By the end of the next decade, sustainable sources must cover at least 35 percent of the European Union’s energy supply. This is stated in a letter written by a number of sector organizations from the sustainable economy to Austria’s government authorities, which will fill the presidency of the European Union during the second half of this year. It should be noted that renewable sources have now become the cheapest source of energy and increasingly offer the European Union a cost-efficiency option to realize the plans for energy consumption and climate targets.

The letter from the sustainable coalition was addressed to Austrian chancellor Sebastian Kurz and Elisabeth Köstinger, Austrian minister of sustainability and tourism. The costs of renewable energy have fallen sharply in recent years, so the European Commission had to update its cost-benefit analysis two years ago. It is now argued that the realization of the target of 27 percent renewable energy by the end of next decade would be 2.9 billion euros per year cheaper than under the previous analysis. This suggests that a target of 30 percent by the end of the next decade would now be affordable.