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Home > > Wind turbine news > > EU to set easier CO2 regime for heavy industries EU to set easier CO2 regime for heavy industries BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Europe¡¯s steel, aluminum and cement industries will have a special, less strict regime for greenhouse gas emissions under European Commission proposals to fight climate change to be announced this week. After weeks of intense lobbying by business and governments, EU sources said on Sunday those three energy-intensive industries would be introduced more slowly into a new system for auctioning permits to emit carbon dioxide (CO2) from 2013. The sources insisted on anonymity because wrangling is continuing in the Commission on final details of the proposals on CO2 emissions, renewable energy sources, biofuels and carbon sequestration to be unveiled on Wednesday. A key flaw of the EU¡¯s Emissions Trading Scheme -- the main instrument for curbing pollution blamed for global warming -- has been that governments issued emission permits for free, handing industry windfall profits. Under a planned reform, the sources said most sectors covered by the ETS will have to buy about one-fifth of emission permits from 2013 -- fewer than in early drafts of the proposal -- rising annually to reach 100 percent in 2020. Those sectors include energy and power generation, including refineries, despite fierce lobbying by European oil majors BP and Shell to go easy on refineries. The overall aim is to reduce European emissions of CO2 by at least 20 percent by 2020 compared to 1990 levels. However, the sources said the EU executive was sensitive to concerns that the three big energy-intensive industries could be driven out of Europe if subjected to the same regime Related Questions: 1. China to mass produce maglev wind power generators 2. First China-made 1.5 megawatt wind-power generator hits market |
