De Groenen vinden dat grote stroompannes, zoals deze recent in Italië, niet mogen
worden misbruikt om kernenergie te promoten. Er zijn andere manieren.
Greens/EFA maintain that electricity blackouts are avoidable
De Palacio's energy policy blackouts
The Green/EFA Group in
the European Parliament today presented a document demonstrating that the large-scale electricity blackouts -
last experienced in Italy in September - were not an unavoidable part of Europe's destiny and that short-term
solutions already existed. Green MEPs Monica Frassoni and Claude Turmes also called into question the
Commission's proposals concerning the blackout at a briefing for journalists held this morning in the
Parliament in Brussels.
Claude Turmes, Vice-President of the Greens/EFA Group,
said:
"Commissioner de Palacio's misinformation campaign on this issue is simply scandalous. She
is abusing the Italian blackout crisis in an attempt to convince people that the problem stems from energy
supply in Italy and Europe. The Commission's only goal, in fact, is to promote nuclear energy and increase the
number of high-voltage power lines in the EU. The blackouts in Italy and in Denmark in June - which was caused
by a shutdown in a Swedish nuclear plant - clearly shows that building new power stations is not a solution. We
must urgently move to decentralise electricity production while creating a serious policy to stabilise
demand."
Monica Frassoni, Co-President of the Green/EFA Group, said:
"On
the night of 28 September electricity consumption in Italy was relatively low, and at three in the morning
demand cannot possibly be cited as a reason for the blackout. The power cut in Italy arose instead as a result
of the policy of ENEL - the majority electric operator in Italy - to import massive quantities of electricity.
This practice is pursued with one goal in mind - profits. Increasing the number of power lines coming across the
Alps does not in any way reduce the risk of electricity cuts."
"We believe that the short-term
solutions for Italy and the EU are as following:
- Drawing up an energy saving programme which
would introduce strict requirements for air conditioning systems and encourage, for example, the exchange of old
fridges and freezers for models that consume less energy and pollute less.
- Producing electricity
in the same place as it is consumed, promoting renewable energy and encouraging 'trigeneration' - the
conversion of a single fuel source into electricity, steam or hot water, and chilled water."