Monday, April 27, 2015

European Union:

European Geothermal Energy Council Publishes Action Plan (EGEC)

The European Geothermal Energy Council (EGEC) publishes a policy paper arguing its case for more renewable energy to be included in the EU Energy Plan.


The EU’s energy security is at risk. Europe is hugely dependent on fossil fuel imports, in particular on the natural gas used to cover its extensive heating demand.

With the increasing deployment of variable renewables, the EU electrical system requires more flexible generation. Natural gas as backup must be discarded: the more it is used, the more the EU is dependent on energy imports, and the more it moves away from achieving energy security.

With the new Energy Union, the only viable option to address this challenge is to improve energy efficiency and to replace fossil fuel consumption and imports with stable renewable energy sources in the heating and electricity sectors. Energy efficiency is not sufficient to solve such a long-standing structural problem.

Such a path requires political courage and structural reforms in the years to come. In order to prepare the ground, EGEC publishes today an action plan towards “Fuel switch to renewables in the heating and electricity sectors”. This paper provides case studies of how to switch fuel with different geothermal technologies and puts forward key recommendations to build a resilient Energy Union.

Fuel Switch to Renewables in the Heating and Electricity Sector - An action plan for a Resilient Energy Union with a Forward-Looking Climate Change Policy (PDF)

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