Environment Energy Mining Watch SEE|News|Environment MEPs propose 35% EU renewables target by 2030

Environment MEPs propose 35% EU renewables target by 2030

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The European Parliament’s environment committee on Monday proposed a higher 2030 renewable energy target for the EU of 35%.

According to the environment Members of the European Parliament at least 35% of the EU’s energy consumption by 2030 should be met with renewable sources such as solar and wind. They also proposed mandatory national targets to reach that objective.

The proposals are part of an ongoing reform of the EU renewable energy directive, which sets a 20% renewable energy target by 2020. The European Commission proposed a target of at least 27% for 2030 as an EU-wide target.

The environment committee adopted its draft opinion on renewable energy by 32 votes to 29, with 4 abstentions. The MEPs also proposed to completely phase-out crop-based biofuels by 2030, with an earlier end, from 2021, for those made from palm oil. The EC had proposed lowering the cap on crop-based biofuels from 7% to 3.8% by 2030. The European renewable ethanol association said the committee has taken a bad proposal from the Commission and made it worse. The organisation said MEPs are banning European crop-based biofuels a few years after promoting them.

“The European Parliament ITRE Committee and Plenary must now realise that the constant changes in the EU’s policy on crop-based biofuels will discourage investment in advanced biofuels – thus defeating one of the goals of the Commission’s proposal,” said Emmanuel Desplechin, Secretary General of ePURE.

The next step is a vote by the industry committee, which will be on November 28. The industry committee has the lead competence on this file, except for the articles dealing with biofuels and sustainability criteria, which are the remit of the environment committee.

Source: renewablesnow

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