The current target of 20% by 2020 has been derided as unambitious with current policies thought to comfortably take the 27 member bloc beyond that benchmark.

In September last year French President Francois Hollande called for a 40% target for 2030, in line with the draft uncovered today.

The paper also places Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) technology at the heart of future EU energy policy.

“In order to allow fossil fuels to remain an integral part of the energy mix and the EU to offer a potential for a green re-industrialization of Europe’s declining industries, early deployment of CCS technology at a large scale is needed,” reads the document, which was obtained by Bloomberg.

The paper, which remains subject to change prior to its publication later this month, notes that the current low price of carbon allowances in the EU would not be sufficient to make CCS economic.

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Source: RTCC; last updated on 14 March 2013, 11:36 am, by John Parnell