Wind power and the rest of the global renewable energy sector received good news earlier this week in two related reports that showed investments in the green technologies reached €205 billion last year, a new record level.
The Global Trends in Renewable Energy Investment report, published by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), noted that last year’s investment total increased by 17% over the 2010 level despite the ongoing economic crisis.
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EWEA public debate
The European Wind Energy Association believes it, and now the European Commission has confirmed it believes it too: wind energy creates economic growth and jobs.
In fact, in a Communication on renewable energy published today, the Commission says that a strong growth in renewables “could generate over 3 million jobs” and “would result in a net GDP growth by 0.36-0.4% by 2030”.
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EWEA Communications Director Julian Scola
Julian Scola, EWEA’s Communication Director, is attending the American Wind Energy Association’s Windpower event in Atlanta…in this blog he reports the latest wind energy news from the US…
American jobs and manufacturing is the rallying cry of the American Wind Energy Association (AWEA) in its efforts to get the vital ‘Production Tax Credit’ extended.
The PTC is the main Federal support for wind energy and runs out at the end of the year. The uncertainty has already led to job losses and projects being shelved.
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In today’s Guardian, Simon Jenkins takes issue with the UK government’s support of wind energy. Yet his arguments are one-sided to say the least. He writes that “Meeting the current EU renewables directive, largely from wind, would cost some £15bn a year, or £670 a household”.
Currently, each EU citizen pays considerably more than that – over €700 a year – to import oil and gas from the likes of Russia and Algeria. And the price of imports is constantly changing, mostly in an upwards direction. Wind energy is a domestic European resource which is free once the turbines are up, and which saves money on fuel imports – €5.7 billion were saved thanks to wind energy last year.
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Wind energy can create economic activity and jobs, while saving money – that’s one of the conclusions Christian Kjaer, CEO of the European Wind Energy Association (EWEA), reaches in an opinion article published today in advance of the beginning of the European Council informal growth summit.
Kjaer also said in the Windpower Monthly article that wind energy could be the ideal catalyst to create jobs while reducing Europe’s energy imports.
Noting that European leaders will bring their differences to the table 23 May to discuss how to achieve growth while addressing massive budgetary challenges, Kjaer said every EU citizen is currently paying more than €700 for energy imports.
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