European Union News - Energy

Technological advances are making it possible to derive energy from greener sources, but wind turbines, solar panels, biofuels, biomass plants or carbon capture and storage (CSS) are not free of controversy. How to gain public acceptance of these new technologies? That was the debate at the workshop “Public acceptance of new energy technologies. Not in my backyard?” held at the Open Days on 5 October.

The European Commission has published on the 5th october 2010 a prior notification of a concentration between Shell/Topaz/JV. The European Commission ask for observations for third parties interesed.

During the second day of the Conference on Energy challenges facing European Industry, several experts and speakers stressed that the goal of reducing CO2 emissions by 30% by 2020 is technically and financially achievable.

The European Commission completed on 17 September the launch of the CO2 capture and storage (CCS) Project Network, the EU tool that supports early large-scale demonstration of technologies, which will accelerate learning and ensure that the Commission can assist CCS to safely fulfil its potential and become a commercially viable technology. The CCS is the world's first network of CCS demonstration projects to foster knowledge sharing and raise public understanding of the role of CCS in cutting CO2 emissions.

EU researchers will have sustainable and continuous access to the combined processing power of over 200,000 desktop computers in more than 30 European countries thanks to the European Commission funded European Grid Infrastructure (EGI) project launched. The EGI, the largest collaborative production grid infrastructure for e-Science ever created, will enable teams of researchers in different geographical locations to work on a problem as if they were in the same laboratory.

The Commission adopted a Communication to the European Parliament and to the Council on medical applications of ionizing radiation. It proposes a way forward to resolve the urgent issue of shortage of supply of radioisotopes for nuclear medicine. The Communication also identifies key issues to improve radiation protection of patients and medical staff, to avoid a rise in population exposure associated with treatments and an increase of accidental or unintended exposures in radiotherapy.

The European Commission has approved a proposal for a Council Regulation on State aid to facilitate the closure of loss-making hard coal mines in the EU by 1st October 2014. The Commission's objective is to establish the appropriate mechanisms to facilitate the closure of non competitive mines, ensuring the lowest possible social impact. This measure would affect a sector currently employing 100.000 people in Europe.

The European Commission has adopted a proposal to deploy 100 M€ in 2012 and 360 M€ in 2013 from the 7th Framework Programme for Research, in order to secure the financing of ITER project as it goes forward. Besides, the Commission also proposed an initial transfer of unused funds of 400 M€ from other EU budgets to the budget financing ITER.

The Official Journal of the European Union publishes in its issue of July 16th 2010, Commission Decision of 15 July 2010 on the conclusion of a Memorandum of Understanding between the European Commission and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) concerning the EUropean Radiological Data Exchange Platform, EURDEP.