The European Parliament Industry, Research and Energy Committee on September 2 approved plans for around  €115 million as  part of the unallocated funds of the European Energy Programme for Recovery. The European Parliament succesfully lobbied to use  unspent money from the € 3.98 billion European Energy Programme for Recovery (EEPR) launched in July 2009 for local projects . The EEPR finances  offshore wind farms and Carbon Capture and Storage projects (CCS) amongst other things. The types of projects that could be covered include in the € 115mln plan;
–  Cleaner transport around towns
–  Smarter and more efficient energy grids
–  Street lighting that is more efficient and that is powered using solar power or that switches itself off
–  Smart metering of energy use – so that you only pay for what you use.
Belgina MEP Kathleen van Brempt is the rapporteur for this dossier and she will be speaking at the EHA’s infrastructure seminar on October 20 (see under EHA in Action).