EU energy and climate strategy: “20-20-20” target - part III - KEP energy Magazine - KEP energy

a) 2020 Package

The “2020 Package” is a set of binding commitments, aimed to assure that in 2020 the EU achieves the following targets:

- 20% GHG emissions cut in comparison to 1990;

- 20% RES share in gross final energy consumption;

- 20% energy efficiency increase.

Currently, in EU takes place an evolution towards a high energy efficiency and low carbon intensity economy. The “20-20-20 Package” represents an integrated policy vision in the climate and energy fields, aimed to mitigate the climate change, assure the EU supply security and strength its competitiveness at global level. Moreover, it is the fulcrum of the “Europa 2020” strategy, oriented towards an intelligent, sustainable and inclusive development.

The four main pillars that structure the “2020 Package” are:

1) reform of the EU ETS: the EU ETS is the key-driver to reduce the industry sector GHG emissions in a cost-effective manner. The “2020 Package” establishes an overall reform of this system, as well as the deepening of the 2009/29/EC Directive “Emission Trading”. The fundamental innovation is the introduction of a single EU cap in place of the current country caps. The free emissions allowance should be progressively replaced by an auction mechanism, starting from the power sector;

2) country targets for the GHG emissions from non-ETS sectors: through the 406/2009/EC Decision “Effort Sharing” the Member States have taken as commitment a set of country binding targets, aimed to reduce its GHG emissions from non-ETS sectors, as the buildings and the transport sectors. About 60% of the overall EU emissions is generated from non-ETS sectors. The country targets are differentiated among them;

3) country targets for the RES: through the 2009/28/EC Directive “Renewable Energy Sources” the Member States have taken as commitment a set of country binding targets, aimed to increase its share of energy consumption supplied from RES. These targets reflect the different starting points and the different RES production potentials among Member States. They should allow to the EU the achievement of an overall target of 20% in 2020;

4) Carbon Capture and Storage: the 2009/31/EC Directive “CCS” establishes a reference framework for an environmental safety CCS technologies implementation. The CCS happens through the industry sector emitted CO2 capture, and its storage in underground sites, thus avoiding the impact on the global warming.

b) 2030 Framework

The “2030 Framework” is aimed to make the EU economy and energy sector more competitive, safe and sustainable. It confirms the three targets established from the “2020 Package”, and raises their deepness:

- 40% GHG emissions cut in comparison to 1990;

- 27% RES share in gross final energy consumption;

- 27% energy efficiency increase.

The GHG emissions cut is considered as a priority, because the increment between 2020 and 2030 is equal to 20 percentage points in comparison to the same reference year (1990), that is from 20% to 40%. Instead, the others two targets slightly rise from 20% to 27%. The priority is due to the desirable convergence with the ambitious target set in 2050, described in the following point C). The GHG emissions cut is the only one among the three targets for which have been established thresholds beyond 2030. The 2030 targets take in account the necessary agreement between environmental needs and economic needs, that is, the targets achievement in the energy and climate fields should not hamper the EU economy development and competitivity.

c) 2050 Roadmap

Through the document “Roadmap for moving to a competitive low-carbon economy in 2050”, the European Commission has look beyond the short term period, and has put in place a cost-effective vision aimed to achieve in 2050 a 80% GHG emissions cut in comparison to 1990 (40% in 2030 and 60% in 2040). The emerging scenario indicates a complex but unavoidable evolution towards a “Low Carbon” society. According to the projections, this evolution should strengthen the EU economy, due to the growth in innovations and “green” technologies. In a perspective of agreement between environmental needs and economic needs, the GHG emissions cut should be allocated among the macroeconomic sectors in a cost-effective manner. That is, each sector should contribute as a function of its technological and economic potential.