{"id":3562,"date":"2014-01-24T14:49:09","date_gmt":"2014-01-24T13:49:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.theoillamp.co.uk\/?p=3562"},"modified":"2014-01-24T14:49:09","modified_gmt":"2014-01-24T13:49:09","slug":"one-thing-we-have-learnt-this-week-renewables-target-dropped","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.theoillamp.co.uk\/?p=3562","title":{"rendered":"One thing we have learnt this week- renewables target dropped"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"wind<\/a>

wind turbine from below taken in France.<\/p><\/div>\n

This week the EU decided not to have a renewables target beyond 2020<\/a>.\u00a0 The EU did agree to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 40% on 1990 levels and produce 27% of its energy from renewables by 2030<\/a>.\u00a0 Does this lack of\u00a0renewables target matter?<\/p>\n

The UK government was a leading advocate of not having a\u00a0renewables target.\u00a0 I would have kept one.\u00a0 The real reason the renewables target was opposed by my government is they are increasingly wedded to the idea of shale gas and nuclear.\u00a0 Both these are chimeras.\u00a0 However, the move may not be as disastrous as some think.\u00a0 As Ed Davey the Secretary of State writes in the Guardian article above.<\/p>\n

“The 2020 renewables target made sense when it was set: it has helped the early investment needed for immature renewable technologies and played a part in driving down the costs of key technologies like solar PV and onshore wind. Yet to repeat this for the 2020s doesn’t make sense. Some renewable technologies are already nearing grid parity, and we need to see investment in other immature low carbon technologies like carbon capture and storage. Our analysis shows that an ambitious emission reduction target will still stimulate massive investment in renewables across the EU, but without all the inflexibility, costs and risks of a technology specific target.<\/em>”<\/p>\n

The march of\u00a0renewables into our economy is unstoppable.\u00a0 Falling on-shore wind and solar costs will mean that they will be at grid parity by 2020. Even I would question subsidising them if they are not.\u00a0 There are 5GWp of solar PV farms in the planning system in the UK.\u00a0 The merits of a renewables target is threefold.\u00a0 To raise renewables penetration in countries with very low quantities, keep renewables increasing in recessions and possibly encourage some of the more distant less market ready technologies, such as wave and tidal power.\u00a0 However, as I wrote about Japan and their climate target, the outcome may not turn out to be all that bad.<\/p>\n

Neil<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This week the EU decided not to have a renewables target beyond 2020.\u00a0 The EU did agree to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 40% on 1990 levels and produce 27% of its energy from renewables by 2030.\u00a0 Does this lack … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3562","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-one-thing-we-have-learnt-this-week"],"yoast_head":"\nrenewables target beyond 2020 does it matter?<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"This week the EU decided not to have a renewables target beyond 2020. 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