Europe has the potential to become self-sufficient in energy by 2040 with the renewable energy technologies we already have at hand, a new report based on a meta-study and led by researchers from the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK) has found. This energy system based on 100 % renewable energies would come with a drop in energy costs for consumers, reduced vulnerability in times of geopolitical tensions, and would boost European competitiveness on the world stage. It urges politicians across the continent to develop a ‘common will’ and achieve power sovereignty by utilising existing technologies and spearheading a massive but affordable expansion of renewable energy – particularly wind and solar. The report states that by using complementary European energy resources led by the sun in the South of the continent and wind in the colder North, together with a consolidated power grid, the European energy system could free itself from imports of gas and oil and from reliance on volatile nations such as Russia.