CAIRO (REUTERS) – The European Union might set extra bold targets for its transition to renewable energy because it seeks options to imports of oil and gasoline from Russia, EU local weather coverage chief Frans Timmermans stated on Sunday (April 10).
The EU’s 27 member states have agreed to collectively cut back their web greenhouse gasoline emissions by 55 per cent from 1990 ranges by 2030, a step in the direction of “net zero” emissions by 2050.
Following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February, the European Commission has additionally proposed that Europe minimize imports of Russian gasoline by two-thirds this yr, and is drafting plans to part them out by 2027.
The Commission is due to suggest a “Repower EU” plan in May for a way the bloc can quit Russian fossil fuels.
“What we will do in the next couple of weeks is work towards what I call the Repower EU initiative, and as part of that we want to accelerate the energy transition. So in that context we might revisit our targets,” Timmermans informed reporters throughout a go to to Cairo.
Such a revision would imply a “higher percentage of renewable energy for 2030”, Timmermans stated, declining to giving figures for attainable new targets.
Under current plans, the EU would elevate the share of renewable energy to 40 per cent of ultimate consumption by 2030.
Egypt, which is able to host the COP27 local weather convention in November and which re-exports Israeli gasoline from liquefied pure gasoline (LNG) terminals on its Mediterranean coast, could assist the EU diversify its gasoline imports, Timmermans stated.
“If we can get other LNG in the region – and we will see which amounts will be available from Israel – that might be a good approach,” he stated.
“The core of what I’m offering is a long-term strategic relationship that starts with LNG then quickly moves also into renewables, especially hydrogen,” he added.
