Early Sunday morning, Greenpeace activists blocked conveyor
belts at the plant, preventing coal from being carried to the
furnace. Together with E.ON - one of the largest utilities
companies in Europe - the Sardinian authorities plan to convert two
older units at the plant from oil to coal, to join the two already
using coal.
"During our action, we met with the regional environmental
minister, who has now declared the intention of the regional
government to revise its energy plans (1)," said Giuseppe Onufrio, Campaign
Director of Greenpeace Italy. "Greenpeace welcomes this news. We
were prepared to block the power station for many days, but we have
suspended our action following Sardinia's change of course."
Coal, the most polluting of all fossil fuels, is responsible for
a third of global greenhouse gas emissions. Coal-fired power
stations undermine European targets to cut emissions by 30% by
2020. E-ON has so far made no declaration, despite Greenpeace's
request that it commits to reducing its CO2 emissions.
E.ON plans a €50 billion investment programme for 2008-2010 to
expand its generation capacity across Europe, only €6 billion of
which is to be invested in renewable sources of energy. E.ON plans
to build eight new coal plants in Germany, Belgium, the UK and the
Netherlands (costing around €1.2 billion each) and to construct
another 2000MW of coal-fired capacity in the rest of the EU. (2)
"If we are to prevent catastrophic climate change we need an
energy revolution now," said Agnes de Rooij, Greenpeace
International climate campaigner. "Companies like E.ON must act
responsibly. They must stop investing millions of Euros in new coal
stations and invest in renewable energy and energy efficiency
instead."
This autumn, the Greenpeace ships Rainbow Warrior and Arctic
Sunrise are bringing the 'Quit Coal' message to the Mediterranean
and Europe. The expedition is happening in the run-up to crucial UN
climate negotiations in Poznan, Poland this December. Quitting coal
will be essential to a meaningful deal to save the climate.
European governments must show leadership by phasing out coal.
Greenpeace's Energy
[R]evolution scenario shows how renewable energy, combined with
energy efficiency, can cut global CO2 emissions by 50% and deliver half
the world's energy needs by 2050.
Other contacts: Agnes de Rooij, Greenpeace International climate campaigner on board the Arctic Sunrise:
+31 641 456 674
Francesco Tedesco, Energy and Climate Campaigner, Greenpeace Italy, on board the Arctic Sunrise:
+39 340 085 6944
Notes: (1) A study by the Italian wind energy association (ANEV) showed that Sardinia could reach a capacity of 1750 MW of wind energy by 2020, producing 25% of the region's energy consumption. The same amount of electricity from coal would be responsible for over 2 million tonnes of CO2 every year. The Sardinian authorities' original energy plans state that total wind power capacity may not exceed 550 MWV, effectively blocking climate-saving solutions.
(2) For more information on E.ON go to: http://www.greenpeace.org/international/press/reports/coal-the-eu-and-eon