Europe wants energy use to drop 20% by 2020
BRUSSELS, Belgium, June 29, 2005 (Refocus Weekly)
Europe must reduce its consumption of energy by 20% by 2020, to save Euro 60 billion in fuel costs.
The European Commission has adopted a green paper on energy efficiency in an
attempt to place energy higher on the EU agenda. Increasing oil prices and 70%
of energy being imported by 2030 means the EU “needs to start a discussion on
how to save energy” and the green paper lists options that include changes in
consumer behaviour and greater adoption of energy efficient technologies.
The savings of Euro 60 billion would represent economic investments where
European industry can strengthen its lead, as well as help the 25 member nations
to meet their commitment to the Kyoto protocol on reduction of GHG emissions,
says energy commissioner Andris Piebalgs.
“The European Union needs to explore all the possible avenues to reach the
goal of 20% savings,” he says. “Both citizens and industry need to be
stimulated by public authorities to do these energy savings.”
The green paper, ‘Doing More With Less,’ says renewable energies contributed
4.3% of final energy demand in 2002, or 46 Mtoe. For buildings, the share was
2.7%, 1.5% for industry and 0.1% for transport.
“An effective energy efficiency policy could therefore make a major
contribution to EU competitiveness and employment, which are central objectives
of the Lisbon agenda,” the document explains. “By addressing energy demand
this policy is part of the EU policies on energy supply including its efforts to
promote renewable energies and is as such part of the set of priorities first
outlined in the 2000 green paper.”
“Current trends point indeed in the direction of ever increasing energy use
with a level of consumption in the EU that could increase by 10% in the coming
15 years if nothing is done,” it warns. “With this Green Paper, the
Commission is proposing to reverse the trend and explains how it is feasible to
reach 20% energy savings by 2020 in a cost-effective way.”
The options cover all sectors from production to end-use, and suggest a wide
range of policy tools such as financial incentives, regulations, setting of
objectives, information and training, and include “improving energy pricing
and taxation to ensure that the polluter really pays” and “using public
procurement to kick-start new technologies.”
The green paper is designed to encourage a broad debate of stakeholders,
followed in 2006 by a comprehensive action plan from the European Commission to
identify measures which should be put forward.
“A number of concerns highlighted in this document (an increased share of
renewable energy, the efficiency of fossil fuel based power production, more
efficient electricity networks, vehicle efficiency) can only be alleviated
through efficient research and demonstration activities in connection with other
regulatory and economy based measures,” it notes. In April, the EC adopted a
proposal for the 7th Framework Programme for R&D that proposes to
concentrate on green power and a limited number of key priorities, and will
support a “broad range of promotional activities and address non-technological
barriers in the fields of energy efficiency and renewable energy sources.”
While energy demand continues to increase in the EU and hydrocarbon production
slows down, the contribution of renewables remains relatively low, it notes. The
share of renewables was 6% in 2000 and will between 8% and 10% of total
consumption in 2010.
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