BRUSSELS (Commodity Online) : A report by the European Climate Foundation and the Regulatory Assistance Project said the continent will have to triple the scale of its energy efficiency policies in order to attain its 2020 climate goals.

According to the report European Union energy users could save as much as 78 billion euros ($100 billion) a year by 2020 under tougher efficiency targets, climate groups said.

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The 27-nation EU should “triple the impact of its energy efficiency policies” and consider making its 20 percent energy- conservation goal binding rather than voluntary,

In reality, however, EU policies are currently only delivering a third of the potential energy-saving measures, like insulating buildings or using electric motors in industrial installations, reports added.

Meeting the target would require the bloc to save around 394 million tonnes of oil equivalent by 2020. The recession has reduced consumption by 70 Mtoe and new policies are expected to cut it further by 115 Mtoe, leaving the EU with a savings gap of 208 Mtoe by 2020, according to the report.

The EU will ultimately struggle to meet its other 2020 goals to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and increase the share of renewables in its energy without realising its energy savings potential, the climate groups warned.

The Climate Foundation's 'Roadmap 2050' report in April concluded that energy-saving measures will be crucial to cutting emissions by more than 80% by 2050 in line with the bloc's long-term objective

The report warned of the scale of the challenge. "Energy-saving measures are diverse and spread across all sectors, and will have to be implemented quickly enough to deliver their potential on time," it said.

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