Brussels, 22/09/2015 (Agence Europe) - American Elon Musk, who co-founded the online payment service PayPal and is head of SpaceX, which manufactures and launches advanced rockets and spacecraft, and Tesla, the high-end electric car maker, is to be the Luxembourg Presidency's big name guest at an informal ministerial meeting devoted to sustainable transition in Luxembourg on Wednesday 23 September.
For the initial discussion session devoted to new energy technologies as a driving force for growth and job creation, Luxembourg Economy Minister Etienne Schneider has also invited other world renowned entrepreneurs, energy innovators, including the pilot and co-founder of the solar energy aeroplane project Solar Impulse, Swiss Bertrand Picard. Another world class guest will be American essayist and promoter of the “third industrial revolution”, Jeremy Rifkin. This first working session will follow on from a conference on the strategic energy technology plan (SET-plan) held on 21 and 22 September.
For the second working session, the Luxembourg Presidency has invited European Commission Vice-President with responsibility for Growth, Investment and Competitiveness Jyrki Katainen to discuss with ministers the potential of the European strategic investment fund, the financial arm of the so-called Juncker investment plan, to encourage investment in low-carbon energy technologies and infrastructure.
Former French Ecology Minister Jean-Louis Borloo (2007-2010), who now heads up a foundation promoting electrification throughout Africa, will be the distinguished guest at an exchange of views which will be devoted, over lunch, to possible synergies between energy and development aid. (Original version in French by Emmanuel Hagry)