WE must make energy cleaner and more affordable, a Cork MEP has told the EU Commission in Brussels. MEP Sean Kelly, a member of the European Parliament’s energy committee, addressed the citizens energy forum and warned that “price subsidies and energy credits are important in times of crisis, but they merely paper over the cracks”.

The Ireland South MEP stressed the need to “address the root cause of high prices in Europe, and that is without doubt the role that fossil fuels continue to have in setting the price of electricity.

We remain completely reliant on global fossil fuel markets, so when we have supply shortages, prices shoot up on the global market and European citizens bear the brunt of the cost,” he said.

“We need to urgently replace the fossil fuels in our system with the indigenous renewable energy and storage technologies that can truly make Europe energy independent and drive down prices in doing so. If we don’t, we’ll never have competitive industries in Europe, and our consumers will continue to receive massive energy bills.”