Dutch professors solve the euro crisis: "Get rid of those debts with sun and wind"

The eurozone is on the brink, with Spain now asking for bail-out money. But no reason to worry. A group of Dutch professors know how to solve the euro crisis

The countries most affected by the Eurocrisis could reduce their debts substantially with concessions for renewable energy. Greece, Italy, Portugal, Spain and Ireland have excellent conditions for harvesting energy from the solar energy, wind power and geothermal energy sources. They could give their creditors concessions for large scale investment programs in renewable energy that offer enough long-term financial profit.

This 'renewable-energy-concessions-for-debt-reduction-plan' was introduced by a group of renowned economics and energy professors and proposed in the Dutch daily 'NRC Handelsblad' last Monday. A thirty percent debt reduction is possible if Ireland gives less than one percent, Portugal about one percent and Greece about two percent of its total surface into concession for renewable energy production. The authors emphasize that 'the energy projects don't have to exclusively be large-scale and on a few big pieces of land. They could capitalize on vast opportunities for decentralized energy locally as well'.

The involved countries would be able to pay off a substantial part of their debts to the creditors and at the same time they will also receive a positive stimulus for their economy and employment from the construction and maintenance of the projects. 'Especially the young generation in these countries who now face a tremendously high unemployment rate will enjoy a new perspective for a debt-free future with many opportunities for healthy growth. And Europe will have more renewable energy with which to contribute to a cleaner, healthier and safer environment for its citizens', according to the professors.

The professors have obviously not noticed that governments in a number of countries have been forced to cut  the subsidies to ineffecient, unreliable and expensive wind and solar energy projects:

This plan only has winners. The concessions allow the creditors to get their money back, which is quite uncertain in the current situation. The indebted countries will not only be paying off a substantial part of their debts, but they will also receive a positive stimulus for their economy and employment from the construction and maintenance of the projects. Especially the young generation in these countries who now face a tremendously high unemployment rate will enjoy a new perspective for a debt-free future with many opportunities for healthy growth. And Europe will have more renewable energy with which to contribute to a cleaner, healthier and safer environment for its citizens.

Source: this opinion article was published in NRC Handelsblad (The Netherlands) on June 4th by Prof. Dr. Klaas van Egmond (Professor in Geosciences – Utrecht University), Prof. Dr. Sylvester Eijffinger (Professor Financial Economy – Tilburg University), Prof. Dr. Herman Wijffels (Professor Sustainablity and Societal Change – Utrecht University), Prof.  Dr. Wim Sinke (Professor Sustainable Energysystems – Utrecht University) en Marco Witschge (initiator of this article and Director of the New Energy for The Netherlands Foundation)

Read the entire article here

One´s first reaction when reading the Dutch academics´ article is that this must be a joke. But regrettably these professors appear to be serious when they suggest that huge investments in solar and wind energy could solve the eurozone crisis. How detached from reality can you be as a Dutch academic?