Associated Press
EU Official Pushes Renewable Energy Use
Associated Press 01.10.07, 7:47 AM ET

The European Union should massively increase the amount of renewable energy it uses, the EU's energy chief said Wednesday, suggesting a binding target for 20 percent of all its energy to come from low-carbon, home-grown sources such as wind and solar energy.

EU Energy Commissioner Andris Piebalgs said the EU should aim to draw 10 percent of vehicle fuel from biofuels such as ethanol, trying to bite into growing demand for imported oil. The EU's focus on renewable energy aims to answer two problems by weaning the region off imports and cutting greenhouse gas emissions.

However, EU Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso said the EU's executive arm remained "agnostic" on nuclear power, saying it was a decision for each EU nation.

"It's not up to us to tell the member states whether in their energy mix they should have more or less nuclear or none at all," he said. "What is important is to make progress toward an economy that is less dependent on carbon."

Piebalgs acknowledged that nuclear was Europe's biggest source of low-carbon power.

The European Commission is calling for "a step change" to double the use of renewable power. The region is on track to generate 10 percent of its energy from renewables by 2010, less than a 12 percent target it set itself.

It will suggest legally binding targets for renewable energy but will allow each EU country to decide what kind of power it wants to use. Each will have to show exactly how they plan to meet specific goals for electricity, heating, cooling and transport.

It said biofuels were more expensive than other forms of renewable energy now available but were "the only way to significantly reduce oil dependence."

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