EU launches public renewables awareness campaign

The European Commission has launched a four-year campaign to 2008 to raise public awareness of sustainable energy at a cost of ¤3.7 million. It comes under the Intelligent Energy Europe program and is intended to support EU energy policies, in particular its targets for renewables and energy efficiency. Energy Commissioner Andris Piebalgs says he wants to persuade consumers and decision makers of the benefits of sustainable energy to encourage the uptake of and investment in renewable and energy efficient technologies. The campaign sets benchmarks for 2008 in line with EU targets for 2010 -- including the installation of 15,000 MW of new wind capacity. The European Wind Energy Association welcomes the focus on raising awareness of wind. But it adds that the Commission's current review of Europe's progress towards meeting its targets for green power and its report and recommendations expected this autumn are more important for increasing renewables deployment.