The European Union (EU) will surpass its target to consume 20% of its energy from renewable energy by 2020, according to national forecasts submitted to the European Commission. In its summary published this week, the Commission finds that the EU will reach an overall share of 20.3 per cent renewables.
Günther Oettinger, European Commissioner responsible for Energy said: “These forecasts show that Member States take renewable energy very seriously and are really dedicated to push their domestic production. It is an important milestone in the achievement of the goals set in the Europe 2020 Strategy. This is a very positive sign for the environment, as it will help us to cut CO2 emissions and at the same time enhance our energy security. It is also a very positive message for our economy and our companies. It is an incentive to invest in green technology and the production of renewable energy. Our task will be to help all Member States not only to reach the 20 per cent target but to go beyond”.
The summary found that 10 out of 27 EU Member States are likely to exceed their national targets for renewable energy, with a further 12 set to meet their goals domestically. Only five Member States are currently expected not to meet their target with domestic sources only.
According to the Renewable Energy Directive (2009/28/EC), those Member States which consider that they cannot reach their targets with domestic resources alone, must either acquire transfers from other Member States or countries outside the EU. As the summary shows, this mechanism will only play a minor role. Only around 2 Mtoe of the total renewable energy needed in 2020, will be traded between Member States or third countries. In percentage terms this amounts to less than 1 per cent.
The priority will however remain to assist all Member States to reach the required target or, for those which are already close to the target, to go beyond it.
Source: europa.eu
Net News Publisher for World News
Related articles by Zemanta
- European Commission Launches the Europe 2020 Strategy (netnewspublisher.com)
