It’s perhaps the only silver lining to the Ukraine war. The European Union is blasting past their climate goals. Their “Fit for 55” program released in 2021 set a goal of 40 percent renewable energy by 2030 but in their rush to get off Russian natural gas, now it looks like they’ll reach 45 percent by that date.
This is particularly impressive because they haven’t only increased investments in production (solar and wind) to replace existing energy demand. They’ve also increased demand by people switching to electric cars and heat pumps.
A record 3 million heat pumps were sold across the EU in 2022 — equivalent to roughly four billion cubic metres of natural gas. This brought the total stock to about 20 million, attaining an interim objective set for 2026.
Projections now put the number of heat pumps installed by 2030 at between 60-72 million, significantly higher than the 40 million units modelled in the Fit for 55 package.
https://www.euronews.com/my-europe/2023/02/28/eu-on-track-to-exceed-2030-renewable-target-prompting-call-for-higher-ambition
You can read a recently published report here. https://ember-climate.org/insights/research/fit-for-the-future-not-fit-for-55/
Darcy Hitchcock 
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