Will intelligent energy bring a brighter future?

Two MEPs discuss intelligent energy.

Mechtild Rothe

Intelligent energy policy is environmental, economic and innovation policy wrapped into one. With an environmentally friendly and ambitious efficiency policy, Europe will be the economic winner of tomorrow: less dependent on energy imports and continuously growing energy prices, less environmental damage, less use of energy, more savings of carbon dioxide (CO2) and money, more jobs and innovative technologies and more future-oriented industry with growth and export opportunities.

Innovation and courage for a new ecological business policy will open up enormous opportunities for companies and countries through the development of these sustainable and efficient technologies. Technology will always be the key for the penetration of renewables and efficiency. Europe has to focus on this technological progress - this will be Europe’s force and advantage in the future. One example of this is wind energy where Europe is in the driving seat. Thanks to these developments, more than 300,000 jobs have been created already - a trend which will definitely continue in the years to come. Two factors make me optimistic: the intensive debate and the enormous growing awareness on climate change and Europe’s pledges to bolster the use of renewables, improve energy efficiency and reduce CO2 emissions.

The recent reports by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and the UK economist Nicholas Stern gave the public, politicians and industry a reality check: climate change presents very serious global risks and it demands an urgent global response. If we want to avoid the worst impacts of climate change we have to act now. The turnaround has to be reached within the next ten to 15 years. And the benefits of strong, early action on climate change outweigh the costs. The only way to tackle these big challenges of our energy future is to develop a common sustainable energy policy.

Energy production contributes 80% to the increase of CO2. So, we have to switch towards a sustainable - renewable and efficient - energy society. Therefore I am very happy that after the European Parliament, the European Commission and finally also the Council of Ministers have endorsed an ambitious and binding CO2 reduction - and ‘energy-switch’ - policy. Particularly the binding target for renewable energy of 20% by 2020 is a success. But now the EU has to prove that it is as good in the implementation as it is in setting targets. This is not only important for the EU. With an ambitious implementation we can also ensure that many other countries - developed and developing - will follow this lead. And we strongly need a global and comprehensive agreement. The still existing ignorance of some countries is unacceptable and needs to be overcome.

It is unacceptable that some countries still argue that renewables are for rich countries only and that energy efficiency hinders their economic growth. They should have at least noticed that oil and gas prices increased and will continue to increase, environmental damages are costly and that nuclear energy is definitively not the answer for climate change, energy of supply and cost reduction. There is potential in every country. I have never heard of a country in the world where the wind does not blow or where the sun does not shine.

Through simple measures such as insulation half of the energy use in buildings could be saved: 40% of Europe’s total energy consumption is used by buildings. Governments have to set the right incentives and to make sure that every burden for a large scale of renewables is removed and efficiency measures will be supported heavily. Not all existing barriers are due to a lack of potential. These barriers are rather political than technical or economical issues. We are at a crossroads. Climate change is made by human beings, so human beings have to tackle it.

• German Social Democrat MEP Mechtild Rothe is a member of the Parliament’s committee on industry, research and energy.

Satu Hassi

Intelligent energy should be a top priority for the EU for one simple reason: our future depends on it. With spiralling oil prices, increasingly scarce resources and the urgent need to tackle climate change, we clearly need to promote a more intelligent approach both to how we produce and use energy.

Our electricity networks need to be completely restructured to address modern challenges. We need a more dynamic system, which can combine more decentralised production, much closer to the point of consumption, with a much bigger interconnected network.

One common criticism of renewable energy is intermittency. What about when there is no wind? With a larger, interconnected Europe-wide grid (a high voltage DC-link with low transmission losses) there would be much less fluctuation in the overall power produced by wind turbines. Such a grid could also potentially be connected to solar farms in northern Africa. For example, the potential of concentrated solar power in the Mediterranean area is far more than the present power consumption of Europe.

We need a more intelligent approach to power storage. There is new and exciting research into power storage that would help maximise the efficiency of renewable energy production: wind turbines that can capture and compress air when the wind is blowing that can later be used for electricity production when the wind ceases and also salt storage systems to store heat produced by concentrated solar power systems.

There is a need to promote emerging technologies that localise power production and storage. Buildings can use solar energy for cooling in summertime, with roofs serving as solar panels. There is also research into photovoltaic cells, which are so small they can be dissolved in liquid and ‘sprayed’ onto the roofs of buildings, and on transparent solar panels, which can be installed as a layer on windows.

To promote all this we need a concerted policy approach from research and market regulations through to taxation and planning.

The EU budget makes funding available both for research into and to promote the uptake of intelligent energy. The Intelligent Energy Europe programme will provide €52 million in 2007 to increase the use of intelligent energy. Under the EU’s 7th framework programme for research (FP7), an average of around €225m a year will be made available for research into renewable energy and energy efficiency. This is certainly an improvement on the previous budget, however when compared with the disproportionate amount allocated for nuclear research (up to €580m a year), you have to wonder how smart the EU approach to energy actually is. The lion’s share of this funding will go to research into nuclear fusion: a technology that may never be commercially viable and that even optimists admit will not be available before 2050 - far too late to tackle climate change.

In order to promote the existing intelligent technologies we need the right regulatory environment both to ensure uptake and to encourage the necessary investment. Lighting manufacturers are telling us that a switch from incandescent lighting is possible by 2009, yet the lighting initiative will probably not result in legislation until 2012. The Greens are pushing for a sales ban of incandescent bulbs to enter into force much sooner. Hybrid car technology was developed in Europe but then shelved as there was no incentive to further develop it com-mercially. Now Asian carmakers are rolling out hybrid cars, yet European carmakers are still fighting to resist regulation.

The Greens have pushed strongly for a sector-specific approach to energy, with separate directives and targets for renewables. Network unbundling is also key to promoting a more decentralised approach to energy production and ensuring an increased supply of green electricity. In addition, EU legislation on end-use energy should be under constant review to take account of technological progress and the need to stimulate greater efficiency.

• Finnish Green MEP Satu Hassi is vice-chairwoman of the Parliament’s environment, public health and food safety committee and the temporary committee on climate change.

Two MEPs discuss intelligent energy.