EUROSUN 2008, the 1st International Conference on Solar Heating, Cooling and Buildings held in Lisbon (Portugal) on October 7th – 10^th, announced the event balance by the Chairman of the Scientific Committee.


“Large contributions from Solar Energy require a level of invention and creativity from all actors, academia and industry and our Congress was just that: a high level forum for an high level exchange of new ideas and concepts for the future, “ said Manuel Collares Pereira. “I absolutely reject the idea that somehow we must sacrifice comfort and quality of life in order to replace fossil fuels with renewable energies,” he added, and further explained that besides the fact that a fossil fuel world is not sustainable and balanced, we can do much better with renewables than we have done so far. We can hope to extend the supply of this kind of energy to those living today in poverty in most of the world precisely because they are deprived of fossil fuel energy and stand no chance within the current energy paradigm.

The event organizer, SPES (Portuguese Solar Energy Association), was joined by a renown Portuguese bank (CGD) and the largest electricity company in Portugal (EDP). CGD has recently installed the largest solar thermal plant in the country on its headquarters’ rooftop, which was visited by the participants of EuroSun. According to the organizer’s press release, EDP is already the fourth global player in renewable energies.