European Union energy Commissioner Günther Oettinger has said he wants to strengthen the powers of the European Commission over EU green energy policy, imposing for the first time EU-wide binding targets on renewable energy, energy efficiency and greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) by 2030.
These already exist on a national scale for renewables and emissions (although not yet on energy efficiency). Speaking to the press yesterday (June 6) in Brussels during the launch of a European Commission policy paper (a ‘communication’) on renewable energy, Oettinger stressed the need for long-term planning. “Private investors want certainty, a legal basis and market forecast for the next decades”, Oettinger said. “Decisions need to be taken about possible binding targets for 2030″, he added. He intends to propose legally-binding legislation on renewable energy policy beyond the current renewable energy directive’s endpoint of 2020 in the beginning of next year. Brussels is clearly prepared to be ambitious. Imposing binding targets on the three energy issues “would be like creating a renewable energy version of the Emissions Trading System (EU ETS)”, a Commission official told Utility Week later.
But the final decision will follow public consultation. The two other options for an EU renewable energy policy beyond 2020 put forward by the communication would keep the current status-quo or rely on markets and use the ETS to cut down on CO2 emissions and abandon the use of targets for renewable energy.
The Commissioner made it clear he preferred more central control by Brussels: “Member states have made drastic changes in the support systems for renewable energy sources, which destroy investors’ confidence”, Oettinger said. “An overnight change in one member state can damage the image of renewable energy across the continent”, he added.
The best thing that can happen to energy production is for “renewable energy” to get an even more damaged image, which is now starting to head in the general direction of reality. I can’t think of a worse policy than to “centralize” control of the mechanisms or the message, in order to promote something so useless.
Unless some sense can be got into these people Europe, withor without a solution to economic problems, headed directly towards collapse.
Fantasy policies will only work if the whole world does the same. China, India, etc have more sense, they will willingly watch europe commit economic suicide.
However, the European Commission today said new targets were needed for 2030 to provide regulatory certainty to support investor confidence.
http://junkscience.com/2012/06/08/uk-on-collision-course-with-europe-over-renewable-energy-targets/
These policies are not concerned about the environment/climate, they are about money, that is the only thing green that matters to the governments & NGOs!
All those folks who were given carbon credits for free want to sell them at a decent profit.
“Private investors want certainty, a legal basis and market forecast for the next decades”
In other words; guarantees of subsidies. Which can’t happen when member countries are busy bankrupting each other under the blue banner of the EU.