The principal aim of the European Green Deal is to reach climate neutrality by 2050 and in order for the European Union to reach such target, one of the goals is to achieve net-zero greenhouse gas emissions. The European Commission has proposed to make existing legislation fit for a 55% emission reduction by 2030.

Solar energy is energy from the sun which can be utilised to produce both electricity and heat. For solar to become an even more regular source of clean energy and thus to mitigate the use of fossil fuels as a source of energy, generation costs need to be decreased and the effectiveness of converting sunlight to energy needs to be increased rigorously.

Of course, the level of potential for renewables will vary according to the geographic position of the Member State. Malta for example, has great potential with respect to solar energy due to the abundance of sunshine.

“Malta needs to enshrine the climate neutrality target into law and in doing so, our legislators should really focus on how they are going to do this without impeding innovation and technology which might be most required by countries like ours”. – Gayle Kimberley

It is imperative to utilise this decade or so to focus on constructing the right legislative framework for renewable energy. We need to ensure that any renewable energy framework is, above all, technologically neutral so as to enable this desperately required growth of renewables.