Malta could miss its energy targets by 28%.

Malta could face infringement proceedings if it continues to lag behind in its 2020 renewable energy targets, the European Commission has warned.

It noted in a report released earlier this week that Malta was the furthest from meeting its targets compared to the 27 other member states.

It warned the island, together with the Netherlands and the UK, that if they did not make additional efforts to reach their energy targets, it would not exclude taking legal action against them.

Most of the 28 member states are expected to reach a 20 per cent renewable energy production threshold by 2020.

However, a deal struck with the Commission in 2008 allows Malta to settle for a 10 per cent sustainable energy level instead. At the moment, just two per cent of locally-produced energy comes from renewable sources. The latest figures show the island failed to reach its 2011 and 2012 renewable energy targets and is not on track to meet any of its future benchmarks either.

In its report, the Commission notes that unless the island invests heavily in alternative energy production methods, it will miss the 2020 target by 28 per cent – the largest deficit among the 13 countries unlikely to meet targets.

This is not the first time the Commission has issued a warning on the matter. In fact, last March, it had already highlighted Malta as the country that had to make the biggest efforts.

It had said that only 1.4 per cent of Malta’s energy was sustainably produced while Bulgaria, Estonia and Sweden had already met their 2020 targets, with as much as half their energy coming from renewable sources.

In its latest review, the Commission found that Malta was also lagging far behind when it came to curbing emissions.

It had the highest proportion of transport-related emissions, with more than 45 per cent of airborne pollution coming from the roadside. Conversely, it had the lowest domestic emission rate, with less than 10 per cent of greenhouse gasses originating from homes.

In 2010, the government had submitted a national renewable energy plan to Brussels, forecasting it would surpass the 10 per cent benchmark.

The positive forecast was hinged predominantly on a planned shift towards biofuels and on the implementation of alternative energy supplies such as wind farms, which were put on the backburner.