Our goal is clear: a CO₂-neutral and sustainable energy supply across the world. However, the journey to achieve this goal is the big challenge. We're convinced that we can only be fit for the future with a balanced and increasingly climate-friendly energy mix, which includes all of our existing generating technologies. This is why we're actively driving forward this development.

• We've already reduced our CO₂ intensity by 34 percent since 1990 - thus on track towards achieving our goal of halving our CO₂ intensity by 2030 (compared to 1990 levels).
• To achieve this goal, we will  utilize renewable energy on an industrial scale, continue to use nuclear power, make coal and gas-fired plants even more efficient and develop marketable technologies for Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS).
• We stated in Copenhagen that we could halve our carbon intensity as early as 2020 if a robust climate treaty was concluded (encompassing emission caps and global emissions trading). The necessary regulatory environment will depend not only on further progress at the international level, but also on the response of the European Union, the EU member states, other countries.

Balance Needed for Progress

None of our generation technologies are expendable in the near future. This knowledge guides our generation planning, which is allocating around EUR24 billion in investments for the period 2010 to 2012. The main focus will be among others on strengthening our conventional generation fleet and further expanding renewable energies. Decisions for or against any particular generation type always need to satisfy the demands of cost effectiveness, supply security and climate protection. In addition, for each technology there are specific societal and political challenges to overcome. We take our societal responsibility seriously and through all our business processes, we're working towards solving the associated goal conflicts.

• Renewables such as wind, water, biomass and solar are without a doubt a climate-friendly way of generating power, with almost unlimited resources available. However, energy production costs in many regions are still too high, meaning they only make sense to investors if they are subsidized. Therefore, we set ourselves the goal to make renewables viable through consistent, industrial-scale expansion along the entire value chain. Here, we focus on applying new or improved technologies. In addition, making renewables capable of meeting baseload demands requires research and development in new network and storage technologies.
• Fossil fuels such as coal and natural gas will continue to remain indispensable for ensuring a reliable energy supply in the near and mid-term future. Coal is cheap and delivers baseload power, reserves will last several hundred years and are primarily within politically stable regions. For that reason, many countries across the world depend on coal - despite the related climate risks. E.ON has set itself the target of using coal as efficiently as possible through new high-efficiency power plants and developing near-zero-emission Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) technology; at the same time we're working to lower CO₂ emissions. Natural gas with its low CO₂ emissions is the cleanest fossil fuel. Modern gas and steam turbine plants can be used flexibly, have high efficiency rates and thus help save CO₂. Last but not least, gas-fired power plants will also continue to play a key role once renewables account for a greater percentage of primary energy use.
• Nuclear power also plays an important role in the energy mix. It delivers baseload, climate-friendly and relatively cheap power. Nuclear fuel resources are extensive. Apart from Germany, all G8 countries as well as China and India consider nuclear power to be an important component of a low-carbon energy system. In Europe, countries such as France, Great Britain, Italy and Switzerland are focusing on new-build nuclear power stations and extending the lifespan of existing stations. The current German government is ready to extend the lifespan of nuclear power plants as a bridge technology, provided that strict safety standards are applied. Otherwise, accomplishing the task of tackling climate change while at the same time supplying energy reliably and affordably will be at risk. We welcome this (overdue) political decision. The operational security of nuclear power plants and the compliance with safety standards have always been a top priority for us. We are prepared to find a solution for a secure final storage of nuclear waste in joint responsibility towards future generations.

We Need a Broad Consensus

On our road towards a CO₂-neutral and sustainable energy supply, we rely on external support. The public and political debate is important to us, as we require a reliable legal framework in order to make our investments. But backing from society for our power-station projects is also of great importance and we therefore seek dialog with our stakeholders. For this purpose, we drafted a position paper on the future of energy generation - which we will update in 2010.