Analysis of the EU renewable energy sources' evolution up to 2020

Renewable energy sources have the potential to make a large contribution to the sustainable energy future of the European Union. In particular they can help to reach the environmental goals of the EU - especially with regard to the commitments under the Kyoto Protocol - and to increase the security of supply by mitigating the dependence on imported fuels. Finally the development of renewable energy sources can contribute to the goal of the Lisbon process to reach sustainable economic growth and to improve the competitiveness of the European Union on a global scale by creating lead markets for innovative technologies. This study provides an overview of the progress made on the European market for renewable energy sources for the EU-25 Member States. The results and analyses describe the present situation, assess the progress of the Member States with regard to their 2010 targets and show future perspectives of renewable energies until 2020. This report was produced within the scope of the FORRES 2020 study, which was initiated and financed by the European Commission, Directorate-General for Energy and Transport with the aim to: - provide input for monitoring the progress of the targets set in the White Paper „Energy for the future: Renewable sources of energy“, the Directive on the promotion of electricity from renewable energy sources , and the Directive on biofuels - provide insight into future developments of a green energy market in the European Union and Bulgaria and Romania until 2020.