"Renewable resources can provide important future prospects for people in rural areas and, at the same time, solutions to the energy issues of our time." This is what Federal Minister Seehofer said at the conference entitled "Fuelling the Future - Renewable Resources Show the Way Forward for Rural Areas in Europe", which was opened in Nuremberg on 5 March in the course of the German Council Presidency.
Seehofer called climate change and the scarcity of energy and raw materials today’s greatest challenges. "We need a completely new energy policy," Seehofer said. He attached great importance to energy from biomass and renewable resources. With a share of 62 per cent of all renewable resources, these are the "cornerstone" of alternative forms of energy. "Energy from biomass and renewable resources helps us to reduce our energy dependency and to meet the challenges of global warming," the Minister said.
In Seehofer’s view, the cultivation and use of renewable resources also offers important potential for value creation in rural areas. "Renewable resources expand the dimensions of agriculture and forestry. Farmers and foresters are becoming energy producers." New technologies will also create new jobs in rural areas. This would also especially appeal to young people, who are increasingly opting for career opportunities in rural areas. "The time when rural areas were considered old-fashioned and backwards is over," Federal Minister Seehofer explained.
Renewable resources also offer great potential for Europe. For two days, experts from almost all Member States of the European Union will come together to discuss future strategies and the need for action for a successful promotion of renewable resources in Europe. The focus will be on exchanging the experiences the individual EU Member States have with different forms of use and strategies. New impulses for the future development of European framework conditions are to be created jointly.
