One thing that has been hitting the world energy news headlines recently, is the EU’s progress towards enhancing energy efficiency and encouraging renewable energy use. The EEA (European Environment Agency) reports that this progress has slowed, casting doubt over whether the 2030 and 2020 targets will be met. A target of ten percent has been set for the use of renewables in transport for 2020. A twenty percent improvement in energy efficiency has been targeted for 2020.
An increase in energy use, especially in transport, has been blamed for the problem – according to the EEA’s yearly report on the EU’s environmental efforts. The EEA points to 2017 data, which shows that twenty member states are on course to meet their specific renewable energy goals by 2020. This compares poorly to 2016, when twenty-five member states were on course.
The EU has set new energy efficiency goals for 2030, however the EEA report states that current trends would be insufficient to achieve these. Therefore, extra and bolder measures would have to be implemented over the next ten years. All member states have to provide the initial draft of a national climate and energy plan by the year’s end, to assist them in reaching their 2030 targets.
Elsewhere in the world energy news, Cyprus, Greece and Italy have agreed with Israel to install a pipeline, linking the Middle Eastern country’s gas supply to them, an article in the Israel Times newspaper reports. The newspaper states that the project to build the East Mediterranean pipeline will begin roughly 105 miles (170 km) off the southern coast of Cyprus. It will extend for 1350 miles (2200 km) to reach Otranto in Italy, passing through mainland Greece and Crete.
This pipeline will be able to transport as much as 706 billion cubic ft (twenty billion M³) of gas each year. By 2030, the yearly demand for gas imports in Europe is forecast to rise by 3.5 billion cubic ft (100 billion M³). It will cost more than seven billion dollars to complete this project. Work is scheduled to start in several months time and will finish within half a decade, according to Channel Two News.
Political commentator Dana Weiss, who works for News Channel IL — the top news company in Israel — has said that the pipeline will be the world’s deepest and longest gas pipeline beneath the sea. Alexis Tsipras, the Greek Prime Minister, said that the project symbolizes the harmony between the countries involved, and that this harmony would result in a safer and more prosperous world.