GERMANS REJECT CO2 PRIVILEGE FOR BROWN COAL PLANTS
06.21.07 - Leído 61 veces. Enviar esta notaGermany’s ruling coalition agreed on Monday on tough environmental rules for power stations which denied special privileges to brown coal-fired plants, high-ranking party officials said
BERLIN, Germany; June 21, 2007.- The compromise between the Social Democrats (SPD) and the conservatives in government, also entailed the sale of 40 million tonnes per year of carbon dioxide emission (CO2) rights from 2008 to industries that must cover their production with such rights under EU laws.
The rules will be discussed by both parties’ parliamentary groups and put to vote in the Lower House of Parliament (Bundestag) on Friday.
The 40 million tonnes of annual CO2 emission allowances to be sold represents 8.8 percent of Germany’s total CO2 pollution cap of 453 million tonnes each year from 2008 through 2012.
Monday night’s compromise will especially burden power generating companies whose original allocation will be cut by 17 percent, said the deputy leader of the conservative Christian Democrats’ parliamentary group, Katherina Reiche.
Other industries such as steel or chemicals would continue to receive free allocations close to their needs, she said.
Reiche said her party regretted that brown coal plants had not been given special rights which they had sought due to their high CO2 intensity, but the SPD had thrown out the idea due to its pro-environment stance.
Germany has vast domestic brown coal reserves.
Brown coal-biased power generators RWE and Vattenfall Europe have said they need special privileges in order to invest in the next generation of power stations.
Commenting on the sales plans for parts of the CO2 emission rights, Reiche said the certificates would probably initially be sold at prices quoted on carbon trading exchanges, as there was not enough time to organise a proper auctioning process.
The government has not yet decided how to spend the revenue but favours climate protection measures in developing countries.
(Reuters)
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