| Author (Person) | Smith, Emily |
|---|---|
| Series Title | European Voice |
| Series Details | Vol.12, No.2, 19.1.06 |
| Publication Date | 19/01/2006 |
| Content Type | News |
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By Emily Smith Date: 19/01/06 Centre-right MEPs are hoping next week to block a call for Europe to get a quarter of its heating and cooling power from renewable energy by 2020. The change could come when the European Parliament's environment committee votes next Thursday (26 January) on a report putting pressure on governments and the European Commission to tackle CO2 emissions by greening up heating and cooling systems. The report, by Socialist MEP Mechtild Rothe, says the EU should commit itself to getting 25% of its heating and cooling from renewables by 2020, but conservative colleagues are hoping to push through an amendment scrapping the target. Europe today gets 10% of its heating and cooling from renewables. Rothe asks the Commission to come forward with a directive based on her proposals by July this year. "What is at stake is whether Europe will succeed in achieving a very large measure of energy independence," said Rothe, referring to the current climate of energy security fears. Environmentalists have repeatedly claimed that heat generation uses more energy than transport or electricity generation and that Europe will never meet its CO2-reduction commitments without legislation in this field. The Commission admits member states are well off track from meeting their existing target of getting 12% of energy from renewables by 2010. Environmentalists say this is in part because there is nothing to encourage the development of renewable heating and cooling. The 25% target would be reached through 25 different national targets and the energy sources favoured would be biomass, geothermal and solar. Oliver Schäfer of the European Renewable Energy Council said it would be "a mistake" to delete the 25% target, which he said was "ambitious and realistic". Schäfer said the report contained "plenty of good ideas", such as the use of reduced VAT rates to boost renewable heating. Article anticipates the debate at the European Parliament's Environment Committee of the report on the proposed Directive on energy end-use efficiency and energy services. One of the controversial issues in the report, drafted by German Socialist MEP Mechtild Rothe as a Recommendation for the Second Reading, was a suggested commitment by the EU to getting 25% of its heating and cooling from renewables by 2020. |
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| Source Link | http://www.european-voice.com/ |
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| Subject Categories | Energy |
| Countries / Regions | Europe |
