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Foreword
Keith Melton
President, European Renewable Energy Research Centres (EUREC) Agency
Keith Melton is President of the European Renewable Energy Research Centres (EUREC) Agency, an affiliate of the European Renewable
Energy Council (EREC) that was established as a European Economic Interest Grouping to strengthen and rationalise European research,
demonstration and development efforts in all renewable energy technologies. His previous positions include Development Director for
Renewable Energy at Corus, the Anglo Dutch steel company, and Director of Technology at the New and Renewable Energy Centre
(NaREC) in the UK.
T
he European Renewable Energy Research Centres (EUREC) Agency is pleased to introduce Modern Energy Review, a
progressive journal covering key issues in power generation. This edition covers the long-term energy players, with a
particular focus on renewable and nuclear energy, as well as transmission and distribution issues and matters of policy and
economics. The publication will do much to stimulate thought and debate.
As a multisector research body, the EUREC Agency appreciates the efforts made by Modern Energy Review to engage with many
energy sectors. The organisation is campaigning to ensure technological and institutional development of the renewable energy
sector as a whole. Its mission is to promote research, development and demonstration in the renewable energy field by fostering
co-operation among research institutes within the renewable energy industry. The EUREC Agency’s members include 43 research
centres and higher education institutes from 15 European countries. Its members are globally recognised as front-runners in multiple
sectors, including wind, photovoltaic, solar thermal electricity, solar thermal heating and cooling, biomass, hydropower, ocean
energy and geothermal technologies.
Modern Energy Review arrives at an important time: just months before the Copenhagen conference (COP15), a milestone for
global action on energy and climate change. The Group of Eight (G8) recently agreed to restrict the global temperature rise to 2°C
by 2050 through emissions limits. Now, we must move forward with a credible plan. Renewable energy must be a key part of an
integrated, co-ordinated approach with a stable and supportive legal framework. Investments in research, development and
demonstration activities are now paramount. The EU has been a leader in the development of renewable energy technologies; for
example, the recent adoption of the EU ‘Directive on the promotion of the use of energy from renewable sources’ is the most
progressive legislation at the international level, setting binding targets for EU Member States to increase their share of renewable
sources in the energy mix up to 2020. International co-operation is now required, especially with India, China, Japan and the US.
With so much at stake, publications such as Modern Energy Review provide a valuable service: distilling the many competing
voices, providing insight and helping to shape the most important debate of our time. n
© TOUCH BRIEFINGS 2009
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