Brussels, 28/03/2007 (Agence Europe) - At the end of his two day visit to Washington where he met (a little under a month before the EU/US summit on 30 April in the US capital) his counterpart Samuel Bodman, Energy Commissioner Andris Piebalgs welcomed the strengthening, since the Vienna summit in June 2006, of the cooperation between the Union and the United States on global energy security. Since the joint declaration in Vienna, where the Americans and Europeans agreed to strengthen their “strategic cooperation” (EUROPE 9216), the Commission and Bush Administration have worked together on a broad range of energy related issues, particularly R&D in the field of biofuels and energy efficiency. Piebalgs particularly welcomed the progress made towards a common approach on 2nd generation biofuels and appealed for the adoption of common values on ethanol and biodiesel. The commissioner and his hosts, senior leaders in the energy arena, also discussed bilateral cooperation in new energy technologies (clean coal and carbon capture and storage), energy efficiency and security of supply. Energy will again be one of the major themes at the Washington summit. The Europeans adopted a common integrated approach in March to fight against climate change. This approach is based on a unilateral commitment to a 20% reduction in carbon emissions by 2020 and is accompanied by a triennial energy action plan promoting renewable energies and energy efficiency. The Europeans will now encourage their partners to join them in the fight against global warming. (eh)