The International Energy Agency is a Paris-based autonomous intergovernmental organisation established in the framework of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) in 1974 in the wake of the 1973 oil crisis. The IEA was initially dedicated to responding to physical disruptions in the supply of oil, as well as serving as an information source on statistics about the international oil market and other energy sectors. It is best known for the publication of its annual World Energy Outlook.
Renewable energy plays an important and growing role in the energy system of the European Union. The Europe 2020 strategy included a target of reaching 20% of gross final energy consumption from renewable sources by 2020, and at least 32% by 2030. The EU27 reached 22% in 2020, up from 9.6% in 2004. These figures are based on energy use in all its forms across all three main sectors, the heating and cooling sector, the electricity sector, and the transport sector.
Although the European Union has legislated in the area of energy policy for many years, the concept of introducing a mandatory and comprehensive European Union energy policy was only approved at the meeting of the informal European Council on 27 October 2005 at Hampton Court. The EU Treaty of Lisbon of 2007 legally includes solidarity in matters of energy supply and changes to the energy policy within the EU. Prior to the Treaty of Lisbon, EU energy legislation has been based on the EU authority in the area of the common market and environment. However, in practice many policy competencies in relation to energy remain at national member state level, and progress in policy at European level requires voluntary cooperation by members states.
The Energy Performance of Buildings Directive (EPBD) is the European Union's main legislative instrument aiming to promote the improvement of the energy performance of buildings within the Community. It was inspired by the Kyoto Protocol which commits the EU and all its parties by setting binding emission reduction targets.
Solar power in the European Union consists of photovoltaics (PV) and solar thermal energy.
Nuclear power in the European Union accounted for approximately 26% of total electricity production in 2019 and nearly half of low-carbon energy production across the EU.
Community wind projects are locally owned by farmers, investors, businesses, schools, utilities, or other public or private entities who utilize wind energy to support and reduce energy costs to the local community. The key feature is that local community members have a significant, direct financial stake in the project beyond land lease payments and tax revenue. Projects may be used for on-site power or to generate wholesale power for sale, usually on a commercial-scale greater than 100 kW.
INOGATE was an international energy co-operation programme between the European Union (EU), the littoral states of the Black and Caspian seas and their neighbouring countries. The programme was operational from 1996 to 2016.
The Renewable Energy Sources Act or EEG is a series of German laws that originally provided a feed-in tariff (FIT) scheme to encourage the generation of renewable electricity. The EEG 2014 specified the transition to an auction system for most technologies which has been finished with the current version EEG 2017.
Environmental issue in the European Union include the environmental issues identified by the European Union as well as its constituent states. The European Union has several federal bodies which create policy and practice across the constituent states.
Friends of the Earth Europe (FoEE) is the European branch of the world's largest grassroots environmental network, Friends of the Earth International (FOEI). It includes 33 national organizations and thousands of local groups.
Ecopower is a Belgian cooperative founded in 1991, financing renewable energy projects in Flanders.
Som Energia is a Spanish renewable energies cooperative that was officially founded in December 2010 in Girona, Catalonia, making it the first of its kind in Spain. The project to create the cooperative was begun in November 2009 by a group of former students and lecturers at University of Girona and other contributors, with the objective of setting up something similar to initiatives such as Ecopower (Belgium) or Enercoop (France). Som Energia intends to offer its members the possibility of consuming energy from sources that are 100% renewable at a price similar to conventional energy, as well as developing its own renewable energy projects. In January 2019, the cooperative had over 54.300 members, had invested over 13 million euro in renewable energy production projects had produced over 11.80 GWh and employed 47 people.
A National Renewable Energy Action Plan (NREAP) is a detailed report submitted by countries outlining commitments and initiatives to develop renewable energy that all member states of the European Union were obliged to notify to the European Commission by 30 June 2010. The plan provides a detailed road map of how the member state expects to reach its legally binding 2020 target for the share of renewable energy in their total energy consumption, as required by article 4 of the Renewable Energy Directive 2009/28/EC. In the plan, the member state sets out sectoral targets, the technology mix they expect to use, the trajectory they will follow, and the measures and reforms they will undertake to overcome the barriers to developing renewable energy.
Renewable energy in Armenia ranges from geothermal, hydroelectric, solar and wind energy in Armenia.
Green Planet Energy is a German electric utility in the form of a registered association. The stated goal of the cooperative is the provision of environmentally friendly energy to the electrical grid.
REScoop.be is the Belgian branch of the European group of cooperatives for renewable energy, REScoop.eu.
REScoop Vlaanderen is the energy cooperative for renewable energy in Flanders, Belgium.
Wase Wind is a Flemish energy cooperative, active in the production of renewable energy and the supply of electricity from wind turbines.
A renewable energy cooperative is a decentralized, non-governmental initiatives of local communities and citizens to promote the production and consumption of renewable energy. It is formed by a group of community members, that shares a common long-term goal for a sustainable future of energy and works to advance the transition through active citizenship involvement. In this way, the citizens are prosumers: they act as both producers and consumers in an attempt to democratize energy supplies by shifting away from relying on large companies.
