In his second blog entry, Andris Piebalgs moves the focus to European energy security. A few choice excerpts for those who want to have a more spontaneous debate:

Europe is currently importing half of their energy needs, and according to most of the studies, our dependency may grow to 70%. We are running out of fossil fuels and our energy needs grow. This makes Europe terribly vulnerable. As Commissioner responsible for security of supply I often wondered, where are we going to get all that energy from? (my emphasis)

The EU is already a leader in renewable energy sources and we have taken a commitment to go further with a mandatory target of 20% of our final consumption by 2020……

[break]

Ambitious indeed, but I would like Europe to go far beyond this target and there are many reasons for that: climate change, competitiveness, development of new technologies, new companies, new jobs you name it. And if this was not enough, we simply have to think that every wind mill, every solar panel, every litre of biofuel makes the EU simply more independent.

And on the recent spat between Russia and Ukraine on gas supplies (discussed by Jerome here):

A first agreement was reached on the phone by Gazprom and Naftogaz Ukrainy chairmen, and normal deliveries of gas have been resumed. I must say that the fact that supplies to Europe remained unaltered during the bilateral conflict between Russia and Ukraine plays in favour of their reputation as reliable supply and transit country. But I am still concerned. What would it happen if the bilateral crisis had become worse? Will this happen again? What about if a key supply infrastructure is destroyed by an accident or a terrorist attack? What would be the consequences for Europe of geopolitical instability in key energy regions like the Gulf?

I have to say I am warming to Mr Piebalgs appreciation of the precarious state of European energy security and the proposed expansion of renewables targets will receive my full support - with one glaring exception.

One omission from the whole strategy is energy efficiency. This I believe must lie at the heart of everything we do.

By Joe Downes
IRISH renewable energy companies have vowed to plough E4bn into offshore windpower after being promised a guaranteed price yesterday for the electricity they produce.

 
The world’s largest wind turbine is now the Enercon E-126. Its capacity is rated at 6 MW (although this will be ramped up to 7+ MW), and 20 million kilowatt hours per year, that’s enough …

 
via FT.com
The UK’s plans to ease the building of new wind farms will do little to encourage new turbines to be built to meet the government’s exacting renewable energy targets, according to the renewable energy …

Editorial in The Observer (Canada)
Sir: As Bullfrog Power customers, my family attended the ribbon cutting ceremony for the two newest wind turbines in Ravenswood (outside of Forest). These turbines were built to meet the electricity …

Nova Scotia municipalities now have more power to mould plans for wind turbines in their communities, the Energy Department says.
Instead of blanket rules for the entire province, each area applying for wind-energy projects can now …

from Jeff Jarvis of Buzz Machine
“I’m at a surprise session with Larry Page, Sergey Brin, and the Google Foundation’s Larry Brilliant, moderated by Tom Friedman. Liveblogging:
The key difference between this and the Gore-Bono panel prior …

Right now, the country is the fourth largest generator of wind power in the world after Germany, Spain and United States. Moreover, India was one of the five countries that added more than 1,000-MW wind …

Federal and state energy officials are planning a major investment in new technologies in an attempt to make Hawaii the nation’s first state to get the vast majority of its energy from renewable sources.
U.S. Department …

A rapid and vast expansion of renewable energy is on the way in Britain to help with the fight against climate change, it was revealed yesterday.