Germany records biggest ever emissions drop, as forests become net source
Total greenhouse gas emissions in Germany dropped by a record 10.3% in 2023, even as new data showed forests have flipped from net sink to emitter, reported the German environment agency (UBA) on Wednesday.
Read MoreGermany urged to adopt EU ETS reform before February elections
The German government must transpose the latest reform of the EU’s Emissions Trading Scheme (EU ETS) now, maintain a fixed price on CO2 for an extra year on its national carbon market, and defer a decision on the inclusion of waste incinerators to the EU, a public hearing at Germany’s lower house of Parliament heard on Wednesday.
Read MoreGermany can meet its climate goals, without higher carbon prices -study
Germany can be CO2-neutral by 2045 while cutting energy costs, and raising household, company and government income – without assuming a higher carbon price or more national debt, suggested a think tank this week.
Read MoreINTERVIEW: CCS is back, but EU policies may be setting it up to fail
The Net Zero Industry Act risks setting the CCUS industry up for failure if the European Commission does not step up to integrate the value chain and regulate CO2 transport, said Rachael Moore, founder of consultancy CarbStrat, in an interview with Carbon Pulse.
Read MoreEuropean oil and gas producers call for a ‘CCS Bank’
The EU should introduce a carbon contracts for difference (CCfD) auctioning mechanism, fed by the EU ETS Innovation Fund, to incentivise CO2 capture and storage, a Brussels-based advocacy group for oil and gas producers said on Monday.
Read MoreEU legislation on CO2 transport not expected until H2 2025
Legislative proposals to govern the transport of CO2 in Europe are coming, but may only see the light of day after Poland wraps up its six-month EU presidency, the country’s state secretary for climate and environment told an event in Brussels last week.
Read MoreEU carbon removal methodologies risk ‘very significant’ over-crediting, warns think tank
Six draft methodologies proposed by the European Commission in October under the EU’s Carbon Removal and Carbon Farming (CRCF) regulation need “considerable improvement” to comply with best practices in carbon crediting, according to a German think tank.
Read MoreEnergiewende faces fresh headwinds as Germany calls snap election
Several key energy and climate plans – including hydrogen-ready gas-fired power plants and carbon capture utilisation and storage (CCUS) projects – face uncertainty in Germany as the country prepares for a snap election on Feb. 23, 2025.
Read MoreElectrification push threatens climate resilience, says Belgium system operator
The political push to massively electrify energy systems risks making them more vulnerable to climate change, said the chief transition officer of the Flemish distribution system operator (DSO) at an event in Brussels.
Read MoreFEATURE: The risks facing EU CO2 storage and how to manage them
The EU does not have a single operational CO2 storage site, but the ambition of storing 50 million tonnes of CO2 a year from 2030, and while oil and gas operators are likely to be responsible for delivering the target, they have less than a year, until June 2025, to confirm how many tonnes they will store and where.
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