The EU will require that half of the energy in buildings be renewable by 2030

Photovoltaic panels on the roof of a commercial building in Barcelona.South Renewables

The European Union has raised the most ambitious renewable energy consumption targets for the coming years. In 2030, 42.5% of the total energy will have to come from this type of generation sources and, even, the possibility of raising the bar to 45% is contemplated, according to the agreement reached in the early hours of this Thursday the Council of the EU and the European Parliament. To achieve these goals, the provisional pact prescribes objectives for sectors such as transport or even buildings, in which it establishes the duty that almost half of the energy consumed comes from renewable sources.

The pact reached this Thursday is based on the proposal that the European Commission launched last June proposing an increase in the initial objectives that were set for the energy transition. This acceleration came, above all, from the Russian invasion of Ukraine, which ignited all the alerts about the excessive European dependence, especially of the countries of the East, Italy and Germany, on gas from the Urals. The geopolitical element is complemented by the economic one, because methane prices skyrocketed with the invasion and also ended the dream of cheap gas to make the ecological transition, compared to other fossil fuels such as coal or oil.

Until just over a month ago, the agreement reached tonight between the Council of the EU and Parliament, with the participation of the Commission, would serve to close the directive in the absence of passing the process of being approved by the plenary of the two Community legislative bodies. However, the blockade of Germany after the agreement on the prohibition of the sale and manufacture of combustion engines from 2035 now forces us to show some caution, since this is the point at which the new renewables directive is now. If it finally obtains the final approval, then the States will have to transpose it into their national legislation.

The agreed text, which both the Council and Parliament have reported on, sets out a general target for renewable energy generation of 42.5% in 2030, which could reach 45%. This represents a considerable leap over current regulations, which stands at 32%. In other words, it implies between 10 and 12 percentage points more than now.

One of the sectors in which this new directive focuses is transport, which gives two ways to reach the objectives that it imposes for 2030. The state regulation may force it to reduce gas emissions by 14.5% with greenhouse effect. The other alternative contemplates the option of establishing the objective that 30% of the final energy consumption (combustion or electricity) comes from renewable sources.

For homes and buildings, the directive also aims high. He points out that half of the energy consumed by buildings, 49%, will have to come from renewable sources. “A gradual increase in the renewable targets for heating and cooling is foreseen, with a binding increase of 0.8% per year at the national level until 2026 and 1.1% from 2026 to 2030,” the Council statement stating. report the agreement.

“The agreement establishes new sectoral objectives for industry and construction and strengthens the objectives for the transport, heating and refrigeration sectors, with a binding objective”, highlighted the Spanish Socialist MEP Nicolás González Casares, one of the negotiators for Parliament European. “This agreement on renewables sends a clear signal for investment and will help reduce our bills”, he added.

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