Energy Policy of European Union Member States in the Context of Renewable Energy Sources Development

Wiesław Musiał, Monika Zioło, Lidia Luty and Kamila Musiał
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Wiesław Musiał: Department of Economics and Food Economy, University of Agriculture in Krakow, al. Mickiewicza 21, 31-120 Kraków, Poland
Monika Zioło: Department of Statistics and Social Policy, University of Agriculture in Krakow, al. Mickiewicza 21, 31-120 Kraków, Poland
Lidia Luty: Department of Statistics and Social Policy, University of Agriculture in Krakow, al. Mickiewicza 21, 31-120 Kraków, Poland
Kamila Musiał: Department of Production Systems and Environment, National Research Institute of Animal Production, ul. Krakowska 1, 32-083 Balice, Poland

Energies, 2021, vol. 14, issue 10, 1-20

Abstract: As a consequence of increasing air pollution, the European Commission has decided to introduce special directives laying down the measures to achieve climate and energy neutrality. Renewable energy (RE) sources play an important role in the pursuit of these goals, which has been taken into account in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. The aim of this article is to describe patterns and trends in the achievements of the energy policy of European Union (EU) countries in the field of renewable energy in sustainable development. The identification of leaders in this field gives the possibility to analyse actions taken by the governments of these countries and the possible implementation of the introduced solutions on the ground of individual Member States at the regional and national levels. At the beginning Main goal of energy policy on the field of renewable energy sources (RES) is to increase production from environmentally friendly sources that is why trends were determined in order to assess the rate of achievement of the national target for changes the share of energy from renewable sources in total gross energy consumption. Groups of similar countries were then identified on the basis of three indicators corresponding to the targets set in the climate and energy package. In the group of analysed countries, 14 have achieved the 2020 targets and 4 have exceeded the 2030 targets. The main renewable energy sources (RES) are biofuels, wind, and hydropower. In the assessment of the achievement of energy policy targets, the best situation was observed in the case of Denmark, Ireland, and the United Kingdom. These countries have significantly increased the share of renewable energy in total energy consumption. Compared to other EU countries, they have reduced the economy’s energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions the most.

Keywords: renewable energy sources; sustainable development; sustainable energy; energy policy (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (20)

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