[Top News] from [REUTERS]
[Green Business]
Italy plans gradual cut for solar incentives
Mon Sep 28, 2009 8:04am EDT
By Stephen Jewkes
MILAN (Reuters) - Italy plans to reduce solar energy incentives to save money, but would do it gradually to ease the impact, Industry Ministry Undersecretary Stefano Saglia told Reuters on Monday.
Photovoltaic (PV) energy, which turns sunlight into power, has boomed in Italy since 2007 when the government approved incentives which are among the most generous in Europe.
"As regards solar incentives, we'll try to reduce them, not as Spain did in a traumatic way, but to do it gradually," Saglia said in an interview at an energy conference.
Italy's incentive scheme should come under review when PV capacity covered by incentives reaches 1,200 megawatt. Many sector operators believe the cap will be reached next year and are keen to know how the government would change incentives.
Saglia said the government aimed to balance reducing the burden on the debt-laden state budget with supporting the rapidly growing PV sector.
Asked about the possible introduction of an annual cap for the photovoltaic industry incentives, Saglia said: "The government is discussing the issue."
He said that technical experts were looking at the issue but politicians were less enthusiastic.
"I am personally not that warm to the idea," he added.
Spain slashed subsidies for PV generation and placed a 500 MW per year cap on the installations covered by state aid in September 2008, hitting the worldwide PV industry which had come to rely on the Spanish market.
Saglia said Italy would keep the incentive scheme "since it works well along with priority dispatching (for renewable energy) on the network."
CUTTING RED TAPE
Solar sector operators often complain about bureaucratic hurdles with authorization procedures in Italy, including a lack of unified regulations which vary from region to region.
Saglia said the government has prepared national guidelines with a view to reaching agreement between regions and ministries which he hoped would be approved by the end of this year.
"They provide permitting standards so that companies have a single interlocutor and a single procedure to follow," he said.
Turning to the southern region of Puglia which has turned into a hotbed of PV activity in Italy thanks to a relatively easy permitting regime, Saglia said:
"It's not all good. It has created a kind of oversupply of projects ... a kind of trading in authorizations. We've got to find a balance between what they do in Puglia and the rest of the country."
Saglia said Italy has focused on renewable energy as a short-term way to cut its heavy dependence on fossil fuel imports, but revival of nuclear power after a 22-year ban was a long-term solution.
Italy rejected nuclear power in a public referendum in 1987 after the Chernobyl disaster in Ukraine. In July, Rome passed a law outlining measures for the nuclear renaissance.
The law has upset some regional authorities who see it as curbing their powers but Scaglia told reporters the government would never decide on building a nuclear plant without an agreement with the regions.
(Writing by Svetlana Kovalyova, editing by William Hardy)
[Green Business]
EU to propose climate action on planes, ships
Mon Sep 28, 2009 4:04am EDT
By Pete Harrison
BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Aviation and shipping should cut their respective carbon dioxide emissions to 10 and 20 percent below 2005 levels over the next decade, the European Union is likely to propose at global climate talks this week.
EU diplomats said the cuts might be linked to a tax on fuel to generate billions of dollars of revenues to help poor countries cope with climate change -- a key contribution to finding a global climate deal by December.
"We are concerned about the slow international negotiations and are keen to shift gear," said an EU diplomat involved with the proposal. "This is a concrete measure from the EU side in order to contribute to this step-up."
After fine-tuning the proposal, the EU will present it at a meeting in Bangkok where climate negotiators from up to 190 nations will try to revive momentum toward a deal to replace the Kyoto Protocol from 2013.
Aviation and shipping are not covered by Kyoto, the global climate change treaty agreed in 1997.
Britain, Ireland, France, the Netherlands, and most eastern European states have already indicated support for a cut of 20 percent or more to shipping emissions, compared to 2005 levels, according to a document seen by Reuters.
But seafaring nations including Malta, Cyprus, and Spain favor easier reductions. There is also debate over the base-line year.
CLIMATE FUNDING
"It's good that the EU is moving forward on capping emissions from these two sectors, not least because it creates significant potential for raising funding for developing countries," said Tim Gore, a campaigner at anti-poverty group Oxfam.
The proposal has been put forward by Sweden, which holds the EU's rotating presidency, and is based on a report three weeks ago by the EU's executive, the European Commission.
The Commission calculated the two sectors could generate revenues as high as 25 billion euros ($36.7 billion) a year in 2020, if their emissions were capped at 30 percent below 2005 levels.
Some countries with big airlines or a heavy reliance on air links have put up opposition. France, Finland, Italy, Malta and Austria have suggested airlines get an easier target than 10 percent.
"How these targets should be met should be decided by the International Civil Aviation Organization and International Maritime Organization," said the EU diplomat. "Should they fail, the EU will come back to the issue in 2011."
A system of taxes might meet more political resistance than a cap and trade scheme, which would force polluters to buy permits to emit carbon dioxide.
Shipping would be best served by a cap and trade scheme, the industry associations of Australia, Britain, Belgium, Norway and Sweden argued in a report last week that did not set targets.
The UK Chamber of Shipping estimated a trading scheme for emissions would cost the seaborne industry up to 6 billion euros a year, depending on the price of carbon.
(Reporting by Pete Harrison; editing by Robin Pomeroy)
[Green Business]
FACTBOX: Key issues on the table at Bangkok climate talks
Mon Sep 28, 2009 7:46am EDT
(Reuters) - Delegates at U.N. climate talks in Bangkok are trying to whittle down a complex negotiating text that will form the basis of a broader global pact to curb the pace of climate change.
The two-week talks are crucial because negotiators have very little time to trim the options and alternative wording proposals in the 180-page text with just over two months to go before a December 7-18 climate meeting in Copenhagen.
The United Nations has set the Copenhagen gathering as the deadline to try to reach a broad agreement on a replacement pact for the Kyoto Protocol.
Following are some of the main issues being discussed in Bangkok.
FINANCING
This is the glue that will hold any new pact together. Developing nations are demanding rich countries offer new and substantial annual funds to help them adapt to climate change and to help them green their economies without sacrificing growth.
Failure by rich nations to implement immediate, far-reaching actions to cut their emissions would only increase the need for poorer countries to adapt to the impact of climate change and therefore increase costs, the text says.
Poorer nations as well small-island states are seen as the most vulnerable to greater extremes of weather, rising seas and changes in rainfall patterns.
Estimates for long-term financing are in the hundreds of billions of dollars a year but as yet no firm amounts have been pledged in the negotiations by individual countries. That is expected to come in the final hours of the Copenhagen talks.
Nor is it clear how much of the money will be public funds or come from revenue generated by carbon markets or other sources.
The rules governing the allocation of funds have also not yet been decided, nor have governments agreed to beef up existing institutions or create new ones to manage the money and low-carbon programmes.
STRUCTURE FOR ALL NATIONS
Any post-Kyoto agreement will need to include steps by big developing nations such as India and China to curb emissions and to help them acquire technology to substantially cut emissions.
But developing nations won't accept binding emissions targets and have instead pledged to take a range of voluntary steps mandated by their governments, such as energy efficiency and renewable energy programmes.
Negotiators in Bangkok will be focused on designing what they call a legal framework or architecture that will encourage developing nations to sign up.
Kyoto backs economy-wide emissions reduction efforts for rich nations but many developing nations say they won't sign up to such steps in a broader climate pact.
[Green Business]
Italy plans gradual cut for solar incentives
Mon Sep 28, 2009 8:04am EDT
By Stephen Jewkes
MILAN (Reuters) - Italy plans to reduce solar energy incentives to save money, but would do it gradually to ease the impact, Industry Ministry Undersecretary Stefano Saglia told Reuters on Monday.
Photovoltaic (PV) energy, which turns sunlight into power, has boomed in Italy since 2007 when the government approved incentives which are among the most generous in Europe.
"As regards solar incentives, we'll try to reduce them, not as Spain did in a traumatic way, but to do it gradually," Saglia said in an interview at an energy conference.
Italy's incentive scheme should come under review when PV capacity covered by incentives reaches 1,200 megawatt. Many sector operators believe the cap will be reached next year and are keen to know how the government would change incentives.
Saglia said the government aimed to balance reducing the burden on the debt-laden state budget with supporting the rapidly growing PV sector.
Asked about the possible introduction of an annual cap for the photovoltaic industry incentives, Saglia said: "The government is discussing the issue."
He said that technical experts were looking at the issue but politicians were less enthusiastic.
"I am personally not that warm to the idea," he added.
Spain slashed subsidies for PV generation and placed a 500 MW per year cap on the installations covered by state aid in September 2008, hitting the worldwide PV industry which had come to rely on the Spanish market.
Saglia said Italy would keep the incentive scheme "since it works well along with priority dispatching (for renewable energy) on the network."
CUTTING RED TAPE
Solar sector operators often complain about bureaucratic hurdles with authorization procedures in Italy, including a lack of unified regulations which vary from region to region.
Saglia said the government has prepared national guidelines with a view to reaching agreement between regions and ministries which he hoped would be approved by the end of this year.
"They provide permitting standards so that companies have a single interlocutor and a single procedure to follow," he said.
Turning to the southern region of Puglia which has turned into a hotbed of PV activity in Italy thanks to a relatively easy permitting regime, Saglia said:
"It's not all good. It has created a kind of oversupply of projects ... a kind of trading in authorizations. We've got to find a balance between what they do in Puglia and the rest of the country."
Saglia said Italy has focused on renewable energy as a short-term way to cut its heavy dependence on fossil fuel imports, but revival of nuclear power after a 22-year ban was a long-term solution.
Italy rejected nuclear power in a public referendum in 1987 after the Chernobyl disaster in Ukraine. In July, Rome passed a law outlining measures for the nuclear renaissance.
The law has upset some regional authorities who see it as curbing their powers but Scaglia told reporters the government would never decide on building a nuclear plant without an agreement with the regions.
(Writing by Svetlana Kovalyova, editing by William Hardy)
[Green Business]
EU to propose climate action on planes, ships
Mon Sep 28, 2009 4:04am EDT
By Pete Harrison
BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Aviation and shipping should cut their respective carbon dioxide emissions to 10 and 20 percent below 2005 levels over the next decade, the European Union is likely to propose at global climate talks this week.
EU diplomats said the cuts might be linked to a tax on fuel to generate billions of dollars of revenues to help poor countries cope with climate change -- a key contribution to finding a global climate deal by December.
"We are concerned about the slow international negotiations and are keen to shift gear," said an EU diplomat involved with the proposal. "This is a concrete measure from the EU side in order to contribute to this step-up."
After fine-tuning the proposal, the EU will present it at a meeting in Bangkok where climate negotiators from up to 190 nations will try to revive momentum toward a deal to replace the Kyoto Protocol from 2013.
Aviation and shipping are not covered by Kyoto, the global climate change treaty agreed in 1997.
Britain, Ireland, France, the Netherlands, and most eastern European states have already indicated support for a cut of 20 percent or more to shipping emissions, compared to 2005 levels, according to a document seen by Reuters.
But seafaring nations including Malta, Cyprus, and Spain favor easier reductions. There is also debate over the base-line year.
CLIMATE FUNDING
"It's good that the EU is moving forward on capping emissions from these two sectors, not least because it creates significant potential for raising funding for developing countries," said Tim Gore, a campaigner at anti-poverty group Oxfam.
The proposal has been put forward by Sweden, which holds the EU's rotating presidency, and is based on a report three weeks ago by the EU's executive, the European Commission.
The Commission calculated the two sectors could generate revenues as high as 25 billion euros ($36.7 billion) a year in 2020, if their emissions were capped at 30 percent below 2005 levels.
Some countries with big airlines or a heavy reliance on air links have put up opposition. France, Finland, Italy, Malta and Austria have suggested airlines get an easier target than 10 percent.
"How these targets should be met should be decided by the International Civil Aviation Organization and International Maritime Organization," said the EU diplomat. "Should they fail, the EU will come back to the issue in 2011."
A system of taxes might meet more political resistance than a cap and trade scheme, which would force polluters to buy permits to emit carbon dioxide.
Shipping would be best served by a cap and trade scheme, the industry associations of Australia, Britain, Belgium, Norway and Sweden argued in a report last week that did not set targets.
The UK Chamber of Shipping estimated a trading scheme for emissions would cost the seaborne industry up to 6 billion euros a year, depending on the price of carbon.
(Reporting by Pete Harrison; editing by Robin Pomeroy)
[Green Business]
FACTBOX: Key issues on the table at Bangkok climate talks
Mon Sep 28, 2009 7:46am EDT
(Reuters) - Delegates at U.N. climate talks in Bangkok are trying to whittle down a complex negotiating text that will form the basis of a broader global pact to curb the pace of climate change.
The two-week talks are crucial because negotiators have very little time to trim the options and alternative wording proposals in the 180-page text with just over two months to go before a December 7-18 climate meeting in Copenhagen.
The United Nations has set the Copenhagen gathering as the deadline to try to reach a broad agreement on a replacement pact for the Kyoto Protocol.
Following are some of the main issues being discussed in Bangkok.
FINANCING
This is the glue that will hold any new pact together. Developing nations are demanding rich countries offer new and substantial annual funds to help them adapt to climate change and to help them green their economies without sacrificing growth.
Failure by rich nations to implement immediate, far-reaching actions to cut their emissions would only increase the need for poorer countries to adapt to the impact of climate change and therefore increase costs, the text says.
Poorer nations as well small-island states are seen as the most vulnerable to greater extremes of weather, rising seas and changes in rainfall patterns.
Estimates for long-term financing are in the hundreds of billions of dollars a year but as yet no firm amounts have been pledged in the negotiations by individual countries. That is expected to come in the final hours of the Copenhagen talks.
Nor is it clear how much of the money will be public funds or come from revenue generated by carbon markets or other sources.
The rules governing the allocation of funds have also not yet been decided, nor have governments agreed to beef up existing institutions or create new ones to manage the money and low-carbon programmes.
STRUCTURE FOR ALL NATIONS
Any post-Kyoto agreement will need to include steps by big developing nations such as India and China to curb emissions and to help them acquire technology to substantially cut emissions.
But developing nations won't accept binding emissions targets and have instead pledged to take a range of voluntary steps mandated by their governments, such as energy efficiency and renewable energy programmes.
Negotiators in Bangkok will be focused on designing what they call a legal framework or architecture that will encourage developing nations to sign up.
Kyoto backs economy-wide emissions reduction efforts for rich nations but many developing nations say they won't sign up to such steps in a broader climate pact.
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