(464a) Energy & Sustainability – What It Means for Europe

The countries of Europe are varied in geographical location, political system, state of industrialization and energy needs. Even amongst the 27 countries of the European Union (population ~500 million) there are significant differences. Energy policy within the EU27 is therefore a good illustration of how a group of nations can plan to work together to address the key issues of energy and sustainability.  The EU’s Energy 2020 strategy promotes energy saving (20% by 2020), free market movement of energy, and security of supply. It also plans a significant technological shift in the direction of decarbonisation, with development and demonstration projects such as second generation biofuels, CO2 capture and storage, electricity storage and electro-mobility, and next-generation nuclear. Mechanisms to support this strategy are a mixture of carrot and stick: funded research and innovation projects such as FP7, the world’s largest research project, and directives leading to regulation. The strategy will undoubtedly book successes, though whether these will be fast enough or go far enough to meet external pressures, is an open question.