Britannia Radio

No expletives please.   Is there no end to the foolishness of these 
vidiots.  Quite apart from the need for more CO2 to slow the mini ice-
age these targets are mere figures on paper which haven't the 
slightest chance of being achieved.

And to saddle Europe with the astronomical costs involved in the 
middle of a slump is verging on the criminally insane.

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EU OBSERVER   9.12.08
EU deal on renewable energy hailed by greens
LEIGH PHILLIPS

  BRUSSELS - After seeing many elements of the European Union's 
climate package watered down over recent days, environmentalists are 
hailing an agreement reached on legislation that would significantly 
boost the use of clean energy.

Green groups and the renewable energy sector are calling the deal, 
reached on Tuesday (9 December) morning between negotiators from the 
European Parliament, the European Commission and the member states, 
"historic" and "the world's most important energy law."

The three sides have reached a compromise on legislation that would 
see the European Union increase significantly its use of renewable 
energy such as wind and solar power.

The deal will establish mandatory national targets for the member 
states in order to achieve the target of at least 20 percent 
renewable energy of the total energy consumption by 2020.

"Today tomorrow changed," said Christian Kjaer, the chief executive 
of the European Wind Energy Association. "The European Parliament and 
the Council have agreed the world's most important energy law."
Greenpeace, for its part, called the result a "landmark deal" and a 
"ray of light".

"[It's a] sunny spell before heavy showers, as European leaders 
create loophole after loophole in other parts of the EU's package of 
laws to tackle climate change," said Frauke Thies, a campaigner with 
the group's Europan office.

Negotiations had been held up until today by Italy, which had been 
demanding that the 2020 target be subject to a review in 2014 - the 
sole outstanding point of disagreement.

Today, in Brussels back rooms, MEPs and France, which currently 
chairs the EU's six-month rotating presidency, agreed that the 
commission's review of the implementation of the directive, which is 
to take place by 2014, will not affect the overall 20 percent target 
but instead will serve to improve, if necessary, the efficiency of co-
operation mechanisms.

The compromise defines binding national targets for 2020 in each 
member state for the first time.

By June 2010, the member states will have to draw up national action 
plans describing how they will meet their 2020 targets, which the 
commission will then assess.

Every two years, the states also have to report on how they are 
progressing along their trajectory.

Member state co-operation
Core to the agreement are largely intact proposals from the 
parliament's industry committee that will see greater co-operation 
amongst member states on achieving the target.

Specifically, EU countries will be able to run joint projects with 
one or other of the 27 member states on green electricity production, 
heating or cooling.
They will also be able to transfer renewable energy "statistically" 
between themselves and co-ordinate with each other's national support 
schemes.

The compromise also permits the counting of green electricity 
consumed in a member state but produced via newly constructed joint 
projects with countries beyond the EU.

The Green Luxembourgeois MEP responsible for shepherding the 
legislation through the parliament and leading the negotiations with 
the other European institutions, Claude Turmes, said: "With this 
major legislation renewable energy will be put at the very heart of 
EU energy policies."

The compromise must still be formally endorsed by all the member 
states and the full sitting of the parliament, on 11 December in 
Strasbourg.