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BRUSSELS, Belgium, April 12, 2006 (Refocus
Weekly)
Sweden and Italy are the two countries in Europe
with the highest involvement in renewable energy activities with the
International Energy Agency.
Both are involved with seven implementing agreements on
renewables with the IEA, behind eight for Japan and tied with seven
for the United States, but ahead of Spain and Norway which are
involved with six each, according to ‘Non-Nuclear Energy Research in
Europe - A Comparative Study’ commissioned by the European
Commission research directorate last year. The study examines the
synergies in the area of non-nuclear energy research and
technological development, and includes an examination of work in
bioenergy, geothermal, hydrogen, hydropower, photovoltaic, solar
heating & cooling, ocean energy and wind.
Building a European research area for non-nuclear energy calls for
co-operation among EU countries but “this requires a detailed
knowledge of European energy research” and the report compares the
energy systems of 33 countries. The study found an enormous variety
between countries in levels of funding, research priorities, and the
way in which in each country’s research priorities for renewables
have evolved over time.
Excluding the European Council, collective public funding of
non-nuclear energies in Europe is Euro 1 billion a year, and the EC
budget is another 20%, making the Framework Programme the largest
single budget. The IEA estimates that Japan spends the same as all
of Europe, while U.S. expenditures are at least twice as much.
While the sum of European budgets has decreased over the past
decade, the EC budget has increased, with the heaviest investment in
Italy, Germany and the Netherlands, which spend the equivalent of
$140 million per year. Medium investors include France, Switzerland
and Sweden, followed by Finland, Norway, UK, Spain, Austria and
Denmark.
An analysis of research priorities shows that not a single theme
which has the same priority for all 33 countries, although shared
priorities are emerging in power and storage technologies,
particularly for fuel cells and solar photovoltaic. To a lesser
extent, there is an interest in biomass and conservation but other
priority themes are shared by a limited number of countries only.
Countries generally implement non-nuclear research through a
dedicated energy agency that also addresses environmental issues, a
technology agency, a relevant government department, or through the
main national research organisation of a country. The report
identified a number of barriers that should be removed.
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