Massive EU savings seen in carbon-free fuel switch

A green revolution to make EU energy almost totally carbon-free by 2050 would generate 3 trillion euros ($3.7 trillion) in fuel savings, a report commissioned by environmental campaigners said.

The energy shift would already create around half a million extra jobs by 2020, researchers from German aerospace centre DLR, which also specialises in energy and transport, found.

The European Union has legislated to ensure that 20 per cent of the energy mix is green by 2020, as part of a set of three main environmental goals.

But it has yet to achieve agreement on binding targets beyond 2020, even though non-binding roadmaps have laid out the need for a virtually carbon-free electricity mix by 2050.

Commissioned by Greenpeace and the European Renewable Energy Council (EREC), the 2012 Energy evolution report lays out steps towards almost carbon-free energy. They include curbing energy demand through greater efficiency, increasing investment in wind and solar power and phasing out subsidies for carbon-intensive energy, such as coal.

Another benefit is job-creation. The report finds almost totally green energy would lead to half a million extra jobs compared with business as usual, as renewable energy initially demands more workers than carrying on with fossil fuel.

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