Energy issues dominate eco-innovation debate at European Business Summit[fr][de] 

A panel debate on eco-innovation at the summit on 16 March concentrated heavily on energy issues.

Introducing the debate, environment Commissioner Stavros Dimas said EU eco-industries were already in a strong position, making up "one third of the global market" and representing "over 2% of the EU's GDP". But, he added, Europe cannot be complacent, since other countries were rapidly catching up. "Japan is already ahead in the design of hybrid cars. Brazil leads the world in the bio-fuels market," he underlined. 

Dimas then pointed to three challenges that he believes the European business should address:

1. Look for green profits "to see where money can be made from developing environmental technologies and where it can be saved by applying these technologies";
2. Invest now to be ahead of the game (Dimas pointed out that renewable energies are a perfect example of this);
3. Move to the mainstream using industry-led advertising and marketing to create demand and move out from niche markets. (He mentioned energy-efficient light bulbs as an example of eco-innovations now in the mainstream.)

Shell CEO Jeroen Van der Veer asked which energy sources were best suited to fuel economic growth in today's context of high energy prices and concerns over global warming. In his view, energy choices need to fulfil three conditions: i) Convenience; ii) Cheapness; iii) Cleanliness. 

However, he added, energy sources may fulfil two but rarely three conditions at the same time. With growing environmental challenges and uncertainties over long term availability of fossil fuels, he wondered what technology would be the winner in 20-30 years time. He cited wind power, synthetic fuels, advanced oil drilling techniques and 'greener fossil fuels', using CO2 capture and underground storage, as possible winners.

Mr Bernard Meric, Senior Vice President for External Affairs  at Hewlett Packard, said improved energy performance of PCs and printers was already helping to bring valuable savings to a lot of different industries. Meric made the case for 'virtual studios' for holding 'meetings' between people at a distance from each other to save on travel costs and reduce greenhouse gas emissions from aviation.

Dr. Wolfgang Sachs, Senior Research Fellow at the Wuppertal Institute in Germany said eco-innovation is the cornerstone of long-term economic growth. However, he said eco-efficiency gains would be insufficient to ensure long-term environmental sustainability. Taking cars as an example, he said fuel efficiency gains made over the past decades, although substantial, have been entirely wiped out by parallel growth in the number of cars in circulation. For that reason, he said personal ownership was "an outdated idea"; he preferred the concept of "shared access" to belongings such as cars as the hallmark of a more efficient economy.