Energy efficiency not a priority for EU project funding

Money goes to gas pipeline and CCS

Despite EU commissioner Piebalgs recent declarations that energy efficiency is the number one priority, the recently approved EU economic recovery funds for energy projects virtually completely overlooks energy efficiency. The allocation for renewable energy projects is also rather poor.

Of the total budget of €3.98 billion, €1.44 billion goes to natural gas infrastructure projects such as a new pipeline from Azerbaijan to Germany. In addition, €1.05 billion goes to Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) projects, €0.91 billion to electricity infrastructure projects, and €0.565 billion to off-shore wind projects. Following criticism from members of the European Parliament, it was decided that any unspent funds at the end of 2010 will go to energy efficiency and renewable energy projects.

The poor endowment of energy efficiency from these funds is not that surprising. Such funds are principally created to support very large infrastructure works that would otherwise never find the required capital investment. Energy efficiency projects on the contrary are much smaller and more dispersed throughout the market. The question remains: where can energy efficiency receive financial support to help this critical matter along in these times of economic crisis.