Renewing our renewable vows

EU leaders agreed in March two new targets to revolutionise the market for energy from less conventional energy sources. The energy package contained commitments to cut greenhouse-gas emissions by 20% and increase the use of renewable energy to 20%, both by 2020.

While the first target could be achieved by a mixture of energy efficiency improvements, a shift away from coal and an increased use of renewable energy sources, the second is more narrowly focused on harnessing power from environmentally friendly sources.

But such a target is not a new concept: the aim of getting 12% of EU energy from renewable sources by 2010 was contained in the 2001 renewables directive and it will be missed.

The latest statistics from monitoring agency EurObserv’ER show that in 2005 only 6.38% of European energy was renewable, and that market growth was slow.

Interest in renewable power sources today varies across the 27 EU countries. Latvia in 2005 got 40% of its energy from renewable sources. In Malta, Cyprus, the UK and Belgium, renewables made up less than 2% of the national energy mix.

A European Commission ‘burden-sharing’ proposal to divide the 20% target between the member states is scheduled for publication at the end of the year.

The 2001 directive requires energy grid operators and distribution companies to connect with renewable power sources. Bulgaria in May launched a support system penalising suppliers who do not take renewably-sourced energy.

But Dörte Fouquet, director at the European Renewable Energies Federation (EREF), said countries including France and Germany have still not fully opened their markets to renewable sources.

Renewables companies face many of the same market liberalisation and grid access barriers as smaller traditional energy companies in Europe today, she said.

Fouquet said big power companies were often reluctant to carry renewable power unless they had generated it themselves. If such a company invested in a new offshore wind-farm, she said, it was likely to take a sudden interest in renewables access.

Member states appear divided over the best way to support the renewable power that is available.

Germany has invested heavily in state subsidies for wind power. Countries including Italy and Sweden prefer tradeable energy certificates for non-traditional energy sources.

The 20% target even raises questions about the definition of renewable energy. In the past, ‘renewable’ has meant only solar, wind, hydraulic, geothermal (steam, hot or cold water) and biomass (biodegradable products, waste and residues).

Heavily nuclear-dependent countries, including France, would now like to see nuclear classified as a renewable power - to the horror of environmental lobby groups.

The EU today is heavily dependent on nuclear power, which accounts for of its energy. Even Austria, which prides itself on being a nuclear-free zone, imports about 15% of its electricity from nuclear sources.

Many people argue that an increased use of nuclear is the only quick way to make a real difference to greenhouse gas emissions.

The March summit conclusions skirted around the issue, saying only that any burden- sharing agreement would have to take into account "different individual circumstances, starting points and potentials".

EU leaders agreed in March two new targets to revolutionise the market for energy from less conventional energy sources. The energy package contained commitments to cut greenhouse-gas emissions by 20% and increase the use of renewable energy to 20%, both by 2020.