The EU will come close to meeting the binding 2020 target on the deployment of renewable energy sources (RES), with currently implemented and planned RES policy initiatives, according to a new report.
It finds that majority of Member States is expected to meet mandatory RES targets by 2020. Nineteen of the 28 assessed Member States may fulfil or even overfulfil their targets. For five Member States, namely the Czech Republic, Greece, Hungary, Portugal and Poland, it is uncertain if they will achieve the 2020 RES target. Luxembourg, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom will probably not meet their targets.
The report was written by Ecofys and partners Fraunhofer, TU Vienna, BBH, Stockholm Environmental Institute and IIASA to support the European Commission in its 2014 reporting requirements under the Renewable Energy Directive (2009/28/EC). Evaluating the progress reports of all EU-28 Member States, the report provides a detailed analysis of the progress in renewable energy in the Member States and of the sustainability impacts of biofuels in the EU in 2011-2012.
In its second part, the study assesses the sustainability of biofuels used in the EU transport sector. The larger part of the feedstocks for these biofuels originated from the EU, with smaller contributions from Indonesia, Argentina and the USA. The most important feedstocks were rapeseed, wheat, maize and sugar beet. During 2012, the far majority of biofuels that were sold in the EU market complied with the sustainability requirements that are specified in the Directive. The EU consumed biofuels achieved about 27 Mtonne CO2 equivalent of greenhouse gas savings. The production of feedstock required a total acreage of maximally 7.8 Mha (of which 58% is located within the EU). The study also addresses other environmental and socio-economic sustainability impacts.