VALENCIA – Ministers and other key players from industry, politics, finance and international institutions attend the high-level conference on the Mediterranean Solar Plan in sunny Valencia. Adressing the audience, Bellona President Frederic Hauge stressed the need to deal with food and water security when creating a new energy infrastructure.

BRUSSELS – Bellona, together with other NGOs, researchers and members of industry, will be speaking at a round table in the European Parliament next Wednesday, titled “Should the solar sector be included in the scope of the RoHS recast Directive?” Bellona and others are working to reduce the risk of the EU allowing solar panels to contain hazardous waste. The drive behind these efforts is that key pieces of EU legislation – the so-called RoHs and WEEE Directives – are currently under revision.

ATHENS – By focusing on the recent hardships and the inherent problems of the Greek economy we tend to overlook the fact that in the middle of every difficulty lies opportunity. Indeed Greece has the obvious potential to base its rejuvenation efforts on the application of a wide range of green technologies leading to the creation of jobs and the development of domestic knowhow. The application of large-scale concentrating solar power projects (CSP) in Greece is a strong bet in that direction.