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Brochure
 
Overview
Renewable Energy Sectors
FP6 Demonstration
Projects
Policy and
Legislation
European Stategic Energy
Technology Plan (SET Plan)
Biomass Action
Plan
Biofuels Standards
Publications
Public consultations
Events
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The video (3'55”)
20% renewable energy by 2020
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Overview
ENERGY FOR THE FUTURE:
RENEWABLE SOURCES OF ENERGY
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The development of renewable
energy - particularly energy from wind, water, solar power and
biomass - is a central aim of the European Commission's energy
policy. There are several reasons for this:
Renewable energy has an important role to play in reducing
Carbon Dioxide (CO2) emissions - a major
Community objective.
Increasing the share of renewable energy in the energy balance
enhances sustainability. It also helps to improve the security
of energy supply by reducing the Community's growing
dependence on imported energy sources.
Renewable energy sources are expected to be economically
competitive with conventional energy sources in the medium to
long term.
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The need for Community
support for Renewable Energy is clear. Several of the
technologies, especially wind
energy, but also small-scale
hydro power, energy from biomass,
and solar
thermal applications, are economically viable and
competitive. The others, especially photovoltaic
(silicon module panels directly generating electricity from
the sun’s light raher than heat), depend only on (how
rapidly) increasing demand and thus production volume to
achieve the economy of scale necessary for competitiveness
with central generation. In fact, looking at the various
sector markets in early 2003, it is probably not
over-optimistic to conclude that the lion’s share of
remaining market resistance to Renewables penetration relates
to factors other than economic viability. This should be seen
against the rapidly improving fiscal and economic environment
being created in the EU both by European
legislation itself swinging into full implementation and
the Member
States’ own programmes and support measures, which
despite the short-term macro-economic background, are
accelerating rapidly at the time of publication.
The European
Commission's White Paper for a Community Strategy sets out a
strategy to double the share of renewable energies in gross
domestic energy consumption in the European Union by 2010
(from the present 6% to 12%) including a timetable of actions
to achieve this objective in the form of an Action Plan.The main
features of the Action Plan include internal market measures
in the regulatory and fiscal spheres; reinforcement of those
Community policies which have a bearing on increased
penetration by renewable energies; proposals for strengthening
co-operation between Member States; and support measures to
facilitate investment and enhance dissemination and
information in the renewables field.
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A 4,9 % GROWTH FOR RENEWABLE
PRIMARY ENERGY
1. RENEWABLE ORIGIN PRIMARY ENERGY
PRODUCTION
The first histogram (graph 2) describes
the situation of the renewable energies share of primary
energy consumption in the countries of the European Union in
2005. This share is estimated at 6.38% 1
vs. an objective of 12% for 2010. European efforts shall
have thus permitted a 0.30 point increase with respect to
2004. This increase corresponds to an additional renewable
origin primary energy consumption of the order of 5.2 Mtoe
out of a total of 112.1 Mtoe.
This increase has taken place in a
context where total primary energy consumption for EU
countries remained stable with respect to 2004 (in the
neighbourhood of 1 756 Mtoe). This last observation is good
news for the renewable sectors that too often saw their
respective increases over the last few years cancelled out
by the growth in total primary energy consumption. The RE
share could even have been greater (approx. 6.48%) if 2005
had not been a year that was so marked by a rainfall deficit
that significantly slowed down hydraulic production. In this
way, the countries where performances declined this year (Latvia,
Portugal, Slovenia, Spain, France and Italy) are those where
hydropower production represents a significant share of the
renewable contribution. On the other hand, in spite of this
increase, it's obvious that the rate being followed at
present will not make it possible to reach the objective
that's set for the European Union countries. The European
Commission has also made this same observation and is
expecting a 9% share in 2010. Another fact is that the EU
situation conceals a wide heterogeneity between the
different countries. The member States, as a function of
their natural resources (wind, forests, hydraulic, solar and
geothermal deposits) and of the economic fabric having
developed around each sector, have contrasted implications.
It should be noted that the six leading European countries
in terms of their share of primary energy of renewable
origin have in common the fact that they are all large
forestry countries with sizeable hydraulic potentials.
1 Including hydropower
electricity production of pump-storage installations. |
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1.
Share of each
ressource in the renewable primary energy production
(in %)
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2.
Share of
renewable energies in primary energy consumption of European
Union countries in 2005
(in %)
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2. ELECTRICITY PRODUCTION
The second European objective pertains to
the renewable energies share in gross electricity
consumption.
The objectives of the European directive
on renewable origin electricity production (21% of gross
renewable origin consumption in 2010) does not take into
consideration – as the White Paper does – hydroelectric
production coming from pump-storage installations
functioning with power grid electricity.
The EU percentage is estimated at 13.97%
for 2005, which marks a 0.31 point decline with respect to
2004. The very low level of rainfall in 2005, mentioned in
the previous paragraph (the worst year in this context for
the last 10 years), is the principal cause of this drop. If
hydroelectric production could have been maintained at the
level of 2004, which was an average year, the share of
renewable electricity would have reached 14.60% in 2005,
i.e. + 0.32 points with respect to 2004. The increase was
thus the result of development in the other renewable
sectors, in particular wind power and biomass.
Four countries were particularly affected
by drought in 2005: Portugal (-8.85 points in 2005 with
respect to 2004), Spain (-3.47
points), France (-1.81 points) and Italy (-1.78 points). To
the contrary, a good hydroelectric year permitted Sweden to
markedly increase its share in electricity consumption
(+8.50 points). In the short term, these variations can
conceal the efforts made by certain countries to develop
other renewable sectors. This is especially the case of
Spain and the very strong growth in its wind power sector.
Germany should
also be cited because it is a country which, in spite of its
low hydroelectric potential, is a mainstay of renewable
electricity production in Europe and has succeeded in a few
years time to raise its share of renewable sectors up to a
level very near to that of France. This is the reward for
practically ten years of policies in favour of
electricity produced from the wind power and biomass sectors.
These two energies are also at the origin of the increase in
the share of renewable electricity in the Netherlands (1.71
points), Ireland (+1.70 points) and the UK (+0.6 points).
In this way, the decrease in the share of
gross renewable electricity consumption recorded in 2005 is
not representative of the efforts currently being made by
most European countries. Powered by the political will of EU
countries to honour their commitments, we can expect to see
this ratio on the rise, being pushed upward in the coming
years .
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3.
Share of
each ressource in the renewable electricity generation
(in %)
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4. Share of renewable
energies in gross electrical consumption in European Union
countries in 2005
(in %)
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STATE OF RENEWABLE
ENERGIES IN EUROPE - 2006
EurObserv'ER
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