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ENERGY
 Giving focus to a tide of change
With an ambitious proposal, Brussels seeks to motivate and build on existing
national energy research programmes, giving them a unified focus by which they can answer
future demands. Europe's energy requirements grow ever more important, requiring research
programmes to address a number of critical issues, but also to gain far more focus from a
broader, more integrated European perspective. To date, energy research has made a number
of notable achievements specifically in the areas of photovoltaic, wind and clean-coal energy programmes.
 | Wind energy is playing an increasingly important role in Europe's energy research programme.
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However, the scope of these achievements, and of research in general, has not been
comprehensive enough to address the larger problems; a sustainable European-energy future
and the twin issues of climate change and energy supply security.
Greenhouse gas emissions continue their steady climb and Europe's dependency on foreign energy
sources looks likely to rise to 65% by the year 2030. Part of the problem lies in the fact that
national research programmes often operate in a fragmented environment, with similar research
objectives, and by targeting the same technologies.
The word coming down the pipes from the European Commission is that this can no longer be the case
if Europe is to effectively answer the energy threat, pointing out that "a sea [of] change in
European energy technology innovation, from basic research right through to market take-up" is needed.
The proposal 'Towards a European Strategic Energy Technology Plan' aims to build on and boost already
existing programmes such as the FP7, European Technology Platforms and European Institute of Technology.
While a number of research areas fall under the initiative's broad stroke, such as bio-refineries, fuel
cells and hydrogen and sustainable coal and gas technologies, the Commission sends a clear message in
declaring: "The strategic element of the plan will be to identify those technologies for which it is essential
that the European Union as a whole finds a more powerful way of mobilising resources."
The key phrase "as a whole" summarises the Commission's vigorous drive to transform "energy technology
innovation" with the SET-plan. This Strategic Energy Technology plan has both short- and long-term goals,
and promises to unite diverse research programmes into a dynamic force.
Currently, the initiative remains just that as no draft has been put on the table for discussion yet.
However, European technology platforms, stakeholders and civil organisations have expressed their readiness
to adopt a common vision and develop the necessary roadmaps for the proposal's success. Their actions will
influence the endorsement of the SET-Plan at the spring summit in 2008.
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More information:
SET-Plan
More security, less pollution
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