Europe's energy woes

摘要

Energy and green policies should be ideal for common European action. Pollutants know no borders. The cost of renew-ables such as wind turbines and solar panels can be cut, and their drawbacks mitigated, if they are linked across Europe. When the wind stops blowing in Germany the sun shines in Spain; if both sources die down, French nuclear plants or Swiss hydroelectric stations can take up the slack. A proper European-level emissions-trading scheme should minimise the cost of reducing greenhouse gases. And a successful low-carbon transition should reduce dependence on imported fossil fuels.