EU Policy News

The Council of the EU’s leaders on March 19 – 20, 2009,  approved six Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) projects  as part of the EU Economic Recovery Plan, that will use pre- combustion technology, allowing the production of hydrogen as a by product.  The projects approved are located in Rotterdam in the Netherlands (two projects), Belchatow in Poland, three in the UK (Lingsnorth, Longannet and (tibury) and one in Italy.  The Industry Committee of the EU Parliament on March 31 called for guarantees that if money would not be used for earmarked projects before 2010 it would be spent  in energy efficiency and “smart city” projects. The Committee therefore wants the Commission to submit the proposal on the eligibility and selection criteria that apply for the energy efficiency and renewable energy projects to Parliament and Council by September 2009.

European Commissioner for Regional Policy, Daniela Hübner announced on March 9, 2009 that €105 billion will be invested in the “green economy” through the EU Cohesion Policy. The funding represents more than 30% of the regional policy budget for 2007-2013. Commissioner Hübner said: “Support for the green economy and the environment goes hand-in-hand with the Cohesion Policy’s objective to deliver sustainable growth, jobs and competitiveness. In a difficult financial climate, this investment will be instrumental in creating long-term employment and reviving local economies, as well as underpinning the EU’s commitment to the fight against climate change.”The €105 billion dedicated to green projects and jobs is almost three times greater than the sum allocated in the 2000-2006 budgetary period. A large part of the envelope (€54 billion) is designed to help Member States to comply with EU environmental legislation. With €48 billion targeted at measures aimed at achieving EU climate objectives and creating a low carbon economy, the Cohesion Policy is making a considerable contribution to these goals. This includes €23 billion for railways, €6 billion for clean urban transport, €4.8 billion for renewable energies and €4.2 billion for energy efficiency. The EU Parlaiment is expected to adopt the Commission proposal [...]

On the occasion of the Motorshow in Geneva the UN Environment Programme (UNEP), the International Energy Agency (IEA), the International Transport Forum (ITF) and the FIA Foundation launched the ’50 by 50′ Global Fuel Economy Initiative  to promote the development of a global car fleet that runs on 50% less fuel by 2050. The Initiaitve seeks to  boost the efficiency of all new cars by 50% by 2030, with the entire global fleet expected to reach this goal by 2050. The plan is set to reduce annual CO2 emissions by two gigatonnes (Gt) by 2050, while saving six billion barrels of oil. With the number of cars expecting to triple by 2050, the organisations behind the initiative say that achieving their goal could stabilise CO2 emissions at just above 2005 levels.