Industry and civil society unite in calling for 100% clean energy in Europe

The answer to today's energy and environmental challenges lies in the creation of a cutting-edge economy underpinned by an entirely clean and efficient energy system, said a broad coalition of engineering, energy and technology companies, alongside civil society organisations. A 100 percent renewables declaration was delivered today to Martin Lidegaard, Danish minister for energy and current holder of the EU presidency, at a European Wind Energy Association event in Copenhagen.

Over three hundred signatories, including Schneider Electric, Rockwool and Vestas, are calling on EU leaders to deliver a truly green and sustainable energy supply in Europe by 2050. They want to see a stronger energy efficiency drive, investments to unlock the full potential of renewables, better incentives for a smart energy grid to replace an ailing network, and a stop to dead-end subsidies for the fossil fuel and nuclear industries.

The call comes hot on the heels of a European 2050 energy roadmap, published by the European Commission in December, which argues that the development of an energy system based almost exclusively on renewables and energy efficiency would cost no more to build than one based on fossil fuels and nuclear energy. The study also found that a clean energy system could save European consumers billions in fossil fuel imports [2]. Ramping up renewables and energy efficiency also stands to create hundreds of thousands of high value green jobs in Europe.        

Rockwool Group President & CEO Eelco van Heel said: "Europe should no longer accept high energy bills and a growing dependency on fossil fuel imports. Today we can make homes so energy efficient that by installing affordable renewable energy technologies a citizen can avoid household energy bills.  At the same time we can create green growth jobs that Europe so desperately needs. So what are we waiting for?"

Vestas Senior Vice President Peter C. Brun said: "With a view to the needed investments in new technology and production capacity for renewables, a new 2030 renewable energy target would not only be extremely helpful in the current financial and economic situation in Europe, but would also be a fair ask considering the investment risk we and our customers will need to make in coming years".

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