The Energy From Waste Explosion

Article by Michelle Thomas, partner and Peter McCormack, associate in the Renewable & Clean Energy team at international law firm Eversheds

The energy from waste market across Europe is set to explode. The limit on the amount of waste to landfill, as directed by the Landfill Directive, alone was sufficient to drive up waste to energy projects and lead to interest in this sector from outside Europe, particularly the US.

However, the agreement by European Union leaders at the 2007 Spring European Council in Brussels to cut the EU’s greenhouse gas emissions by 20 per cent by 2020 (should other developed nations agree to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions, this target may increase to 30 per cent) and the condition that 20 per cent of the EU’s energy requirements be generated from renewable sources by 2020 has only served to intensify growth prospects.