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The promotion of renewable energy is an essential part of EU energy policy, and it significantly contributes to the implementation of the Energy Union Framework strategy. With a 17% share in final energy consumption in 2015, the EU and the vast majority of Member States are well on track in terms of renewable energy deployment. The proposal for an energy cluster based policy, together with the energy clusters pilot packages, now under examination, aims to tackle the barriers limiting further local renewable energy growth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Fuels based on renewable energy sources (RES) such as a variety of first and second generation biofuels as well as electricity and hydrogen from RES, are considered an important means of coping with the environmental problems of transport. The objective of this paper is to investigate the “renewable fuels” from economic, energetic and ecological perspective within a dynamic framework until 2050. The key results show that all fuels analysed have lower CO2 emissions than gasoline, but drawbacks include the high costs of hydrogen- and electricity-driven vehicles. By 2050 however these costs could be reduced due to technological learning effects and efficient policy measures (e.g. CO2-based tax). We conclude that “renewable fuels” will only play a significant role if CO2 taxes, intensified R&D and technological learning are strategically implemented. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: The most recent EU member states seem to have important Renewable Energy Sources (RES) potential. However, they have serious structural difficulties in development and integration of RES policies. Indeed, the balanced development of RES between the member states is urgent today. The penetration of the RES in these member states is related to the existence of an appropriate environment (political, economical, social, and technological). The current paper is based on an analytical review and specific PEST analysis aiming to assess the current RES environment and the progress so far in each of these most recent EU members. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Reliable estimates of feedstock resources are a prerequisite to the establishment of a biomass based-industry for energy and non food products. Field trials in the European Union (EU) show that Miscanthus spp. can produce high yields. Here we use a model (MISCANMOD) coupled with a GIS environment to estimate the contribution that Miscanthus could make to projected national electricity consumption. We describe the integration of different data sets, transformation procedures, and spatial analyses using GIS to produce energy statistics for the EU-25. Overall, Miscanthus grown on the 10% of arable land which is currently in set-aside could generate 282 TWh yr−1 electricity. This would meet 39% of the EU-25 target of 723 TWh yr−1 of electricity from renewable energy sources (RES) by 2010. As RES targets rise, land available for energy crops is also expected to increase. We consider three additional scenarios where Miscanthus could be grown on 10%, 20% and 35% of all agricultural land and we estimate it could generate respectively 345, 691 and 1209 TWh yr−1 of electrical energy. At a national scale France, Poland and Germany have the highest potentials for Miscanthus production based on agricultural land area (respectively 83, 52, 49 TWh yr−1 when 10% agricultural land is used). Finally, we reduced the scale to the EU NUTS2 (Nomenclature of Territorial Units for Statistics) regions to examine regional generation capacities. Key regions have been identified where national RES targets are exceeded. These regions could become net exporters of renewable energy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]