The Eus Target For Renewable Energy

Download or read book The EU's Target for Renewable Energy written by Great Britain. Parliament. House of Lords. European Union Committee and published by The Stationery Office. This book was released on 2008 with total page 64 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This is the 27th report from the European Union Committee (HLP 175-I, ISBN 9780104013656) and examines the European Union target for renewable energy. Known as the 20/20 package, the European Commission wishes to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 20%, as well as increasing the proportion of final energy consumption from renewable sources to 20%, both by 2020. Each Member State will be given a national target based on their existing renewable generation, their GDP and a flat-increase for all. The Committee believes that achieving the 20% increase of energy via renewable resources will be extremely challenging, and states that further research is required in this area. Further, the Commission's objective of creating a standardised Guarantee of Origin (GoO), where Member States could meet part of their targets by counting energy generated in another country for which they have bought a GoO certificate, is seen by the Committee as potentially undermining efforts to increase renewable generation domestically. The starting point for the Government is a reduction of the absolute level of final energy consumption through energy efficiency and saving measures. Further the Government needs to commit more fully to increasing the level of renewable heat in the UK and should increase grants for microgeneration along with support to bring emerging technologies, such as wind power to a commercially viable state. The Committee also highlights the barriers of meeting its targets in respect of the access given to renewable generators to the electricity grid, and believes the generators should be allowed to connect ahead of grid capacity upgrades. The Committee believes that the 20/20 targets are unachievable unless the Government take quick and decisive action on all fronts, including large -scale generation, microgeneration and energy efficiency. Meeting the target will increase energy costs for consumers, but offers a way forward in moving away from the use of fossil fuels in the future.