EU carbon emissions fall 10% as renewables pick up the pace: EEA
Europe reduced its fossil fuel consumption and emissions of greenhouse gases by 10% in 2015 due to increased use of wind and solar power, according to a report from the European Environment Agency. Of Europe’s total energy use, 16.7% came from renewables, up from 15% in 2013. Renewables also provided 77% of the region’s new power capacity. The increase is unlikely to prevent a “lock-in” of commissioned capacity which could turn into stranded fossil fuel assets. It is also an insufficient trajectory to achieve the Paris Climate Agreement target of halting global warming at two degrees Celsius.
Addressing climate change requires a globally coordinated, long-term response across all economic sectors. The 2015 Paris Agreement provides the framework for limiting global warming to less than 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels and for pursuing efforts to limit it to 1.5 degrees Celsius. Early in this process, the European Union has adopted ambitious and binding climate and energy targets for 2020 and 2030. Member States have set the strategic objective of building an Energy Union, which aims to provide affordable, secure and sustainable energy (European Council, 2014) and which has a forward‑looking climate policy at its core (European Council, 2015). The most recent package of legislative measures, adopted by the European Commission in November 2016, aims to consolidate and match national climate and energy efforts, and facilitate the delivery of the 2030 targets for climate, energy efficiency and renewable energy sources (RES). This report provides information about progress in RES in 2014 at the EU, country, energy market sector and RES technology levels.

Thumbnails Document Outline Attachments Find: Previous Next Highlight all Match case Presentation Mode Print Download Go to First Page Go to Last Page Rotate Clockwise Rotate Counterclockwise Enable hand tool Document Properties… Toggle Sidebar Find Previous Next Presentation Mode Download Tools Zoom Out Zoom In Automatic Zoom Actual Size Fit Page Full Width 50% 75% 100% 125% 150% 200% 300% 400% Downloading: Renewable energy in Europe 2017.pdf — PDF document, 5.93 MB (6216792 bytes) More Information Less Information Close Enter the password to open this PDF file: Cancel OK File name: - File size: - Title: - Author: - Subject: - Keywords: - Creation Date: Modification Date: Creator: - PDF Producer: - PDF Version: - Page Count: - Close Preparing document for printing… 0% Cancel

This is an old version, kept for reference only.



Go to latest version

EEA Report No 3/2017

Addressing climate change requires a globally coordinated, long-term response across all economic sectors. The 2015 Paris Agreement provides the framework for limiting global warming to less than 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels and for pursuing efforts to limit it to 1.5 degrees Celsius. Early in this process, the European Union has adopted ambitious and binding climate and energy targets for 2020 and 2030. Member States have set the strategic objective of building an Energy Union, which aims to provide affordable, secure and sustainable energy (European Council, 2014) and which has a forward‑looking climate policy at its core (European Council, 2015). The most recent package of legislative measures, adopted by the European Commission in November 2016, aims to consolidate and match national climate and energy efforts, and facilitate the delivery of the 2030 targets for climate, energy efficiency and renewable energy sources (RES). This report provides information about progress in RES in 2014 at the EU, country, energy market sector and RES technology levels.

Download

Additional Files