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EU Energy Law, Volume III, Book 3: The European Renewable Energy Yearbook, edited by Christopher Jones. Leuven, Belgium: Claeys & Casteels, 2010, 276 pp., [euro] 240.00, hardback.
Claeys & Casteels have published a comprehensive yearbook covering a broad range of topics in the field of renewable energy in Europe. The volume is edited by Christopher Jones, former Director for New and Renewable Sources of Energy within the European Commission's DG TREN and present Director in secondment under the European Commission's Director-General for Energy Philip Lowe. The collection of essays, entitled "The European Renewable Energy Yearbook", is part of the Claeys & Casteels EU Energy Law series covering a wide variety of energy-related topics in the context of the transition towards renewable energy. Published in 2010, the first two books of the series are dedicated to the legal and policy framework of renewable energy in the European Union and its member states. The third book, reviewed here, is a yearbook consisting of eight chapters on different aspects of the future energy regime of Europe, written by leading policy makers and practitioners on the national or European level. The essays cover topics ranging from general reflections on the need for a zero carbon energy policy and questions surrounding future transmission grid requirements to shortcomings of the current framework for the promotion of combined heat and power in the European Union.
In the opening chapter, Thomas Johansson from Lund University, Sweden, gives a general introduction to the obstacles to an efficient global energy system. According to the author, general dependency on fossil energy imports combined with supply insecurity and price volatility will be the driving forces behind changes in energy systems. In his view, the increasingly limited availability of fossil fuels will not be the main reason to switch to alternative forms of energy production in the coming century. Johansson argues that increasing the share of renewable energy sources in the energy mix could not only help reduce the environmental, health and general climate-related impacts of existing energy systems, but also promote poverty alleviation and sustainable socio-economic development in the world. The author identifies increased exploration and adoption of renewable energy sources on the energy supply side and improved energy efficiency strategies on the demand side as...