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Dispute over 'bonkers' EU energy savings plan
EU commissioners are meeting today to agree an energy savings target for 2030 amid serious disagreement about how ambitious it should be.
Several countries, anxious over the security of their Russian gas supplies, are pushing for a tough, binding goal.
...
But concern has also been raised that if this higher level of efficiency came to pass, it would have a negative effect on the EU's flagship plan for cutting carbon, the Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS).
The ETS is aimed at power producers and big industry, and forces them to pay for permits to emit carbon. The worry is that if efficiency helped countries achieve their binding goals in reducing emissions, there would be no incentive to trade and the ETS might collapse.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-28420527
Several countries, anxious over the security of their Russian gas supplies, are pushing for a tough, binding goal.
...
But concern has also been raised that if this higher level of efficiency came to pass, it would have a negative effect on the EU's flagship plan for cutting carbon, the Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS).
The ETS is aimed at power producers and big industry, and forces them to pay for permits to emit carbon. The worry is that if efficiency helped countries achieve their binding goals in reducing emissions, there would be no incentive to trade and the ETS might collapse.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-28420527
What seems the obvious solution, to me, is to have the ambitious energy savings goals and to tighten the ETS as well, so that, as well as cutting the energy used, there's still an incentive to produce the remainder with less carbon. All you have to do is coordinate the two. No wonder it's being called 'bonkers'.
