Extra - NewslettersOctober 2007

October 2007

No more residual fuel for marine bunkers?

Rotterdam plays an important part in the marine bunker fuel market. This fuel consists mostly of residues from oil refining, and leads to substantial emissions of air pollutants. The Dutch Ministry of Transport and Water Management has commissioned a quick scan on the economic impacts of a switch to the use of destillates instead of residues. The study concludes this will require substantial investments in refining capacity, increasing CO₂ emissions and a possible restructuring of the Rotterdam bunker oil trade. The report has been used for international negotiations on this topic. 

Roadmap for the introduction of hydrogen in the transport sector

In the EU funded project HyWays a hydrogen roadmap has been developed in a consortium including car industry, energy sector and research institutes. The project concludes that the potential emission reduction resulting from the introduction of hydrogen in road transport amounts to 200 - 450 Mton CO₂ per year for the EU. In the first phase of such a transition, a hydrogen specific support scheme is needed. Generic support for sustainability is insufficient to overcome the initial barriers and bridge the gap with competing options. R&D for hydrogen budgets need to increase to 80 M€ per year and deployment budget to M€ 180 per year. 

Inputs for the post Kyoto negotiation process

What will happen after the Kyoto Protocol is currently hotly debated in the United Nations and among governments around the world. While views on the architecture still diverge, the recent UN and US-led meetings in New York and Washington DC have shown an "agreement to agree". Policy Studies aims to provide scientifically sound input into these processes on various levels. On the EU level, we recently completed a report on ‘Options for post-2012 EU burden sharing and EU ETS allocation’. Another report on the important interactions and synergies of climate policy, energy supply security and technological innovations in the EU context is ongoing and has already published some results at a recent conference. On a more global level, the project “Compatibility technology & cap and trade approaches” looks at co-existence of new post-2012 agreements within the UNFCCC and nears com-pletion. Another project for the Dutch Ministry of Environment looks into the global post-2012 supply of carbon credits, to aid the Ministry in deciding on a strategy for its ambitious emission reduction targets. We also care about the dissemination of good data and are involved in the development of a quantitative tool for factual underpinning of future commitments.   

Green Energy Plan for the Netherlands (Green4Sure)

Dutch NGOs have taken the initiative to develop a Green Energy Plan, targeting at 50% green-house gas reductions in 2030 compared to current levels. Instruments include an intensified European emission trading scheme, and caps for CO₂ emissions in transport and the households and services sector. In addition efficiency standards are foreseen for buildings, vehicles and appliances. ECN carried out integrated model calculations regarding the required price levels and costs. In an international context that is favorable for reduction of greenhouse gas emissions, the target for 50% greenhouse gas reduction for 2030 compared to 2005 seems achievable.

Renewables for Heating and Cooling: IEA report with ECN contributions released

The use of renewable energy systems for both domestic and industrial heating and cooling applica-tions has received relatively little attention compared to renewable electricity or biofuels. ECN Policy Studies contributed to a recently released report, coordinated by the International Energy Agency (IEA). The report presents an overview of the status of available renewable technologies and markets for active heating and cooling: solar thermal, geothermal and biomass energy systems. The report em-phasizes the importance of renewable heating and cooling in reaching the renewable energy goals. Furthermore, it provides concrete guidance to policy makers on how to successfully deploy renewable energies for heating and cooling.

Ex ante evaluation of Dutch Government plans on energy and climate

The Dutch Government has set ambitious targets for 2020: 30% greenhouse gas emission reduction, 20% share for renewable energy and 2% energy savings per year. ECN was asked to do an ex ante evaluation of the Dutch policy program on energy and climate “Clean and Efficient - Opportunities for Tomorrow”. The study shows that the effects of the proposed policy instruments are expected to be significant although uncertain and strongly depending on EU policies. For greenhouse gas emis-sions, the target of -30% compared tot 1990 can only be achieved with substantial purchases of emis-sion reductions abroad. The target for energy savings of 2% annually is approached when the EU policies on appliances and cars are ambitious and successful. For renewable energy a vast expansion is instrumented although the target of 20% in 2020 is not reached. The success of the program de-pends largely on a tight cap and high allowance prices in the European emission trading scheme.

Newsletter October 2007

ECN Policy Studies carries out energy studies in the field of energy and climate change. The objective is to enhance insights in energy consumption, energy markets, objectives of energy policy and policy instruments and to contribute in a significant and independent manner to better policy decisions in the field of energy.

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