EC confident UK committed to renewables target

13 August 2007 12:28  [Source: ICIS news]

PARIS (ICIS news)--The European Commission (EC) said on Monday it is confident the UK will remain committed to the EU’s aim of drastically increasing the use of renewable energy despite reports it will fall drastically short of agreed targets.

 

An internal briefing paper from the UK’s Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (formerly known as the Department of Trade and Industry) revealed the UK would miss the target to increase the use of renewables in the EU to 20% by 2020, according to UK press reports.

 

The leaked paper suggested the UK would find it a challenge to increase the amount of renewable energy from the current 2% to 9% by 2020, let alone hitting a 20% target.

 

The target was agreed by heads of state at an EU summit in March but the commission has yet to decide how the burden will be shared among the 27 member states.

 

“The UK was part of the discussion [in March] and the UK government never expressed any doubt about the duration or feasibility [of the target],” said EC spokeswoman Antonia Mochan.

 

The commission remained “confident” about the UK’s commitment to the 20% target when the burden-sharing agreement was finally agreed later this year, she added.

By: Philippa Jones
+44 20 8652 3214

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