RESOLUTION A3-0405/92

Resolution on the promotion of renewable forms of energy

The European Parliament,

-having regard to the motions for resolutions by

(a)Mr Linkohr and other on the promotion of renewable forms of energy by the foundation of a European association for the promotion of renewable energy (B3-1686/90),

(b)Mr Linkohr on wave energy (B3-0726/91),

(c)Mr Kostopoulos on the development of biomass production (B3-1732/91),

-having regard to the decisions taken by the Council on 13 December 19911544th Meeting of the Council (Environment/Energy), Brussels (Council press communiqué 9916/91 (Press 231/G)),

-having regard to Article 3b of the Treaty on European Union adopted by the Council at Maastricht,

-having regard to the prices per kWh produced in the United Kingdom, published by the British Government when the electricity supply industry was about to be privatizedPE 154.239/rev.,

-having regard to its resolutions of 13 June 1991 on energy and the environmentOJ No. C 183, 15.7.1991, p. 308 and OJ No. C 183, 15.7.1991, p. 303, of 11 March 1992 on coal and the internal energy marketOJ No. C 94, 13.4.1992, p.146, and of 12 March 1992 on a common energy policyOJ No. C 94, 13.4.1992, p.279,

-having regard to its resolution of 9 April 1992, in particular paragraph 10 thereofOJ No. C 125, 18.5.1992, p. 242,

-having regard to the report of the Committee on Energy, Research and Technology and the opinion of the Committee on Budgets (A3-0405/92),

A.having regard to the need for a new energy system aimed at meeting social, economic and environmental needs and based on diversified and complementary use of the various sources of energy, among which renewable forms of energy should play a major role,

B.whereas it is desirable and urgently necessary to change the energy system used to date,

C.whereas the transition from existing energy technologies to renewable technologies cannot be made immediately and automatically,

D.whereas while the transition is taking place, electricity will have to be generated from gas and coal, using gasification technologies (Garcia Arias report on coal and the internal energy market - A3-0333/91),

E.having regard to the Community's strategic dependence where energy is concerned,

F.whereas four fifths of the human race live in abject poverty, deprived of adequate energy supplies,

G.whereas biomass does not necessitate intensive production systems and enormous and unhealthy quantities of plant-protection products, fertilizers, etc.,

Political management

1.Believes that renewables are among the sources of energy that least pollute waters, the soil, and the air, enabling the energy sector to develop along relatively sound lines from an environmental point of view;

2.Considers that a swift transition to energy systems based on renewables, coupled with the necessary moves towards more rational use of energy, is the only means of halting the greenhouse effect;

3.Believes that renewables have a role to play on the future world market in energy and as practical aid for sustainable, self-reliant development in the countries of the South and might be essential in those regions of the world where economic and energy structures preclude the use of conventional energy sources;

4.Hopes that there will be rapid expansion in renewable forms of energy, not least on account of the beneficial effects on employment, especially in SMUs;

5.Welcomes the above-mentioned conclusions adopted by the Council on 13 December 1991, point 8 of which states: 'Specific measures at Community level will include a strengthening of R & D effort, further efforts to improve energy efficiency, increased development of new and renewable energy resources, improvement in vehicle fuel efficiency and other transport measures. The Community programmes including Thermie, Joule and SAVE will be further strengthened in the future where necessary';

6.Believes that renewable forms of energy are also important from an economic point of view, since external cost factors are allowed for in the price per kWh;

7.Believes, however, that the cost per kwh is not a sufficient criterion and is, in some cases, misleading in assessing a source of energy; points out that energy is in fact an important means of socio-economic development, particularly in poor countries, and that other criteria, such as security of supply, technological know-how and environmental impact sometimes play a dominant role;

8.Believe, therefore, that research and experimentation should be stepped up to reduce the disadvantages of certain renewable forms of energy linked to the irregularity of natural phenomena (sunlight, wind, tides, etc.), possibly by setting up an effective energy storage system;

9. Welcomes the results obtained in certain areas, in particular in the preparation of biofuels, which are important in environmental terms and with a view to the development of agriculture in the Community; believes that renewable forms of energy are a means of creating new rural jobs;

10.Deplores the fact that, as far as energy is concerned, the Community is stubbornly continuing to look back to the past, is creating obstacles and doing virtually nothing to capitalize on the potential leading role of European undertakings;

11.Deplores the fact that the Commission and Council have cut all of the funds earmarked by the budgetary authority, i.e. Parliament, for the Joule programme;

12.Calls on the Commission to draw up a proposal for a directive on the use of the revenue from the levy on CO2 emissions to develop and introduce renewable forms of energy;

13.Approves the request from the EWEA (European Wind Energy Association, EUREC '92, Seville, May 1992) and the 'Montreaux Charter' (the charter drawn up by researchers on and producers of photovoltaic energy, October 1992) for the introduction of legislation requiring the inclusion of all external costs in the price for all energy supplies;

14.Calls on the Commission to keep under the strictest possible surveillance the anti-dumping activities which Japanese and/or American companies may undertake in the wind and photovoltaic energy sector;

15.Considers that renewable forms of energy can and must be used as part of an integrated approach;

16.Considers that scientific and technological cooperation between the Community and Third-World countries in this sector, geared to the specific needs and situation of each of these countries, will make a practical, positive contribution to self-reliant energy development in the countries of the South;

17.Deplores the inability of the Commission and Council to implement rapidly decisions concerning renewable forms of energy;

18.Expresses astonishment at the political short-sightedness of the Commission, whose projected technical assistance for the former Soviet Union in the energy sector fails to include so much as one ECU for the development of renewable forms of energy; believes that Community technical assistance programmes for Eastern European countries could be extended in the energy sector to joint experimentation projects on integrated and intensive uses of renewable forms of energy;

19.Hopes that the ALTERNER programme will be approved quickly and backed by the necessary funding commensurate with its aims;

The state of technology

20.Welcomes the very rapid technological leap forward brought about in the renewables field, resulting in a tenfold decrease in production costs in less than a decade;

21.Applauds the outstanding technological results achieved by Community researchers and undertakings, notwithstanding a lack of Community support;

22.Believes that, if properly supported, research, demonstration activities, and the dissemination of know-how on renewable forms of energy could conquer the world market;

23.Congratulates all those associations, researchers, and entrepreneurs who have helped to secure a continued high level of market penetration for Community technologies;

Administrative management

24.Deplores the fact that the Commission is failing to coordinate the activities of its Directorates-General in this field;

25.Hopes that, within each of the two principal Directorates-General concerned, the Commission will set up a 'Directorate for Renewable Forms of Energy', consisting of six units:

(a)Direct solar energy: solar-thermal systems (active and passive systems, bioclimatic architecture), solar electric power (photovoltaics, high temperature heat)

(b)Energy from biomass: agro-industry, electricity, and alternative fuels

(c)Wind, sea, and water power

(d)Energy storage, hydrogen

(e)Rational use of energy, dispersed energy, and combined energy production

(f)Energy, environmental, and econometric models;

26.Believes that the Commission should forthwith devise at least two regional energy transition projects using renewables in an integrated approach;

27.Calls on the Commission to draw on the experience of European associations operating in the field and to apply Article 130o, using the structures of EUROSOLAR and EUREC and of other European associations to develop Community programmes for research on and the demonstration of renewable forms of energy, with the necessary appropriations;

The future

28.Calls on the Commission immediately to implement the decisions taken by the Environment/Energy Council on 13 December 1991 by adopting appropriate programmes with the necessary matching levels of funding;

29.Calls on the Commission, as regards the immediate future, to make use of the appropriations already entered in the budget, i.e. the ECU 57 m committed for Joule II in 1992 and the ECU 150 m allocated for 1993-4;

30.Believes that the forthcoming programme must centre on three key areas:

(a)Precompetitive technological development

-biomass

-solar space conditioning

-photovoltaics

-wind energy

-wave and water power

-solar thermodynamics

-energy storage

-hydrogen technology

(b)Specific future applications development

-centralized applications (linked to electricity and gas grids)

-urban applications

-the regions in synergy with the ERDF

-former Eastern bloc countries

-developing countries

(c)Support programmes

-plant development, especially in SMUs

-dissemination of knowledge, pilot production

-information for various sectors of industry and users

-training

-permanent liaison with European associations;

31.Believes that there has to be a return to the budget funding levels recorded in the 1980s, adjusted for inflation and to take account of subsequent expansion and the changing face of industrial development;

32.Points to the need for the funds earmarked for renewable forms of energy to match the amount allocated for nuclear fusion;

33.Calls on the Commission to proceed along the following lines when drawing up the fourth framework programme:

(a)Joule II should be split into two budget headings, one to finance a programme called FUTURE (Future Technology Undertakings for Renewable Energies) and the other to finance a programme called ENTEC (Energy Technology Programme) focusing on fossil fuels and the rational use of energy;

(b)fourth framework programme: FUTURE: ECU 250 m under its own budget heading; ECU 250 m for demonstration in the field of renewable forms of energy;

34.Calls on the Commission to widen the organizational and financial scope of the Thermie programme to cover the countries of Central Europe, the former Soviet Union, and the Third and Fourth Worlds; considers that the new format proposed for the THERMIE programme must meet the criteria of cost-effectiveness and that 'administrative enlargement' should not be in conflict with the decisions of the budgetary authority concerning mini-budgets;

35.Calls on the Commission to make the JRC a 'green centre' developing regional energy and environmental analysis methods with a view to laying down targets for and the means of achieving a change to greater environmental compatibility;

36.Calls on the Commission to create the budget headings required to finance the above JRC activities, amounting to not less than 5% of the total appropriation for the framework programme;

37.Believes that under the fourth framework programme the JRC must pursue its research into solar-thermal systems and energy conservation and that ESTI's activities in the photovoltaics field should be expanded;

38.Calls on the Commission to draw up a regulation governing the price of electrical energy produced by house-load generators, modelled on the new provisions adopted by the Italian Government, and establishing conditions under which supply to the public network must be accepted;

39.Calls on the Commission to make use of the services being offered by the associations that promote renewable forms of energy on a Europe-wide basis;

40.Calls on its own departments, the Commission, and the Council to use paper made from annual-crop biomass, a product of Community research;

41.Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council, the Commission, and EUROSOLAR, EUREC, and the FEER (European Federation for Renewable Energy).