Berlin: A major expansion of renewable energy could create millions of jobs worldwide, stir economic growth in heavily indebted countries and help fight climate change at the same time, an American adviser to the German leader Angela Merkel said on Monday.
Jeremy Rifkin, a best-selling author and an adviser to the European Union on climate change and energy security, said Germany has been leading the way by creating some 250,000 jobs in renewable energy in just a few years, but could do more.
Rifkin said investing more in renewable energy and the accompanying internet technology to link homes and buildings with green energy networks could help economies weighed down by the Eurozone debt crisis to start growing again.
"The question right now is how do you save the Eurozone and the EU?" Rifkin said. "It's not just austerity, austerity, austerity because there's no growth. How can an economy grow to pay back the loans with all these cuts?
"Everyone realises the only way to grow is to balance the austerity with other measures and what's needed is an economic plan that creates thousands of business opportunities and millions of jobs. This is a moment of great opportunity."
He said Greece and Portugal, for instance, could relatively quickly create thousands of new businesses and many more jobs with the right incentives for renewable energy that could trigger a boom in public-private partnerships.
"It'll work for Greece and Portugal immediately," Rifkin said. "As soon as you start putting in the infrastructure... you immediately create job opportunities, especially in the construction industry."
Not an isolated problem
Rifkin, who believes Germany needs to do more to lead Europe and the world into the post-carbon era, said the Eurozone crisis is not an isolated problem that is hitting only Europe.
If that push for a mid-21st century goal of 100 per cent carbon-free economies could be duplicated elsewhere, many millions of jobs could be created across the EU, in the United States and in Asia, he said.
"Germany has shown how it can be done with its feed-in tariff," he said, referring to the government-mandated support renewable energy producers receive from consumers that helps defray the investment costs of micro renewable power plants.
Source: http://gulfnews.com
Jeremy Rifkin, a best-selling author and an adviser to the European Union on climate change and energy security, said Germany has been leading the way by creating some 250,000 jobs in renewable energy in just a few years, but could do more.
Rifkin said investing more in renewable energy and the accompanying internet technology to link homes and buildings with green energy networks could help economies weighed down by the Eurozone debt crisis to start growing again.
"The question right now is how do you save the Eurozone and the EU?" Rifkin said. "It's not just austerity, austerity, austerity because there's no growth. How can an economy grow to pay back the loans with all these cuts?
"Everyone realises the only way to grow is to balance the austerity with other measures and what's needed is an economic plan that creates thousands of business opportunities and millions of jobs. This is a moment of great opportunity."
He said Greece and Portugal, for instance, could relatively quickly create thousands of new businesses and many more jobs with the right incentives for renewable energy that could trigger a boom in public-private partnerships.
"It'll work for Greece and Portugal immediately," Rifkin said. "As soon as you start putting in the infrastructure... you immediately create job opportunities, especially in the construction industry."
Not an isolated problem
Rifkin, who believes Germany needs to do more to lead Europe and the world into the post-carbon era, said the Eurozone crisis is not an isolated problem that is hitting only Europe.
If that push for a mid-21st century goal of 100 per cent carbon-free economies could be duplicated elsewhere, many millions of jobs could be created across the EU, in the United States and in Asia, he said.
"Germany has shown how it can be done with its feed-in tariff," he said, referring to the government-mandated support renewable energy producers receive from consumers that helps defray the investment costs of micro renewable power plants.
Source: http://gulfnews.com
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