scholarly journals Integrating Carbon Dioxide Removal Into European Emissions Trading

2021 ◽  
Vol 3 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wilfried Rickels ◽  
Alexander Proelß ◽  
Oliver Geden ◽  
Julian Burhenne ◽  
Mathias Fridahl
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Carbon Capture ◽  
Emissions Trading ◽  
Carbon Capture And Storage ◽  
Ghg Emissions ◽  
Direct Interaction ◽  
Eu Ets ◽  
The European Union ◽  
And Storage ◽  
The Eu

In one of the central scenarios for meeting an European Union-wide net zero greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions target by 2050, the emissions cap in the European Union Emissions Trading System (EU ETS) becomes net negative. Despite this ambition, no mechanism allows for the inclusion of CO2 removal credits (CRCs) in the EU ETS to date. Amending the EU ETS legislation is required to create enabling conditions for a net negative cap. Here, we conceptually discuss various economic, legal, and political challenges surrounding the integration of CRCs into the EU ETS. To analyze cap-and-trade systems encompassing negative emissions, we introduce the effective (elastic) cap resulting from the integration of CRCs in addition to the regulatory (inelastic) cap, the latter now being binding for the net emissions only. Given current cost estimates for BECCS and DACCS, minimum quantities for the use of removals, as opposed to ceilings as currently discussed, would be required to promote the near-term integration of such technologies. Instead of direct interaction between the companies involved in emissions trading and the providers of CRCs, the regulatory authority could also transitionally act as an intermediary by buying CRCs and supplying them in turn conditional upon observed allowances prices, for example, by supporting a (soft) price collar. Contrary to a price collar without dedicated support from CRCs, in this case (net) compliance with the overall cap is maintained. EU legislation already provides safeguards for physical carbon leakage concerning CCS, making Bioenergy with Carbon Capture and Storage (BECCS) and Direct Air Capture and Storage prioritized for inclusion in the EU ETS. Furthermore, a special opportunity might apply for the inclusion of BECCS installations. Repealing the provision that installations exclusively using biomass are not covered by the ETS Directive, combined with freely allocated allowances to these installations, would allow operators of biomass installations to sell allowances made available through the use of BECCS. Achieving GHG neutrality in the EU by 2050 requires designing suitable incentive systems for CO2 removal, which includes the option to open up EU emissions trading to CRCs.

scholarly journals European union emissions trading system with regard to climate change mitigation in Latvia

2012 ◽  
Vol 8 (-1) ◽  
pp. 29-35 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ilze Pruse
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Climate Change Mitigation ◽  
Emissions Trading ◽  
Ghg Emissions ◽  
Eu Ets ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Ghg Emission ◽  
Trading System ◽  
Change Mitigation ◽  
The Eu

Abstract The goal of this paper is to analyse the volumes of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from the European Union Emissions Trading System’s (EU ETS) participants in Latvia in relation to their participation therein. After describing and discussing the EU ETS mechanism and its operation in Latvia in the period 2005-2010, the interconnectedness between the GHG emissions and the EU ETS participants’ operation is analysed. The analysis concludes that, although the EU ETS has contributed towards GHG emission reduction, due to the growth of the economy, overall GHG emissions from the EU ETS participants in Latvia are increasing.

scholarly journals The Role of BECCS in Achieving Climate Neutrality in the European Union

Energies ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (23) ◽  
pp. 7842
Author(s):  
Igor Tatarewicz ◽  
Michał Lewarski ◽  
Sławomir Skwierz ◽  
Vitaliy Krupin ◽  
Robert Jeszke ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Carbon Capture ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Carbon Capture And Storage ◽  
Electricity Production ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Climate Neutrality ◽  
And Storage ◽  
The Eu

The achievement of climate neutrality in the European Union by 2050 will not be possible solely through a reduction in fossil fuels and the development of energy generation from renewable sources. Large-scale implementation of various technologies is necessary, including bioenergy with carbon capture and storage (BECCS), carbon capture and storage (CCS), and carbon capture and utilisation (CCU), as well as industrial electrification, the use of hydrogen, the expansion of electromobility, low-emission agricultural practices, and afforestation. This research is devoted to an analysis of BECCS as a negative emissions technology (NET) and the assessment of its implementation impact upon the possibility of achieving climate neutrality in the EU. The modelling approach utilises tools developed within the LIFE Climate CAKE PL project and includes the MEESA energy model and the d-PLACE CGE economic model. This article identifies the scope of the required investment in generation capacity and the amount of electricity production from BECCS necessary to meet the greenhouse gas (GHG) emission reduction targets in the EU, examining the technology’s impact on the overall system costs and marginal abatement costs (MACs). The modelling results confirm the key role of BECCS technology in achieving EU climate goals by 2050.

scholarly journals The European Union Emissions Trading System reduced CO2 emissions despite low prices

2020 ◽  
Vol 117 (16) ◽  
pp. 8804-8812 ◽  
Author(s):  
Patrick Bayer ◽  
Michaël Aklin
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Carbon Emissions ◽  
Emissions Trading ◽  
Carbon Markets ◽  
Eu Ets ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Trading System ◽  
Market Prices ◽  
Emissions Trading System ◽  
The Eu

International carbon markets are an appealing and increasingly popular tool to regulate carbon emissions. By putting a price on carbon, carbon markets reshape incentives faced by firms and reduce the value of emissions. How effective are carbon markets? Observers have tended to infer their effectiveness from market prices. The general belief is that a carbon market needs a high price in order to reduce emissions. As a result, many observers remain skeptical of initiatives such as the European Union Emissions Trading System (EU ETS), whose price remained low (compared to the social cost of carbon). In this paper, we assess whether the EU ETS reduced CO2 emissions despite low prices. We motivate our study by documenting that a carbon market can be effective if it is a credible institution that can plausibly become more stringent in the future. In such a case, firms might cut emissions even though market prices are low. In fact, low prices can be a signal that the demand for carbon permits weakens. Thus, low prices are compatible with successful carbon markets. To assess whether the EU ETS reduced carbon emissions even as permits were cheap, we estimate counterfactual carbon emissions using an original sectoral emissions dataset. We find that the EU ETS saved about 1.2 billion tons of CO2 between 2008 and 2016 (3.8%) relative to a world without carbon markets, or almost half of what EU governments promised to reduce under their Kyoto Protocol commitments. Emission reductions in sectors covered under the EU ETS were higher.

Carbon capture and storage: Pulling down the barriers in the European Union

2009 ◽  
Vol 223 (3) ◽  
pp. 281-291 ◽  
Author(s):  
S Tysoe
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
European Union ◽  
Carbon Capture ◽  
Power Plants ◽  
Carbon Capture And Storage ◽  
Point Sources ◽  
Total Carbon ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Intergovernmental Panel ◽  
And Storage

Carbon capture and storage (CCS) is one of the number of approaches to mitigating climate change by reducing the emission of greenhouse gases (GHGs) into the atmosphere. It involves capturing carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from large point sources such as power plants, prior to compressing, transporting, and storing it securely in geological formations. The CO2 emitted is thus prevented from entering the atmosphere. CCS is believed, by many, to have massive potential to significantly reduce GHG emissions, with the UN's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change suggesting that CCS could contribute between 10 and 55 per cent of the world's total carbon mitigation effort until 2100. This article considers the principal impediments to the development of CCS projects and the steps taken in the European Union (EU) to overcome them. The development of CCS requires not only the establishment of adequate funding mechanisms and, most likely, the existence of consistently higher carbon prices than those prevail today, but also the settlement of a number of key legal issues. Although much further work is required on the part of legislators, a regulatory framework for CCS is slowly growing in various jurisdictions, especially in the EU where a large step forward was taken in December 2008 with the passing of a CCS Directive.

Carbon Capture and Storage: Developments under European Union and International Law

2007 ◽  
Vol 4 (5) ◽  
pp. 353-366 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ian Havercroft ◽  
Ray Purdy
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
International Law ◽  
Carbon Capture ◽  
Carbon Capture And Storage ◽  
Climate Mitigation ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Member States ◽  
Mitigation Option ◽  
Legislative Framework ◽  
And Storage

AbstractRecent amendments to key international legal regimes and the proposed introduction of an enabling legislative framework within Europe, have highlighted the importance of CCS as a climate mitigation option for the European Union and its Member States. This paper seeks to analyse these developments and provide an up-to-date examination of the issue of regulatory options for CCS and further proposals for the resolution of legal ambiguity.

scholarly journals Price Relationships in the EU Emissions Trading System

2011 ◽  
pp. 212-220 ◽  
Author(s):  
Julien Chevallier
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Emissions Trading ◽  
Eu Ets ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Trading System ◽  
Trading Scheme ◽  
Price Relationships ◽  
Eu Emissions Trading System ◽  
Emissions Trading System ◽  
The Eu

The European Union Emissions Trading Scheme (EU ETS) constrains industrial polluters to buy/sell CO2 allowances depending on a regional depolluting objective of -8% of CO2 emissions by 2012 compared to 1990 levels. Companies may also buy carbon offsets from developing countries, funding emissions cuts there instead, under a Kyoto Protocol Clean Development Mechanism (CDM). This chapter critically analyzes the price relationships in the EU emissions trading system. The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) delivers credits that may be used by European companies for their compliance needs. Certified Emissions Reductions (CERs) from CDM projects are credits flowing into the global compliance market generated through emission reductions. EUAs (European Union Allowances) are the tradable unit under the EU ETS. Besides, the EU Linking Directive allows the import for compliance into the EU ETS up to 13.4% of CERs on average. This chapter details the idiosyncratic risks affecting each emissions market, be it in terms of regulatory uncertainty, economic activity, industrial structure, or the impact of other energy markets. Besides, based on a careful analysis of the EUA and CER price paths, this chapter assesses common risk factors by focusing more particularly on the role played by the CER import limit within the ETS.

scholarly journals Ownership, risk and the law for a CO2 transport network for carbon capture and storage in the European Union

2018 ◽  
Vol 36 (4) ◽  
pp. 433-462
Author(s):  
Raphael J Heffron ◽  
Lauren Downes ◽  
Marie Bysveen ◽  
Elisabeth V Brakstad ◽  
Tom Mikunda ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Carbon Capture ◽  
Carbon Capture And Storage ◽  
Transport Network ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Co2 Transport ◽  
The Law ◽  
And Storage

Up in the Air: Aviation, the EU Emissions Trading Scheme and the Question of Jurisdiction

2012 ◽  
Vol 14 ◽  
pp. 475-506
Author(s):  
Christina Voigt
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
European Union ◽  
Emissions Trading ◽  
State Sovereignty ◽  
Eu Ets ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Emissions Trading Scheme ◽  
Trading Scheme ◽  
Eu Emissions Trading Scheme ◽  
The Eu

AbstractFrom 1 January 2012, all flights departing from or arriving at the European Union are covered by the EU Emissions Trading Scheme (EU ETS). Amendments were made to Directive 2003/87/EC by Directive 2008/101/EC with the objective of reducing climate change impacts attributable to aviation, but also in order to avoid distortions of competition. The scheme now includes all airlines, including those from third countries, and accounts for emissions that occur partly outside the airspace of EU Member States. A large number of third countries claim that the extension of the Emissions Trading Scheme to legs of flights outside EU territory violates the principle of state sovereignty and deny the jurisdiction of the EU to regulate emissions that occur beyond its borders. So far, the validity of the EU regulation has been challenged by a claim brought by US and Canadian air carriers. They contended that, in adopting the Directive, the EU infringed principles of customary international law—in particular the principle of state sovereignty and the prohibition of extraterritorial application—as well as various international agreements. On 21 December 2011, the Court of Justice of the European Union ruled that the inclusion of emissions from aviation in the EU ETS is valid. In response, Chinese and Indian carriers threatened not to pay the charge, while US airlines pledged to consider other options. This chapter analyses the judgment of the Court and the opinion of Advocate General Kokott in this case. Particular attention is given to the question of extraterritorial jurisdiction and the understanding of state sovereignty in the context of global climate change mitigation. The chapter argues that the Court missed an opportunity to contribute to the clarification of the law on jurisdiction and to the development of climate law.

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