Déirdre de Búrca » De Búrca calls for “Euratom for renewables”

De Búrca calls for “Euratom for renewables”

June 24, 2008

Could help meet all electricity needs sustainably says Green Senator

Green Party Spokesperson for European Affairs, Senator Déirdre de Búrca has welcomed a new study from the Heinrich Böll Foundation , presented at the European parliament in Brussels today. ‘This new study reveals the huge potential for renewable energy in Europe and calls for the creation of a European renewables community (ERENE)’ says Senator De Búrca. ‘Europe has barely begun to tap into its huge renewable energy potential. The study looks beyond the 2020 timeframe of this year’s Commission climate and energy package proposals and shows that it is feasible to meet all of Europe’s electricity needs from renewable energy in the long-term – if the right strategies and measures are put in place’.
Senator De Búrca says that the study makes it clear that creating a European renewables community in the mould of Euratom would provide vital support to research, pilot projects and the grid. Europe had a coal and steel community for 50 years and its nuclear agency Euratom has existed for over half a century” she says. “It is high time for renewables to be given the same status, with a treaty or system of enhanced cooperation between member states”. “The Heinrich Böll study shows that the theoretical, technical and economic potential is there to meet all electricity needs from renewable sources” says De Búrca. “A European community on renewables could be in place by the first half of 2010 and funded from the sale of emissions permits. We cannot continue with the current “business as usual” approach to energy. The EU’s 20% target for renewables is a good start, but this study shows the potential is far greater. The Irish vote has shown what happens if the EU communicates poorly or fails to listen to the voices of its own citizens. Most Europeans want to see renewables at the heart of future energy policy, despite the best efforts of the Commission and some national governments to push the nuclear argument. The renewables option is therefore not only the most environmentally-sound, but also the most democratic.”