How to ensure greenhouse gas emission reductions by increasing the use of biofuels? - Suitability of the European Union sustainability criteria

Biofuels are promoted in many parts of the world. However, concern of environmental and social problems have grown due to increased production of biofuels. Therefore, many initiatives for sustainability criteria have been announced. As a part of the European Union (EU) renewable energy promotion directive (RED), the EU has introduced greenhouse gas (GHG) emission-saving requirements for biofuels along with the first-ever mandate methodology to calculate the GHG emission reduction. As explored in this paper, the RED methodology, based on life-cycle assessment (LCA) approach, excludes many critical issues. These include indirect impacts due to competition for land, biomass and other auxiliary inputs. Also, timing issues, allocation problems, and uncertainty of individual parameters are not yet considered adequately. Moreover, the default values provided in the RED for the GHG balances of biofuels may significantly underestimate their actual impacts. We conclude that the RED methodology cannot ensure the intended GHG emission reductions of biofuels. Instead, a more comprehensive approach is required along with additional data and indicators. Even if it may be very difficult to verify the GHG emission reductions of biofuels in practice, it is necessary to consider the uncertainties more closely, in order to mitigate climate change effectively.     

Price determination in the EU ETS market: Theory and econometric analysis with market fundamentals

We investigate the price determination of the European Union emission allowance (EUA) of the European Union emissions trading scheme (EU ETS). We postulate an uncertain permit price and risk-averse firms which have the possibility to hedge in the forward market. The firms produce final goods, abate their emissions and trade permits in the permit market. The dependence of the equilibrium permit price on exogenous variables is studied in a permit market model. We test our theoretical findings with empirical data from 2005 to 2010 in the EU ETS market. We use daily forward prices of EUA as our dependent variable. We use several econometric models with multiple stationary time series to discover that there is a strong relationship between the fundamentals, such as German electricity prices and gas and coal prices, with the price of EUA. We find that the EUA forward price depends on fundamentals, especially on the price of electricity as well as on the gas–coal difference, in a statistically significant way.     

Simulating greenhouse gas (GHG) allowance cost and GHG emission reduction in Western Europe

 Due to the growing concern for global warming, the EU25 have implemented the European Union Greenhouse Gas Emission Trading Scheme (EU ETS). In the first trading period (2005–2007), part of the targeted GHG emission reductions presumably will have to result from a switch from coal fired electricity generation to gas fired electricity generation. It is possible to calculate the allowance cost necessary to switch a certain coal fired plant with a certain gas fired plant in the merit order. The allowance cost obtained is a so called switching point. When comparing historic European Union Allowance (EUA) prices (2005) with the corresponding historic switching points, the EUA prices were found high enough to cause a certain switch in the summer season. This finding leads to the use of switching points in establishing allowance cost profiles for several scenarios. A variable gas price profile is used in the simulation tool E-Simulate to simulate electricity generation and related GHG emissions in an eight zonal model representing Western Europe. Several GHG allowance cost profile scenarios are examined. For each scenario, electricity generation in the considered countries is clarified. The focus however lies on the GHG emission reduction potentials. These potentials are addressed for each scenario.     

Price determination of ETS allowances through the switching level of coal and gas in the power sector

This paper discusses the opportunities that exist for reducing greenhouse gases (GHG) emissions by switching from coal to gas‐fired units in electricity generation, ‘forced’ by the European Union Greenhouse Gas Emission Trading Scheme (EU ETS) price level of CO₂. It attempts to find efficient GHG cost profiles leading to a reasonable GHG emission reduction. In a methodological demonstration case (an electricity generation system consisting of two coal and two gas‐fired power plants), we demonstrate how a GHG emission cost can lead to a certain switch of power plants with an accompanying GHG emission reduction. This GHG emission cost is dependent on the load level. The switching point method is applied to an electricity generation system similar to the Belgian one. It is found that the greatest opportunities for GHG emission reductions are situated in the summer season. By switching only the coal‐fired units with the combined cycle (CC) gas‐fired units, a significant GHG emission reduction is possible at a modest cost. With the simulation tool E‐Simulate, the effect of a GHG emission cost in the summer season is investigated. A potential GHG emission reduction of 9.5% in relation to the case where there is no cost linked to GHG emission is possible at a relative low cost. When implementing a GHG cost in winter season, a smaller GHG reduction occurs while costs are higher. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

欧盟经济与环境关系问题浅议——基于经济发展、能源消耗与温室气体排放的统计分析

基于Eurostat New Cronos数据库提供的欧盟25个国家2003年的GDP、能源消耗与温室气体排放数据,在SAS系统下,运用描述性分析与回归分析,检测了欧盟25个国家经济发展、能源消耗与温室气体排放之间的相关性。研究表明:GDP、能源消耗和温室气体排放三者之间存在正相关性;相对经济发展的环境代价而言,欧盟新成员国的环境影响问题较欧盟15国更严重。     

Critical analysis of the European Union directive which regulates the use of biofuels: An approach to the Spanish case

For more than a decade we have lived in a period where the so-called “sustainability” is crucial and is motivated primarily by the social awareness of achieving a balance between human development and the conservation of the environment. This philosophy has a direct and inevitable impact on business and politics. Governments have long since been developing standards and encouraging various diverse initiatives whose aim is to defend the environment.In recent times, the global debate on the environment has been centred on CO₂ emissions. This gas is the major cause of the “greenhouse effect” and people are more concerned with the idea that the emissions of this gas should be minimized. As a result of this concern, the Kyoto Protocol was enacted and subscribed to by many countries, setting the maximum gas emissions for them.Fossil fuels are a major source of CO₂ emissions. In 2003 the European Union (EU) directive 2003/30/EC [2003/30/EC Directive of the European Parliament and the Council—8th may 2003. On the promotion of the use of biofuels or other renewable fuels for transport] was developed with the aim of promoting the use of biofuels as a substitute for diesel or petrol among European Union countries as well as to contribute to fulfilling the commitments on climate change, security of supply in environmentally friendly conditions and the promotion of renewable energy sources.In order to achieve these goals, the directive forces all EU members to ensure that at least 5.75% of all petrol and diesel fuels sold for transport purposes are biofuels before December 31 of 2010. European Union countries have social and economic characteristics unique to themselves. The energy dependence from foreign sources, the features of the agricultural sector or the degree of industrialization varies greatly from one country to another. In this context, it is questionable whether the obligation imposed by this directive applies to achieve uniform and/or identical goals in each of the countries involved and whether the actions of the various governments are also aligned with these goals.     

Critical analysis on hydrogen as an alternative to fossil fuels and biofuels for vehicles in Europe

In recent times, the global debate on the environment has been centered on CO₂ emissions. This gas is the major cause of the “greenhouse effect” and people are more concerned with the idea that the emissions of this gas should be minimized. As a result of this concern, the Kyoto Protocol was enacted and subscribed to by many countries, setting the maximum gas emissions for them.Fossil fuels are a major source of CO₂ emissions. For some years now The European Union has been seeking to promote some years now the use of biofuels as substitutes for diesel or petrol for transport purposes. As a result of this policy, in 2003 the European Union (EU) Directive 2003/30/EC [1] was developed with the aim of promoting the use of biofuels as a substitute for diesel or gasoline among European Union countries as well as to contribute to fulfilling the commitments acquired on climate change, security of supply in environmentally friendly conditions and the promotion of renewable energy sources.In order to achieve these goals, the directive forces all EU members to ensure that before December 31 of 2010 at least 5.75% of all gasoline and diesel fuels sold for transport purposes are biofuels. European Union countries have social and economic characteristics unique to themselves. The energy dependence on foreign sources, the features of the agricultural sector or the degree of industrialization varies greatly from one country to another. In this context, it is questionable whether the obligation imposed by this directive is actually achieving in its application uniform and/or identical goals in each of the countries involved and whether the actions of the various governments are also aligned with these goals. All these ideas were developed in a previous report (Sobrino and Monroy (2009) [2]).This report examines the possibility of using hydrogen as an alternative to fossil fuels and biofuels from a technical, economic and environmental point of view in the specific case of a European Union country: Spain.     

欧盟摩托车和轻便摩托车排放耐久性要求的法规草案介绍及分析

介绍了欧盟摩托车和轻便摩托车排放耐久性要求的法规草案,详述运行循环、劣化系数计算和型式认证扩展等内容。在此基础上进一步分析对比了美国法规、欧盟法规草案与我国标准草案有关摩托车排放耐久性要求的异同。     

Proposal for territorial distribution of the EU 2020 political renewable energy goal

This article first analyses the situation of indicators related to renewable energies in the reference year (2005) used by the European Union (EU) for its goal of a 20% share of energy from renewable sources in the gross final consumption of energy in 2020. Nonlinear distribution of dynamic targets is suggested for increasing the energy from renewable sources in gross final consumption of energy. This methodology is then applied to European Union member countries, the NUTS0 territorial aggregation level according to the EUROSTAT Nomenclature of Territorial Units for Statistics (NUTS), in the year 2020. Weighting was done based on share of energy from non-renewable sources in gross final consumption of energy, energy from non-renewable sources per capita, energy from non-renewable sources per GDP and GDP per capita in the EU-27 scenario. Finally, a multicriteria formula was applied to weight the variables used in this study.     

Methodology proposal for territorial distribution of greenhouse gas reduction percentages in the EU according to the strategic energy policy goal

A 20% reduction of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 2020 is one of the main objectives of the European Union (EU) energy policy. However, this overall objective does not specify how it should be distributed among the Member States, according to each one’s particular characteristics. Consequently, in this article a non-linear distribution methodology with dynamic objective targets for reducing GHG emissions is proposed. The goal of this methodology is to promote debate over the weighting of these overall objectives, according to the context and characteristics of each member state. First, an analysis is conducted of the situation of greenhouse gas emissions in the reference year (1990) used by the EU for reaching its goal of reducing them by 20% by 2020, and its progress from 1990 to 2007. Then, the methodology proposed was applied for the year 2020 on two territorial aggregation levels following the EUROSTAT Nomenclature of Territorial Units for Statistics (NUTS), in the EU-15 and EU-27 member countries and on a regional level in 19 Spanish Autonomous Communities and Cities (NUTS-2). Weighting is done based on CO₂ intensity, GHG emissions per capita and GHG emissions per GDP. Finally, several recommendations are provided for the formulation of energy policies.     

Red light for Green Paper: The EU policy on energy efficiency

The EU Green Paper on energy efficiency calls for action to decrease energy use and thus achieve increased competitiveness, fulfil the environmental targets and increase security of supply. In this comment, we examine the role the EU Commission suggest that energy efficiency, and policies supporting energy efficiency, takes. The policies and the suggestions are qualitatively elaborated upon in the light of the goal of a common European electricity market. We suggest that the rationales for the energy efficiency measures are weak, and that the suggested goals of increased competitiveness, environmental targets, and security of supply are best reached with the direct measures especially designed for each goal. Some of the energy efficiency measures may counter-act other direct policies. Further, The Green Paper measures may prove detrimental to the European Electricity market insofar as the policies suggested could lead to a policy fatigue among the electricity consumers.     

Comparison of Turkey's performance of greenhouse gas emissions and local/regional pollutants with EU countries

Turkey signed the Kyoto Protocol on February 17th, 2009. Therefore, to fulfill the liabilities of the Kyoto Protocol, she has to review her status and make strategic plans to hold the emissions at the levels specified in the protocol. For this purpose, in this study employing data envelopment analysis (DEA), Turkey's greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and local/regional pollutants compared to the European Union (EU) countries have been put in place. Since the data on Malta and Cyprus was inadequate, these two nations were excluded from the evaluation. As a candidate for EU, Turkey is required to reduce the emissions by 8% until 2012 within the framework of the Kyoto Protocol.     

Greenhouse gas emission reduction perspectives in the Baltic States in frames of EU energy and climate policy

The goal of this paper is to estimate the perspectives of the Baltic States: Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania on meeting the new European Union climate commitments, i.e., to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 20% to the year 2020 in comparison with 1990. This ambitious target could be reached based on other EU climate and energy package commitments: increase of the share of renewables and improvement of energy efficiency as tools for fulfilling the GHG emissions reduction target.The paper gives an overview on the current situation and future plans of the Baltic States in the field of energy efficiency, consumption of renewables and reduction of GHG emissions.     

Does the production of Belgian bioethanol fit with European requirements on GHG emissions? Case of wheat

This paper undertakes an environmental evaluation of bioethanol production, using wheat cultivated in Belgium. Cultivation steps are modelled using Belgian specific data. Wheat transformation in ethanol relies on industrial data. GHG emissions of the whole life cycle are calculated and compared with the default values given by the European Renewable Energy Directive. Belgian wheat bioethanol achieves a 5% higher GHG reduction than the one mentioned in the European directive but impact repartition is different with a higher importance of cultivation step in our case. Belgian wheat bioethanol complies with the current sustainability criteria but is also able to conform to further ones. Sensitivity analyses are performed on the importance of N fertilizers and associated emissions known as main important parameters. These analyses reveal non negligible variations and then a range of available GHG reduction when using wheat bioethanol.     

Applying resource efficiency principles to the analysis of EU-27 bioenergy options by 2020 – Findings from a recent study for the European Environment Agency

The Renewable Energy Directive sets a target for the European Union (EU) to consume 20% of its final energy from renewable sources by 2020 and further targets are under discussion. EU renewable energy targets will lead to a substantial increase in the demand for bioenergy. As for other sectors, it is important, therefore, to apply the principles of the EU Resource efficiency roadmap to bioenergy production: producing more output with less material input and minimising adverse environmental impacts during the entire production life cycle. This paper uses that concept to analyse the most resource efficient ways for reaching the 2020 bioenergy targets (as set out in National Renewable Energy Action Plans).Scenario analysis with three different storylines is used to model environmental and land use implications plus total bioenergy potential and GHG reductions in 2020 from the agricultural, forest, and waste sectors. These storylines vary in environmental ambition level and economic and political assumptions and explore plausible bioenergy development paths. They show substantial variance in terms of environmental impact and the GHG efficiency between different bioenergy pathways.The modelling shows that under Storyline 1 bioenergy targets of the National Renewable Energy Action Plans would be achieved with CO₂ eq emissions of 44 kg GJ⁻¹, i.e. 62% less GHG emission than if the energy were generated using fossil fuels. In contrast, stricter environmental constraints in Storyline 3 lead to a substantially lower CO₂ eq burden of 25 kg GJ⁻¹, which represents an 80% reduction compared to fossil fuels.     

Designing a climate change policy for the international maritime transport sector: Market-based measures and technological options for global and regional policy actions

The international maritime transport sector has a significant abatement potential and some technical improvements that reduce GHG emissions would already be profitable without any policy in place. This paper analyses in-depth the limits and opportunities of policy options currently under consideration at the international level to stimulate the sector to reduce its GHG emissions. In particular, in order for the maritime transport sector to become more environmentally friendly, the flexible nature of international market-based measures and the European Union Emission Trading Scheme provide a definite window of opportunity without placing unnecessary high burden on the sector. However, the development of a regional policy, such as at European level, for the international maritime transport sector faces several obstacles: allocation of emissions, carbon leakage, permit allocation, treatment of the great variety in ship type, size and usage, and transaction cost. Global market-based policies could overcome most of these challenges.     

Policy-making under uncertainty: Commentary upon the European Union Emissions Trading Scheme

The authors undertake a critical assessment of the intellectual foundations supporting the new European Union (EU) Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS, or the Scheme), the cornerstone of polices designed to achieve the targets of the Kyoto Agreement of reducing emissions of greenhouse gases (GHG). Despite its considerable scope, the authors found that officially sponsored research and academic efforts in support of ETS were surprisingly limited. Importantly, in advance of implementation, a definitive consensus on both the potential economic impact and the usefulness of the Scheme in reducing the GHG emissions had not been reached. Reviewing the literature, the authors encountered varying and, at times, conflicting viewpoints, officially and in academic research, on the potential economic impact of the Scheme. These included attempts to quantify its benefits and costs, raising concern that this huge and encompassing multi-national policy initiative may have been launched with inadequate intellectual ground-work. According to the authors consistency between the ETS and other EU policies, such as those relating to energy, should have been a key concern, but such aspects have received only minimal attention in both official and academic research. The European Commission has promoted open and competitive markets for gas and power across member states, but the record in achieving such conditions is relatively poor and the authors argue that, as a result, the environmental objectives of the EU Scheme may not be thwarted. In addition, continuing disagreement over the Kyoto Agreement itself—especially with regard to its potential costs and benefits—further frustrates efforts to rigorously justify a policy in support of reducing GHG emissions. The authors argue that, given the scope of the EU Scheme, the paucity of research evidencing that it is likely to succeed in reducing GHG emissions in the form of CO₂ is surprising and should be of concern to those affected by it along with environmental campaigners, many of whom are enthusiastic supporters.     

Greenhouse gas emission trading schemes: a new tool for the environmental regulator's kit

As the European Union greenhouse gas emission trading scheme (ETS) is emerging, it seems interesting to look back on previous experiments and to bring together a few elements of reflection about the pertinence of ETS as a new policy tool to regulate industrial pollution. So far, several regulatory tools have been used to decrease pollution. This article focuses on two of them, command-and-control (CAC) and ETS. There is no simple answer to which one is more efficient. It depends strongly on the context. Given a few elements outlined in this paper, the choice of an ETS to abate industrial emissions of greenhouse gases in the European Union (EU) can be considered pertinent. But, ultimately, what makes a scheme environmentally efficient is not the tool in itself (ETS or CAC) but the ambition of the target. Hence the design of the National Allocation Plans setting the emission caps are of paramount importance. They will make the EU ETS either a useless mess or an effective climate change mitigation policy tool.     

The implications of the Kyoto project mechanisms for the deployment of renewable electricity in Europe

EU energy/environmental policy has at least two major and interrelated goals: to increase the percentage of electricity from renewable energy sources (RES-E) and to control the emission of GHG cost efficiently. These two goals could be in conflict. This paper explores one aspect of this conflicting relationship, namely the effect that the use of the Kyoto Protocol project mechanisms (CDM/JI project) may have on the deployment of RES-E within EU borders.The main conclusion is that, under certain assumptions (i.e., no mandatory EU RES-E quota), CDM/JI projects might reduce the incentive to deploy RES-E within EU borders because they would allow European power companies to comply with GHG targets in a cheaper way than if they reduced emissions by investing in renewable electricity in Europe. This is problematic, since many benefits from renewable electricity are local and these would be gone. This situation would be different if a mandatory RES-E quota (combined with an EU-wide TGC scheme) was implemented. In this case, the RES-E target would be fulfilled and CDM/JI projects would only affect RES-E deployment exceeding the target.     

Emission abatement: Untangling the impacts of the EU ETS and the economic crisis

In this study we use historical emission data from installations under the European Union Emissions Trading System (EU ETS) to evaluate the impact of this policy on greenhouse gas emissions during the first two trading phases (2005–2012). As such the analysis seeks to disentangle two causes of emission abatement: that attributable to the EU ETS and that attributable to the economic crisis that hit the EU in 2008/09. To do so, we use a dynamic panel data approach. Our results suggest that, by far, the biggest share of abatement was attributable to the effects of the economic crisis. This finding has serious implications for future policy adjustments affecting core elements of the EU ETS, including the distribution of EU emission allowances.