CEE Jan-Mar 2012

• • • provide more than 570 Mtoe, achieving a share of 48 per cent. Renewable Electricity up to 2030: Under the Baseline Scenario, 1,217 lWh of renewable electricity will be produced in 2020, meeting 34 per cent of the electricity demand. This share will increase to 45 per cent in 2025, and 57 per cent in 2030, producing 2,296 lWh of electricity by that year. In the Advanced Scenario, renewable electricity is expected to produce 1,490 lWh in 2020, meeting 42 per cent of the power demand, increasing to about 2,157 lWh (meeting 55% of the demand) in 2025. In 2030, renewable power would reach a share of 67% - 69%, with more than 2,800 lWh of electricity. Renewable Heating and Cooling: In the Baseline Scenario, renewable heating technologies would produce 99.4 Mtoe in 2020, accounting for 19 per cent of the demand. This could go up to 33 per cent by 2025, and reach nearly 50 per cent by 2030. Under the Advanced Scenario, renewable technologies would meet 21 .5 per cent, 36 per cent, and 52% - 54% of the demand by 2020, 2025, and 2030 respectively. Renewable Transport up to 2030: According to the Baseline Scenario, renewable transport fuels (including biodiesel , bioethanol and biogas) would account for 9 per cent of fuel demand by 2020, 11 per cent by 2025, and 13.6 per cent by 2030. Under the Advanced Scenario, biofuels would satisfy 12 per cent of the fuel demand by 2020, meeting 13 per cent of the demand in 2025, and about 15 per cent in 2030. • Environmental, Economic and Social Benefits: The report shows that achieving the 45 per cent target would result in avoiding approximately 3,750Mt - 4,328Mt of C02 in 2030 which is equivalent to reducing 93%-100% em1ss1ons against 1990 levels . It would also bring down fossil fuel demand by 556 Mtoe each year from 2030 onwards, and generate employment for 4.4 million people by 2030. The EREC estimates and additional annual investment of about €66 million to achieve this goal. Courtesy: Green Energy, Sep - Oct. & Nov.- Dec. 2011, Pl. EU'S NEW ENERGY TAXATION RULES TO FAVOUR RE, REDUCE C0 2 The European Commission recently presented a proposal to amend the rules on the taxation of energy products in the European Union. By taking into account the energy content of the products and their impact on the environment , the new rules aim to restructure the way these products are taxed and remove current imbalances. The new proposal would also favour enhanced growth and employment by shifting the tax burden from, labour to consumption. The directive proposes splitting the minimum tax rate into two parts: one based on C0 2 emissions of the energy product fixed at €20 per tonne of C0 2 ; and the other based on energy content, i.e. on the actual energy that a product generates measured in gigajoules (GJ). The minimum tax rate would be fixed at €9.6/GJ for motor fuels, and €0.15/GJ for heating fuels. This will apply to all fuels used for transport and heating. The revised Directive would come into force in 2013 with the complete taxation alignment by 2023. The major benefits of the proposal include, (1) promoting renewables and encouraging consumption of energy sources that emit less C0 2; (2) replacing the numerous national policies with a common policy, and creating a level-playing field for the RE industry; (3) complementing the existing EU Emission Trading Scheme by applying a C0 2 emissions; and (4) help the EU meet its targets on energy and climate change. Courtesy: Green Energy, Sep. - Oct & Nov. - Dec. 2011, P l. RENEWABLE POWER TRUMPS FOSSIL FUELS FOR FIRST TIME Renewable energy is surpassing fossil fuels for the first time in new power-plant investments, shaking of setbacks form the financial crisis and an impasse at the United Nations global warming talks. Electricity from the wind, sun, waves and biomass drew $187 billion last year compared with $157 billion for natural gas, oil and coal, according to calculations by Bloomberg New Energy Finance using the latest data. Accelerating installations of solar and wind power led to lower equipment prices, making clean energy more competitive with coal. The progress of renewables has been nothing short of remarkable, United Nations Environment Programme Exective Secretary, Mr Achim Steiner said in an interview. 54 ' .