EU action plan for energy efficiency: hot air? or what?
Posted: 13 Oct 2009, 16:46
Have a read at this and see what you think. Most EU legislation seems to start off on the right foot and ends up being watered down by lobbyists and/or allowing derogations left, right and centre (which has nothing to do with Rolf Harris).
It acknowledges that the EU is set to fall short of its 2020 target to slash energy consumption by 20%, instead achieving only 11% by the deadline.
The most controversial initiative in the draft is a plan to introduce mandatory energy-saving obligations on member states "in line" with the EU's aspirational goal of using 20% less energy in 2020. The paper suggests that the targets could be either sector-specific, potentially limited to buildings, or cover all aspects of the economy.
One major omission from the action plan is the transport sector, which the EU executive plans to deal with separately. It plans to table a White Paper next year, detailing measures targeted specifically at transport, which accounts for almost a fifth of EU primary energy consumption.