News

CO2 emission performance standard proposed in the European Parliament

Publish date: March 4, 2009

BRUSSELS – A CO2 emission performance standard in the new Industrial Emissions Directive was proposed on March 4th by 44 Members of the European Parliament (MEPs), of various nationalities and political groups.

The signatories tabled an amendment to introduce an emission limit of 350 grams CO2 per kilowatt-hour electricity produced for any new power plants being permitted from now onwards.

This would effectively ban any coal-fired power plants and older (single-cycle) gas-fired power plants without CO2 capture and storage (CCS). The limit, however, would only be applicable from 2020 in order to give time to plants to install CCS after the technology is expected to be proven by 2015. The limit would be introduced for existing power plants from 2025.

The amendments are being voted on in the European Parliament plenary session on March 12th. The President of the European Parliament, Hans-Gert Pöttering can still rule the amendments inadmissible before the plenary vote.

However, it will be less legitimate to block the amendments now that they have mustered strong support amongst MEPs.

The amendments were drafted by Bellona Europa together with other NGOs and Members of European Parliament. The emission performance standard was also discussed in a Parliamentary hearing in the European Parliament this week.

More News

All news
Christening of the Northern Lights's CO2 carrier in Stavanger, 2025.

A great leap towards a scaled European market for CCS: Northern Lights expands storage capacity, will store CO₂ from Stockholm  

Europe’s only multi-source, injection-ready CO₂ storage site will more than triple its capacity by 2028. The decision follows an agreement with Stockholm Exergi to transport and store up to 800 – 900 kilotonnes of CO₂ per year. “This decision is years in the making, and the culmination of decades of hard work from many, Bellona included” says Bellona Europa Director Jonas Helseth.