EU ups target for renewal energy

In a bid to ensure energy supply and cut greenhouse gas emissions, the European Commission, in its ambitious energy policy package released in January, proposed to increase the use of renewable energy to 20% of the EU’s total energy consumption by 2020. The energy ministers agreed that the 10% target was binding but subject to technological breakthrough and necessary legal changes. “The binding character of this target is subject to production being sustainable, to second-generation biofuels becoming commercially available and the fuel quality directive being amended accordingly to allow for adequate levels of blending,” the ministers said in a joint statement. The EUs current goal for biofuels is 5.75% by 2010. (February 15, 2007)