Decarbonisering: vallende domino's

Er dreigt een fiasco voor windenergie. Verschillende regeringen overwegen forse kortingen op de subsidiëring van windmolens, waardoor de droom van elke investeerder, een verzekerd hoog rendement op kosten van de belastingbetaler, ruw zal worden verstoord en de investeringen zullen opdrogen.

De besluitvorming terzake in Engeland is in een vergevorderd stadium. Japan heroverweegt - meer in het algemeen - zijn decarboniseringsbeleid. En ook de EU ziet zich wereldwijd geïsoleerd met haar ambitieuze decarboniseringsplannen en is bezig haar draai te maken.

Onder de titel, 'Green Tax Revolt: Government May Be Forced To Kill Wind Boondoggle' schrijft Robert Lea in 'The Times':

There was growing speculation last night that the Government is on the verge of cutting multibillion-pound financial incentives to build [onshore] wind farms. It is believed that the Government could cut so-called ROC incentives for green energy projects as a means of keeping a lid on rising power prices. Such a move, which could come as early as tomorrow, would have a profound effect on the British wind industry, which has stated its intention to become a world leader in renewable energy. It is believed that the Government could cut so-called ROC incentives for green energy projects as a means of keeping a lid on rising power prices.

Renewable energy leaders say that any cut in the incentive regime would be a disaster for the wind industry, which claims that it would not be able to afford to build commercially viable wind farms.

Lees verder hier.

Uit Japan komen dezelfde geluiden. Onder de titel, ' Japan Likely To Abandon Unilateral CO2 Targets', schrijft Mari Itawa in 'The Wall Street Journal':

Japan is reconsidering plans to cut carbon-dioxide emissions by 25% by 2020 due to a rethinking of its energy future, and the country is worried that it is spending too much on carbon-credit programs, a senior government official said on Wednesday.

Japan currently plans to cut carbon-dioxide emissions by 25% by 2020. Japan's doubts, prompted in part by its nuclear disaster in March, come at a time the European Union is questioning whether it should press ahead with plans to cut greenhouse-gas emissions if others don't follow suit. "We don't want to give a wrong message to the international community, that's why I'm talking about the possible revision now," said Kazushige Nobutani, director of the Global Environmental Affairs Office at the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry.

Lees verder hier.

Onder de titel, 'EU Weighs Pullback on Cutting Emissions' schrijft Alessandro Torello in 'The Wall Street Journal':

The European Union is for the first time clearly questioning whether it should press ahead with long-term plans to cut greenhouse-gas emissions if other countries don't follow suit, in what could herald a significant policy shift for a region that has been at the forefront of advocating action to combat climate change.

In a document reviewed by The Wall Street Journal, the European Commission's energy department says the EU should consider whether the region should seek to switch its domestic energy base away from carbon-emitting sources in the absence of a global climate-change deal. "If coordinated action on climate among the main global players fails to strengthen in the next few years, the question arises how far the EU should continue with an energy-system transition oriented to decarbonization," the commission says in a draft of its Energy Roadmap 2050. The document is an effort to look at how the EU energy and climate picture would look in 2050, according to different scenarios. ...

The EU's doubts come ahead of a climate-change summit in Durban, South Africa, which is thought to be unlikely to deliver a significant global climate-change deal.

[...] the document is unambiguous about the risks if Europe acts alone. "It has to be seen clearly that there are risks associated to unilateral EU action," the commission says in its draft. "There is a trade-off between climate-change policies and competitiveness. Europe cannot act alone in an effort to achieve global decarbonization," the paper says.

The commission is particularly worried that EU industry would lose competitiveness in the battle for global markets against companies from other parts of the world as its costs would be higher. EU companies would likely pay higher electricity prices because clean power production would be more expensive, while some would also have to pay for their own CO2 emissions, or face big investments to reduce them.

In a May 2010 study, the commission estimated that the 20% CO2 cut by 2020 would cost €48 billion a year ($66.3 billion).

Lees verder hier.

Het heeft lang geduurd, maar de dominostenen beginnen nu om te vallen.

In een tijd dat openlijk wordt gespeculeerd dat de pensioenuitkeringen wel eens met 15% zouden kunnen worden gekort, is het onverantwoord om goed geld naar kwaad geld te gooien. In het licht van deze ontwikkelingen heeft de Nederlandse regering nu dan ook besloten om plannen voor de plaatsing van een windmolenpark by Urk nader te zullen overwegen. (Zuur grapje!)