Delivering energy savings and efficiency

Key points:

+ EU countries have agreed to reduce the amount of energy they consume by 20 per cent by 2020. This target is not binding – unlike the other two in the EU’s climate change package (to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 20 per cent and increase energy from renewables to 20 per cent, both by 2020).

+ The EU should not spend too much time arguing about whether the energy efficiency target should be made binding. Instead, it should use its new ‘energy efficiency action plan’ to tighten up existing laws, and spend more of its existing budget on energy efficiency programmes.

+ Europe wastes massive amounts of energy because most power stations do not capture and use the heat they produce when they generate electricity. EU countries should quickly move to combined heat-and-power systems.

+ The EU should tighten standards for the use of energy in buildings, electronic appliances and cars. And it should have the power to set minimum standards and remove the most energy inefficient vehicles from the market – as it has already done for products like washing machines and refrigerators.