Home > Today's Headline News

The European Commissions Energy Roadmap 2050 shows that a high renewables energy mix--with 97% of the EUs electricity consumption met by renewable energy--would have the same "overall energy system costs" as any other decarbonization or business as usual scenario.

The Roadmap is based on five scenarios from the European Commissions PRIMES energy model, all achieving a 85% decline in energy-related CO2 emissions by 2050 on the basis of different mixes of renewable energy, nuclear power and fossil fuels with Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) and energy efficiency.

At a press conference launching the Roadmap, Energy Commissioner Günther Oettinger said that he expected binding renewable energy targets for 2030 to be proposed and in place by 2014: "With our roadmap we want to ensure that, for all participants, there should be an interesting discussion on binding targets for renewables by 2030. This should begin now and lead to a decision in two years time," Energy Commissioner Oettinger said.

"The Commissions Communication could have been clearer in its commitment to binding renewable energy targets for 2030. However, with his strong statement today, Energy Commissioner Oettinger has provided European industry and citizens with that clarity. The European Parliament and Council must now give the Commission a clear mandate to come forward with ambitious binding 2030 targets for renewable energy" said Christian Kjaer, Chief Executive Officer of the European Wind Energy Association (EWEA) in Brussels.