Green Energy in Europe by 2030

The European Union (EU) aims to be climate-neutral by 2050. This means significantly reducing greenhouse gas emissions while also absorbing carbon through natural ecosystems such as forests, soil, and oceans. To achieve this 2050 target, the EU has developed a series of policies known as “the Green Deal”, whose primary goal is to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to at least 55% by 2030, compared to 1990 levels.

Energy, transport, and heating are among the largest contributors to greenhouse gas emissions in the EU, and as a way of meeting the 2030 Green Deal targets, the EU is promoting presumably low-carbon technologies such as wind turbines, solar photovoltaic panels, electric vehicles, and heat pumps. 

These low-carbon technologies will require an increased supply of raw materials, such as lithium, copper, indium, gallium and rare earth metals. On the next page, you will see 5 technologies that the European Union is placing its policy focus on, and an indication of the quantity of raw materials that will be needed for the various technologies.

How to use the Green Energy 2030 Simulator

When you click “Get Started” below, you give us permission to store and use the data you enter in the Simulator

More about the EU Green Deal

The EU proposes that by 2030 the emission of greenhouse gases from fossil fuel sources such as oil, gas and coal should have reduced by 55% while renewable energy sources such as wind and solar energy should have increased to at least 40%, compared to 1990 levels. The EU also aims to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from the transport sector and buildings by producing more electric vehicles for European roads and installing extra heat pumps in residential buildings by 2030.

To ensure these targets are achieved, the EU is focusing its policy interventions on technologies that produce low or no carbon emissions. A summary of the 5 technologies and the raw materials needed for their production is provided below:

Delivering on the Green Deal therefore involves a transition towards clean energy sources, which rests on 3 major pillars namely:

• ensuring secure and affordable energy supply within the EU
• developing a fully integrated, interconnected and digital EU energy market
• making energy efficiency a priority;  improving the energy performance of buildings and developing a power sector that is largely based on renewable energy  

More about the VECTOR Simulator 'Green Energy in Europe by 2030'

What is the VECTOR “Simulator”? 

The Simulator is an interactive data visualisation tool that aims to visualise the complex interaction between the EU’s policy targets and the raw materials needed to achieve these. The Simulator enables users picture the dilemmas surrounding Europe’s decarbonisation, which are meeting the policy targets set out in the EU Green Deal, while also considering the need for an increased supply of critical raw materials to meet the targets.

The Simulator is also designed as a communication tool, that can be used by stakeholders from research, industry, and local government to highlight the link between decarbonisation technologies and the demand of critical raw materials.

What happens when I open the Simulator?

On entering the Simulator, an introduction page is presented which describes Europe’s decarbonisation targets and its Green Deal and instructions on how to use the Simulator. When clicking on “start” to enter the Simulator, one automatically gives permission that the data entered in the Simulator will be saved. On accessing and using the Simulator, information submitted to these exercises will go to UCD, the data controller (the organisation running this site) who will use this to make sure the website runs properly. 

Which data will be stored? 

When you “submit choices” you indicated policy preferences given will be stored in a database in terms of the number of points allocated to the preferred policy focus. The total number of points earned and spend is recorded too; alongside any comments one may enter. Please note that for this no personal data, location data, or IP addresses are stored. 

Who has access to the data and how will it be used?

The software is owned and hosted by Delib Limited, while the design of the Simulator content is the responsibility of researchers from University College Dublin (UCD) in Ireland. Researchers from the VECTOR project have access to the data. Data may be used for policy reports, academic presentations and publications.