Nine EU Countries Leading in the Field of Renewable Energy


02/16/2016

List of European Union countries that have achieved their goals for the use of renewable energy continues to grow.



More and more countries seeking to achieve a certain level of renewable energy by 2020, are attaining the object ahead of schedule.

First, there were countries such as Sweden, Bulgaria and Estonia. Then, last year, - Lithuania.

And now, the list of these countries expanded even more.

Finland, Croatia, Romania, Italy and the Czech Republic joined those have already achieved the required level of renewable energy by 2020. The data presented by Eurostat; at that, the latest available data refer to 2014.

Sweden continues to be a leader generating significant amount of energy from renewable sources, mainly due to abundance of hydroelectric resources. The country receives more than half of the energy from renewables.

In general, the EU generates 16% of its energy from renewable sources. This is 1% more than last year. Thus, the EU has all the chances to reach the goal of 20% by 2020.

The sun and the wind – those are the fastest growing sources of electricity generation. Generating capacity on these sources have grown considerably over the past 15 years.

This is part of the so-called "20-20-20" strategy, which includes commitment to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 20%, and at the same time to increase use of renewable energy and energy efficiency by 20% by 2020.

This strategy sets the stage to fulfill promises made in the framework of the Paris conference: to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to 40% below 1990 levels by 2030.

Other countries also intend to achieve the goals as soon as possible.

Among them is Denmark - the country which last year set a world record for a wind generation, as well as Austria and mired in debt Greece.

However, we cannot say that this is extremely good news for renewable energy and its supporters.

Some main polluting countries of the EU continue to be among the laggards in this regard.

Germany, France and Britain, which account for 45% of all EU greenhouse gas emissions, are still far from achieving their goals to reduce harmful emissions.

Of these three countries, France has the most ambitious targets than the EU as a whole.

Burning wood and other biofuels also occupy a significant part of the renewable energy in the EU.

Analysis of Climate Central showed that combustion of biomass on an industrial scale can accelerate global warming. Currently, the EU explores the question of whether to allocate subsidies to the biofuel sector as part of boosting of renewable energy.

source: businessgreen.com