Geothermal power

Every year hundreds of organisations and individuals in over 30 countries take part in the EU Sustainable Energy week by hosting Energy Day events and activities that promote energy efficiency and renewable energy sources.

A new EU energy initiative which will provide access to sustainable energy for an additional 500 million people in developing countries by 2030 was today announced by European Commission President, José Manuel Barroso.

The annual EurObserv’ER report ‘The State of Renewable Energies in Europe’ has been released, which gives background information on renewable energy realisations and renewable energy shares in Europe. It also presents estimates for renewable energy related employment and turnover in EU Member States.

Materials are at the core of industrial innovation and enable it. The materials presented in this new Roadmap complement and expand the technology roadmaps developed in the context of the SET-Plan as the basis for its implementation. It puts forward key materials research and innovation activities to advance energy technologies for the next 10 years.

The third edition of the Technology Map, i.e. the 2011 update, addresses 20 different technologies, covering the whole spectrum of the energy system, including both supply and demand technologies.

The 'Renewable Energy Snapshots' are based on various data providers, including grey data sources, and try to give an overview about the latest developments and trends in different renewable energy technologies.

The geothermal, hydropower and biomass industries have outlined their recommendations in a position paper for the elaboration of the energy 2050 strategy. The European Commission is set to formally present its Energy Roadmap 2050 in autumn 2011.

What is SETIS? How does SETIS support the SET-Plan? Download the new informational brochure (available in English, Dutch and Italian), which looks at how SETIS provides information for decision-making by monitoring progress of the SET-Plan.

A new IEA report describes how cogeneration is attractive to policy-makers, private users and investors because it delivers a range of energy, environmental and economic benefits.

In a communiqué issued on 18th March 2011, the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) calls on the European Union to consider the security of its energy supply as one of the priorities of its external policy. The recommendation is one of the results of an Opinion on energy supply and neighbourhood policy commissioned by the current Hungarian EU presidency.

The European Commission presented on 31 January 2011 its communication "Renewable Energy: Progressing towards the 2020 target". The communication shows that the 2020 renewable energy policy goals are likely to be met - and exceeded - if Member States fully implement their national renewable energy action plans and if financing instruments are improved.

According to EC Commissioner for Energy, Günther Oettinger, the European Council’s first Summit on energy in Brussels on 4th February 2011 was “a breakthrough for European energy policy.” The Summit, he added, would be “a benchmark for the years to come.”

The Belgian presidency and the European Commission organised the European Strategic Energy Technology Plan Conference 2010. More than 500 stakeholders from industry and research institutes and European and national policymakers from across Europe gathered in Brussels for the fourth edition of the SET-Plan conference. The main objectives were the launch of the next two European Industrial Initiatives: Bioenergy and Sustainable Nuclear Energy, and the kick-off of the international cooperation dimension within the SET-Plan.

In June 2010 Henrik Bindslev, Director of the Danish National Laboratory for Sustainable Energy (Risø DTU), was named chairman of the European Energy Research Alliance (EERA), replacing Ton Hoff (ECN). Here, Mr Bindlev outlines how he sees the development of the EERA and how alternative energy technologies are emerging faster than anticipated.

Ministers from the UK, France and Germany have issued a joint call for the EU to raise its emission reduction target to 30% by 2020.

On 26 May the European Commission presented an analysis of the costs, benefits and options for moving beyond the EU's greenhouse gas reduction target for 2020 from 20 percent below 1990 levels to 30 percent once the conditions are met.

In response to the increasing need for energy innovation in Europe and beyond, the European Energy Research Alliance (EERA) is launching its new Joint Research Programmes to help strengthen, expand and optimise EU energy research. The first Joint Programmes of research on Wind, Photovoltaic, Smart Grids and Geothermal were officially launched during the SET-Plan conference, on 3-4 June 2010 in Madrid.

This 16-page brochure provides a concise overview of the SET-Plan, the European Industrial Initiatives (EIIs), the Steering Group, the European Energy Research Alliance (EERA) and SETIS.

The European Commission released a report revealing that the EU is on track to exceed its target of generating 20% of all energy consumed from renewables, as set out in the Renewable Energy Directive. Ten of the EU’s 27 Member States are likely to surpass their national targets, while a further 12 will meet their goals. Just five countries are predicted to miss their targets using domestic renewable energy sources alone.