Ben McWilliams

Featured in: Favicon

elpais.com Favicon

msn.com

lemonde.fr Favicon

corriere.it Favicon

flipboard.com Favicon

politico.eu Favicon

euractiv.com Favicon

foreignaffairs.com Favicon

rp.pl

bruegel.org + 6 more

Articles

Preventing future electricity blackouts requires thorough analysis

1 month ago | bruegel.org | Ben McWilliams |Georg Zachmann |Rebecca Christie |Conall Heussaff

To a great extent, mystery still surrounds the highly disruptive and damaging 28 April power blackout on the Iberian peninsula. Information about the sequence of events that resulted in the blackout is emerging only slowly. Some data circulated early on was likely wrong (such as Spanish electricity generation data). And media overstated quotes from senior government officials and network companies.
The future of electricity demand

Jan 16, 2025 | bruegel.org | Georg Zachmann |Ben McWilliams |Ugnė Keliauskaitė |Giovanni Sgaravatti

Electrification is at the heart of the EU’s agenda as it works towards deep decarbonisation and economic competitiveness. However, electricity demand has remained stagnant, representing less than a quarter of final energy demand. To meet ambitious goals, the EU must electrify sectors like transport, heating, and industry. Key policies are under discussion, including the Electrification Action Plan and the proposed Electrification Bank to support industrial projects.
Northvolt’s struggles: a cautionary tale for the EU Clean Industrial Deal

Dec 11, 2024 | bruegel.org | Jean Pisani-Ferry |Simone Tagliapietra |Ugnė Keliauskaitė |Ben McWilliams

The crisis at Northvolt, a Swedish battery maker that in November filed for Chapter 11 protection against creditors in the United States, is a warning for the European Union over the future direction of its industrial policy. After its founding in 2017, Northvolt – a partner in the flagship EU industrial policy initiative the European Battery Alliance – became a symbol of the EU’s clean-tech ambitions and its goal of creating a competitive, homegrown battery value chain.
The precarious promise of the Paris Agreement’s Article 6

Dec 5, 2024 | bruegel.org | Georg Zachmann |Simone Tagliapietra |Ben McWilliams |Ugnė Keliauskaitė

The international process for coordinating the fight against global warming is in trouble. The United States is likely to withdraw again from the Paris Agreement on climate change, pushing multilateralism and the rules-based order deeper into crisis. Global emissions continue to rise. Developed countries are more directly feeling the short-term cost of decarbonisation policies. The main hope remains technology that cuts the cost of decarbonisation, making compromise easier.
How to fill the remaining gaps in pricing the emissions of the EU’s energy-intensive industries

Nov 25, 2024 | bruegel.org | Georg Zachmann |Ben McWilliams |Ugnė Keliauskaitė |Giovanni Sgaravatti

The author is grateful for earlier comments on this draft to Ignacio Garcia Bercero, Stephen Gardner, Conall Heussaff,Philipp Jäger, Ben McWilliams, Lucio Pench, Simone Tagliapietra, Pierre Wunsch and Georg Zachmann. One consequence of a major reform of the European Union’s emissions trading system in 2023 is that energy-intensive industries (EIIs) will ultimately be exposed fully to carbon pricing.
The end of Russian gas transit via Ukraine and options for the EU

Oct 17, 2024 | bruegel.org | Ugnė Keliauskaitė |Georg Zachmann |Ben McWilliams |Giovanni Sgaravatti

On 1 January 2025, a major contract governing the transit of Russian gas through Ukraine will end, with significant implications for remaining Russian gas exports to some European Union countries.
Identifying areas for EU-UK energy and climate cooperation

Sep 26, 2024 | bruegel.org | Simone Tagliapietra |Giovanni Sgaravatti |Georg Zachmann |Ben McWilliams

This post-Brexit bilateral relationship is based on the Trade and Cooperation Agreement (TCA), signed by the EU and the UKin May 2021. It includes specific provisions on electricity and natural gas trade that have so far sustained cross-border energy flows in those commodities. However, the temporary nature of these trading arrangements weakens the business case for British and European companies to make clean energy investments.
Draghi’s pitch to improve the competitiveness of energy-intensive industry

Sep 12, 2024 | bruegel.org | Georg Zachmann |Ben McWilliams

The 9 September Draghi report, produced by former Italian prime minister Mario Draghi for the European Commission as a steer for future European Union strategy, makes the energy sector a top priority. It takes into account the sector’s complexity, the competing interests of key participants and the resultant trade-offs, and proposes a range of solutions.
Making buildings greener: EU decarbonisation plans

Jul 24, 2024 | bruegel.org | Ugnė Keliauskaitė |Ben McWilliams

By 2030, the European Union must reduce emissions from the heating and cooling of buildings – responsible for 13 percent of EU emissions – by the equivalent of the annual emissions of Slovakia. In this episode of The Sound of Economics, Rebecca Christie sits down with Michael Pahle, Marion Santini and Giovanni Sgaravatti to discuss how greener buildings can play contribute to Europe’s decarbonisation efforts.
Climate change and its impact on the economy

Jul 19, 2024 | bruegel.org | Georg Zachmann |Ben McWilliams |Ugnė Keliauskaitė |Giovanni Sgaravatti

Giovanni gave a testimony to the public hearing of the Section for Economic and Monetary Union and Economic and Social Cohesion (ECO) of the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) on 18 July 2024. LanguageEnglishDatasetThis dataset aggregates daily data on European natural gas import flows and storage levels.