Europe’s Energy Transition Has Healed Its Environment

Shift to renewable energy eases key environmental burdens, EU says; Renewable power generation in the EU has nearly doubled since 2005, producing 34% of electricity in 2019 compared with 38% from fossil fuels

Kate Abnett with Hugh Lawson, 18 January 2021 (Thomson Reuters Foundation)

“Europe's shift from fossil fuel-based electricity to renewable sources has reduced environmental problems while also cutting the greenhouse gas emissions causing climate change…Renewable power generation in the European Union has nearly doubled since 2005, producing 34% of EU electricity in 2019 compared with the 38% produced by fossil fuels like coal and gas…The EU's switch from fossil fuel-based power production to sources like wind and solar since 2005 has "significantly decreased" emissions…

click to enlarge

…[It has also yielded] "clear improvements" in key environmental problems…These include soil acidification, eutrophication - where freshwater becomes overloaded with nutrients, causing algal blooms and low oxygen levels - and the formation of particulate matter, a type of air pollution linked to 379,000 deaths in Europe in 2018…Meeting EU emissions-cutting goals will require an even faster expansion of renewable sources, requiring a power sector based 70% on renewables by 2030…” click here for more

click to enlarge

Tweet