madam president although i am replacing my colleague günther oettinger today it is a real pleasure to discuss with you the future of low-carbon technologies
i personally was closely involved in the development of the european strategic energy technology plan set plan in the last commission and i believe strongly that the development of these technologies is one of the cornerstones of the energy policy we have to develop jointly in the years to come
parliament's report on the set plan of june two thousand and eight was very clear in proposing an appropriate level of ambition
we should not now lower this ambition
today you have asked three clear questions and i will respond to them in turn
first regarding our priorities for twenty ten to twenty twenty and the launch of the european industrial initiatives those six initiatives really match our priorities wind solar bio-energy sustainable fission smart grids and carbon capture and storage are priorities that were strongly endorsed by parliament and the council
at your request we have also prioritised energy efficiency by developing a new dedicated initiative smart cities to unlock the market potential of energy efficient technologies in cities and regions
to prioritise activities within this initiative the commission has developed together with the stakeholders technology road maps for the period twenty ten twenty twenty
these road maps establish concrete objectives as well as the activities needed to achieve them
the initiatives are mature for launching this year twenty ten
smart cities are planned for the following year
your second question concerns the need for predictable stable and adequate budgets for the set plan in the current financing period and post twenty fourteen
our estimate of the public and private investment needs for the development of low-carbon technologies in the set plan is eur eight billion per year
today about eur three billion are being invested annually in the european union which means that a further eur fifty billion is needed for the period twenty ten twenty twenty
bridging this gap should be one of the key institutional discussions over the coming years
effort must be focused where intervention is most efficient avoiding duplications and fostering the greatest potential impact in the market
it is clear that eu level investments coming either from the seventh framework programme or the european energy programme for recovery will not be enough
nor will the potential funds from the three hundred million emissions trading allowances set aside for the demonstration of carbon capture and storage and innovative renewable technologies
at current prices this is approximately eur four billion
major efforts are therefore required both by the private and public sector the public sector includes both the european union and of course also the member states
to be blunt the bulk of the money will have to come from where the bulk of the money is
thirdly you asked if the commission intends to finance other technology avenues and propose additional industrial initiatives
other technologies that deserve european-level intervention will certainly emerge over time so the set plan must remain flexible as we have already shown with the new initiative on energy efficiency smart cities which we expect to launch as i said in twenty eleven
we will closely monitor the most promising technologies through the set plan information system
setis as this is called is already working on storage and ocean technologies to assess their potential and identify the best opportunities for european intervention
we have also encouraged the establishment of a new technology platform on renewables heating and cooling that should help the sectors involved better to define their technology transfer
i am very pleased to see this file getting the support it deserves
it is a key file for achieving our energy policy goals a key file for europe and for our future
