On the eve of the Christmas break, I want to come back on a number of major political events that occurred on the European stage over the last months. Irish people expressed a convincing “yes” in the referendum, allowing the Treaty of Lisbon to enter into force on 1 December 2009. The first ever permanent President of the European Council has been appointed, together with the High Representative of the European Union. And President Barroso designated his new team of Commissioners, in charge of shaping EU policy for the next 5 years. And on a less positive note, the conclusions from Copenhagen were disappointing.
 
At a time of new and global challenges, I have been entrusted with the responsibility of a strategic portfolio: the …

When it comes to climate change, energy represents both a challenge and an opportunity. The dilemma is as follows: although the use of fossil fuels accelerates the heating up of our planet by releasing more CO2 into the atmosphere, the availability of affordable energy is essential to maintaining our standard of living. If energy is to continue its role of powering our economy, we have to rethink how we use energy and where we get it from.
 
The upcoming conference in Copenhagen to negotiate a follow-up to the Kyoto Protocol provides the perfect opportunity for a reflection on this as it will not be possible to combat climate change without taking energy into consideration. As the International Energy Agency…

The European Union and the United States not only share a common past but also have many challenges and opportunities in common in their future. Climate change will not respect borders so tackling it will require a global approach.
 
Both the EU and the US have recognised this, which is why they have chosen to work together on energy. One good example is the Energy Star programme, which is a voluntary energy labelling programme for office equipment. The Energy Star logo helps consumers to identify office equipment that is energy-efficient. This will save people money and reduce the impact on the environment. As the programme has been such a success, the European Commission …

When trying to make sweeping changes, it should not be forgotten that some of the world’s mightiest rivers start off as modest trickles. The Amazon comes into life as a gentle glacial stream on the snow-capped Nevado Mismi in the Peruvian Andes before plunging into the Atlantic Ocean at a speed of up to 300,000 m³ per second in the rainy season. The same applies to the fight against climate change. Although many wait for national governments to act, much of the innovation is already taking place at local and regional level.
 
I was reminded of this last Friday when I received the Sustainable Energy Action Plans drawn up by Barcelona Province. No fewer than 105 of the province’s municipalities are committing to ambitious …

The 20th Century’s most successful revolution involved seeds rather than guns. The so-called Green Revolution used research and the latest agricultural techniques to drastically increase the yield of products such as wheat and rice and has been credited with saving more than one billion lives world-wide. India, for example, went from facing the threat of mass famine in 1964 to exporting 4.5 million tons of rice in 2006 thanks to this Green Revolution.
 
The time has now come for a second green revolution. Where the challenge of the last century was to find ways to feed the world’s billions of additional citizens, this century faces the additional threat of climate change and nothing else but a second revolution will do to tackle a problem …

The Sun, our nearest star is what made life possible on Earth and continues to provide light and power. It is sunlight that enables plants to turn carbon dioxide into organic compounds and it is again sunlight that drives our planet’s climate and weather. It is therefore only fitting that we turn to the sun to find a renewable source of energy.   

 
I was reminded of the sun’s awe-inspiring powers as I attended the inauguration of the PS20 Concentrating Solar Power plant in Seville, Spain. It is quite an impressive thing to see. Thousands of enormous mirrors concentrate the heat of the sun on the highest part of the tower, and …

One of the main criticisms against renewable energy sources is that they cannot be stored.  The intermittence of wind, wave or solar energy creates a lot of trouble to network operators and raises doubts when it comes to security of supply. Some people consider them not to be economic because renewable sources need additional conventional power plants for the days that wind does not blow or the sky is cloudy. They claim that you can store oil, coal, gas or uranium and have them handy for the moment you need them but you cannot put sun or wind in a bottle. Or maybe you can?
 
The Commission has been financing research in two interesting projects that do precisely this. The first one is in the beautiful island …

 Great ideas are sometimes slow to catch on.  British Parliament was so alarmed by early attempts to create self-propelling vehicles that in 1865 it passed the Red Flag Act, requiring all “road locomotives” to have someone walk in front of them carrying a red flag. When Alexander Graham Bell, who created the first practical telephone, tried to sell the patent of his invention to Western Union, its president refused saying it was only a toy. These are understandable reactions as people are naturally resistant to change and more comfortable with what they already familiar with.
 
The European Commission is encountering comparable reservations as it is nudging Europe towards a new era of lighting. Starting this month with a …

Three weeks ago Brussels Grand Place hosted the reconstruction of the parade that the Capital City Brussels offered to King Charles V on 2nd June 1549, when he came to present his son Phillip to the people of Flanders. More than 4000 actors participate in this beautiful parade in full velvet suits, with feathers and fur, with bonnets, helms, armour and the rest of the equipment. It was an impressive and beautiful show, but at the same time it was painful to see all these people suffering inside their elegant robes, the unusual 36ºC that the capital of Europe was enjoying for a few days.

I noticed the contrast between the audience in shorts and t-shirts and the actors sweating in velvets and furs. I considered then, whether one of the best ways to combat energy consumption would not be changing the way we dress. In fact, the idea is …

On 6th of August we can face a new gas crisis. In front of this possibility, the European Citizens have the right to ask whether we are prepared for it, whether the European Union has done enough to secure their energy supplies.
 
The gas crisis of last January has made clear that we need to reinforce the security angle of our energy policy and we have to do it quickly. In November 2008, the Commission analyzed the current legislation on Security of Gas Supply and concluded that in case of a major gas supply crisis, Europe could face serious problems.
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