On January 23rd the European Union released a new energy proposal that will decrease the amount of CO² released into the atmosphere to 20% below what the levels were recorded as in 1990 by the year 2020. This new proposal is called “Brave” in hopes to build a new low-carbon economy. Europe also plans on increasing their renewable energy sources into their current energy by 20% resulting in a 11.5% increase from it’s current state. This is also aimed to be completed by 2020.
Another Important part of this proposal is increasing the use of biofuels throughout Europe. By 2020 the goal is to have 10% of all fuels used for transportation to be biofuel. The downfall to this aspect of the plan is producing biofuels creates a greater amount of greenhouse gas emission into our environment than burning gasoline. Biofuels are also playing a role in the recent jump in food prices. The European Commissions president, José Manuel Barroso, ensures this energy strategy will prove that biofuels are a sustainable source of energy for our environment. However, will producing these biofuels just cause greater energy consumption? The use of biofuels will leave farmers to produce twice as many crops for fuel and food.
The European Commissions has said they would be willing to decrease greenhouse emission by 30% if other surrounding countries such as the U.S. would be willing to do the same.
Resource: http://environment.newscientist.com/article/dn13218-europe-unveils-ambitious-energy-plan.html
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