Belgium not on course to meet renewables' goal
The use and generation of green energy is greatly promoted in Belgium, but green or renewable energy remains a source of a minority of our energy supplies. By 4 February we will have gone through all the green energy generated in the country in a whole year, if during the first days of the year only green energy is used.
From then on grey energy sources will be needed if we wish to keep the lights on: energy produced by nuclear, gas and coal plants as well as use of oil. To mark the date a Grey Day is being organised by VRT's second channel.
This year Grey Day has slipped two days and falls on 4 February instead of 2 February: good news, but by 2020 13% of our energy supplies should come from renewables. Green energy is produced by windfarms, solar panels, biogas or biomass power stations, wood stove or heat and solar boilers. Will Belgium meet this target?
In 2017 only 9.1% of our energy was produced by renewables. In order to reach the EU goal of 13% the growth in renewables should be twice as big as it is now. By 2030 the EU expects 32% of our energy to come from renewables. Belgium faces a problem. There are limits to what it can do. It isn't the sunniest place. Space for windfarms is limited. Still, it is clear that if Belgium is to meet EU goals more will have to be done, urgently!