- Beyond biofuels
Danish Socialist MEP Britta Thomsen's non-binding report on a 'road map' for renewable energies in the EU was adopted during Parliament's plenary session in Strasbourg yesterday (25 September).
The report backs the target of 20% renewables use by 2020 and "urges the Commission to propose a sectoral approach within the legislative framework, setting clear and realistic binding targets for the electricity, transport and heating and cooling sectors".
Under current plans, the only exisiting EU sectoral target is the 10% biofuels by 2020 target, which is supported by Parliament, "provided that it can be proved that such fuels are produced in a sustainable way", and that "a fair balance between food and energy production" is maintained, according to the report.
- Member states' potential
Setting binding targets for the use of other kinds of renewable energies in electricity, transport and heating/cooling is contrary to the preferences of some member states, who argue that differing climatic and geographical conditions across the EU mean that some states will be at a disadvantage in terms of meeting the targets.
Italy, for example, recently sent a letter to EU Energy Commissioner Andris Piebalgs, stating that the country will be unable to produce more than 15% of its energy from renewable sources by 2020.
But the report insists that while differing national potentials can be taken into account, "renewable energy sources are abundant on our planet". Parliament wants the Commission to adopt a strict approval and monitoring process for the member states' National Action Plans (NAPs) on renewables, which would be required as part of the implementation of the upcoming legislation.
Using nuclear energy as a low-carbon substitute for renewables - an idea favoured by France, which relies on nuclear for 70% of its electricity - is unacceptable to a majority of MEPs.
- Markets and money
The Thomsen report also calls for more favourable market conditions and grid access for renewables, an issue that is closely tied to discussions on the liberalisation of EU energy markets (EurActiv 13/09/07).
On the issue of financing renewables, Parliament appeared to sidestep the sensitive issue of an EU-wide harmonised renewables support structure (which the report says should be a 'long-term' objective), and called instead for a continuation of existing national support schemes.
The report does recommend, however, that "revenues generated from (emissions trading) auctioning and research funds should be used for research into renewable sources of energy, including promising and challenging sources, such as osmosis energy, tidal energy, wave energy, concentrated solar power, high altitude wind power, laddermill energy and algae fuel technology".
