Ursula von der Leyen declared, "This is Europe's Man on the Moon moment," in a video statement. "Our goal is to reconcile the economy with our planet" and "make it work for our people," she added, describing climate policy as Europe's new growth strategy. Europe wants to be a leader in climate-friendly industries and clean technologies, she explained, adding, "I am convinced that the old growth model based on fossil fuels and pollution is outdated and out of touch with our planet.".
Marko Topic, President of ETIP PV: "ETIP PV fully supports the European Green Deal initiative." ETIP PV shares the vision of a sustainable future with a clean European and global energy system! Thanks to the abundant availability of sunlight, the modularity of the technology, and continuous cost reductions, solar photovoltaics will become the world's largest energy source and will be able to meet the challenge of drastic decarbonization. To make this happen, we suggest setting two objectives for the new European Commission:
1) create a photovoltaic installation market of 40 GW per year in Europe by the end of its mandate, with 10 GW of photovoltaic PV manufactured in the EU;
2) Commit to the Sustainable Europe Investment Plan due in January 2020 to finance at least one GW-scale manufacturing plant before the end of 2021.".
The European Technology and Innovation Platform for Photovoltaics (ETIP PV) envisions a world with a 100% renewable electricity supply where electricity is accessible to all and where electricity makes great strides in meeting the final energy demands for life, including communications, zero-emission transport and mobility, efficient heating and cooling, and even sustainable fuels, chemicals, and materials. By applying solar photovoltaics, buildings will increasingly become sites of energy production, not just energy consumption. ETIP PV has already distributed its vision document, “Solar Photovoltaics: Big and Beyond. Sustainable Energy to Limit Global Warming to 1.5 Degrees,” just before the start of the latest UN climate summit, COP24, in Katowice, Poland.
