Libertas.org

News and Updates

In May 2007 at the European Growth Summit hosted by Europe’s 500 Entrepreneurs for Growth and IESE Business School in Barcelona, the principles of this proposal were welcomed by a panel of some of the world’s leading scientists and entrepreneurs in the fields of clean fuels, wind energy, solar power and geothermal energy generation.

In October 2007, the Libertas Energy Initiative was presented to the EU Energy Commissioner Andris Piebalgs by Mr. Bogdan Klich MEP (Now Minister of Defence of Poland) and Jana Hybaskova MEP.  The Commissioner responded very positively to the plan describing it as:  “a very good and timely” initiative and recommended that it be laid before the European Parliament as part of its debates on Phase Two of the EU Emissions Trading Scheme.

In November 26th 2007, Libertas founder and President, Declan Ganley was invited by Polish Minister for National Defence, Mr. Bogdan Klich to present the Energy Initiative to a special conference on energy security in Krakow, Poland hosted by the Institute of Strategic Affairs. Mr. Ganley opened his presentation by providing a stark context for the conference’s discussions which drew on the recent OPEC meeting in Riyadh at which Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez called for the use of their control of oil supply as a political weapon to wield against the Western world.

Early in 2008, the European Commission will propose a new renewable energy Directive designed to increase the share of renewable energy produced in the EU.  At the same time the EU emissions trading scheme (EU ETS) will be amended so as to increase the use of allocation by auctioning.  Libertas is currently reviewing its European Energy Innovation Fund and will press the European Parliament, the Commission and the member state governments to ringfence some of the proceeds of these auctions to endow the fund as a matter of national priority. Libertas will also present its Energy Initiative to the European Parliament and its relevant committees as part of their debate on Phase Two of the EU-ETS early in 2008.