European Union News - Environmnet

A scientific project funded by the EU's research programme has found that introducing hydrogen into the energy system would reduce the total oil consumption by the road transport sector by 40% between now and 2050. By taking a leading position in the worldwide market for hydrogen technologies, Europe can open new economic opportunities and strengthen its competitiveness. But the analysis also states that transition won't happen automatically. Substantial barriers have first to be overcome, ranging from economic and technological to institutional barriers, and actions must be taken as soon as possible. The HyWays project brings together industry, research institutes and government agencies from ten European countries. Following a series of more than 50 workshops the project has produced a Roadmap to analyse the potential impacts on the EU economy, society and environment of the large-scale introduction of hydrogen in the short- and long- term, as well as an action plan detailing what needs to be done for this to take place. The report is published as the Member States are due to give their approval of a new €940m public/private research partnership for the development of hydrogen and fuel cells.

The European Maritime Safety Agency want to launch and decelop a service for a/many standby oil-spill recovery vessel(s). In accordance with EMSA's 'Action plan for oil pollution preparedness and response of 2004' identified how to implement this task with regard to pollution caused by oil spills at sea. The action plan, as updated by subsequent EMSA work programmes, highlighted the necessity for a network of oil-recovery vessels. Consequently, contracts have been established for at-sea oil-recovery services in the Baltic Sea, along the Atlantic Coast and in the Mediterranean Sea.

The European Commission  agreed on a far-reaching package of proposals on the 23 January 2008, that will deliver the European Council's commitments to fight climate change and promote renewable energy. The proposals demonstrate that the targets agreed last year are technologically and economically possible and provide a unique business opportunity for thousands of European companies. These measures will dramatically increase the use of renewable energy in each country and set legally enforceable targets for governments to achieve them.

The Official Journal of the European Union has published, on 29th January 2008, a Directive concerning integrated pollution prevention and control. The purpose of this new Directive is to achieve integrated prevention and control of pollution arising from activities such as Installations or parts of installations used for research, development and testing of new products and processes. For example.

The commission of the European communities published on the 23rd January 2008 the COM(2008) 16 final related to a proposal for a directive of the european parliament and of the council amending the Directive 2003/87/EC in order to improve and extend the greenhouse gas emission allowance trading system of the Community. On 1 January 2005, the European Emission Trading System (EU ETS) started operation. It represents the spearhead (Emissions Trading Scheme) of EU climate policy due to its ability to achieve absolute emission reductions in an economically efficient manner.

On 29th January 2008  the European Commission launched the Covenant of Mayors, the most ambitious initiative to date involving the citizens in the fight against global warming. It comes after an informal consultation with numerous cities across Europe, whose Mayors will join the Commission in launching the Covenant. The Covenant consists of the formal commitment of the adhering cities to go beyond the objectives of the EU in terms of reducing their CO2 emissions through energy efficiency and renewable energy actions. Almost 100 cities throughout Europe, including 15 capital cities, have expressed their early support for the Covenant.

The European Steel Technology Platform (ESTEP) decided, on 27th February 2008, to launch a second phase of the Ultra Low CO2 Steelmaking research programme. ULCOS-II will be the world’s most ambitious Research and Development (R&D) effort to reduce process-related CO2 emissions in steelmaking. The current ULCOS project brings together steelmakers, companies in the steel supply chain, research laboratories and universities to devise the breakthrough technologies that can bring about enhanced reductions in CO2 emissions from steelmaking, with almost €30m of funding already allocated from the EU's research programmes, including the Coal and Steel Research Fund managed by the European Commission. The next phase will require significant levels of investment – the first industrial-scale demonstration is estimated at €300 m.

The Commission announced that it will contribute 30 € million to two new and important joint programming activities involving a substantial number of Member States (MS) on the 4 January 2008 in Brussels. These activities will ultimately result in a considerable number of MS organising joint calls in the areas of metrology and the Baltic sea. These actions, known as ERA-NET Plus and developed under the Seventh Framework Programme (FP7), will help to structure the European Research Area and enhance the scale of Europe's common research efforts. iMERA-Plus, bringing together 32 national metrology institutions, will receive €21m from FP7, with Member States contributing a further €42 to carry out research into precise and reliable measurements. The European Commission will also allocate €9 million to BONUS+, a research programme to develop an ecosystem-based approach to management of the Baltic Sea, which will involve 8 Member States that border the Baltic, and Russia. The countries concerned will contribute a further €18.7 million.

The European Commission adopted new legislation on the 21 December 2007 in Brussels, on industrial emissions to strengthen the provisions already in force and reduce industrial emissions throughout the European Union. The proposal will bring significant health and environmental benefits and will create a better level playing field across the EU, reducing competition distortions between companies. It will also simplify current legislation by merging seven directives into one, significantly cutting the administrative burden for industry and public authorities.

The Commission has proposed to reduce emissions from trucks and busses of nitrogen oxides by 80% and particulate matter by 66% compared to the Euro V stage. The new ‘Euro VI’ standard will significantly contribute to a further improvement of air quality in Europe. It will also be a step forward towards global harmonisation as it foresees limit values similar to those of the United States of America. Furthermore current legislation will be simplified as directives (which need to be transposed in 27 different national legislations) will be replaced by regulations which are directly applicable. The Euro VI should enter into force in 2013. The proposal has bee subject to stakeholder and internet consultations, and will now be discussed by the European Parliament and the Council of Ministers.

Europe has a strong and innovative automotive sector. This proposal aims to safeguard this competitiveness through provisions which are fair and flexible and which will stimulate the development and deployment of cutting edge automotive technologies. Under the legislation, several manufacturers will be able to group together to form a pool which can act jointly in meeting the specific emissions targets. Manufacturers in this pool will be required to abide by the rules of competition law.