EU Could Meet Renewable Targets, US Struggles with Regulations

Location: New York
Author: Ken Silverstein
Date: Thursday, February 10, 2011

It might be titled the “Tale of Two Cities.” Ah, but that moniker has been taken. So, we’ll just call for it what it is: The tale of two continents: Europe and the North America, or more precisely the United States.

The picture is painted rosier than it actually is. But the European Commission recently said that its member states are well on their way to meeting their renewable energy targets set for 2020. At that point, those countries are to have 20 percent of their power derived from green energy.

If they can do this, they will save about 10 billion Euros a year. One Euro is worth about $1.38. At present, the continent has missed its interim targets. But it does have the momentum. What is needed is a doubling of investment in green fuels to $70 billion a year.

In a formal release, the European Commission says that member states are doing a variety of things to speed up green energy development: grants, loans and feed-in-tariffs. But it goes on to say that the management of those enterprises could be improved. It also says that a more integrated approach among the different countries would go a long way and specifically names “joint projects.”

At year-end 2010, Eurostat reports renewable energy production increased by 8.3 percent over the year before. Coal production, meantime, fell by 16.3 percent last year. In total, Clean Technica reports that renewable energy accounted for 18.4 percent of all energy production while coal made up 9.6 percent.

A different report by the European Wind Energy Association that reviews all forms of green energy was just as sanguine. It found that 25 of 27 countries in the EU are on target or set to exceed their 2020 goals. Only six would not do so, although they are not too far off the mark.

“Taken together the Action Plans show that the EU-27 will meet 20.7 percent of its 2020 energy consumption from renewable,” says Justin Wilkes, policy director of the European Wind Energy Association. The National Action Plans show that one third (34%) of EU electricity demand will be supplied from renewables by 2020.”

Of that, about 14 percent would come from wind while 10 percent would be derived from hydro. Biomass and solar would roughly make up 7 percent and 3 percent, respectively.

According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, the total installed coal-fired capacity throughout Europe will fall between now and 2035. It will go from 200 gigawatts in 2007 to 177 gigawatts in 2035. But it will remain an important part of the continent’s energy mix, providing 20 percent of its total.

Congressional Quagmire

The United States, by comparison, remains caught in a regulatory quagmire. The stimulus plan enacted at the dawn of the Obama administration is the primary mechanism for spawning more green fuels. But the U.S. Congress will not pass any mandates to require renewable energy or to reduce carbon emissions for the foreseeable future.

Coal, in fact, will remain the dominant fuel source here to generate electricity. That’s according to the U.S. energy administration, which says this will be so through 2035. But the agency also says that it expects no new coal plants to be constructed during that time, discounting the ones already under development. Its share of the electricity market will fall from about 45 percent today to about 43 percent in 20 years.

“The generation share from renewable resources increases from 11 percent in 2009 to 14 percent in 2035 in response to federal tax credits in the near term and state requirements in the long term,” says the agency document. Natural gas, meanwhile, will rise from 23 percent today to 25 percent by 2035.

Just recently, the United Nations said that it would change its focus from getting a global climate treaty enforced to promoting the use of more sustainable fuels. It has become clear that countries such as the United States and China won’t formally commit. That, in turn, has caused Japan and Russia to have second thoughts.

That is not stopping Europe. Energy Commissioner Günther Oettinger says, "We have to invest much more in renewable energy and we need smart, cost-effective financing. If Member States work together and produce renewable energy where it costs less, companies and consumers and the tax payer will benefit from this.”

Europe’s progress will no doubt serve as a prototype going forward. If it succeeds, others will follow in its footsteps.

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