Webinar #20 of the Energy Evaluation Academy, jointly organised with Leonardo Energy was held on Thursday 7 April.

It was called Transition to renewable electricity: a retrospective look at key interactions

See the webinar recording here

In 2020, the EU has met its renewable energy target. Renewable generation across the EU has more than doubled since 2005, thanks to EU legislation and national policies and measures.

This webinar looked at the historic transformation of the power sector from an environmental perspective of key interactions, knock-on effects, and co-benefits and trade-offs following from life cycle analysis.

A few noteworthy notes:
* Renewable energy development has contributed 12% of greenhouse gas savings, 19% of savings in EU fossil fuel demand and 4% in primary energy savings. Final energy is a far better measure than primary energy to monitor the energy transition.
* Reducing energy demand is key, because it accelerates decarbonisation and the phaseout of fuels.
* In a decarbonising electricity system, material recovery at end-of-life and lifetime extension at key strategies to mitigate impacts in the transition from throughput-intensive to infrastructure-intensive technology.
* Life-cycle assessment is a great tool to identify hotspots in the life-cycle, covering both direct and indirect emissions but it has some limitations.

SPEAKERS

• Mihai Tomescu, EEA, Expert –Energy and Environment
• Evert Bouman, NILU, Norway, Senior Scientist -Environmental Impacts & Sustainability

Panellist

• Jamilja van der Meulen, TNO, Netherlands, senior consultant Impact Assessment

Further reading:

• EEA Briefing: EU renewable electricity has reduced environmental pressures; targeted actions help further reduce impacts
• EEA Briefing: Renewable energy in Europe: key for climate objectives, but air pollution needs attention
• ETC/CME Report 4/2020: A life cycle perspective on the benefits of renewable electricity generation
• ETC/CME Report 7/2020: Renewable energy in Europe 2020 – Recent growth and knock-on effects
• ETC/CME Report 2/2019: Impacts of Renewable Energy on Air Pollutant Emissions