EU on track to meet 2020 renewables target despite national disparities

Brussels – The EU is on track to achieve 20% renewable energy consumption by 2020, despite seventeen member states currently falling below their individual targets, according to the latest data released by Eurostat.

In 2017 – the last completed year where data is available – the share of renewables already reached 17.5% in the EU as a whole, but large discrepancies exist between member states. France, the Netherlands and Ireland have made limited progress and must still increase their share of renewable energy by more than five percentage points to achieve their targets. By contrast, eleven of the Member States had already surpassed their target for 2020, with Croatia, Sweden, Denmark and Estonia leading the way.

The overall target combines the share of renewables in electricity, heating and cooling and in transport. The data showed that 30.7% of electricity is renewable, with wind power being the most important source.

Renewables account for 19.5% of heating and cooling, and 7.6% in transport – some way off the common target of 10% set for the transport sector.

Click here to access all Eurostat data on Renewables.

By Effie Lazaridou, New Agriculture New Generation The European Agri-Food Sector Facing New Challenges “Food security, food safety, and supply…

Read Story

20 May 2025, Kozani (Greece) - The BIO-INSPIRE project held its kick-off today in Kozani, launching its mission to support…

Read Story

Four years of innovation come to a close with the development of sustainable, high-value agricultural products from poultry feathers, paving…

Read Story
Arrow-up