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New energy package will transform Europe’s renewables industry, ... |
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| 04-01-2007 |
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New energy package will transform Europe’s renewables industry, says EC president |
EDINBURGH, Scotland, December 13, 2006 (Refocus Weekly) The renewable energy industry in Europe must be transformed, says the president of the European Commission.
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“The days of cheap, secure supplies of energy are over,” José Manuel Barroso told a conference at Edinburgh University. “Global energy demand is increasing, not least because of rising prosperity in China and India. Mature hydrocarbon reserves, including in the North Sea, are declining.”
The EU depends on external energy sources for 50% of its needs and that level could rise to 70% by 2030, which increases the continent’s vulnerability and has transformed attitudes towards creating a European energy policy, he explained. “Our objective is clear; to accelerate the shift to a low carbon economy” and that goal requires several significant changes in using energy more efficiently.
The main energy package to be unveiled by the EC in January will include a commitment to new GHG reduction targets beyond 2012, based on three activities including energy efficiency and a true single market in energy.
The third component will be the “transformation of the renewables industry in Europe,” says Barroso. “We have to send a clear message to the rest of the world. That is why I want to announce today my ambition that our January package will fix the most ambitious - but attainable - targets for renewable energy ever set by Europe, by 2020.”
Adam Smith, in his book ‘The Wealth of Nations,’ put consumers above special interests and saw competition as a good thing, Barroso explained. “Today, Europe must use the power of market forces for the interests of society to tackle one of the biggest issues facing all Europeans, indeed all the world - climate change.”
Global warming has made the world 0.6ºC hotter and some predict that temperatures could rise by 5.8ºC by the end of the century, and the results are already visible in heat and the melting of the world's glaciers, he added. “Faced with this challenge, Europe is determined to lead by example.”
The European Emissions Trading Scheme gives companies incentives to reduce emissions and to invest in emission-reduction projects in developing countries, which encourages the transfer of environmentally-sound technologies to the benefit of everyone, he added. The market for carbon credits was worth Euro 7.2 billion last year and, in the first six months of 2006, the value rose to Euro 12 billion.
Greater investment in research is essential if Europe is to succeed in boosting renewables and energy efficiency, and Edinburgh University is involved in research on 115 projects funded under the EU's 6th Framework Programme, including work in ocean energy and wind turbine design, he concluded.
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