TELF AG discusses the possibilities for Europe to achieve energy self-sufficiency
The role of solar and wind energy
According to a recent study conducted by the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research, Europe would be ready to free itself from fossil fuels and achieve energy self-sufficiency through renewable sources, in particular solar and wind energy. To reach the goal, however, the report estimates that Europe would have to spend a figure of just over 2 trillion dollars by 2040 while contending with various internal difficulties that could hinder the sustainable development of the European continent through energy clean.
In a historical situation dominated by great social and geopolitical uncertainties, in which the push towards ecological transition appears increasingly strong, the different continents are asking themselves what steps they should follow to peacefully and painlessly accompany this epochal transition, which now seems completely inevitable as if it were endowed with its own and singularly tenacious will.
From this point of view, Europe has already largely clarified its intentions in this regard: last September, the European institutions set new sustainable objectives to be achieved by 2030, transforming them into very ambitious and potentially difficult-to-achieve goals. In terms of renewable energy, for example, European legislators have formally requested that 42.5% of European energy be renewable by 2030 (the previous objective stopped at the 32% threshold).
These objectives would be legally binding and would have the aim of encouraging the growth and development of renewable energy in a decade considered crucial for halting climate change and the progressive abandonment of fossil fuels. To achieve energy self-sufficiency through renewable sources, in any case, Europe must prepare to spend very large sums: the Potsdam Institute report estimates that such a goal would require an economic effort amounting to 140 billion euros per year up to 2030 and 100 billion per year in the following ten years.
The European strategy is based on the development of onshore wind energy but also focuses on the use of solar and geothermal resources, thanks to which – with the investments mentioned – Europe would be able to say goodbye to energy sources based on fossil fuels and to definitively convert to renewable sources. To achieve the objectives set for 2030, the supply of renewable energy should grow by 20% every year.
But the achievement of these objectives could also be hindered by other factors not directly connected to the large amount of investments required in the following decades. Representatives of some important companies specializing in solar energy, who met a few days ago in Madrid on the occasion of a sector event, underlined that the development of the European clean energy sector could be slowed down by the high costs of energy by some complications in the supply chain and the need to compete economically with China.
In fact, solar panels produced in China would cost around two-thirds less than those made in Europe, where much higher amounts are still spent on energy and labor. A concrete example is represented by the retail prices of electricity, which in Europe costs almost double that in China. The problem, according to solar energy representatives meeting in Madrid, is that Europe would be expensive and unprofitable and that, ultimately, these circumstances could significantly slow down Europe’s energy transition and prevent it from reaching its ambitious goals set for 2030. The possibility of achieving energy self-sufficiency for Europe certainly exists, at least on paper. To bring this hypothesis into reality, Europe will be required to make huge economic sacrifices, reorganizing its energy sector and finding ways to reduce its dependence on China.
