13
Jan 2009 - Strasbourg, France – The least
cost way to reduce power related carbon
emissions in Europe would be to supplement
the EU’s Emissions Trading System (ETS)
with the introduction of Emissions Performance
Standards for energy, according to a new
study.
Such a system, successfully
used in some US States where it has helped
put renewable energy on a more equal footing
with traditional energy sources, could cut
the EU power sector’s greenhouse gas emissions
in 2020 by more than two-thirds – more than
800 million tonnes per year.
'Scenarios on the Introduction
of CO2 Emission Performance Standards for
the EU Power Sector', carried out by the
consultancy Ecofys for environmental groups
WWF, Bellona Europa, ClientEarth, E3G and
Green Alliance, says such an outcome could
be achieved if binding emissions limits
are introduced for all large power stations
in the EU on a staged basis between 2010
to 2020.
The study also shows
that an early phase-in of Emissions Performance
Standards (EPS) would be more cost-effective
and have greater impacts than a delayed
introduction. It would overcome some weaknesses
of the ETS, which has been criticised for
providing some of Europe’s heaviest polluters
with windfall profits as a result of governments
giving away rather than auctioning carbon
emission permits.
“The current EU Emissions
Trading Scheme unfortunately does not prevent
high polluting coal-fired power stations
from being built,” said Stephan Singer,
Director of WWF’s Global Energy Programme.
“We need new emissions
limits to ensure Europe invests only in
renewable energy, energy efficiency, and
CO2 capture and storage facilities for coal-fired
power stations. Otherwise, Europe will fail
to deliver its contribution to keeping global
warming below 2 degrees Celsius.”
A CO2 Emissions Performance
Standard is a limit on emissions per unit
of energy output. EPS in the power sector
has been in place in California, US since
2007 and has subsequently been introduced
by Oregon, Washington State and Montana.
All of these states
are part of the Western Climate Initiative,
formed with the aim of cooperating on the
introduction and operation of cap and trade-systems,
and the report stated there was a clear
indication that the fruitful co-existence
of EPS and ETS (Emissions Trading System)
schemes was considered feasible.
In general it was found
that EPS schemes were implemented successfully,
especially if the right framework conditions
were created, by helping operators to bear
the costs of EPS compliance through incentivizing
legislation (taxation related). In the EU
this could also be supported by a more stringent
EU-ETS with higher certificate prices.
With such a limit, new
power plants that cannot meet the standard
would not be built and existing power plants
that do not plan to upgrade pollution controls
or implement equivalent measures would close
down.
Utilities will have
clear incentives to invest in energy efficiency
measures, equip their new plants or retrofit
the existing ones with CO2 capture and storage,
or switch to renewable sources of energy.
The study clearly shows
that an Emission Performance Standard needs
to be phased in through stages for both
new and existing plants. Imposing a very
demanding limit of 150g CO2 / kWh just on
new plants from 2010 would deliver reductions
of 10 per cent of power sector greenhouse
gas emissions by 2020, while a staged introduction
of a less stringent 350g standard for new
plants from 2010, extended to existing plants
by 2015, could save up to 46 per cent of
power sector emissions by 2020.
In contrast to continuing
to allow construction of new conventional
fossil fuel power stations under the guise
of 'capture readiness', an Emissions Performance
Standard is an effective means of providing
the real regulatory certainty needed to
shift investment decisions in the power
sector, and avoid dangerous lock-in to high
carbon power infrastructure.
It will also be key
to move Europe’s commitments to reduce greenhouse
gas emissions from 20 per cent to 30 per
cent as soon as a new international agreement
is in place.
WWF, Bellona Europa,
ClientEarth, E3G and Green Alliance say
that, despite recent agreement on new climate
and energy legislation, more action to limit
greenhouse gas emissions is essential in
order to re-establish Europe's credibility
and build greater international confidence
ahead of the crucial Copenhagen climate
summit in December.
+ More
WWF warns over Dutch
deal with German coal giant
15 Jan 2009 - Zeist,
Netherlands - The long partnership between
WWF-Netherlands and the largest “green”
Dutch energy-supplier Essent that has existed
since 1995, may come to an end if Essent
cannot continue its sustainable performance
when it is taken over by the German energy-concern
RWE.
Essent and RWE announced
the takeover earlier this week and shareholders
have already approved the deal. Finalization
is subject to non-objection of the EU-authority
that handles fair competition between companies.
RWE is known for its
huge CO2-emissions. WWF-Germany reacted
to the planned deal by stating that RWE
is Europe’s “largest environment-spoiler”.
“They have no qualms about investing in
conventional coal-burning energy plants,"
said WWF-Netherlands CEO Johan van de Gronden.
The Dutch parliament
will have a plenary debate on the takeover
later this week. Essent have invited both
WWF and RWE for negotiations about a partnership
on sustainability.
RWE is a huge investor
in conventional coal-fired power stations
and the builder of many nuclear plants.
One of their most recent plans is to build
a nuclear power plant in Bulgaria, in a
region that is considered hazardous because
of earthquake risk.
+ More
Slippery slope ahead
for ski resorts in Central and Eastern Europe
13 Jan 2009 - New research
suggests that ambitious plans for dozens
of new ski resorts in Central and Eastern
Europe could be constructed on slippery
financial slopes.
The potential financial
uncertainty on the future viability of the
resorts is also adding to concerns that
some of Europe’s last wilderness areas will
be damaged to little purpose.
Up to two-thirds of
Alpine ski areas could go out of business
due to a lack of snow on current climate
change projections, which see temperature
rises of between 2 and 5.2 degrees Celsius
in coming decades, research from the Organisation
for Economic Cooperation and Development
(OECD) has suggested.
The WWF report suggests
that a similar fate may be in store for
proposed and ongoing developments in Central
and Eastern Europe, and that the cost of
these white elephants will be greater than
just financial.
In Romania alone, 102
resorts or developments have been planned,
and a project in Ukraine is looking to develop
into one of Europe’s largest ski resorts,
with 100,000 beds and 66 lifts at a total
cost of some €3 billion.
“Construction of ski
facilities removes large areas of forest
to make way for ski pistes, access roads
and infrastructure, reducing and fragmenting
habitat for wildlife,” said Andreas Beckman,
Deputy Director of WWF’s Danube-Carpathian
programme.
“It is irresponsible
for governments to not only allow but actively
support such damage when there is very likely
no economic future for these resorts.” Many
of the ski development projects rely on
very significant funding from state and
EU sources.
“If the real reason
is a very short term bonanza of chalet speculation
then it will be an economic, environmental
and social tragedy,” Beckmann concluded.
Most proposed ski resort
projects for Central and Eastern Europe
are located at below 1500 meters above sea
level, a threshold considered in the Alps
to be the lowest point at which a ski resort
can be currently considered viable in terms
of snowfall for skiing.
The Carpathian Mountains
where many of the ski areas are planned
is home to over half of Europe’s largest
remaining populations of brown bears, wolves
and lynxes. Ancient beech forests stretching
from Slovakia to Ukraine are among Europe’s
last remaining natural forests and were
recently listed as a World Heritage Site.
Some ski developments
are illegal as well as unwise; a number
of Bulgarian projects are being built in
protected areas including Rila and Pirin
National Parks. Governments are not necessarily
at the forefront of enforing their own laws,
either. Bulgarian Prime Minister Sergey
Stanishev opened an illegally constructed
ski lift in September.
In Romania, a state
programme plans for construction of ski
areas in eight of the country’s national
parks, including Retezat and Piatra Craiului,
the country’s flagship protected areas.
A common problem with
ski developments throughout the region are
the poor quality of many environmental impacts
assessments, many of which do not meet EU
standards.
Ski resorts with only
short term prospects of natural snow also
raise significant cost and environmental
concerns if they try to keep themselves
going with artificial snow, the report found.
The 3,100 snow cannons
around Europe, designed to maintain the
quality of ski slopes, consume some 260,000
kilowatt hours (kWh) worth of electricity
annually. This is an amount that could power
a city of 150,000 people for a year.
“The least responsible
thing that public authorities can do is
to ensure that the economic aspects of ski
resort development justify the environmental
damage,” Beckmann said.
“Much better would be
working out how countries and communities
can get long term value from their environmental
assets without destroying them.”
Andreas Beckmann, Deputy Director, WWF Danube-Carpathian
Programme
