SOLAR GENERATION - Greenpeace

solar power is capable of supplying electricity to more than 1 billion people within two decades,
even if we nearly double our overall electricity use in that time.
This clear industrial and political commitment to the expansion of the PV industry implies that
the current surge of activity in the solar electricity sector represents merely a foretaste of the
massive transformation and expansion that this sector will bear witness to in the coming
decades.
This joint initiative adopted the title “Solar Generation” because it aims to define the role that
solar electricity will play in the lives of a global population born today as it develops into a
major energy consumption group and starts to enter the job market. The aim has been to
examine how solar electricity will be perceived from both a consumer and business point of
view within the time scale of a generation. The report highlights the triple benefits which solar
energy offers the world - for the environment, for industry and for economic and social
development.
The international conference “Renewables 2004” held in June 2004 in Bonn was a small but
important step towards an expansion of renewable energies world wide, responding to the call
of the Johannesburg summit to increase the share of renewable energy and to keep up the
momentum generated by the Johannesburg Renewable Energy Coalition. The European Union
has played an important role in this process, following the recommendation of a preparatory
regional conference to Renewables 2004 held in Berlin in January 2004 to:
“...urge EU institutions to start a political process of setting ambitious, time bound targets for
increasing the share of renewable energy in final energy consumption addressing the medium
(2020) and long term time frames in due time to the Renewables 2004 in Bonn. A target value of
at least 20% of gross inland energy consumption by 2020 for the EU is achievable.”
This number could be even higher if coupled with stronger energy efficiency policies. Targets
for renewable energy act as a powerful catalyst for governments to develop the necessary
framework conditions for investments in renewable energy technologies. A powerful example
is the EU Directive on the Promotion of Electricity from Renewable Energy Sources, which sets
national indicative targets for all EU Member States. The targets have initiated political actions
throughout the entire European Union to put in place framework conditions for renewable
energies. Targets are an important first step in developing the clean energy sources of tomorrow
that will contribute substantially to climate protection, but they must be followed by concrete
political action.
Reports are a useful guide, but it is people who change the world by their actions. We encourage
politicians and policymakers, global citizens, energy officials, companies, investors and other
interested parties to support solar power by taking concrete steps which will help ensure that
more than a billion people will get electricity from the sun, harnessing the full potential of
solar power for our common good.
October 2004
EPIA
Greenpeace
Michel Viaud
Secretary-General
European Photovoltaic Industry
Association (EPIA)
Sven Teske
Renewables Director
Greenpeace International
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