About: Renewable Energy Directive
Commission official: EU should re-examine renewable energy rules
The recently updated Renewable Energy Directive (RED II) has drawn much criticism and it would be good for the European Commission to look at it again, a high-ranking official in the EU executive has admitted.
Expert: Commission should expose weaknesses in national transport decarbonisation plans
The European Commission should ask member states to provide cost assessments of carbon abatement in their transport decarbonisation plans, but also to compare "alternative paths to decarbonisation" and look beyond Europe for inspiration, an international expert on agricultural issues told EURACTIV.com.
Study: No EU country has calculated transport decarbonisation costs
The EU risks missing its target to decarbonise transport by 2030, as in the current draft plans of member states, there is no cost-effectiveness calculation of the different proposed measures, a study has found.
MEP: Clean technology mix needed to decarbonise transport
Decarbonising transport is an enormous challenge and there will be a need to deploy a mix of clean technologies to accelerate the transition to a sustainable system, MEP Seán Kelly told EURACTIV.com.
Selling electricity to neighbours: Technically feasible, but not in practice
An EU-funded Interreg project promoting microgrids technology has managed to help consumers produce renewable electricity on their own. But the ultimate objective to enable reselling the power to their neighbour has been hindered by regulatory obstacles.
High time we start taking renewable electricity seriously as a transport fuel
Transport's contribution to EU emissions is more and more in the spotlight. Geert De Cock explains what the European Commission should do to get more renewable energy into our vehicles.OpinionPromoted content
Used Cooking Oil biodiesel: best in class to decarbonise road transport
The Used Cooking Oil biodiesel (UCO) is best in class to decarbonise road transport and therefore, it attracts “bullying", writes EU waste biodiesel producers (EWABA).
Netherlands mulls end to used cooking oil double-counting
An analysis of the “weak” points of the revised Renewable Energy Directive (RED II), combined with the results of an ongoing criminal investigation, will determine whether it is possible to end double-counting of used cooking oil (UCO) in energy used in transport, a Dutch spokesperson told EURACTIV.com.
Wind power: What next for Europe?
Europe is the cradle of the wind energy industry and is still rightly perceived as a global leader in the sector. But fresh projects have slowed in recent years, pointing to new challenges for the EU’s wind energy sector in...
Industry source: one third of used cooking oil in Europe is fraudulent
One-third of the used cooking oil (UCO) used in Europe’s biofuels market is more than likely fraudulent, a source from the biofuel industry has told EURACTIV.com and urged Brussels to "think again" about how the entire supply chain is monitored.
Will National Energy and Climate Plans, key to transport decarbonisation, deliver?
The EU is facing another lost decade in transport decarbonisation, a difficult process that requires all available measures. The National Energy and Climate Plans (NECPs) are key to decarbonising transport in the next decade and delivering on the EU's climate pledges, writes Zoltán Szabó.
Biofuel expert: In Europe, facts don’t win over theories
Europe’s demonstrated preference for ideology over science explains why Europe is both the most vocal climate proponent on the world stage and also the most wasteful and ineffective one, Eric Sievers, director of investments at Ethanol Europe, told EURACTIV.com in an interview.
Europe’s transport decarbonisation
The Green Energy Platform, led by the think tank Farm Europe, organised a workshop in Brussels on Wednesday (12 June) to present the results of the ‘2030 Transport Decarbonisation Options’ study, conducted by the consultancy firm Navigant.
EU throws the ball to member states to monitor RED II implementation
The implementation of the revised Renewable Energy Directive (RED II) remains to a large extent the responsibility of the member states, EU sources told EURACTIV.com, in light of ongoing fraud investigations into the practice of mixing palm oil with cooking oil (UCO).
With new regulation complete, what’s next for EU biofuels?
After years of political wrangling over how to account for indirect land use change from biofuels in EU legislation, businesses now have the regulatory stability they’ve long been craving.
Commission repeals US anti-dumping duties on ethanol, irritates industry
Following an expiry review, the European Commission has decided to repeal the antidumping measures against imports of bioethanol from the USA. The decision has triggered reactions of the EU ethanol industry, which warns about severe economic and climate implications.
EU official: ‘Renewables could supply almost 80% of heating and cooling by 2050’
Reaching the EU's target of increasing renewable heating and cooling by 1.3% each year will require a diverse array of solutions, says the European Commission's Hans van Steen.
The EU needs a ‘Green New Deal’
Europe needs its own ‘Green New Deal’ to stave off the perfect storm of populism, climate change and economic crisis. Instead, the EU has adopted confused energy and environment policies which could be self-defeating in the long run, writes Vincente Lopez.
Burning trees as climate mitigation: A resort to the Court
There is no debate that burning wood for energy emits more greenhouse gases per unit of energy than burning fossil fuels. Yet the EU's renewable energy directive continues to uphold that burning forest wood is "carbon neutral," write Jean-Pascal van Ypersele and Mary S. Booth.
EU Parliament unwilling to reject Commission’s biofuel criteria
Despite a strong negative reaction from EU farmers and industry, the European Parliament does not seem likely to oppose the Commission's delegated act on sustainability criteria for biofuels.
IRENA chief: Renewable energy is ‘defence policy of the future’
Renewable energy will rewrite the geopolitical map, according to the man tasked with taking clean energy global. Adnan Z. Amin also told EURACTIV that any politicians not worried by the “truly frightening” risks of climate change are not in the right job.
Biofuel sustainability criteria ‘blocked’ in EU Commission
A delegated act determining the sustainability criteria of biofuels under the new renewable energy directive (RED II) has been blocked in the European Commission as some Commissioners found the criteria “too light”, EURACTIV has learnt.
Time is running out for biofuels sustainability criteria
The European Commission’s Directorate-General (DG) of Energy will only give two days to other DGs to express their opinion about its much-awaited proposal on the sustainability criteria of biofuels, which will determine the future of palm oil in Europe.