The European Commission will propose a mandatory target next month for energy consumption from renewable sources by 2020 in an overhaul of EU policy on environmentally friendly fuels, a draft showed on Thursday. The draft of the EU executive's "Renewable Energy Road Map", obtained by Reuters, said legally binding targets were crucial to boost the use of renewable energy sources such as wind and solar within the 25-country bloc.

But the proposal drew fire from environmentalists and the renewable energy industry for failing to establish specific targets for the electricity, heating and cooling sectors. "This is a roadmap to the grave indeed for the renewables industry in Europe," said Oliver Schaefer, policy director at the European Renewable Energy Council, which represents producers and manufacturers.

"You have existing legislation on renewables in electricity which would automatically go down the drain." At present, the EU has a target for renewable sources to provide 21 percent of all electricity consumed by 2010 and for the proportion of biofuels used in transport to reach 5.75 percent by the same year.

The EU's non-binding overall target seeks to have renewable sources make up 12 percent of the bloc s energy use by 2010. The draft does not specify a new overall goal, but it cites a call by the European Parliament for renewable energy to make up 20 percent of EU consumption by 2020.

It promises a "new legislative framework for the promotion and the use of renewable energy in the European Union." The proposal will be part of a broad package that the Commission plans to present in January that sets out a common EU energy policy in an effort to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and secure future energy supplies. The Commission is in the middle of a brewing debate on how "green" that policy should be.

Ambitious target?
A spokesman for EU Energy Commissioner Andris Piebalgs said the Commission would propose "ambitious" targets when the package came out. He declined further comment. The European Renewable Energy Council s Schaefer said EU member states would likely reject a mandatory target, therefore diluting the proposal even more.

The document gave a mixed review of current policies on renewable energy. It said the bloc would not meet its 2010 target. "This can only be considered a policy failure and a result of the inability or the unwillingness to back political declarations by political and economic incentives," it said.

But it said electricity targets had largely worked out. Frauke Thies, a renewable energy specialist at environmental group Greenpeace, said her group recommended a 35 percent target for renewables in electricity and at least 25 percent for heating and cooling by 2020.

"At a time when sector-specific support for renewable energy is starting to deliver results, the Commission must strengthen this system by setting binding targets," she said. The draft said proposals for a binding, minimum target for biofuels would be made in 2007. Though it did not set targets for the other sectors, it appeared to set some guidelines.

"Electricity production from renewables could increase from the current 15 percent to approximately 34 percent of overall electricity consumption in 2020," it said. "The contribution from renewables in the heating and cooling sector could more than double, compared to the current share of 9 percent."
(Por Jeff Mason, Planet Ark, 08/12/2006)