EU To Raise Overall Share Of Renewable Energy To 42.5% By 2030 - Council

Sumaira FH Published March 30, 2023 | 03:20 PM

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 30th March, 2023) The Council of the European Union and the bloc's parliament on Thursday reached a provisional agreement to increase the share of renewable energy in the EU's total energy consumption to 42.5% by 2030, also setting specific targets in transport, industry, buildings, district heating and the cooling sector.

"The Council and the Parliament negotiators today reached a provisional political agreement to raise the share of renewable energy in the EU's overall energy consumption to 42.5% by 2030 with an additional 2.5% indicative top up that would allow to reach 45%," the Council of the EU said in a statement.

The statement also said that sector-specific targets in transport, industry, buildings and district heating and cooling had been set to "speed-up the integration of renewables in sectors where incorporation has been slower."

The sub-target in the bloc's transport sector stands at 5.5% for advanced biofuels, generally derived from non-food-based feedstocks, and renewable fuels of non-biological origin, mostly renewable hydrogen and hydrogen-based synthetic fuels, in the share of renewable energies supplied to the transport sector, the statement read.

The provisional agreement related to the industrial sector provided for a 1.6%-increase in renewable energy, the document said.

"They agreed that 42% of the hydrogen used in industry should come from renewable fuels of non-biological origin (RFNBOs) by 2030 and 60% by 2035," according to the statement.

It added that the agreement set a target of at least a 49% renewable energy share in buildings in 2030, "with a binding increase of 0.8% per year at national level until 2026 and 1.1% from 2026 to 2030."

EU member states agreed last July to reduce their national gas consumption by 15% between August 1, 2022 and March 31, 2023 in response to natural gas shortages and the global energy price surge. The EU executive will carry out a gas supply review by May to consider extending the reduction target as the bloc continues to phase out Russian energy sources.