How Black Sea offshore wind power can deliver a green deal for this EU region. CEPS Policy Contribution 09 Oct 2020.

An EU low-carbon economy, with a fully decarbonised power sector at its core, will require very large volumes of low-carbon electricity. To date, offshore wind holds the most promise for the necessary volumes to be realised. While the North Sea offers the best prospects by far, there is significant potential in other waters, including the Baltic Sea, the southern European waters and the Black Sea. Given past and expected cost reductions, Black Sea offshore wind is a major economic opportunity for EU and non-EU countries in the region under the European Green Deal. From an energy perspective it offers a way to substitute increasingly uneconomic coal, without increasing dependence on imported Russian gas, including for landlocked countries. Offshore wind can rejuvenate harbour areas and attract new investment in future-proof technologies more generally, thereby creating jobs, many of them well paid. Low-carbon energy will become a precondition for attracting future investment, not just for low-carbon industries. The Next Generation EU recovery fund is an opportunity for the region to take the next step; first plans are emerging. Given its historic size, good plans and projects will be supported. Member states and their regions must quickly develop comprehensive plans. The experience shows that offshore wind requires a dedicated governance framework. With the Central and South Eastern Europe energy connectivity initiative (CESEC), the framework exists; it can be adapted to meet the needs of offshore wind. A successful EU Black Sea strategy may radiate beyond the EU and the Energy Community. There is interest in renewable energy and offshore wind, especially in Turkey, but also in Azerbaijan, Russia, and the Caspian region

From a liberal to a strategic actor: the evolution of the EU’s approach to international energy governance

Most scholars have described the European Union (EU) as a liberal actor in its approach to international climate and energy governance. This paper argues that the EU has shifted to a strategic approach, including the use of legislation and the adoption of negotiating positions that promote a political agenda. This is illustrated through an analysis of the EU’s evolving stance on multilateral energy governance and its handling of the Nord Stream 2 project. The EU began to shift towards a strategic stance already in the 2000s, in the context of the Energy Charter Treaty negotiations and the growing securitization of European energy debates. Following the polycrisis of the mid-2010s, the EU adopted a full-fledged strategic stance on external energy policy. Geopolitical crises and great power competition, together with intra-EU divisions and an increased focus on the climate agenda, have catalyzed the EU’s shift to a strategic approach

Мінливість морфологічних ознак Salvia officinalis L. при інтродукції

Research of variability of the morphological characters of Salvia officinalis L. showed the high level of variability of vegetative characters, low variability of generative characters and reproductive indexes.Дослідження мінливості морфологічних ознак Salvia officinalis L. виявило високий рівень мінливості вегетативних ознак та невелику мінливість генеративних ознак і репродуктивних показників

The European Green Deal after Corona: Implications for EU climate policy. CEPS policy Insights No 2020-06 / March 2020

Climate change policy cannot be the first priority of the EU for the immediate future. However, in spite of the corona-crisis the urgency of climate change mitigation has not disappeared. The post-corona recovery can both put the EU’s decarbonisation progress back on track – after low-carbon investments will inevitably take a hit – but the EU’s Green Deal proposals can likewise support the general economic recovery. It will be important to ensure that recovery measures are compatible with global climate change and European Green Deal priorities so that stimulus money will flow to economic activities that have a place in a climate-neutral world. As time passes, the re-launch may actually offer a unique opportunity for the EU to live up to the Green Deal’s promise of economic modernisation along the Paris decarbonisation objectives. The period we have until the relaunch should be used to develop a new agenda. These ideas will not per se be off-the-shelf but go beyond current solutions for decarbonisation. Instead of tinkering around the margins, the EU should focus on transformational technologies, and for example go big on low-carbon infrastructure, efficient buildings, and lead markets to boost demand for climate-neutral industry

Delivering the European Green Deal for southeast Europe: Do we need a regional approach? CEPS Research Paper 17 Jun 2020.

Southeast European countries start from a different point in the transition to the European Green Deal. They face systemic challenges both in their energy markets and in implementing the EU’s energy acquis – issues could be addressed through a more regionally focused approach, argue the authors. This report looks at three countries in the region that have been sometimes seen as reluctant to embrace this transition: Bulgaria, Greece and Romania. The analysis considers the status of their wholesale and retail markets; interconnectivity and market coupling; the independence of national regulatory authorities, and the obstacles to the adopting the energy acquis. The authors find that six main barriers might prevent more integrated and efficient markets in the region: high dependence on fossil fuels, often supported by policy market concentration and state intervention illiquid markets occasional poor interconnectivity and cross-border energy trade, poor regulatory framework and institutional design, and strategies for managing the transition. The combination of carbon-intensive energy sectors, relatively low energy efficiency, and below-EU average GDP per capita makes the transformation – of the coal regions, for example – both technically challenging and politically sensitive. The European Green Deal and the ‘just transition’ offer new opportunities for the region (including Covid-19 recovery funds) to develop lower carbon energy systems. But cash injections alone will not be sufficient. This report argues that the region requires additional tailored mechanisms that reflect its specific needs during the transition

Two Major Medicinal Honeys Have Different Mechanisms of Bactericidal Activity

Honey is increasingly valued for its antibacterial activity, but knowledge regarding the mechanism of action is still incomplete. We assessed the bactericidal activity and mechanism of action of Revamil® source (RS) honey and manuka honey, the sources of two major medical-grade honeys. RS honey killed Bacillus subtilis, Escherichia coli and Pseudomonas aeruginosa within 2 hours, whereas manuka honey had such rapid activity only against B. subtilis. After 24 hours of incubation, both honeys killed all tested bacteria, including methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, but manuka honey retained activity up to higher dilutions than RS honey. Bee defensin-1 and H2O2 were the major factors involved in rapid bactericidal activity of RS honey. These factors were absent in manuka honey, but this honey contained 44-fold higher concentrations of methylglyoxal than RS honey. Methylglyoxal was a major bactericidal factor in manuka honey, but after neutralization of this compound manuka honey retained bactericidal activity due to several unknown factors. RS and manuka honey have highly distinct compositions of bactericidal factors, resulting in large differences in bactericidal activity

The time for rapid redevelopment of coal regions is now. CEPS Policy Insights 20 May 2020.

The economic slow-down caused by the pandemic will aggravate the existing stress in some regions, especially those relying on lignite, coal and peat as their main economic activity. But efficient and effective use of Covid-19 recovery funds can give real meaning to the ‘just transition’ concept if they focus on tangible progress to the benefit of the regional, national and EU economy while improving the environment and implementing the European Green Deal. For coal regions, the European Commission needs a regional place-based approach that builds on the ‘targeted approach’ of the European Green Deal while identifying urgent actions. Member states must reinforce regional strategies for coal regions in light of the recovery measures and the European Green Deal for the next multiannual financial framework 2021-27, taking account of the transition towards a more sustainable and lower carbon economic structure. Appropriate EU instruments should be combined in a complementary way to restructure the economies of the regions by developing low-carbon power and other carbon-saving solutions, using the know-how and infrastructures in place. Solid strategies to address the transition costs that creating an investment-friendly economic environment should be devised to build up self-sustainable activities and avoid subsidy dependency. The opportunities offered by InvestEU should be used as funding leverage to attract large-scale new industry investment. The short-term economic and social costs should soon be recovered. By contrast, supporting declining activities will most likely lead to significant long-term losses. Many good examples of conversions exist to inform those addressing inter- and intra-generational redistribution issues