In the media: 2020 renewables target in reach for EU
European Commission
“EU on track to meeting 20 percent renewable energy target”
The EU expects member states are on track to meet their target of a 20 percent share of renewables in gross final energy consumption by 2020, according to the European Commission’s Progress Report on Renewable Energy. With a projected share of 15.3 percent renewable energy in 2014, the EU as a whole and most member states are expected to have met their 2013/2014 renewables targets, the report said. Five years ahead of the 20 percent goal, "member states are advancing well," it said. Germany exceeded its trajectory target of 9.5 percent for 2013, achieving a renewables share of 12.4 percent that year, according to the report. Germany aims to increase its share of renewables to 18 percent of gross consumption by 2020.
The Commission also says in the EU as a whole, the share of renewables in transport only rose to a projected 5.7 percent in 2014, making the target of 10 percent “challenging”.
Find the Commission’s progress report in English here.
“Citizen participation in the Energiewende is important”
91 percent of local utilities in Germany say that citizen participation is important or very important for the success of the energy transition. This is the first result of a poll by the German Association of Local Utilities (VKU) and the Institute for Advanced Sustainability Studies (IASS) among 100 local utilities in March 2015. Around half of the participating energy companies said that they in the past 10 years had gained experience on how to include citizens in energy infrastructure projects, such as solar power, wind power and biomass.
Read the press release in German here.
“VDE study shows how grid expansion can be reduced”
Small “energy cells” comprised of households, industry and storage that use renewable power directly where it is produced could limit the need for new power lines, a study by the Association for Electrical, Electronic and Information Technologies (VDE) has found. The most efficient way to use fluctuating renewable power is to consume it close to its origin, the VDE says in a press release. Local “energy cells” would store and exchange power, heat and gas and they would be connected via grid and communication systems to form larger cells, the study suggests. The VDE demands that future development of energy grids include all types of energy like power, gas and heat to increase efficiency and options for storage.
Read the press release in German here.
