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Renewables
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What is it?

Renewable energy is energy, which is naturally regenerated over a short time scale.  It is either derived directly from the sun (solar thermal and photovoltaic), indirectly from the sun (wind, hydropower, and photosynthetic energy stored in biomass), or from other natural movements and mechanisms of the environment (geothermal and tidal energy). The most common renewable energy sources that can be simply harnessed or encouraged by local governments are:

Solar energy:

Solar energy can be used directly to heat buildings and water or to provide electricity. Buildings can use passive solar design to capture the sun's energy, reducing the need to provide power for heating. Solar water heating can be used to provide up to 50% of hot water needs and is well suited to use in leisure centres and administrative buildings. The sun's energy can be converted directly into electricity using solar photovoltaic (PV) panels, which can provide power for off-grid projects (e.g. parking meters) or can be installed on buildings and connected to the electricity grid.

Hydropower:

Hydropower systems capture the energy in flowing water and convert it to electricity. A well-designed small hydropower system can blend with its surroundings and have minimal negative environmental impacts.

Wind power:

The wind can also be used to generate electricity. Today's wind turbines come in a wide range of sizes from a few kW to a few MW and can be used on various scales from a small wind turbine for a school to large offshore wind farms generating enough electricity for many tens of thousands of houses.

Biomass:

Generation of energy from biomass involves burning or gasifying plant materials. Biomass fuels include wood, grasses and crops. The process is carbon neutral because the plants absorb carbon dioxide when growing and release an equivalent amount when burnt. Biomass can be used to supply heat and/or electricity on various scales from individual houses to centralised generating plant.

Why is renewable energy important?

The development of renewable energy - particularly energy from wind, water, solar power and biomass - is a central aim of the European Commission's energy policy.

There are several reasons for this:

  • Renewable energy has an important role to play in reducing Carbon Dioxide (CO2) emissions - a major Community objective.
  • Increasing the share of renewable energy in the energy balance enhances sustainability.
  • It also helps to improve the security of energy supply by reducing the Community's growing dependence on imported energy sources.
  • Renewable energy sources are expected to be economically competitive with conventional energy sources in the medium to long term.

The need for Community support for Renewable Energy is clear.

Several of the technologies, especially wind energy, but also small-scale hydro power, energy from biomass, and solar thermal applications, are economically viable and competitive. The others, especially photovoltaic (silicon module panels directly generating electricity from the sun’s light rather than heat), depend only on (how rapidly) increasing demand and thus production volume to achieve the economy of scale necessary for competitiveness with central generation. In fact, looking at the various sector markets in early 2003, it is probably not over-optimistic to conclude that the lion’s share of remaining market resistance to Renewables penetration relates to factors other than economic viability. This should be seen against the rapidly improving fiscal and economic environment being created in the EU both by European legislation itself swinging into full implementation and the Member States’ own programmes and support measures, which despite the short-term macro-economic background, are accelerating rapidly at the time of publication. These developments are of course also the translation into reality of the Action Programme for Renewables contained in the 1997 White Paper.

The European Commission's White Paper for a Community Strategy sets out a strategy to double the share of renewable energies in gross domestic energy consumption in the European Union by 2010 (from the present 6% to 12%) including a timetable of actions to achieve this objective in the form of an Action Plan.

The main features of the Action Plan include internal market measures in the regulatory and fiscal spheres; reinforcement of those Community policies which have a bearing on increased penetration by renewable energies; proposals for strengthening co-operation between Member States; and support measures to facilitate investment and enhance dissemination and information in the renewables field.

An important part of the Action Programme is the Campaign for Take-Off for Renewables, which forms an integral part of the Community Strategy and Action Plan for Renewable Energy Sources by 2010. It is designed to kick-start implementation of the Strategy and is expected to have reached its goals by 2004. Focusing on certain key sectors, the Campaign for Take-Off sets out a framework for action to highlight investment opportunities and attract the necessary private funding which is expected to make up the lion’s share of the capital required. The Campaign also seeks to encourage public spending to focus on the key sectors, and, in the process, to complement a trigger private investment. The Campaign is a highly visible vehicle, involving key sectors (solar, wind energy and biomass), for the drive towards a significant increase in renewables use and penetration.

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