Brussels, 16/01/2014 (Agence Europe) - A cost-effective energy transition can only be achieved if subsidies for non-renewable energies are reduced, said Paul Van Son, President of DII (initially DESERTEC), the consortium for solar energy in the Mediterranean and Africa region. Speaking at a round table at the University of Adrar (Algeria) on the initiative of bodies in the solar sector, he said the subsidies for non-renewable energies amounted to “$400 billion annually worldwide, half of which is in the MENA zone”. “It is necessary for that figure to be brought down to allow green electricity on the southern rim of the Mediterranean”, he maintained. Van Son calls for there to be “equal opportunities” between conventional and renewable energies. He said nuclear energy is too expensive and is destined to disappear. (FB/transl.jl)