The EU wants to combat climate change by turning to more sustainable sources for the energy it needs: sunlight and the wind, even seaweed and waste!

Renewables: Powering Europe into the future

In order to combat climate change,  the EU has an ambitious target:

to increase the use of renewable  energy in Europe to 20% by 2020.

What are the sources of renewable energy?

Energy can be released from wood, plants,  organic and animal waste by burning it.

This is the main source of  renewable energy in the EU.

Energy from water is harnessed  most often using dams,

The heat from the Earth  can be used to generate power

by tapping underground reservoirs  of steam or hot water.

The Sun's light and heat can be converted  into thermal and electrical energy.

With their blades, wind turbines  extract energy from the wind.

In 2013, 15% of energy in the EU  comes from renewables.

EU states have different attitudes towards  harnessing renewable energy sources.

The country using the most renewable  energy in its energy mix is Sweden,

due to its hydro power plants  and wind turbines.

But in Luxembourg and the UK renewable  energy consumption is only 3.6% and 5.1%.

Another EU target: to raise the share  of biofuels in transport fuels to 10%.

These fuels can be made from crops  or even seaweed and waste.

The European Parliament  has played its role in setting these targets.

On several occasions, MEPs have tried  to make the 20% renewable energy target

binding on Member States,  but so far they haven't been successful.

Well, by 2030, the share of renewables  should increase from 20% to 30%.