Wind turbines, wave technology, solar panels, hydroelectric power stations, fuel cells and biomass plants account for just 14 percent of the energy consumed in the world today, according to the International Energy Agency (IEA).

This compares to six percent for nuclear power and a massive 80 percent for fossil fuels -- oil, coal and gas --, which in addition to becoming scarce and increasingly pricy are also the major producers of the greenhouse gases blamed for global warming.

"The real problem is that neither renewables nor nuclear are able, on their own, to tackle the problem posed by carbon gas emissions and the depletion of fossil resources," says Andre Antolini, head of the Renewable Energies Union (SER) in France.

"(We need to) develop all sources of energy that don't produce greenhouse gases or deplete fossil fuels and, at the same time, introduce genuine energy-management and energy-saving policies."

The 25-nation European Union currently relies on oil for 41 percent of its energy consumption, on gas for 23 percent. Coal and nuclear each provide 15 percent of the bloc's power and renewables just six percent.

The EU -- which is in the forefront of global efforts to curb global warming and is concerned about its heavy reliance on oil and gas from the Middle East and Russia -- is seeking to double the share of renewables in the bloc's energy consumption to 12 percent by 2010.

But it accepts this goal will require political will.

On its europa.eu.int website the EU says it is fair to conclude "that the lions share of remaining market resistance to renewables penetration relates to factors other than economic viability".

France could be seen as a good example of such barriers. The amount of hydro-power and wood for heating used in France makes the country the largest producer of renewable energy in the EU in absolute terms, according to the IEA's Cedric Philibert.

But it is a long way behind its European neighbours in developing "new renewables" such as wind energy, solar thermal electricity and photovoltaics -- the production of energy, not just heat, from solar panels.

For example, France's wind farms currently have a capacity of just 1,000 megawatts, one-twentieth that of Germany. Yet it could produce just as much as its neighbour, according to the SER's Antolini.

But wind power technology cannot currently compete with France's nuclear sector, which produces nearly 80 percent of the country's electricity -- more than anywhere else in the world.

France's 58 reactors, which have a capacity of 64,400 MW, are approaching the end of their useful life. Yet rather than investing massively in alternative energies, Paris is starting to renew its nuclear plants.

The first such project is a three-billion-euro (3.7-billion-dollars) European Pressurised Reactor (EPR).

"Instead of building an EPR, those three billion euros could be used to satisfy the same energy needs, develop local energy sources that respect the environment and create 15 times more jobs," says Sortir du Nucleaire (Get Out of Nuclear), a grouping of 700 anti-nuclear organisations, on its website.

Jean-Marc Jancovici, an expert in energy and climatic problems, told AFP there were other barriers currently preventing a breakthrough by renewables.

Even though oil prices hit all-time highs of around 75 dollars in New York and London this week, consumption was unlikely to decrease significantly in the near future, he predicted.

"This reflect's the importance of the role it (oil) plays in the daily life of modern man, who has organised his entire life around an abundant supply of energy and cannot easily do without when prices rise."

Yet there are success stories, even in sectors like transport, which are particularly dependent on oil.

Brazil, by far the largest and most populous country in Latin America, has demonstrated the technical feasibility of using ethanol produced from sugar cane to fuel car engines.

By 2004 the country had 5.4 million ethanol-powered cars and had saved 1.8 billion dollars in petroleum imports every year for the previous two decades, according to Professor Lebre La Rovere of the University of Rio de Janeiro.

The construction sector also offers interesting prospects, through the development of better insulation and solar architecture -- the passive use of sunlight to provide heat and warmth.

The IEA hopes to encourage its 26 member states to invest more in research and development on renewables.

Between 1987 and 2003, renewables accounted for only 7.6 percent of these 26 nations' energy research budget. And 67.8 percent of that small amount was provided by just three countries -- Germany, Japan and the United States.

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