European Energy Efficiency Plan: Commission gears up for more savings with renovation and smart meters

CROATIAN CENTER of RENEWABLE ENERGY SOURCES

shares to you

European Energy Efficiency Plan:
Commission gears up for more savings with renovation and smart meters
The European Commission today adopted a plan for saving more energy through concrete measures. Energy efficiency is a key tool for strengthening Europe's competitiveness and reduces energy dependence, while decreasing the level of emissions. The set of measures proposed aims at creating substantial benefits for households, businesses and public authorities: it should transform our daily lives and generate financial savings of up to €1000 per household every year. It should improve the EU's industrial competitiveness with a potential for the creation of up to 2 million jobs.

Günther Oettinger, European Commissioner responsible for Energy, said: "Despite progress, our estimates show that we need a further decisive and coordinated action on energy efficiency, without which the EU will not meet its objective of 20% energy savings by 2020. It paves the way for the longer term policies needed to achieve a decarbonised and resource-efficient economy by 2050 and to place the EU at the forefront of innovation. "

Recent Commission estimates suggest the EU will achieve only half of the 20% improvement in energy efficiency it aims for by 2020 if it continues business as usual.

Against this background, the Action Plan proposes several new actions:

It promotes the exemplary role of the public sector and proposes a binding target to accelerate the refurbishment rate of the public sector building stock. Public authorities should be required to refurbish at least 3% of their buildings each year. It also introduces energy efficiency criteria in public procurement.
It aims to trigger the renovation process in private buildings and to improve the energy performance of appliances.
It seeks to improve the efficiency of power and heat generation.
It foresees energy efficiency requirements for industrial equipment, improved information provision for SMEs and energy audits and energy management systems for large companies.
It focuses on the roll-out of smart grids and smart meters providing consumers with the information and services necessary to optimise their energy consumption and calculate their energy savings.
The Commission will monitor the implementation of the Action Plan and translate these actions into a legislative proposal in the coming months.

It will report on progress in spring 2013 in the framework of the new EU 2020 governance. If the review shows that the overall EU target is unlikely to be achieved, the Commission will propose legally binding targets for 2020. For now, the priority is for binding measures to help Member States, companies and citizens alike to achieve their savings objectives and to save on their energy bills.

Further information:
Questions and Answers on the Energy Efficiency Plan: MEMO/11/149.

Energy Efficiency Plan: http://ec.europa.eu/energy/efficiency/action_plan/action_plan_en.htm

DG ENER Energy Strategy for Europe web page:

http://ec.europa.eu/energy/index_en.htm

Intelligent Energy web: http://ec.europa.eu/energy/intelligent/index_en.html

Covenant of mayors: http://www.eumayors.eu/home_en.htm

More info at : http://solarserdar.blogspot.com

CROATIAN CENTER of RENEWABLE ENERGY SOURCES ( CCRES )

EARTH DAY 2011 & BILLION ACTS OF GREEN

CROATIAN CENTER of RENEWABLE ENERGY SOURCES

promotes

EARTH DAY 2011 &

BILLION ACTS OF GREEN


http://act.earthday.org/event/energy-efficiency-coalition

The first Earth Day, on April 22, 1970, activated 20 million Americans from all walks of life and is widely credited with launching the modern environmental movement. The passage of the landmark Clean Air Act, Clean Water Act, Endangered Species Act and many other groundbreaking environmental laws soon followed. Growing out of the first Earth Day, Earth Day Network (EDN) works with over 22,000 partners in 192 countries to broaden, diversify and mobilize the environmental movement. More than 1 billion people now participate in Earth Day activities each year, making it the largest civic observance in the world.

But Earth Day Network does not stop there.

All of EDN’s activities, whether greening schools or promoting green economic policies at home and abroad, inform and energize populations so they will act to secure a healthy future for themselves and their children. With its partner organizations, EDN provides civic engagement opportunities at the local, state, national and global levels. At every turn, EDN works to broaden the definition of "environment" to include all issues that affect our health, our communities and our environment, such as greening deteriorated schools, creating green jobs and investment, and promoting activism to stop air and water pollution.

Over the last 40 years, EDN has executed successful environmental campaigns on issues ranging climate change and drinking water to voter registration and saving the whale. EDN is a recognized leader in creating civically–oriented innovative programs with partners outside of the environmental movement to tackle new challenges. Our core programs today focus on:

Greening Schools and Promoting Environmental EducationIn partnership with the U.S. Green Building Council and The Clinton Foundation, EDN’s Green Schools Campaign, aims to green all of America’s K-12 schools within a generation. Green schools save money, conserve energy and water, and foster better-performing, healthier students. EDN’s Educator’s Network, used by over 30,000 teachers and administrators nationwide, provides innovative tools and resources to promote civic participation and to develop a sense of environmental responsibility among students of all ages. Together, EDN’s Education and Policy Teams organize federal and state legislative campaigns to green school facilities, improve school food, and enhance environmental education and civic engagement. These include the Healthy Schools Act, No Child Left Inside, the National Civic Education Project, No Idling and the Climate Change Educators’ Grant. EDN is also working internationally to promote green schools and improve environmental education.

Accelerating the Global Green Economy

For years, EDN has created dialogues and conferences engaging civil society, corporate, and government leaders on how to transition from a traditional, fossil fuel-based economy to one based on renewable energy, energy efficiency and other sustainable development principles. Our Global Day of Conversation continues to provide local government leaders with an opportunity to engage with their constituents in a dialogue about renewable energy, sustainability and the green economy. As in 2010, EDN will co-host the Climate Leadership Gala with Sir Richard Branson’s Carbon War Room at the Creating Climate Wealth Conference, convening the world’s most successful green business leaders. EDN’s newest initiative, Women and the Green Economy (WAGE™), is promoting the unique leadership role women bring to advancing green economic and investment policies at the international, national and local levels.

A Billion Acts of Green®

From greening schools to hosting town hall discussions on clean energy investment and green jobs, Earth Day Network leads its network in thousands of Earth Day events and actions worldwide each year. To catalyze global environmental activism, Earth Day Network has chosen A Billion Acts of Green® as the theme for Earth Day 2011. A Billion Acts of Green®–the largest environmental service campaign in the world–inspires and rewards simple individual acts and larger organizational initiatives that further the goal of measurably reducing carbon emissions and supporting sustainability. The goal is to register one billion actions in advance of the global Earth Summit in Rio in 2012.
More info at
http://act.earthday.org/event/energy-efficiency-coalition

http://solarserdar.blogspot.com

CROATIAN CENTER of RENEWABLE ENERGY SOURCES ( CCRES )

LIFE conference Brussels on 25-26 May 2011.

CROATIAN CENTER of RENEWABLE ENERGY SOURCES

promotes

LIFE conference
Brussels on 25-26 May 2011.

How significant is LIFE’s contribution to protecting the environment, and how should it be updated in the light of new EU policy developments? These questions will be addressed by a special LIFE conference to be held in Brussels on 25-26 May 2011.

The conference, which is being organised by the European Commission, will take stock of the contribution of LIFE’s Environment Policy and Governance component to environmental protection in the EU, its main achievements, and its potential future contribution, particularly in the context of the next financial perspective 2014-2020.*

Funding programmes are an essential complement to EU legislation. The LIFE programme is the EU’s main financial instrument for the environment. It includes three components: LIFE Environmental Policy and Governance, LIFE Nature and Biodiversity, and LIFE Information and Communication.

LIFE Environment Policy and Governance supports the implementation and updating of EU environment policy through the development of new solutions to environmental challenges and the dissemination of best practices, in both the public and the private sector.

Expected outcomes of the conference:

A clearer understanding of LIFE’s contribution to environmental protection in Europe;
Greater awareness of this contribution, particularly among policy-makers at EU level;
Ideas for the future of the programme, its design and development, which can be fed into the planning cycle.

The conference will also provide an opportunity for stakeholders to exchange experience in the context of the implementation of the LIFE programme.
* Note that this conference does not cover the activities of LIFE Nature and Biodiversity, whose objectives are the preservation of Europe’s nature and biodiversity through the implementation of the Habitats and Birds directives and through other activities.

Target audiences

The conference will bring together:
Professionals (public authorities, SMEs, other industries, academia);
EU policy-makers (Commission, Parliament, Council, Committee of the Regions, Member States); and
Stakeholders of the LIFE programme (beneficiaries, national contact points, other funders).

The outcomes of the conference will be taken into consideration in the revision of the LIFE programme for 2014-2020.
Sessions
Environmental policy on the ground: promoting best practice in the implementation of EU law

This session will seek to provide an overview, with selected examples, of LIFE project contributions to the implementation of EU environmental policy through the dissemination of best practices. An introduction by a keynote speaker will be followed by a panel discussion and debate.
New solutions to environmental challenges in the public and private sector
After looking at policy implementation in the previous session, this session will examine the contribution that LIFE environment projects have made over the years to developing new solutions to environmental challenges and, where relevant, to the updating of EU environment policy. A keynote presentation will again be followed by a panel discussion and debate.

The multiplier effect: how good solutions spread

The LIFE programme places considerable emphasis on the dissemination and replication of novel solutions to environmental challenges. This session will examine the programme’s experience in this area. It will highlight successes and lessons learnt and seek to identify future needs and opportunities.
Complementarity with other funding programmes, at national and EU levels
This session will examine other significant sources of funding for environmental projects in Europe, including other EU funds. It will, in particular, outline their complementarity and overlaps, and examine how they can better complement each other. Reference will also be made to similar funding programmes in other major industrialised countries (the USA and Japan in particular).
Policy complementarity: how financial support serves environment policy objectives
This session will discuss the relationship between the LIFE programme and other policy instruments: how LIFE projects help find ways to implement policy; how they help to formulate policy or revise BAT; how the LIFE programme, or individual projects, are used, in conjunction with other policy initiatives, to promote the protection of the environment.More info at http://solarserdar.blogspot.com.

High-level session – the future of LIFE

The concluding session will serve to bring together high-profile decisions-makers, and provide them with an opportunity to draw conclusions and to formulate recommendations for the next LIFE programming period.
Conference programme
Download: Conference programme with speakers overview
(~ 90 KB)

Day 1: project platform

The Project Platform will provide an opportunity to take stock of the contribution of LIFE projects to the implementation and updating of EU environment policy.
Day 1 project platform
12.30-14.00 Registration
14.00–14.10 Welcome and introduction
14:10-15:40 Session 1. Environmental policy on the ground: promoting best practice in the implementation of EU law
15.40-16.00 Coffee Break
16:30-17:30 Session 2. New solutions to environmental challenges in the public and private sector
17.30–17.45 Coffee break
17.45-18.45 Presentation of the 'Best of the Best' LIFE Environment projects 2010 awards
18.45–20.00 Evening Buffet
Day 2: Policy conference

The second day's policy conference (a full day) will seek to provide an understanding of the impact which the programme has had, through its projects, in terms of promoting the replication and dissemination of good solutions, whether new or tried and tested, and in terms of effectively contributing to the success of EU policy. The Policy Conference will discuss the programme's performance in this respect and how it should be revised in the light of new developments. It will end with a high-level segment with key decision-makers, which will reflect on the future of the programme in the light of previous discussions.More info at http://solarserdar.blogspot.com.

Day 2 policy conference

09:30–09:45 An international perspective on financial instruments for the environment
09:45-11:25 Session 3. The multiplier effect: how good solutions spread
11:25-11:45 Coffee break
11:45–13:00 Session 4. Complementarity with other funding programmes at national and EU levels
13:00-14:00 Lunch break
LIFE and EU policies

14:00-15:40 Session 5. Policy complementarity: how financial support serves environment policy objectives
15.40–16.00 Coffee break
16:00–17:30 Session 6. High-level session – the future of LIFE
17.30 Cocktail
Registration
Admission for the conference is free but upon registration/invitation only. If you are interested to participate please send an email to brigitte.lam@pracsis.be.
More info at http://solarserdar.blogspot.com.

CROATIAN CENTER of RENEWABLE ENERGY SOURCES ( CCRES )

CCRES study: Biofuel Production Predicted to Increase

CCRES study: Biofuel Production Predicted to Increase


http://www.dailyenergyreport.com; A study finds biofuel production will increase worldwide among top producers like the U.S. and still nascent markets such as Sweden. Also, wind farm under construction in Hawaii and DOE funds more solar manufacturing.
More info at http://solarserdar.blogspot.com.

CROATIAN CENTER of RENEWABLE ENERGY SOURCES ( CCRES )

CCRES promotes DELL's Sustainability Initiatives

CCRES and EE COALITION

promotes

DELL's Sustainability Initiatives



http://www.dailyenergyreport.com; Trisa Thompson, VP of Corporate Responsibility for DELL, highlights successful programs that have come from the company's sustainability initiatives.
More info at http://solarserdar.blogspot.com.

CROATIAN CENTER of RENEWABLE ENERGY SOURCES ( CCRES )

ENERGY EFFICIENCY COALITION ( EEC )

EEC

EEC

CROATIAN CENTER of RENEWABLE ENERGY SOURCES (CCRES)
• was founded in 1988 as the non-profit European Association for Renewable Energy that conducts its work independently of political parties, institutions, commercial enterprises and interest groups, • is dedicated to the cause of completely substituting for nuclear and fossil energy through renewable energy, • regards solar energy supply as essential to preserve the natural resources and a prerequisite for a sustainable economy,• acts to change conventional political priorities and common infrastructures in favor of renewable energy, from the local to the international level, • brings together expertise from the fields of politics, economy, science, and culture to promote the entry of solar energy, • provides the opportunity to play a part in the sociocultural movement for renewable energy by joining the association for everyone, • considers full renewable energy supply a momentous and visionary goal - the challenge of the century to humanity. CCRES Željko Serdar Head of association

ENERGY EFFICIENCY COALITION ( EEC )

EEC

EEC

ENERGY EFFICIENCY COALITION ( EEC )

EEC

EEC

CROATIAN CENTER of RENEWABLE ENERGY SOURCES (CCRES)
• was founded in 1988 as the non-profit European Association for Renewable Energy that conducts its work independently of political parties, institutions, commercial enterprises and interest groups, • is dedicated to the cause of completely substituting for nuclear and fossil energy through renewable energy, • regards solar energy supply as essential to preserve the natural resources and a prerequisite for a sustainable economy,• acts to change conventional political priorities and common infrastructures in favor of renewable energy, from the local to the international level, • brings together expertise from the fields of politics, economy, science, and culture to promote the entry of solar energy, • provides the opportunity to play a part in the sociocultural movement for renewable energy by joining the association for everyone, • considers full renewable energy supply a momentous and visionary goal - the challenge of the century to humanity. CCRES Željko Serdar Head of association

ENERGY EFFICIENCY COALITION ( EEC )

EEC

EEC

ENERGY EFFICIENCY COALITION ( EEC )

EEC

EEC

CROATIAN CENTER of RENEWABLE ENERGY SOURCES (CCRES)
• was founded in 1988 as the non-profit European Association for Renewable Energy that conducts its work independently of political parties, institutions, commercial enterprises and interest groups, • is dedicated to the cause of completely substituting for nuclear and fossil energy through renewable energy, • regards solar energy supply as essential to preserve the natural resources and a prerequisite for a sustainable economy,• acts to change conventional political priorities and common infrastructures in favor of renewable energy, from the local to the international level, • brings together expertise from the fields of politics, economy, science, and culture to promote the entry of solar energy, • provides the opportunity to play a part in the sociocultural movement for renewable energy by joining the association for everyone, • considers full renewable energy supply a momentous and visionary goal - the challenge of the century to humanity. CCRES Željko Serdar Head of association

ENERGY EFFICIENCY COALITION ( EEC )

EEC

EEC

ENERGY EFFICIENCY COALITION ( EEC )

EEC

EEC

ENERGY EFFICIENCY COALITION ( EEC )

EEC

EEC

ENERGY EFFICIENCY COALITION ( EEC )

EEC

EEC

CROATIAN CENTER of RENEWABLE ENERGY SOURCES (CCRES)
• was founded in 1988 as the non-profit European Association for Renewable Energy that conducts its work independently of political parties, institutions, commercial enterprises and interest groups, • is dedicated to the cause of completely substituting for nuclear and fossil energy through renewable energy, • regards solar energy supply as essential to preserve the natural resources and a prerequisite for a sustainable economy,• acts to change conventional political priorities and common infrastructures in favor of renewable energy, from the local to the international level, • brings together expertise from the fields of politics, economy, science, and culture to promote the entry of solar energy, • provides the opportunity to play a part in the sociocultural movement for renewable energy by joining the association for everyone, • considers full renewable energy supply a momentous and visionary goal - the challenge of the century to humanity. CCRES Željko Serdar Head of association

ENERGY EFFICIENCY COALITION ( EEC )

EEC

EEC

CROATIAN CENTER of RENEWABLE ENERGY SOURCES (CCRES)
• was founded in 1988 as the non-profit European Association for Renewable Energy that conducts its work independently of political parties, institutions, commercial enterprises and interest groups, • is dedicated to the cause of completely substituting for nuclear and fossil energy through renewable energy, • regards solar energy supply as essential to preserve the natural resources and a prerequisite for a sustainable economy,• acts to change conventional political priorities and common infrastructures in favor of renewable energy, from the local to the international level, • brings together expertise from the fields of politics, economy, science, and culture to promote the entry of solar energy, • provides the opportunity to play a part in the sociocultural movement for renewable energy by joining the association for everyone, • considers full renewable energy supply a momentous and visionary goal - the challenge of the century to humanity. CCRES Željko Serdar Head of association

ENERGY EFFICIENCY COALITION ( EEC )

EEC

EEC

ENERGY EFFICIENCY COALITION ( EEC )

EE COALITION

EE COALITION


CROATIAN CENTER of RENEWABLE ENERGY SOURCES (CCRES)
• was founded in 1988 as the non-profit European Association for Renewable Energy that conducts its work independently of political parties, institutions, commercial enterprises and interest groups, • is dedicated to the cause of completely substituting for nuclear and fossil energy through renewable energy, • regards solar energy supply as essential to preserve the natural resources and a prerequisite for a sustainable economy,• acts to change conventional political priorities and common infrastructures in favor of renewable energy, from the local to the international level, • brings together expertise from the fields of politics, economy, science, and culture to promote the entry of solar energy, • provides the opportunity to play a part in the sociocultural movement for renewable energy by joining the association for everyone, • considers full renewable energy supply a momentous and visionary goal - the challenge of the century to humanity. CCRES Željko Serdar Head of association

ENERGY EFFICIENCY COALITION ( EEC )

ENERGY EFFICIENCY COALITION ( EEC )

ENERGY EFFICIENCY COALITION ( EEC )