| Author (Person) | Smith, Emily |
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| Series Title | European Voice |
| Series Details | Vol.12, No.12, 30.3.06 |
| Publication Date | 30/03/2006 |
| Content Type | News |
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Date: 30/03/06 According to the recently published Green Paper on energy, the EU renewables sector is worth EUR 15 billion a year - out of a EUR 30bn global market. It provides jobs for 300,000 people and, as a bonus, Europe "leads the world...in promoting new and renewable forms of energy". Although still a comparatively poor debutante beside the multi-billion-euro fossil fuel and nuclear sectors, renewable energy is dressed up to look as seductive as possible to a business-friendly European Commission led by José Manuel Barroso. The Green Paper approach was not, however, so attractive to environmental lobbyists, who see wind turbines, solar panels and crop-based biofuels as the only hope for an increasingly energy hungry world. The main complaint from groups such as Greenpeace was that the paper does not suggest any binding targets for renewable energy. The Commission now admits that Europe no longer has any hope of meeting its voluntary target of getting 12% of its energy from renewable power by 2010. Renewable power advocates say a much more ambitious target could be met, if the political will - and legislation - were there to back it up. MEPs last year suggested aiming for 25% by 2020, the figure backed by Greenpeace. The Swedish government meanwhile is currently considering trying to reach 100% by 2030. The Green Paper makes no comment. It nonetheless does put developing renewable energy at the heart of its proposals, because "action on renewables and energy efficiency, besides tackling climate change, will contribute to security of energy supply and help limit the EU's growing dependence on imported energy". But it also flags up other barriers to be overcome if renewable power is to have a hope of competing with oil. Power from renewable sources such as wind, solar and hydropower can be "intermittent" and conventional energy supplies are likely to be needed to "serve as back-up". Governments are advised to encourage use of renewable power, but warned they must at the same time respect state aid and competition rules. Renewable energy is only just "starting to compete on price with fossil fuels" - for most people it remains considerably more expensive. Even though EU government leaders backed a Green Paper proposal to come up with "a long-term renewable energy roadmap", there is a lot of work to be done before solar panels start appearing on every EU roof. Author says that although the EU was a leader in renewable energy, conservation groups were unhappy with the European Commission's approach. |
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| Source Link | http://www.european-voice.com/ |
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| Subject Categories | Energy |
| Countries / Regions | Europe |
