Image: www.freefoto.com
An increasing number of countries will participate to the 3rd edition of the European Solar Days from 1 to 16 May 2010. Around 6600 events are planned in 17 European countries for this year's Solar Days campaign, involving several hundred thousands of citizens at local level. Solar energy is already contributing significantly to the reduction of CO2 emissions, supplying millions of European households with green electricity and renewable heating and cooling. The European Solar Days, a Europe-wide campaign promoting the use of solar energy for the production of electricity, heat and cold, started in 2002 in Austria as "Day of the Sun". It is now a multinational joint effort of thousands of local events organisers ranging from solar equipment manufacturers to schools and local authorities. For the 3rd edition of this campaign, moreover half a million citizens are expected to attend around 6.600 events in Austria, Belgium, France, Finland, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Hungary, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Serbia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, The Netherlands.
Following the adoption of the climate package at European level calling for 20% renewable energy in Europe by 2020, Chancellor Angela Merkel is this year's patron of the campaign "Woche der Sonne" in Germany where alone 4.000 events are planned. In Paris, several flagship events will take place in front of the city hall on 7, 8 and 9 May in partnership with the Maison de l'Europe. Citizens from all over Europe are invited to join these events and to contact directly the event organisers on www.solardays.eu. "The mobilisation of events organisers at local level is impressive and has been growing from year to year" says Richard Loyen, Secretary General of the French association ENERPLAN. Our group "Journées européennes du Solaire" has now exceeded 1.000 friends on Facebook and we are set to celebrate around 1.500 events in France this year.
Solar energy is available everywhere in Europe and can be used for private, commercial and industrial applications. The trend towards solar energy is not only noticeable in southern countries such as Italy, Spain and Portugal but also in many other countries such as France, Germany, Norway and Sweden, where there is an ever growing number of photovoltaic and solar thermal installations. "With the right support framework, these clean technologies are poised to become mainstream energy sources for ever more citizens in Europe" concluded Adel El Gammal, Secretary General of the European Photovoltaic Industry Association (EPIA).
The European Solar Days are coordinated by ESTIF in close co-operation with EPIA and supported by around 25 organisations at national and European levels.
Source: EPIA
| < Prev | Next > |
|---|
