New Legislation Needed Now to Meet EU 2050 Climate Commitment

Brussels (ots/PRNewswire) - The EU must put extra
legislation in place in the lifetime of the current European
Commission if it is to meet its commitment to cut domestic carbon
emissions by 80-95% by 2050, warned the European Wind Energy
Association (EWEA).

Last week the European Commission released its 'Roadmap to a low
carbon society' which outlined the need for a "fully decarbonised
power sector" by 2050. But the need for action is much more immediate
than EU leaders realise.

Since the transport and agriculture sectors will still emit
carbon in 2050, the power sector must be at zero carbon by then, and
this requires immediate action, said Christian Kjaer, CEO of EWEA.
His comments came on the day of a debate with EU Climate Action
Commissioner Connie Hedegaard during the EWEA 2011 Annual Event in
Brussels.

"Because fossil fuel power plants run for 30 to 45 years,
investment decisions taken today will determine our energy mix and
carbon emissions in 2050", he said. "This means that to achieve a
carbon-free power sector by 2050, in theory no new carbon-emitting
power plants ought to be built after 2015."

EWEA proposes in its new report, "EU Energy Policy to 2050": A
binding "Emissions Performance Standard" (EPS) to limit carbon
emissions on new power plants from 2015, starting at 350g/KWh - the
emissions of a gas plant - and going down over time to encourage
technological progress. Reducing Europe's domestic emissions by 30%
by 2020 instead of the current 20% target, which includes reductions
outside the EU. Setting domestic emissions reduction targets for
2030, 2040 and 2050, taking the power sector to zero carbon by 2050,
as well as a 2030 renewable energy target. Higher emission reduction
targets would also help tighten up the Emissions Trading System and
make it more efficient. "Europe needs to agree new policies and
targets now for the period after 2020 to achieve the 80-95% emissions
reduction it has committed itself to," said Kjaer. "EWEA believes a
more ambitious emissions reduction target for 2020, alongside
additional goals for 2030 and 2040, an Emissions Performance Standard
and a new renewable energy target for 2030, can drive the 'revolution
in energy systems' which EU Heads of State recently acknowledged is
necessary."

EWEA believes that wind energy alone could provide 50% of the
EU's power demand by 2050, with the other 50% coming from the many
other renewable energy technologies. Find out all about EWEA's vision
up to 2050 in the new issue of Wind Directions
(http://www.ewea.org/fileadmin/emag/winddirections/2011-01/),
published today. Read EWEA's 2050 report
(http://www.ewea.org/fileadmin/emag/winddirections/2011-01/)

ots Originaltext: European Wind Energy Association (EWEA)
Im Internet recherchierbar: http://www.presseportal.de

Contact:
For more information contact: Peter Sennekamp,
EWEA,peter.sennekamp@ewea.org, +32-2-213-18-33