http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/01/05/business/EU-FEA-FIN-Europe-Fuel-for-the-Future.php

Europe lays out plan to tackle energy dilemma — but will governments and consumers balk?

An energy crunch that chokes fuel supplies, dims the lights at homes and workplaces, and ravages Western economies may no longer be the stuff of 1970s history books. It could be a vision of the near future.

The 1970s oil crisis gave Western countries a glimpse of what life is like when the energy supply isn't enough to go around. Worried that an even bigger crisis lies in wait, the European Commission is presenting an energy "roadmap" on Jan. 10 that aims to steer the bloc's 490 million people in a different direction.

The policies, of unprecedented scope, will carry a plain warning: High and volatile oil prices, surging demand, unreliable supplies and global warming compel Europe to reconfigure its energy supply before it's too late.

It is Europe's response to one of the defining global problems of the 21st century.

"It's the biggest issue. It affects all of us. Just try living without energy for a few days," said Elena Nekhaev, director of programs at the London-based World Energy Council, a non-governmental organization..............

But changing course won't be easy, experts say.

"Making a change is like trying to turn a supertanker around," says John Loughhead, executive director of the U.K. Energy Research Center in London.

"Change requires a really enormous effort. The big debate is, who is going to pay for it and equally, are people willing to make the modifications that will be needed to do it," he said.

Are Europeans ready to change the habits of a lifetime? Shoulder the added costs of research? Open the door wider to nuclear power? Surrender their countryside to fields of wind turbines and solar panels?...............