A record 47 percent of the European Union’s electricity now comes from solar and other renewable sources, a report said Thursday, amid growing pressure from the bloc for clean energy and the U.S. administration’s push for more fossil fuels. There is another sign of difference.
About three-quarters of the EU’s electricity generates no greenhouse gas emissions – another 24 percent of electricity in the bloc comes from nuclear power, according to a report released by environmental energy think tank Ember. has gone That’s more than countries like the United States and China, where nearly two-thirds of their energy still comes from carbon-polluting fossil fuels like coal, oil and gas. About 21 percent of America’s electricity comes from renewable sources.
Experts say they are encouraged by Europe’s decline in fossil fuels, especially as the US looks poised. Increasing its emissions As its new president has promised cheaper gas prices. Suspended leases for wind projects And promised Repeal Biden-era incentives for electric vehicles..
“Fossil fuels are losing their grip on EU energy,” said Amber’s energy expert Chris Rosslow. In 2024, solar power will generate 11 percent of the EU’s electricity, overtaking coal which fell below 10 percent for the first time. Clean wind power generated more electricity than gas for the second year in a row.
Solar panels are in operation on August 27, 2023 on Mount Parnetha in northwest Athens, Greece, near a burnt forest in the suburb of Acharnes. (AP Photo/Michael Varaklas, File)
Green policies and the development of clean energy from war
One of the reasons Europe’s clean energy transition is on pace is the European Green Deal, an ambitious policy passed in 2019 that paved the way for updated climate laws. As a result of the deal, the EU made its targets more ambitious, aiming to cut the region’s emissions by 55 percent by the end of the decade. The policy also aims to make Europe climate neutral – reducing the amount of excess emissions in the air to virtually zero by 2050.
Hundreds of regulations and directives have been adopted in European countries or are being ratified across Europe to encourage investment in clean energy and reduce carbon pollution.
“At the start of the deal, renewables accounted for a third and fossil fuels accounted for 39% of Europe’s electricity,” said Rosslowe. “Fossils now generate only 29% and are driving the clean transition to wind and solar energy.” The amount of electricity generated from nuclear power has remained relatively stable across the bloc.
Russia invades Ukraine It has also promoted clean energy initiatives in Europe. Skyrocketing gas prices – with most of Europe’s gas coming from Russia unviable – are forcing countries to look for cheaper and cleaner alternatives. Portugal, the Netherlands and Estonia saw the largest increases in clean power over the past five years.
A floating solar farm is in operation on the Cottbuser Ostsee lake near Cottbus, Germany on October 16, 2024. (AP Photo/Mathias Schrader, file)
Europe positions itself as a leader in clean energy.
The clean energy transition helped Europe avoid importing more than $61 billion worth of fossil fuels to generate electricity from 2019.
“This is sending a clear message that their energy needs will be met by clean energy, not by gas imports,” said Peter de Puss, a Brussels-based energy analyst at European think tank E3G. De Puss said the EU started out as a “community of coal and steel because those industries were very important” but is now fast becoming a “community of solar and wind power, batteries and smart technologies”.
Meanwhile, the pace of nuclear development in the bloc has slowed. Across the EU, the retirement of nuclear plants has outpaced new construction since the mid-2000s. Global Energy Monitor.
As President Trump has drawn America. Outside the Paris Agreement Aiming to curb warming and pursuing a “drill, baby, drill” energy policy, Rosselló said the EU’s leadership in clean energy becomes more important. “It’s about increasing European energy independence, and it’s about demonstrating that climate leadership,” he said.
On Tuesday, EU chief Ursula van der Leyen said: “Europe will stay the course, and work with all nations that want to protect nature and stop global warming.”
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Data journalist Mary Kathryn Wildman contributed from Hartford, Connecticut. ___
Follow Sabi Arso on X. @sibi123 ___
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