreed on a deal on (...)

By David Donnerer, on 20 June 2018 | 15h50 | 854 visits
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Blockchain: bringing cooperation to the energy market

What makes the blockchain so fascinating and revolutionary for our energy system? Blockchain emerges at a moment when more and more new players enter the energy market, from renewable companies to cities and citizens. We see the unstoppable (...)

By David Donnerer, on 29 May 2018 | 15h39 | 867 visits
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By Miriam Eisermann, on 29 May 2018 | 15h39 | 867 visits
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Blockchain and energy transition - what challenges for cities? Find out in our newly released publication!

The blockchain is not just for techies: after stirring up financial markets through the virtual currency bitcoin, the blockchain technology is quickly conquering other industries and markets - notably energy. The energy sector has been (...)

By David Donnerer, on 18 April 2018 | 16h43 | 11130 visits
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Not just for techies: Blockchain - more power for cities or for big utilities?

Energy blockchain experiments and pilots are multiplying, driven by tech-savvy entrepreneurs. It looks like the new technology is disrupting the energy system from Spain to the US. And what is in it for cities? Energy Cities makes sense of the (...)

By David Donnerer, on 13 March 2018 | 11h02 | 1290 visits
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When the EIB is learning from cities: more EU money for local energy?

It was a premiere and a privilege to be the voice of European city leaders: Eckart Würzner, Lord Mayor of Germany’s sustainability pioneers, was the only city councillor attending the dedicated session on sustainable cities during the EIB event. (...)

By David Donnerer, on 8 February 2018 | 11h19 | 1905 visits
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An EU budget to make energy citizens a reality

In a joint position paper published today, we sketch a creative policy vision for how the next MFF could best unlock innovative financing and address specific barriers faced by energy citizens and community power projects wishing to invest in (...)

By David Donnerer, on 5 February 2018 | 18h45 | 1529 visits
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New PUBLENEF toolbox supports policy makers in tackling energy efficiency challenges

The objective of the PUBLENEF project is to assist EU Member States in implementing effective and efficient sustainable energy policies (with the focus on energy efficiency) and empower them to make use of the best practices and policy (...)

By David Donnerer, on 3 January 2018 | 12h38 | 1239 visits
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New EU decision lifts key barrier to investing in energy efficiency projects

When cities now want to invest in energy efficiency projects using EPCs, they can spread the investment costs over the duration of the contract. The cities’ financial department only has to record the EPC fee (cash payment with the EPC (...)

By David Donnerer, on 21 September 2017 | 16h26 | 1848 visits
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Energy Cities President meets Members of European Parliament to discuss role of cities in EU Energy Union governance

Sub-national action paramount to reach EU 2050 goals The roundtable was hosted by MEP Claude Turmes and MEP Michèle Rivasi, who are both authors of the draft report on the proposal for a regulation on the governance of the Energy Union. This (...)

By David Donnerer, on 13 July 2017 | 10h04 | 2699 visits
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Horizon 2020 and Smart Cities: Our recommendations for the work-programme 2018-2020

The mid-term review of the EU’s Multi-Annual Financial Framework at the end of 2016 has resulted in an additional €400 million for the Horizon 2020 programme and the Smart Cities & Communities (SCC) initiative in the coming three years. This (...)

By David Donnerer, on 17 May 2017 | 11h16 | 1709 visits
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New PUBLENEF Energy Efficiency Roadmaps support policy makers in taking action!

PUBLENEF is a Horizon2020 project launched in 2016 that will run for three years. The project aims to assist EU Member States in implementing effective and efficient sustainable energy policies (with the focus on energy efficiency) and empower (...)

By David Donnerer, on 11 May 2017 | 14h04 | 1798 visits
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Show your support to an EU Cycling Strategy!

The aim of this campaign is to include the development of a dedicated EU Cycling Strategyin the 2018 work programme of the European Commission. A wide coalition of stakeholders, from public authorities, citizens, civil society to businesses, (...)

By David Donnerer, on 5 May 2017 | 10h36 | 2105 visits
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What prospects for EU energy efficiency policy with the Clean Energy Package?

The 2016 Clean Energy for all Europeans package of the EU Commission has reinforced the position of energy efficiency policies in the EU’s political agenda. One of the three key objectives of these proposals is to “put energy efficiency first” in (...)

By David Donnerer, on 2 May 2017 | 11h42 | 1272 visits
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EU Emission Trading System: European Parliament puts a cap on local investments in "Modernisation Fund"

As the energy system is set to become more decentralised, the lion’s share of investments will need to happen on the local level – e.g. to speed up the energy efficient renovation of buildings, the uptake of demand management for consumers, the (...)

By David Donnerer, on 23 January 2017 | 11h36 | 1320 visits
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Energy Cities’ members multiply renewables by 6 in the framework of Covenant of Mayors - study

Covenant cities regularly monitor their progress in implementing their local action plans (SECAPs). In December 2016, Energy Cities selected 33 cities from its network having signed the Covenant of Mayors for Climate & Energy to assess (...)

By David Donnerer, on 10 January 2017 | 12h43 | 1047 visits
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Covenant of Mayors: Transforming Cities into key EU Climate and Energy Actors

Over 7000 cities have joined the Covenant of Mayors since it came into life in 2008. They have been honoring their commitments to the world’s leading urban climate and energy initiative by substantially reducing GHG emissions through energy (...)

By David Donnerer, on 29 November 2016 | 12h41 | 1221 visits
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European Commission’s "Low-emission mobility strategy" highlights best transport practices of Energy Cities Members

The low-emission mobility strategy constitutes the cadre for the Commission’s initiatives in the field of mobility in the coming years. The strategy is anchored in three pillars: increasing the efficiency of the transport system, speeding up the (...)

By David Donnerer, on 26 July 2016 | 10h26 | 1552 visits
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Energy Efficiency and ESCO financing: Niš LE(A)DS the way

The city of Niš has been committed to climate change mitigation for a long time. The municipality joined Energy Cities in 2003, signed the Covenant of Mayors in 2011 – committing to decrease its CO2 emissions by 21% by 2020, and adopted a 2050 (...)

By David Donnerer, on 15 June 2016 | 11h05 | 1427 visits
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EU Emission Trading System: Our 5 recommendations for a sensible use of the "Modernisation Fund"

The Modernisation Fund, a funding instrument in the framework of the ETS for the period of 2021 to 2030, is a step in the right direction. The Modernisation Fund will use 2% of the EU ETS allowances to support 10 Member States in Central and (...)

By David Donnerer, on 19 April 2016 | 11h06 | 1377 visits
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Review of Energy Efficiency Directive: strengthen the local energy savings potential

The EU Commission recently completed a public consultation process for a review of the Energy Efficiency Directive (EED), to collect views from stakeholders on the framework and policies needed to achieve the EU 2030 energy efficiency target. (...)

By David Donnerer, on 9 February 2016 | 09h27 | 1580 visits
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Energy Cities’ members delivering on their Covenant of Mayors CO2 reduction commitments

The Covenant of Mayors is a unique bottom-up initiative, in which local and regional authorities voluntarily commit to going beyond the EU’s 2020 CO2 emission reduction target of 20%. This commitment was recently extended to a minimum 40% CO2 (...)

By David Donnerer, on 25 January 2016 | 12h42 | 1439 visits
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