The European Community Energy R & D Programmes

Abstract

The European Community has been involved in certain fields of energy research for a considerable length of time. Within the framework of the European Coal and Steel Treaty (1953), coal research has been carried out for over twenty five years. In the nuclear energy area, the European Atomic Energy Community was created in 1958, and since then, research has been carried out in many fields related to both nuclear fission energy and thermonuclear fusion. Since the oil crisis of 1973–74, these research activities have been reinforced and complemented by efforts in other areas. In particular, the impetus provided by the 1973–74 crisis and the subsequent price rises stimulated awareness of the importance of renewable energy supplies and energy conservation, and one of the Community responses was to launch what was called the First Energy R & D Programme in 1975, with a duration of four years. This was followed by the Second Energy R & D Programme in 1979. Both of these programmes are of the Indirect Action type, and are aimed at stimulating contract research in the renewable energy and energy conservation areas, with the Commission paying up to 50% of the total research cost. Other responses were also made under the programme of the Joint Research Centre, through the financial support of large scale Demonstration Projects, and through an extension of the thermonuclear fusion programme in the separately funded JET project.