The second day of the 17th edition of the National Environmental Congress, CONAMA 2024, of which ECOticias.com is a media partner, opened with the theme: energy transition roadmapwith the intervention of various experts.
This forum, consolidated as the main space for dialogue and environmental action in Spain, started with a plenary session in which the magnifying glass focused on updating the National Integrated Energy and Climate Plan (PNIEC). The diagnosis of governments, business and social organizations is that Spain has unique opportunities due to its comparative advantages, but faces implementation challenges due to the climate urgency and constraints to promote more ambitious decarbonization.
Second day of CONAMA
The plenary sessionEnergy transition, a matter of competitiveness and climate action” started with the thesis of Victor Marcos Morell, General Director of Energy Planning and Coordination (MITECO), who outlined the main features of the new PNIEC, approved by the Council of Ministers in September.
“I like to talk about an incomparable opportunity. The Renewable energies allow us to start a step higher than other countries. We have important advantages over our European neighbors. But administrative, political and business decisions have to be made,” a representative of the central government emphasizes.
According to him, the plan objectives are “relevant” and “feasible”, Although this “unique opportunity” that the peninsula has and the climate emergencies due to impacts that will increase, will lead to “more ambition”, especially in sectors where decarbonization is slower, such as industry, transport and the residential sector.
In the new roadmap, the reduction of greenhouse gases planned for 2030 It increases to 32%, compared to the estimated 23% in the original version. The target for final consumption of renewable energy rises to 48% – with 81% of electricity generation – and that of energy efficiency to 43%.
Moreover, the demand for electricity will grow by 34% in 2019 thanks to economic development and electrification of the economy reaches 35%. Average household energy expenditure will also fall from 7.8% of their income in 2019 to 5.7% in 2030, with a greater impact on low-income households. ‘We need companies to invest. With this roadmap we try to provide predictability,” concludes Morrel.
The session continued with an exchange of ideas, accompanied by Marc Serra Solé, Delegate President of the Climate and Energy Transition Space of the Provincial Council of Barcelona; José Casas, General Manager of Institutional Relations and Regulation of Endesa; Dolores Huerta, director of GBCe; and Sara Pizzinato Greenpeace Spain campaign coordinator for sustainable energy and territory.
Serra has celebrated the update of a plan they share from Barcelona, although he has warned that “we are not moving at the desired pace”. “The vision and diagnosis are shared. But in many sectors we still have few successful experiences in decarbonizing the economy,” he noted.
He highlighted that in Catalonia only 17% of energy is renewable, while at national level this exceeds 50%. “On average we wait more than four years for the permit for a wind farm and two years for a ground-based solar park. Non-compliance with the deadlines and the dynamics of social rejection that have emerged in the areas have delayed the transition in our autonomous community,” he stressed.
In turn, Casas, director of Endesa, has defined the new PENIEC as “more balanced in terms of generation and demand”. However, he questions whether the networks are already showing “signs of exhaustion” and distribution companies are not investing what is necessary due to regulatory constraints.
“The The existing industry wants to be electrified and there is a lot of demand for it Central European who wants to come to Spain. What do we need to respond to this? Regulatory certainty, make investments attractive, eliminate the regulatory investment limit, streamline administrative times,” he stated.
The representative of Endesa has emphasized that the electricity sector has done its homework, because CO2 emissions have “dropped precipitously.” However, he lamented that 50% of final energy consumption still comes from oil and 21% from gas. “More than 70% of consumption comes from fossil fuels, and therefore there is an urgent need to increase demand for renewable energy sources,” he said.
Greenpeace’s Pizzinato has been less optimistic and more critical, recalling that “it is not enough that technology is available to A successful energy transition requires social and institutional intelligence”.
“We welcome the plan, but we still think it is insufficient. It is more ambitious than the previous one, but if we include the international justice component, countries with greater historical responsibility, such as Spain, should do more. Times are getting shorter and restrictions are many.”, he thought.
The representative of environmentalism has put on the table three possible measures to achieve greater ambition: one public transport card, greater promotion of energy communities and reduction of livestock.
The debate table was closed by Huerta, director of GBCE, a leading association in Spain in the region transformation of the construction sector towards sustainability. He has also warned that the decarbonisation of construction and housing is happening at a “slower” pace than expected.
The conclusion of your sector after reading the new government plan is that there is still so much progress to be made in the field of ‘energy supply’. reducing energy consumption through habit changes individually and collectively, such as “energy efficiency”, savings and optimization of consumption. “We are all calling for this revolution. Homes need major transformations, reducing demand, improving architectural quality and electrification to move away from fossil fuels,” he said.
The CONAMA session ended with a final reflection from the General Manager of Energy Planning and Coordination of MITECO, who collected the questions with a message of unity between governments, companies and social organizations: “The opportunity is before us. We must take advantage of it”.
The energy transition discussed today in CONAMA is an essential part of the decarbonization process that must be initiated effectively combat climate change and mitigate its effects.