Europeans in favour of research into new energy technologies
EU citizens are more concerned by energy prices than reducing energy consumption and curbing pollution. Nevertheless, aware of the need to meet the energy challenges of tomorrow, Europeans are optimistic about the potential of renewable technologies and believe that research into new energy technologies should be made a top priority. These are just some of the findings from a Eurobarometer report published on 8 January. The 'Energy technologies: knowledge, perception, measures' barometer is based on the views of some 24,000 citizens, aged 15 and over, from across the European Union. They were asked to respond to a total of 16 questions related to energy and energy technologies. At a first glance, energy does not appear to be a major concern in the daily lives of Europeans. Asked to state which issues they considered the most important facing their country today, not unsurprisingly, 64% of total respondents rated unemployment as the most important issue to be addressed. Only 14% of respondents considered energy issues as a significant problem to be tackled. Once the focus of the questions turn to energy, however, Europeans do appear to give related issues serious thought. For many, soaring prices are the first issue that comes to mind when thinking about energy. A total of 45% of respondents regard guaranteeing the low price of energy for consumers a top priority for their national governments' energy policies. Some 35% regard guaranteeing continuous supply of energy as an important priority, while 29% of Europeans say that their governments should focus on protecting the environment. Also at the forefront of the minds of many of Europeans is the need to reduce energy consumption, although this does rank below energy prices. A total of 54% of respondents consider regulating consumption a very important action. However, an inconsistency becomes apparent when looking at what people are actually doing to curb their energy use .While a total of 48% of people claim to have cut down on lighting and the use of domestic appliances over the last year, no less than 21% admit to having done nothing to save energy, while only 13% claim to have used public transport more in the last 12 months. On energy technologies, Europeans claim familiarity and are particularly in favour of using renewable energies. While over-estimating their current share, those surveyed come out strongly in favour of the further uptake of renewables. A total of 80% say that they support the use of solar energy, 71% wind energy, 65% hydroelectric energy, 60% ocean energy and 55% biomass energy. This contrasts somewhat with public acceptance of fossil fuels, with only 42% in favour of the use of gas and about 25% accepting oil and coal. In fact EU citizens expect that fossil fuels will drop drastically and will be replaced by renewable energy technologies, in particular solar and wind energy. To bring about this energy revolution, over half of Europeans agree that research should be made a top priority, with nearly a third showing a preference for directing EU research funding into developing new energy technologies that are not yet widely used or discovered. Only 20% of respondents opt for research to reduce energy consumption. Nuclear energy provokes the most opposition among Europeans, with 80% of Austrians, 73% of Greeks and 70% of Cypriots expressing opposition to nuclear energy. These countries do not have nuclear power plants in operation. Opposition was much lower in countries where nuclear power is in use, such as Sweden, Slovakia, and Lithuania. Yet despite these mixed feelings, Europeans believe that nuclear energy is here to stay and will remain one of the main energy resources in the future. 'Europeans recognise that new technologies could have a very big impact on the energy system of the future and they expect more cooperation at European level to develop such technologies,' said European Science and Research Commissioner Janez Potocnik. 'At EU level, we will invest over €6 billion on energy-related research over the next seven years, and we will work with Member States and industry to get the most out of these investments.' The Commission also published on 8 January, a scientific report 'WETO-H2', presenting three scenarios on energy consumption in 2050. In the 'business as usual' scenario, without determined action, energy demand will double while electricity demand will quadruple, resulting in an 80% increase in CO2 emissions. A 'carbon constraint case' explores the consequences of more ambitious carbon policies, which result in a stabilisation of CO2 global emissions between 2015 and 2030. The third scenario looks at the impact of a series of technology breakthroughs that would significantly increase the cost-effectiveness of hydrogen technologies. If this scenario was to come true, by 2050 hydrogen could provide 13% of energy consumed, with 90% of the supply being used in transport.