European Union News - Energy

The European Investment Bank (EIB) has granted a USD 211 million loan to the two subsidiaries of the Gas de France-Suez Group holding the concession for the Dos Mares project, to develop three hydropower plants in western Panama.

The search has begun to find the cities that will become the next European Green Capitals. The prestigious European Green Capital Award recognises cities that are at the forefront of environmentally-friendly urban living. Earlier this year, Stockholm and Hamburg were named as the first winners of the title for 2010 and 2011, respectively. Now the race is on to find the cities that will claim the coveted title for 2012 and 2013. The annual award is intended to help European cities become more attractive and healthy places.

MEPs demanded €1.5 billion in fresh money to finance the economic recovery plan and €300 million for a new dairy fund in a vote on Thursday. In general, they restored the Commission's preliminary draft budget after the Council's cuts.

Reaching an ambitious international agreement at the Copenhagen climate change conference will require emission reduction targets for developed and developing countries, financing commitments and sanctions for non-compliance. This is the view of the EP Environment Committee, which has argued that future generations might not be able to control climate change if global action is further delayed.

Europe needs to spend an extra €50bn on developing clean energy over the next 10 years, nearly triple its current investment, according to the EU's latest estimate. Solar energy and carbon capture and storage earmarked for lion's share of extra technology funding.

The European Commission has called on Europe's information and communication technologies (ICT) industry to outline by 2011 the practical steps it will take to become 20% more energy efficient by 2015. ICT equipment and services alone account for about 8% of electrical power used in the EU and about 2% of carbon emissions. But using ICT in a smart way could help reducing energy consumption in energy-hungry sectors such as buildings, transport and logistics, and save 15% in total carbon emissions by 2020.

On 9 October, the European Commissioner for External Relations and European Neighbourhood Policy, Benita Ferrero-Waldner in will host in Brussels a Ministerial level conference on renewable energy cooperation between the EU, the Mediterranean and the Gulf countries, in co operation with the Energy Commissioner, Andris Piebalgs. The conference aims to forge increased political support for closer cooperation in this field, and help to find concrete solutions to the challenges ahead.

The coordinators of the Trans-European Transport Network have presented Vice-President Antonio Tajani with their fourth and final report for their first mandate giving a detailed state of play of the priority projects for which they are responsible.

After a year of work, the European Foresight Expert Group 'The World in 2025' has now presented their findings at conference in Brussels on 24 September. Meeting the challenges of the near future, they write in a new report, may mean moving towards a new production and consumption model, new rural-urban dynamics, and a new gender and intergenerational balance.

The Council adopted a revised eco-design directive following a first-reading agreement with the European Parliament. The new directive extends the scope of the existing directive 2005/32 by covering in principle all energy-related products.