EU reaches provisional deal to raise renewable energy target

European Union countries and negotiators from the EU’s parliament have reached a provisional deal to increase the share of renewables in the bloc’s energy mix. The European Council, which represents the 27 member nations, said the agreement reached Thursday would raise the renewable energy target to 42.5% of total consumption by 2030. The current goal is 32%. The negotiations dragged on into the night because of a rift over the role of nuclear energy in the production of hydrogen. Russia’s war in Ukraine has accelerated the EU’s green transition. The bloc reduced its dependency on Russian fossil fuels and increased its renewable energy use over the past year.