Members of the European Parliament’s Committee on Industry, Research and Energy (ITRE) voted on Thursday 18 March on compromise amendments to the draft report by Christophe Grudler (Renew Europe, France) on the integration of the European Union’s energy system.
Unsurprisingly (see EUROPE 12673/7), the compromise amendments supported by the Renew Europe, S&D, Greens/EFA and The Left groups were adopted without difficulty.
In particular, the draft report stresses the importance of optimising the use of energy throughout its life cycle, from generation to recovery and reuse (e.g. by recovering waste heat from data centres).
It also highlights the need for electrification to move away from fossil fuels and the role of renewable and low-carbon hydrogen in reducing emissions from some hard to decarbonise sectors, such as some industrial processes and heavy transport, with a focus on renewable hydrogen.
Two alternative compromise amendments from the EPP and ECR groups were rejected.
The ITRE Committee vote on the whole draft report will take place on Monday, with a view to adoption at Parliament’s April plenary session.
See the compromise amendments: https://bit.ly/2P5Mi1M (Original version in French by Damien Genicot)