European Union to Meet 20 Percent Renewables Goal
February 19th, 2010 by 
By 2020, the European Union will meet its goal of generating 20 percent of its electricity from wind, solar, and other renewable sources of energy, according to the European Wind Energy Association.
The group said that 14 of the EU’s 27 member states will meet the 20 percent goal, eight will exceed it, and five will fall short, though only by one percent.
One of the continent’s leaders in renewable energy is Spain, which expects to be producing 23 percent of its electricity from wind and solar power by 2020.
Germany, Estonia, Greece, Ireland, Poland, Slovakia, and Sweden also are expected to exceed the 20 percent target. Belgium, Italy, Luxembourg, Malta, and Bulgaria will fall short of the 20 percent goal. Denmark, a leader in renewable energy production, said it will fall short of its goal of deriving 30 percent of its electricity from green sources by 2020.
In 2008, many countries said they expected not to meet the 20 percent standard, but a boom in solar and wind production has helped the EU make strong progress toward the continent-wide target.
Article appearing courtesy Yale Environment 360.
photo: Caveman 92223
|
|
Tags:  clean energy europe cleantech trends e.u. Europe European Union European Wind Energy Association Renewable Energy solar power europe spain solar power wind power | [ Permalink ] |
great target and I am sure we will meet these targets. Nuclear power needs to be reduced and replaced by Wind, Water and sun. But the users have to change their behavior as well.