European Commission to call for new industrial revolution in energy and cut of 20% CO2 by 2020
On Wednesday, the European Commission will set out a three-year road map towards a common European energy policy, with the goal of achieving a 20% greenhouse-gas emissions reduction by 2020. The European Commission today has published World Energy Technology Outlook to 2050 and a Eurobarometer survey on EU citizens' knowledge, attitudes and perceptions of energy issues, which shows that energy is a low priority issue for the public.
The Commission plans on Wednesday to put forward a series of energy reports and policy proposals, which it hopes will be a catalyst for "a new industrial revolution" that will "transform Europe into a highly energy-efficient and low-COČ energy economy" by the mid-century. "The days of secure, cheap energy for Europe are over," the Commission warns in a Strategic Energy Review, which forms the centre-piece of the package.
The draft copy of the report signals out: climate change, increasing import dependence and higher energy prices, as challenges faced by all EU members and says "A common European response is necessary" to address them."With current trends and policies, the EU's energy-import dependence will jump from 50% of total energy consumption today to 65% in 2030," the Commission says. "By that time", it adds, "Dependence on gas imports will have increased from 57% to 84% and oil from 82% to 93%, making Europe increasingly vulnerable to major oil and gas producers."
The paper also says that "Energy accounts for 93% of carbon dioxide emissions" and therefore lies "At the root of climate change". The Commission suggests that despite current policy on reducing carbon emissions, they will increase "By around 5% by 2030", leading the conclusion that "The EU's present energy policy is not sustainable."
To address those challenges, the Commission proposes an Action Plan, to be implemented in the next three years. It calls on the European Parliament and on EU leaders to endorse the plan at the forthcoming summit in March. "The point of departure for a common energy policy must be combating climate change, promoting jobs and growth and limiting the EU's external vulnerability to imported hydrocarbons," the Commission says.
A senior EU official has been reported as saying that the objective should be a 20% reduction in greenhouse gases by 2020, something that should translate to around a 15% COČ reduction compared with the Kyoto Protocol's base year of 1990.
Proposals set out in the paper include:
Completing the internal market for electricity and gas with "a clearer separation of energy production from distribution" for large energy utilities and "Stronger independent regulatory control which considers the interests of Europe as a whole, not just national interests, as is too often the case at present"
The paper also includes the following proposals:
- A target for renewable energies for 2020, which some EU officials say could be set at 20%; Europe's total energy consumption.
- A minimum target for biofuels for 2020.
- An objective to improve energy efficiency by 20% by 2020.
- A big push for energy research and development with an increase by "at least 50%" of annual spending over the next seven years on low-carbon technologies.
- A solidarity mechanism to deal with supply crisis, including a new energy observatory and a network of energy correspondents, and a common external energy policy to forge closer relations with main supplier, consumer and transit countries.
