EU aiming for 9 per cent energy use cut by 2030

The European Commission has published a new package of energy efficiency policies with a goal for EU countries to collectively cut energy consumption by 9 per cent by 2030, compared with their projected energy use by that date under current plans.

To hit that goal, countries will be required to put in place measures to cut their final energy consumption by 1.5 per cent each year from 2024 to 2030, nearly doubling an existing requirement of 0.8 per cent.

Europe renovates just 1 per cent of buildings to save energy each year. Brussels hopes countries will use the EU’s €800bn COVID-19 economic recovery fund to launch a wave of green renovations, boosting construction sector jobs.The Commission also proposes that each of the 27 countries will renovate 3 per cent of all buildings owned or occupied by public bodies each year to transform them into “nearly zero-energy buildings.”

Currently, countries are required to renovate 3 per cent of central government buildings to weaker standards. But central government buildings make up less than 1 per cent of the roughly 260m buildings in the EU, while public buildings make up roughly 10 per cent.

Existing legislation will be upgraded, beginning with the Energy Efficiency Directive. Other directives set to be revisited include the Eco Design and the Energy Performance of Buildings directives.

The Commission argues that all revenues from carbon permit auctions under the EU’s Emissions Trading System and national CO2 auctions will have to be channelled to green investments, including investments in energy efficiency measures and renewables. These include revenues from proposed new areas of surface transport and of buildings.Efficiency requirements will have to be considered in public tenders, and governments will have to focus on increasing energy savings among vulnerable consumers, helping to alleviate fuel poverty.

The EU only achieved its earlier, more modest 20 per cent reduction by 2020 energy efficiency target, due to “exceptional circumstances,” a clear reference to the economic impact of the pandemic. Current national climate and energy plans for 2030 are considered far too weak — providing a maximum 29.4 per cent reduction in energy consumption across the continent, well below the existing EU objective for 32.5 per cent efficiency.

All of these initiatives are incorporated within the EC’s “Fit for 55” programme. This is designed to deliver a 55 per cent reduction in greenhouse gas emissions across the EU27 between 1990 and 2030. Firm details of the precise programme must be negotiated with EU countries and the European Parliament, a process that can take roughly two years.