EU unveils ambitious energy pledges » Environment » 24dash.com

Sweeping plans to put Europe's ambitious energy pledges into practice were unveiled by the European Commission today.

Everything is covered from stepping up emergency oil stocks and cutting dependency on imports to boosting energy efficiency of buildings and exploiting offshore wind energy potential.

The proposals, the Commission said, are designed to help EU countries meet their so-called "triple twenty" target - a 20% cut in greenhouse gas emissions, a 20% cut in overall energy use, and a 20% share of all energy needs from renewable sources, all by the year 2020.

Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso, presenting the "Strategic Energy Review package", said EU energy prices had risen by an average 15% in a year, and 54% of Europe's energy was now imported at a cost of about £550 for every citizen.

Urgent measures were needed to increase energy efficiency and reduce dependence on outside sources: "We have to invest and diversify. The proposals adopted today represent an unequivocal statement of the Commission's desire to guarantee secure and sustainable energy supplies, and should help us deliver on the crucial 20-20-20 climate change targets."

Energy Commissioner Andris Piebalgs said: "The EU has come together as never before to deal with climate change, high energy prices and energy security. But we have to do more, be more ambitious, and be even bolder to avoid the risk of energy disruption in the future.

"This means investment, investing in energy and energy efficiency, and giving our economy the push it needs at this uncertain time."

The Commission report urges EU governments to agree formally in the next few weeks on the triple-20 climate change targets pledged last year.

The second priority is to tackle the "growing precariousness" of Europe's energy supply security.

Even when renewable energy targets are met, points out today's report, the EU is likely to be more dependent on imports than it is today.

The proposed measures include a stronger European system of emergency oil stocks in case of crisis or supply disruptions beyond EU control, as well as higher EU-wide security standards to safeguard natural gas supplies - the second most important fuel in the EU's current energy mix.

The report says it is up to each EU country to decide whether include nuclear energy in its energy mix, but the Commission points out that if strategic investment decisions are taken quickly, almost two thirds of EU electricity generation could be low carbon in the early 2020s.

The package of measures also covers developing sustainable, competitive European energy networks, bringing electricity, gas, and oil to homes and businesses. One document expresses concern that current networks are no longer up to the job of providing secure supplies "in the foreseeable future".

Offshore wind energy will be essential in achieving the triple 20 targets, says another report, while yet another sets out proposed tough new standards for energy efficiency buildings. New buildings can consume as little as three litres of heating oil per square meter floor area per year - compared with a current average of 25 litres and highs of as much as 60 litres per square metre.

EU governments are being pressed to develop plans for large numbers of low or zero-energy "passive" carbon buildings, with the Commission emphasising that even modest goals can have big results - a switch to more energy efficient tyres across Europe could deliver fuel savings equivalent to Hungary's total yearly oil consumption.

Low rolling resistance tyres mean lower fuel consumption for vehicles to the tune of more than six million tonnes of oil or equivalent every year by 2020. A labelling scheme encouraging consumers to opt for such tyres is due in force by 2012.

Extending energy efficiency labelling to far more goods and services is also in the pipeline.

Again, EU governments are being asked to show the way by including energy performance assessments in their public procurement decisions.

If all countries applied strict "green" criteria to public sector purchases, energy saving could amount to the equivalent of 80 million tonnes of CO2 emissions a year (Austria's estimated annual output in 2020) just from savings generated by using energy-efficient commercial heating and refrigeration appliances and insulated windows.

"Europe's new energy policy will fundamentally alter the EU's energy outlook," proclaimed today's report.

Overall energy consumption could be cut by 15% by 2020, and cut energy imports by up to 26%.

"The EU will have taken the first steps to break the cycle of increasing energy consumption, increasing imports and increasing outflow of wealth created in the EU to pay energy producers," claims the report.

Liberal Democrat MEPs welcomed a package they said formed "the basis for a credible and effective piece of legislation".

French MEP Anne Laperrouze commented: "The expertise is there, and what we need is the EU to harness it in planning our energy policy."

Greenpeace welcomed Commission proposals on electricity infrastructure, including plans for an offshore grid in the North Sea, the Baltic and the Mediterranean.

"A strategic development of electricity grids would create a robust energy system that can balance the input of different renewable energy sources like offshore wind across the continent," said Frauke Thies, Greenpeace EU renewables policy campaigner.

But Greenpeace said that the Commission should be making the 20% cut in energy efficiency legally-binding on member states.

"The Commission has yet again missed the chance to take a bold step forward on energy efficiency - the backbone of any secure and sustainable energy supply system.

"The review of existing efficiency legislation may bring marginal improvements, but the Commission has shied away from the most obvious and simple solution - to make the EU's 20% efficiency target binding."EU