Brussels, 07/12/2005 (Agence Europe) - In the context of increasing Community dependence on imports of oil and gas, the volatility of fuel prices and commitments taken by the European Union to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions, the Commission adopted an action plan for biomass on 7 December, which is designed to increase the use of energy from forestry, agriculture and waste. Expressing the view that the proportion of renewable energy in the energy mix is unlikely to exceed 10% by 2020 (the objective having been set at 12%), the Commission is proposing an action plan in favour of biomass, based on over twenty initiatives, most of which will be implemented from 2006. The principal forms of biomass energy are bio-fuels for transport (produced mainly from cereals, sugar, oil-producing fruits and waste oil), domestic heating powered by wood and the consumption of waste in power stations producing electricity and/or heat.
In the field of bio-fuels for transport, the Commission's actions will focus on promoting requirements to be imposed upon suppliers, to bring in a minimum proportion of bio-fuels within the range of conventional fuels they sell. The Commission also intends to present a report in 2006, ahead of the revision of directive 2003/30/EC, which will provide for national objectives to be set on market share for bio-fuels. The market share for bio-fuels currently stands at scarcely 0.8%, which gives the Commission reason to believe that the objective (set in 2003) of 5.75% by 2010 is unlikely to be achieved. The action plan proposes, amongst other things, an examination of how the standards on fuels could be improved to encourage the use of biomass for transport, heating and electricity production. Furthermore, it recommends a boost for investment in research, particularly in the field of producing liquid combustibles from wood and waste. The action plan also provides an awareness-raising campaign on energy crops, which may be of interest to farmers and forest owners. Moreover, the Commission plans a legislative proposal aiming to promote heating powered by renewable sources.
The Commission takes the view that the measures described in the action plan should help to bring the total quantity of biomass used to some 150 million tonnes oil equivalent by 2010 (69 million in 2003), without increasing the intensity of agriculture, or altering Community food production. These measures should also help to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 209 million tonnes CO2 equivalent a year, create 250,000 to 300,000 new jobs and reduce Community tendency on energy imports by somewhere between 48 and 42%.
The Commission also adopted a report on support for the production of electricity from renewable sources, which calls upon the Member States to step up their efforts to optimise national regimes, in order to guarantee sufficient penetration of the market by Green electricity, and to lift obstacles to its development. In its analysis of various support mechanisms used by the Member States, the report stresses that currently, systems of feed-in tariffs (which are set prices practised for Green electricity in the majority of the Member States) are generally more economical and more efficient than quota systems as used in the case of wind energy. The report stresses that the quota system is more expensive, probably due to the greater risk for investors, which is, in turn, due to the immaturity of the market for Green electricity. The Commission considers, therefore, that it is too early to propose a European harmonised system of aid, and that competition between the national regimes could be beneficial, at least during a transitional period. Going on to stress the need to guarantee the stability of the regulatory framework, so that the industry can carry out investments and develop renewable energy sources, the Commission recommends that the Member States optimise and coordinate existing aid regimes on a European scale, in the short and medium terms. The Commission also calls upon the Member States to remove administrative obstacles to the development of Green electricity (the need for clear guidelines, single authorisation services, prior planning mechanisms and simplified procedures), guaranteed transparent and non-discriminatory access to the network, and to support the development of network infrastructures, with the associated costs covered by the network managers.