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Experts estimate that about half of the German electric vehicles registered in the United States are leased. While the scale of the U.S. subsidies has attracted most attention, the EU has large potential resources of its own. THE REAL PROBLEM"The amounts of subsidies in Europe are in line or even more than those in the United States, that is not the problem," said one senior European Union official. "The real problems are the incentives to make firms move production to the United States," said the official, referring to the local content requirements. To ensure Europe can compete with the United States, the European Commission on Wednesday proposed measures including loosening EU state aid rules and repurposing existing EU funds.

"Major economies are rightly stepping up investment in net zero industries," von der Leyen told a news conference. And we want to be an important part of this net-zero industry that we need globally," von der Leyen said. RESISTANCEThe European Commission is hoping member states will back its plan at a Feb.9-10 summit but it faces a hot debate. Solar sector industry group SolarPower Europe said it was concerned by what it called a "lack of focus" on specific technologies in the EU plan. The bloc is heavily reliant on China for rare earths and lithium, which are vital materials for the green transition.

The plan is partly a response to multi-billion-dollar support programmes of China and the United States, including the latter's Inflation Reduction Act. Many EU leaders are concerned that the local content requirements of its $369 billion of green subsidies will encourage companies to relocate, making the United States a leader in green tech at Europe's expense. RESISTANCEThe European Commission is hoping member states will back its plan at a Feb.9-10 summit but huge chunks are likely to be hotly debated among member states. There is also clear opposition from some EU members to previous suggestions that the plan could entail further joint borrowing. The bloc is heavily reliant on China for rare earths and lithium, which are vital materials for the green transition.

The plan is partly a response to multi-billion-dollar support programmes of China and the United States, including the latter's Inflation Reduction Act. Many EU leaders are concerned that the local content requirements of its $369 billion of green subsidies will encourage companies to relocate, making the United States a leader in green tech at Europe's expense. Longer term, the Commission will propose creating a European Sovereignty Fund to invest in emerging technologies. The bloc is heavily reliant on China for rare earths and lithium, which are vital materials for the green transition. The EU executive also wants to seal more free trade agreements and partnerships to make supply chains more resilient and to open markets for green goods.

FASTER PERMITSClean tech firms could be in line for simpler rules and fast-tracked permits to build production facilities in Europe. The EU executive said it would produce a "Net-Zero Industry Act" offering faster permits to manufacturers of technologies key to its climate goals. That could include carbon capture and storage, renewable energy, renewable hydrogen production facilities and batteries. Brussels had already slashed the time lines and simplified the rules for renewable energy projects last year. The Commission, which oversees EU trade policy, wants to increase the EU's network of trade agreements, such as those concluded with Chile, Mexico, New Zealand and Mercosur and one it aims to agree with Australia.

Jan 31 (Reuters) - Solar panels and home batteries have soared in popularity because they allow consumers to generate and store their own carbon-free power and save on their electricity bills. When used this way, they are called virtual power plants, or VPPs. "Virtual power plants are at the center of that." U.S. solar companies including Sunrun Inc (RUN.O) and SunPower Corp (SPWR.O) have pooled some of their customers' systems into virtual power plants in California, Hawaii and New England. Sunrun last year, for example, operated a virtual power plant with thousands of homes in New England that provided 1.8 gigawatt-hours to the grid during June through August.

Instead, the draft seen by Reuters offers to re-purpose some of the money the EU has already agreed to raise jointly for its post-coronavirus pandemic recovery fund. It will also loosen state aid rules to allow governments to support their firms more. GREEN TRANSITIONThe Recovery Fund already earmarks 250 billion euros in total to be spent on the transition to a green and sustainable economy. But an additional 225 billion euros in the Recovery Fund has not even been claimed by any country because these are cheap loans and governments prefer grants. The Commission said governments will now be able to use these unclaimed loans for green industry support, along with a 5.4 billion euro reserve in the EU budget created to counter the effects of Brexit.

BRUSSELS, Jan 30 (Reuters) - Producers of clean technologies like renewable hydrogen and batteries could receive faster permits under European Union plans to support industries facing U.S. and Chinese competition, a draft document showed on Monday. Specific projects considered important to developing clean technology supply chains could also receive speedier permits, said the draft, which could still change before it is published. Potential options include batteries, carbon capture and storage, renewable energy, renewable hydrogen, energy storage, and low-carbon construction technologies, although the EU will assess which projects to make eligible, the draft said. The EU would also set goals to expand these industries by 2030, to ensure they keep up with Europe's growing needs for clean energy and products. Brussels is looking to create more EU-wide standards for clean technologies - potentially by defining requirements for net-zero emissions products, which could then guide national governments' public procurement of such goods, the draft said.

☆ British finance minister sticks to tax-hiking plans, pledges post-Brexit reforms
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-27 | by ( Hannah Ward-Glenton | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Optimism in the U.K. economy has been in "short supply" in recent months, Hunt said. The Finance Minister stressed the importance of making the U.K. a place where companies want to do business. Hunt's speech comes as the U.K. inflation rate most recently reached 10.5% in December, well above the Bank of England's target of 2%. U.S. Inflation Reduction Act concernsJeremy Hunt said the U.K. government has "some concerns" about the U.S. Inflation Reduction Act in a Q&A session that followed his speech Friday. Absolutely not," Hunt added.

Increasingly, they said conversations in C-suites and with financiers had turned to the risks that climate change presented to businesses. Climate activist Greta Thunberg made the journey up the Swiss Alps to call on the global energy industry and its financiers to end all fossil fuel investments. Suni Harford, the president of UBS's asset management arm who leads the bank's sustainability efforts, said her conversations at Davos suggested no let up in focus on climate, despite the shorter-term pressures. "Clients are becoming ever more informed on the energy transition, demand for sustainable and green products has held up well, and clients are increasingly looking to measure the impact of their portfolios." "Put forward credible and transparent transition plans on how to achieve net zero – and submit those plans before the end of this year," Guterres said in a speech.

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