Energy research in the EU needs focus

The European Commission published on the 30th of January a report “The state and prospects of European energy research”. The report analysis the energy research activities in the EU and MS comparing them to those in major competitors, including the US and Japan.

The main conclusion of the report is that European energy research is fragmented, spread out and unconnected. This leads to fewer results comparing to the ones in Japan or the US. These countries can more easily prioritise their programs and drop the activities that appear not to have a future.

Even if research in the EU has a broad objective, not prioritising (limiting) any technology on the basis of the early indication of potential, this could become a weakness. Centralised and focused systems have greater chances of success while the European choices appear ‘random’, the report mentions.

The Commission seems to have realised this problem in the recent Energy Package. Stakeholders referred to it in the public consultation on the Green Paper on Energy Policy and the reaction is expected to come with the Strategic Energy Technology Plan, due in 2008.

This effort should also be complemented with more investments in energy research. Under FP7, energy research was attributed €2.35 billion while, for example, information and communication technologies got €9.05 billion and health €6.1 billion.