EU governments told to act 'swiftly' on EU renewables directive

The organiser of a conference on wind energy chaired by EU energy chief Andris Piebalgs has called for the implementation of the commission's renewables directive.

According to Chrisitian Kjaer of the European wind energy association (EWEA), organiser of the four-day event in Brussels, the directive provides answers to Europe’s energy problem.

“The next few years present a window of opportunity in which, if the proposed renewables directive is swiftly adopted by the European parliament and by member states, the installation of wind power could be hugely increased and Europe’s energy future turned around.

“A renewable energy source such as wind, which is indigenous, unlimited, has knowable costs and emits no CO2 provides a real solution to our problems.”

The directive, released by the commission in January, proposes that member states source 20 per cent of their energy from renewables by 2020. But some MEPs will be less likely than others to welcome the inclusion of wind energy with open arms.

“Wind turbines generally convert rural landscapes into industrial landscapes and it’s highly debatable whether wind power is a sufficiently satisfactory source of energy to justify the desecration,” Scottish MEP John Purvis writes in the latest issue of the Parliament Magazine.

“Wind farms currently generate 2.8 per cent of Europe’s energy,” he adds, “And with a target of 20 per cent by 2020, we have a long way still to go.”

Purvis’s suggestion, if wind energy is to become a viable part of the energy mix, is to make sure that public opinion and the appearance of the rural environment are taken into consideration.

“One possible solution, apart from speedily signing up nuclear and hastening developments of other renewables is for the wind farm industry to interact earlier and more directly with local communities.

“It is also imperative that local authorities and government work hard to garner public opinion and to position themselves firmly in the role of protectors of the environment in their search for new sources of energy.”

But according to Socialist deputy David Martin, the issue is not the viability of wind power itself but the problem of turning plans into action.

For example, he says, 25 per cent of Europe’s total wind resources are in Scotland, but planning procedures and the cost of upgrading electricity grids to include wind energy are blocking progress.

“To collectively reach Europe’s renewables targets, member states must effectively implement the commission’s proposals.

“The Scottish community and householder renewables initiative is the kind of one-stop-shop for renewables that the EU’s package wishes to promote.

“Indeed, Scottish householders wishing to install wind turbines will no longer have to apply to the planning authority under a new plan announced [in March].”

The EWEA  conference, which starts on Monday, is expected to involve more than 4000 participants, and will focus on the technical, environmental, economic and political implications of wind power.

The event also marks the launch of a report on integrating wind energy into the power mix, says Kjaer, and presents possible paths the development of wind energy will take in the next 20 years.

Read John Purvis's and David Martin's full articles here

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