Europe's+Energy+and+Emissions+standings

In 2008 the EU consumed 2857 TWh, a number that is expected to increase as standard of living and population rise [1]. Much of this energy comes from regions with insecure or unreliable energy sources [2], much of which is fossil-fuel based. Europe is considered the world's largest importer of natural gas and oil, purchasing 57% and 82% respectively of their total needs [3]. This dependence on foreign energy is expected to increase to 70-80% of total energy requirements within the next 20-30 years [2]. To alleviate some of this dependency the EU decided to shift its member's energy sources towards renewables including biofuels, wind, nuclear, sea, solar and geothermal [2]. In 2000 the European Commission set a goal of substituting 20% of their conventional fossil-fuel based energy with alternative sources by 2020 [1]. This, in addition to the Kyoto treaty, has encouraged many EU nations towards investing in renewable energies. Below is a graph showing the status of EU members who are striving to meet this goal and how close (or how far away) they are. Note that none of the EU members have yet achieved their 2020 target.

As stated above, this is from Energy.eu [4]

Fortunately many EU members have achieved their Kyoto emission targets, as see below from energy.eu [4]. Note that even after meeting Kyoto goals Europe still produces a vast amount of emissions (27.2% of global emissions in 2001 [5]):

Even considering that numerous countries have cut their carbon dioxide emissions there continues to be concern that an increase in energy usage will continue to generate greenhouse gases and negative human health side effects. As such there has been increasing consideration of more drastic steps to achieve additional renewable energy sources. An 'untapped' source considered by some would be the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) deserts and coastlines. With solar power, wind and geothermal systems placed strategically throughout MENA there should be ample electricity to power the MENA countries while supplying a large amount of the EU demand [6].