The European Commission is calling for $30 billion in private
investment for renewable energy projects by 2003. The ‘Campaign for
Take-Off’ would increase renewable market share to 12 percent by 2010.
EU governments would increase funding over the next five years to
reach a quarter of the funding necessary; current spending is $1.5 billion annually.
Based on strong interest from the private sector, some officials predict renewables could capture 50 percent of the market in the near future.
Funding would be divided evenly between solar, wind and biomass.
The European Wind Energy Association, Greenpeace, Friends of the Earth,
and Business Council for Sustainable Energy Future want the EU to set
binding targets; 8 percent of energy in each nation by 2005, 16 percent
by 2010, and a 2 percent increment each year after that. The groups claim that
fossil fuel and nuclear energy receives 15 billion ECU in direct subsidies
each year, ten times the support given to the renewable energy sector.
Details in Greenpeace press release
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