E.U. Plans for Alternative Energy
Dated 12/10/2005
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On September 12, a group of European deputies announced the creation of a broad platform designed to find the quickest way to a European hydrogen-based economy, thus ending the E.U. countries' dependence on fossil energy.
Italian liberal-democrat deputy Vittorio Prodi recently told the press that given the high price of oil and the widespread worries about peak oil and an energy crisis, it was time for action in order to ensure energy independence for E.U. member states through the exploitation of renewable, ecology-friendly alternatives to oil and gas. The initiative followed those of the 2002-2004 period, all of which concentrated on the use of hydrogen as the primary energy source. Previous initiatives, however, led to very few concrete results.
Europeans in Search of Renewable Energy
For nearly three years, the concept of a hydrogen-based economy has become an axis of the E.U.'s energy strategy, designed to guarantee the highest rate of energy security and independence to the Union's member states in the coming decades. It is striking how in E.U. literature the idea of hydrogen energy progressed from a "remote alternative" to a "prospect for the future."
At the heart of the matter is the belief that the era of fossil energies will soon come to an end; however, no in-depth study has been able to indicate precisely how many decades of intense oil usage are left. Therefore, "soon" is a relative term. In spite of this lack of assurance about the future of oil and natural gas, the ruling elites in Europe perceive such a future as both uncertain and ecologically unmanageable.
In the summer of 2005, French Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin called for an increase in oil refinery capability by French majors, but at the same time launched an ambitious agenda of new energy policies based primarily on nuclear power, solar energy and bio-fuels. Such a move highlights the serious question on how to manage the coming transition phase from a fossil-based energy policy to a new era based on renewable energies. [See: "Intelligence Brief: French Energy Policy"]
Pushes toward the rapid implementation of urban "hybrid vehicles," using both classical engines and electric refillable accumulators, have been advocated in recent years. Some of the biggest hopes of substituting oil in cars and busses lie in hydrogen. Combining hydrogen with oxygen makes it possible to obtain electricity with which a fuel cell can function. The residue of such a combination would be water instead of the toxic fumes left by today's combustible engines. The hybrids also have other advantages: high energy efficiency and dramatic noise reduction. The time of the electric car could finally be approaching.
Many Options, Many Doubts
Other options are available for the post-oil era. Bio-fuels are among them. In 2004, Royal Assent was given in Britain to an energy bill that contained all the provisions necessary to bring in legislation that would require oil companies to sell a given proportion of their annual fossil fuel sales as bio-fuels (bio-diesel, bio-ethanol and bio-gas). At any rate, it is still unclear whether these fuels could be a viable global alternative to fossil energy.
Hydrogen is, at the moment, the most debated option, and the one which seems to gain more preference by European decision makers. Hydrogen is an "elementary" resource particularly abundant on Earth, not only in its oceans and rivers, but also in the whole organic world -- from bio-masses to hydrocarbons. The use of hydrogen instead of fossil fuels could be decisive to reduce carbon dioxide emissions dramatically.
The big question is to define a consistent policy and to choose a sustainable and economic way of production so as to solve the problem of cost reductions and of many technical aspects still unsettled. The E.U. deputies led by Prodi count among them a substantial Green Party presence, whose representatives are fiercely opposed to the use of nuclear power to produce hydrogen.
Clearly, E.U. states and political factions have different perceptions of nuclear power, thus opening the way for a political battle over the "right" way to produce hydrogen -- a battle in which not only economic but also ethical and scientific considerations will be decisive.
The Bottom Line
Since oil prices are expected to remain high, and as global warming -- and the associated natural catastrophes -- is increasingly linked to the use of fossil energies, expect the E.U. deputies' initiative to be only the first among a series of attempts to find a viable alternative to oil and gas.
Hydrogen, solar energy, and bio-fuels are the most debated options to produce the needed electricity and fuel. However, many problems still hinder movement past the use of fossil energy. There are several methods to produce hydrogen energy cells, and among them nuclear power is strenuously opposed in Western countries since a large part of civil society perceive it as both ecologically dangerous and linked to aggressive military policies. Moreover, managing the transition phase is extremely complicated in political, industrial, social and technological aspects.
Notwithstanding these serious obstacles, look for alternative energy -- and energy independence -- to become a dominant theme in public policy discourse, and the resulting policies to have important industrial and geopolitical consequences.
