Feature story - October 20, 2008
The Quit Coal tour was back in action this weekend in Italy. Activists showed up at the E.ON owned Fiume Santo coal-fired power station to let Sardinia and E.ON know their plan to expand coal capacity in the region wouldn’t go unnoticed.
Coal is the most polluting of fossil fuels, responsible for a third of global greenhouse emissions.
The activists' message certainly didn't go unnoticed. Activists
stoppedthe two conveyor belts delivering coal into the furnace of
the coal firedplant. While climbers maintained a 14 hour occupation
of the conveyor belt anda net secured net below, the regional
environmental minister met with us. He promised the regional
governmentwould revise its energy plans to meet EU climate
protection targets.
Building the wrong capacity
In a time where we should be lookingtowards renewable energy,
local authorities in Sardiniahave plans to expand the coal capacity
in the region. Together with E.ON - oneof the largest utilities
companies in Europe -the local authorities plan to convert two
older units at the plant from oil tocoal. E.ON also plans to invest
€50 billion in the next two years to increase energygeneration
capacity. They plan to build eight new coal plantsin Germany,
Belgium, the UKand the Netherlands(costing around €1.2 billion
each) and to construct another 2000 mega-watts ofcoal-fired
capacity in the rest of the EU.
Europe must
quit coal
It's time for the government and companies like E.ON to start
actingresponsibly.They need to stop investingmillions of Euros in
new coal stations and instead invest in renewable energy. The
Sardinian authorities are taking thefirst step towards climate
protection by committing to meet and exceed thetarget for 20 per
cent renewable energy by 2020.
This autumn, the Greenpeace ships Rainbow Warrior and
ArcticSunrise are bringing the 'Quit Coal' message to the
Mediterranean and Europe. The expedition, from Israelto Poland, is
happening in the run-up to crucial UN climate negotiations in
Poznan, Poland,this December, where quitting coal will be essential
to a meaningful deal tosave the climate.
Energy [R]evolution
If we're serious about stopping climate change we need an Energy[R]evolution.
Greenpeace's Energy [R]evolution scenario shows how
renewableenergy, combined with energy efficiency, can cut global
CO2emissions by 50% and deliver half the world's energy
needs by 2050.
Summary (7
pages) | Full report (96
pages)
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