Europe has long considered itself a global leader in climate change issues, and the February EU summit in Brussels looked how far energy policy could be overhauled. But after a hefty debate on various measures to revamp infrastructure and improve efficiency, are EU leaders ready to take the plunge on alternative fuels for transport and other energy users?

Despite the ever-volatile Euro crisis and the street protests in Egypt, it was energy that was the headline issue for the European Union’s one-day summit in Brussels on February 4. The so-called ‘Energy Summit’ was aimed at addressing a number of issues: the EU’s dependency on foreign fuel, often from unpredictable partners (like Russia and the Middle East); rising European and world energy use; the incomplete internal energy market which allows semi-monopolistic national markets; deteriorating infrastructure; and emissions cuts. It’s a heavy agenda, but EU leaders have recognized that energy efficiency - in whatever form – is critical for Europe’s economic and environmental future.

This debate on energy has a huge impact on transport. Fuel is a key expense for all transport modes, which have an interest in seeing costs cut, while securing supply. And transport is a contributor to greenhouse gases, and is under pressure to find ways to cut its emission, notably through alternative fuels.

The EU’s 20-20-20 goal set in 2008 calls for a 20% cut in emissions of greenhouse gases by 2020, compared with 1990 levels; a 20% increase in the share of renewables in the energy mix; and a 20% cut in energy consumption. But how will that happen?

The summit heard that huge investment is needed to modernize Europe's energy infrastructure: about €1 trillion over the next 10 years, the European Commission says. The aim of this investment is to make the EU's diverse economies more joined up, to reduce their reliance on imported oil and gas and to increase the share of renewables in the energy mix.

The difficulty for the EU is that it has not yet agreed on how to deploy alternatives to oil on a sufficient scale to meet its objectives. Progress towards a greener, more energy-efficient Europe is painfully slow, and the economic downturn has not only forced governments to cut budgets, but hampered many companies hoping to get credit from banks. Governments and consumers are slow to embrace energy-efficient technology.

If Europeans could become more energy-efficient then the pressure on decreasing resources would be eased and greenhouse gas missions would also decline. Yet the Commission had a bleak message on that front. Energy Commissioner Günther Oettinger earlier published a progress report on plan to get 20% of energy from renewable sources by 2020, saying spending on renewable energy had to double to €70 billion per year if the EU is to meet its targets. He also revealed that EU member states had largely failed to meet the intermediary electricity and transport targets they had set themselves for 2010.

However, if this sounds like a heavy burden, there were more uplifting messages from the private sector. The week before the summit, a major panel of industry and environmental experts declared that transport in the EU could be free of the need to use oil as its basic fuel by 2050 if governments and business invest enough in alternative sources now. The Expert Group on Future Transport Fuels - including automotive manufacturers' association ACEA the European Petroleum Industry Association, Greenpeace and WWF -looked at ways of replacing oil-based fuels with new, sustainable alternatives. Brought together by the Commission, it noted that oil “is currently expected to reach depletion on the 2050 perspective,” but said the expected future energy demand in transport “can most likely not be met by one single fuel,” which could mean, for example, a mixture of electric cars for short commutes, hydrogen power for medium distances, biofuels for long distances and aviation, electric railways and nuclear or liquid-gas powered ocean-going transport.

Separately, a declaration by 20 European energy companies and associations - including Enel, EON, GE Energy, Siemens, and Vattenfall – called on EU leaders to create a single market in electricity. It said a properly functioning European market in electricity would have many benefits: increased competition leading to lower electricity prices; improved security of supply; and the possibility to reap the full advantages of fuel-free, pollution-free renewables.

It is worth mentioning that another declaration was issued at the same time by more than 200 companies, as well as 30 MEPs, the WWF, the European Photovoltaic Industry Association, and the European Wind Energy Association called for a 100% renewable target by 2050 for European energy policy. While this may seem a far-fetched ambition compared to the other targets, the fact that it was being made suggests that momentum is building for more alternative energy sources.

The summit itself ended with a commitment to a broad sweep of market reforms, linking national and regional electricity grids and gas pipelines by 2014 to allow power to circulate freely and cheaply, from those who produce it and have surpluses to those who don't and need it.  This could have another impact on transport too, if the hoped-for surge in electric and hybrid vehicles takes place, as the summit called on the Commission to develop strategies for financing an overhaul of the energy grid, as well as standards for charging electric cars.

It all adds up to a huge challenge, which will have to take place on many fronts, and over a long timescale. But it is something that everyone in the transport sector needs to follow closely.