Once upon a time, long ago, some people had a wonderful dream, of a Europe running on green, renewable energy. However, there seemed to be no way of doing this, so they were mostly dismissed as idealists and hippies.

However, many years later in 2011, renewable energy technologies had developed so much and become such a normal part of life that a 100% renewable energy economy was considered an economically and technologically realistic vision for Europe in 2050 and supported by 200 companies.

The vision has now been set out in a declaration drawn up by Greenpeace, the European Renewable Energy Council (EREC) and the European Forum for Renewable Energy Sources (EUFORES).

Key political decisions and legislation are in the cards for the wind energy industry this year. What exactly is in store and how might it impact the sector?

The EU is due to publish its 2050 Roadmap to a Low-carbon Economy, which should show the benefits from a move to 30% greenhouse gas reductions over 1990 levels by 2020. The Roadmap may also outline the path to a 100% renewable energy economy by 2050. This would send an even stronger long-term signal that the EU believes wind power can become a major player in a green economy.

The European Commission should also analyse the National Renewable Energy Action Plans in 2011 and take the necessary action against any Member State which has not put in place the necessary measures to meet its target.

Numerous reports in the past week indicate that Egypt, concerned about diminishing oil and gas supplies, is getting ready to expand its wind power sector.

Egypt, which is the world’s 16^th most populous nation with more than 80 million people, has announced a plan to produce 2,600 megawatts of wind energy this year in collaboration with several EU states and Japan.

Egyptian media organisation Al-Masry Al-Youm reports Egyptian Minister of Electricity and Energy Hassan Younes as saying that the ministry had already raised funds for several wind farms — each with a capacity of 540 megawatts — in the Gulf of Suez.

By Justin Wilkes

All 27 National Renewable Energy Action Plans have now been submitted to the European Commission. We at EWEA have done an analysis of the plans.  As expected they show that the EU as a whole will exceed its target of 20% of energy from renewables by 2020.

Taking all 27 National Renewable Energy Action Plans together we see that EU countries expect to meet 20.7% of their energy consumption from renewables.

This would mean that 34% of all electricity in the EU in 2020 would come from renewables – 14% from wind energy alone: making wind Europe’s leading renewable energy source.

In an impressively unique attempt to promote the global need for the creation of green jobs, world leaders attending last week’s G20 summit in Seoul were each asked to set aside one hour in the next few months to learn how their countries can benefit by economic solutions to complex 21^st century problems.

“Creating green jobs on a massive scale is a two-way street,” Ditlev Engel, President and CEO of Vestas Wind Systems A/S, said in a press release announcing the plan put forth at the G20 Business Summit, a largely unreported side session to the main meeting, by a working group for creating green jobs.

“Give us the policy frameworks, and we’ll give you the results. We’ll make the investments, we’ll take the risks, and we’ll create the jobs. But this requires a policy framework that re-balances the incentives indisputably in favour of green investment.”