EU invests €1.2bn in alternative energy infrastructure research, canvasses €22bn by 2020

30 Nov 2010

The European Union is to invest €1.2bn in three new pan-European alternative energy research infrastructure projects as part of the roadmap of the European Strategy Forum on Research Infrastructures.

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Tags: solar, wind

One Response to “EU invests €1.2bn in alternative energy infrastructure research, canvasses €22bn by 2020”

Dr David Hill says:

2 December 2010 at 11:33 am

Although I am not against the creation of projects that address energy (far from it, I believe they are vital), the real problem in the ‘real’ world is that we need to provide throughout the EU the innovation infrastructure for the masses, thus opening up the full potential of Europe to develop the future technological industries of the future. Thus creating whole new global markets worth trillions of EURO over the next five decades. For the history of S&T tells us that up to 75% of all the inventions that have made the modern world what it is today, emanated initially in the minds of independent people outside the confines of mainstream industry or academia – known as the initial ideas people and basic catalysts to launch life-changing events in the history of the world. Therefore our greatest need is to open up the whole aspect of innovation across Europe, for leading international research says, that we are the most creative block of people in the world and up to 70% of the formation of the modern world emanated from the minds of EU citizen. Blowing away the myth that the USA holds this mantle.

If therefore we created innovation centres for the people in every European State (where they had full access instead of the closed doors of today), we would see great ideas emerge and where then our world class universities and industry could exploit and capitalise on these world-changing thoughts and ideas. For we in Europe have to renew ‘the thinking out of the box’ mentality that made Europe so great and previously the leading industrial power in the world.

Presently the innovation chain of the EU is broken and this shattered linkage is not allowing the EU to excel and to take the high ground in wealth creation. Overall we have to review our fundamentals, fix the innovation chain and put the necessary creating infrastructure in place if we are to attain in the future the world’s leading economic and dynamic power block . Presently we are losing this battle to SE Asia and where this will get far worse if we do not change our thinking on the whole issue of innovation, the most important long-term factor that we have to address.

Dr David Hill
Executive Director
World Innovation Foundation Charity
Bern, Switzerland