European power firms to go carbon neutral by 2050

By 2050, 60 electricity companies in the European Union will promote “carbon neutral” efforts and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. EU energy commissioner Andris Piebalgs accepted the declaration.

Eurelectric, a group composed of power companies from 27 EU countries, expressed support and pledged to practice reduction of carbon dioxide emissions and offset what they cannot avoid. The group said it needed government and European Union support for nuclear power, coal technologies, and renewable energy. Simpler regulatory permission for the building of new plants is also an important factor.

According to Lars Josefsson, Vattenfall president and chief executive of utility industry body Eurelectric, the European electricity industry’s commitment is important in trying to achieve a carbon-neutral sector. A market that is highly competitive is also the best choice for delivering the goal in a cost-effective way.

Carbon offsets help in climate change projects and these allow companies from rich nations to minimize their emissions of carbon dioxide, believed to be one of the causes of global warming.

The next few decades will see the replacement of coal-burning power stations. Coal is one of Europe’s main polluters. The industry needs an amount of roughly €1.8 trillion in investment in order to meet new demands, develop power grids, replace aging plants, and hit environmental targets.

The announcement reported to Piebalgs likewise required that policymakers come up with a global approach to increase R&D and CCS-demonstration support, extenuating greenhouse gases, familiarize and gather information about how desirable market-based electricity prices are, and implementing and integrating a market-based approach into the system.

Accordingly, the European Wind Energy Association (EWEA) said Europe power markets are biased towards the usage of traditional fuels since power giants such as France’s EDF, Germany’s E.On and RWE and Italy’s Enel surround them. Its goal is to make sure that EU leaders will continue with plans on breaking up these groups by pushing them to sell out their transmission activities to start up the market.

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