Jerzy BUZEK, EP President, opens the exibition "True colours of Silesia", in the European Parliament in Brussels.

Brussels

speech

renewable energy (T)

BUZEK, Jerzy (EPP, PL)

EU - Poland (T)

exhibition

Exhibition "True colours of Silesia": extracts from the speech by Jerzy BUZEK, EP President

SOUNDBITE (English), Jerzy Karol BUZEK, EP President, Silesia is still a Polish heartland of industry and, as my colleague said, it was called for many centuries black Silesia. Today, and it is something worth stressing, we are changing from black to green Silesia. True colours, it means we are changing our colour in particular. And the economic future of Silesia, it is a good question. We know about the coal deposits, they are still present and they are very important from the point of view of energy resources, security of energy supply to hold the EU. But we must change the technologies in the coal industry. Specially using coal in coal power stations.

SOUNDBITE (English), Jerzy Karol BUZEK, EP President, We need first of all, energy saving technologies and users and efficiency in producing energy to change from the efficiency 32, 35 percents with our old power plans, coal power plans, to 50 percent - 60 percent efficiency. What does it mean you know very well, we can also save our coal reserves and to produce more pollution.

SOUNDBITE (English), Jerzy RUTKOWSKI, Vice-Rector of Silesian University of Technology, Today a true colour of Silesia is green, so everything here is more or less green. A green because of green technology, it has been said already, but also green because of our landscape. In our 50 percent, 47 exactly, our forests, parks, meadows are green. They are no more black obviously they are green in spring and in summer. In winter they are white not grey or black. And at the end let me express my strong belief that these events will be good opportunity to establish a neighbouring relationships between European regions. Thank you very much professor.