Climate plan Brussels shows common sense

Petten - The climate plan that was presented by the European Commission (EC) on January 23rd 2008 shows common sense. On the whole the Commission has made the right choices in her strive for substantially reducing greenhouse gas emissions and creating a more sustainable energy supply. This was concluded by the Energy research Centre of the Netherlands (ECN). The EC proposals are in accordance with the long term vision of the energy research centre.

ECN particularly supports the proposals concerning emission trading, the main instrument for CO2 emission reduction. The proposal is aimed at the period 2013-2020 and shows concrete improvement compared to the first two periods. In this field the EC has done a good job. Remko Ybema, unit manager of the unit Policy Studies: “The EC made the right choices. That was necessary, considering the substantial emission reduction required. There is a good balance between the realistic targets of the EC and pressure from policy instruments. The announced measures are appropriately firm. In that respect the policy of Brussels is in line with the Energy Vision developed by ECN, representing a 60% CO2 reduction in 2050.

Emission trading
Assets of the plan with regard to emission trading are, according to ECN, the proposed auctioning of a growing share of emission credits (without jeopardizing the competitive position of businesses), the increase of the number of sources categorized under the regime of emission credits and the application of the auction yield for climate friendly measures. Brussels proposes to, in term, auction the emission allowances that were allocated freely during the first period. As of 2013 the electricity producers are required to purchase emission credits through auctioning. ECN supports the idea that important players such as power plants and refineries will indeed be stimulated to switch to production methods that will have a lower impact on the climate.

ECN holds the view that, besides emission trading, other instruments are also necessary to, in time, significantly reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Emission trading is actually an initial impulse for the platoon. For stragglers - the large polluters - stronger measures are required. An option would be to ban inefficient plants after a certain date. Innovative techniques also require flanking policy: optimizing regulation, providing an infrastructure for transporting CO2 to empty natural gas fields, providing electricity grids for connecting wind turbines at sea. Moreover, we need to promote the development of sustainable techniques that will be duly needed after 2020 but at this time, under current general incentives policy, are not commercially viable.

Biofuels
There is some ground for criticizing the plans of the EC with regard to promoting the production of biofuels. The question is whether the aim of 10% for the share of biofuels in gasoline and diesel in 2020 is not too high. That objective touches upon the discussion on sustainability. The conventional biofuels that are available in the short term only result in a limited reduction of greenhouse gas emissions and can lead to deforestation in the tropics. The Commission intends to curb these effects by introducing a certification system; however it is questionable whether this will be sufficient. Moreover, ambitious targets with regard to biofuels can force up food prices. At the same time biofuels are the only solution to lower the fossil oil dependency of the transport sector in the short term. Therefore, this dossier still requires a substantial exchange of thoughts.

Editorial note
For more information: Frans Stravers, manager Communication, tel. 06-108 59 900/0224-56 45 56, email stravers@remove-this-part-ecn.nl

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