In the face of the economic and social challenges posed by coVID-19,European countries have taken energy conservation,emission reduction and sustainable development as important considerations in their economic recovery plans.They have continued to carry out actions in key areas such as clean transportation,renewable energy and renovation of old buildings.
Building renovation,creating a large number of jobs
Bertrand Piccard,who lives in the 15th arrondissement of Paris,has been busy submitting applications for subsidies to renovate his old house.After approval,he will receive up to 10,000 euros to replace old heating equipment or insulation in his house.The scheme,known as my Renovation Grant,was launched in France in January and has so far received 50,000 applications.Starting from 2021,the subsidy will remove income restrictions and benefit all law residents.Over the years,France has been committed to the construction industry,a major energy consumer,to promote green economic development.
According to the Ministry of Ecological Transformation and Solidarity,the construction industry accounts for 44%of France's energy consumption and 25%of the country's carbon dioxide emissions.It is estimated that there are more than 7 million homes in France with energy grade F or G,which need to be upgraded from building materials,interior construction and so on to meet the French government's previously announced goal of all buildings meeting the"low-energy building"target by 2050.
Building renovation is also an important area for the EU to promote green economic recovery after the epidemic.The French government plans to allocate 30 billion euros to promote the ecological transformation and decarbonization of France's economy,economy and Finance Minister Francois Le Maire has announced.Building energy efficiency renovation,sustainable transportation and renewable energy are the three main areas,and energy efficiency renovation subsidy is the first step of the green recovery plan.The French government will also allocate 4 billion to 5 billion euros to renovate public buildings such as schools and nursing homes.
With the continuous updating of building standards and policies,the renovation of buildings will create a large number of new jobs.My Renovation Grant,for example,will gradually replace the previous ENERGY Renewal Tax Credit,which allows applicants to receive the subsidy directly at the end of a renovation project,rather than waiting for the next year's tax credit.The French government has budgeted a total of 800 million euros for the programme and CITE,which is expected to generate 200,000 applications a year and create hundreds of thousands of jobs.
The business opportunities to invest in hydrogen energy are legion
The west coast of The German state of Shingle,near the North Sea,has abundant wind power and favorable geological storage conditions,making it an ideal place for hydrogen experiments.Germany's first hydrogen technology facility,the West Coast 100 pilot project,opened here recently.Through this project,Germany hopes to create a complete industrial chain of"green hydrogen energy":the offshore wind power plant will provide electricity for the early-stage construction of 30 mw electrolytic water hydrogen production equipment,the waste heat generated during hydrolysis can be directly applied to the industrial field,and the by-product oxygen will be used for the production of local cement plants to reduce carbon emissions.In addition to being incorporated into gas pipelines,the hydrogen will be used alongside carbon dioxide from cement plants to produce methanol and be converted into air transport fuel for other applications.
The EU has high hopes for zero-emissions,pollution-free and sustainable"green hydrogen"in order to achieve its goal of"net zero emissions"of greenhouse gases by 2050.In July,the EU Hydrogen Strategy was formally adopted,and Vice President of the European Commission Timmermans said that the"hydrogen economy"would be used as a new growth engine to overcome the economic difficulties caused by the epidemic.
Hydrogen has advantages in terms of energy density,combustion capacity,and compatibility with existing infrastructure.Hydrogen has a higher energy density than lithium batteries,so it is expected to become an alternative energy source for long-distance transportation,aviation and navigation.Hydrogen could also be transported using existing natural gas pipelines to replace natural gas for heating.The European hydrogen market is expected to create about 5.4 million jobs and generate an annual turnover of about 800 billion euros by the middle of the century.If Germany maintains a 20 per cent share of the global market for electrolysis equipment,470,000 jobs could be created,half the number in the country's current car industry,according to Ikb.From the machinery used to produce and process green hydrogen,to domestic and international transport via pipelines,ships or land,to its eventual use in fuel cells and other fields,the business opportunities associated with the"hydrogen economy"are numerous,according to The German economist Veronica Greene.
Faced with the opportunity brought by"hydrogen economy",eu countries have increased investment.In the transportation sector,Europe currently has more than 200 hydrogen refueling stations,and cities such as Cologne,Rome,Oslo and Rotterdam have put hydrogen fuel cell buses into use.In the future,more refueling stations will be built to increase the proportion of cars powered by hydrogen.In the area of heating,Germany will focus on building hydrogen networks.In May,some German pipeline operators announced plans to build a network of 1,200 kilometers of hydrogen by 2030 to boost storage and transport capacity,based on the renovated natural gas pipeline,at an estimated cost of 660 million euros.
Build a green transportation network through railways
Traveling by train in Europe,travelers can travel between most European countries without border restrictions.In the future,this experience is expected to be further improved:the Baltic Railway is expected to open up rail links between the three Baltic countries and western European countries when it goes into operation in 2026;A railway crossing between Dresden in Germany and Prague in the Czech Republic will cut the journey time between Berlin and Prague from 4.5 to 2.5 hours.The further expansion of the interoperable European Railway Traffic Management System will enable seamless train operation across the continent...
In a bid to boost the green recovery,the European Union announced it would inject nearly€2.2bn into 140 key transport projects,including those funded through the Connect Europe Facility fund.Improving railways,including cross-border links and links to ports and airports,is the focus of the EU injection.Railway with large volume and high degree of electrification is one of the important green transportation modes,and the development of railway is conducive to the decarbonization of the transportation industry.
Transport accounts for more than a quarter of the EU's greenhouse gas emissions.The EU strongly supports a green transition in transport in order to achieve a 90 per cent reduction in greenhouse gas emissions in this area by 2050.At present,75 per cent of cross-border goods transport within the EU is carried by road,and the"Green Agreement for Europe"proposes a significant increase in rail transport and inland shipping.The European Union plans to designate 2021 as the European"Year of railways"to encourage people to switch from planes and private cars to trains in order to increase the proportion of rail traffic.
Since 2014,the EU has invested more than 35 billion euros in railway construction,and member states have introduced various preferential policies to encourage train travel.Belgium has been offering 12 free train tickets for six months to all citizens over the age of 12 since October.Germany added long-distance rail passenger transport to the list of industries enjoying VAT preference at the beginning of this year,resulting in a 10 percent drop in fares,which were cut another 1.9 percent from July 1.To promote multimodal transport,Germany,Poland and other countries also require each train to set up at least eight bicycle storage Spaces.A German study predicted that adopting multimodal transport could reduce transport emissions by 27.4%.