Travelers escape a kerosene tax
Stavros Dimas (Greece) is the European Commissioner for the Environment (photo Reuters) The European Commission presented a new directive on Wednesday to fight against global warming. If the proposal is accepted, airlines will be obliged each year to meet quotas for carbon dioxide emissions from planes and to pay if they exceed these quotas.
The measure seems to bury, for the moment, the proposed tax on kerosene.
Aviation enters the carbon dioxide exchange
Stauros Dimas, the European Commissioner for the Environment, proposed Wednesday to extend the system of quotas for carbon dioxide emissions to aviation. A system that already concerns, for example, the paper industry.
If the Council and the European Parliament agree, the airlines will be allocated each year, by their country, a quota of carbon dioxide that they are authorized to emit. If they need more, as air traffic increases, companies will have to buy pollution rights on a specialized exchange.
In 2011 then 2012
All flights within the European Union will be affected from 2011. In 2012, all flights from or to countries of the Union. The first step is to limit carbon dioxide emissions, but later, other greenhouse gases should be subject to quotas.
The Commission preferred this quota system to the introduction of a tax on kerosene, the fuel for airplanes. However, the measure could still result in an additional cost on the price of tickets of between 1,80 and 9 euros per flight according to the Commission's estimate. The companies fear an additional 40 euros for a long-haul flight.
Satisfied companies
Airlines welcome the system adopted. The tax would have been expensive, and for every liter of fuel. With this system, they will only pay for quota overruns.
"This solution appears to be the most virtuous for controlling the impact of air transport on the climate, without compromising the development of a sector of activity," said Air France in a press release.
David Handerson, spokesperson for the Association of European Airlines, explains that quotas are more effective in meeting specific emission reduction targets. “You can, by setting quotas, decide on a reduction of x%. It is not possible with a tax. "
Green people want more
Reactions are also positive among environmentalists, even if they find the measure timid. AInsi at Greenpeace.
But Morgane Créach, head of the France Climate Action Network, believes that a kerosene tax would be more effective in encouraging companies to save fuel. “In addition, I am not sure that all the States will accept these quotas in 2012. However, intra-community flights represent 40% of planes that take off or land in the EU. "
She recalls that today, kerosene, unlike gasoline, is not taxed. “The non-taxation of kerosene in the 1940s was intended to promote the development of air transport. It no longer needs to be. "
Aurelie Blondel
Europe fights against global warming
How to respect the commitments made in the international Kyoto agreements in 1992? Europe responds: thanks to carbon dioxide emission quotas - rights to pollute. They have been imposed on certain industries since the beginning of 2005. This system should soon apply to aviation.
How does the "carbon exchange" work
More than 10 European industrialists now have the right to emit a certain number of tonnes of CO000 each year - the main greenhouse gas. The companies concerned: the energy sector, the production and processing of ferrous metals, the manufacture of paper, the mineral industry.
Prices and volumes on the Powernext polluting rights exchange (click to enlarge)
When they have used their basic quotas, manufacturers who still need them can buy them from other manufacturers who have too much. The transaction takes place within a “carbon exchange”. There are 6 in Europe, including one in France: Powernext, a subsidiary of Euronext (Paris and Amsterdam financial markets in particular).
40 euros per ton
The companies concerned report their carbon dioxide emissions each year. If they exceed their quotas, they must pay a fine set for the moment at 40 euros per tonne too much.
The objective is to encourage manufacturers to invest in less polluting techniques in order to earn money by reselling their quotas. It is therefore necessary, at each period, to reduce the quotas, so that they remain a rare commodity and that their price remains high.
With this system, Europe intends to respect the commitments made under the Kyoto Protocol: to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by 8% by 2012 (compared to the emission level of 1990). To achieve this, it now wants to integrate a new sector into the system: aviation.
Marginal pollution, but which is increasing rapidly
Aircraft carbon dioxide emissions represent only 3% of total Union emissions. But the Commission is worried, because they are increasing very quickly: + 87% since 1990, and by 2020 emissions are expected to double again compared to the current level.
According to the Commission, a traveler who flies back and forth between London and New York produces as much greenhouse gas as a European household to heat their home for a year.
Ticket prices will increase
From 5 to 40 euros more depending on the company, between 1,80 and 9 euros only for the European Commission. The evaluations are not precise, but all the speakers agree that the price of the plane ticket will increase with the introduction of quotas. An increase which should however be limited compared to the price growth due to the increase in oil prices.
New planes, new engines
"Companies should pass on the investments they will have to make to reduce carbon dioxide emissions to the price," explains David Handerson, spokesperson for the Association of European Airlines.
“New planes are always less polluting than their predecessors. Companies will surely retire old aircraft and renew their fleets. These are significant costs, ”he adds.
Tips on airport runways
Manufacturers are looking to make aircraft engines cleaner. With the European Union, they participate in particular in several programs to improve yields and reduce greenhouse gas emissions (Newac, Clean programs, etc.).
In order for the measure to be effective for the climate, companies must also make efforts to set up less “fuel-consuming” systems.
Charles Branson, the boss of the British airline Virgin, recommends turning on the engines later before take off, for example by towing them as far as possible on the runway.
Reducing the waiting time before take-off, but also before landing, by better organizing airports: this is also what Morgane Créach, from the France Climate Action Network, recommends.
What a tax would have cost
Finally, the impact of the European decision depends of course on the allowable quotas. If they are too high, the price of the rights to pollute sold on the market will not be high, and companies will not be encouraged to save.
If a tonne of carbon (carbon dioxide) were worth 30 euros on the pollution rights exchange, the impact on airlines would amount to 2,9 billion dollars in 2011, according to the International Air Transport Association (International Air Transport Association) ( Iata). But the prices of the right to emit gas are much lower at the moment.
In any case, the impact on companies will be much less than with a carbon tax. How much would this measure have cost? The figure of 14 billion euros was put forward by Iata in 2005.
The tax is not to be forgotten, however, as Jean-Marc Jancovici, climate specialist explains. With the warming which causes more and more debate, "the idea will come back on the carpet", estimates it.
Figures
Where does carbon dioxide come from in Europe (click to enlarge) 3% of carbon dioxide
The airline sector only produces 3% of carbon dioxide, but the amount has almost doubled in 15 years and is expected to do so again by 2020.
7% less gas
The quota system devised by the Brussels Commission would make it possible to reduce carbon dioxide emissions, responsible for greenhouse gas, by 7%.
€ 2,9 billion additional cost
The introduction of carbon dioxide quotas could represent 2,9 billion euros in additional charges, according to the International Air Transport Association.
40 € per ticket?
The companies estimate that the price of a long-haul ticket could increase to 40 euros. The Commission estimates for its part that the price increase will not exceed 9 euros per flight.
Learn more
On the side of the European Commission
the text of the Commission proposal for a directive: http://ec.europa.eu/environment/climat/ ... 273_fr.pdf
The press release from the European Commission: http://europa.eu/rapid/pressReleasesAct ... anguage=en
The pages of the European Union website devoted to global warming. You can, thanks to the "CO2 Calculator", calculate very precisely how much you could reduce your greenhouse gas emissions by applying a few simple principles: http://ec.europa.eu/environment/climat/ ... dex_fr.htm
The CV of Stavros Dimas, the European Commissioner for the Environment. http://ec.europa.eu/commission_barroso/ ... /cv_en.htm
On the side of companies and industrialists
Air France gives its opinion on the Commission proposal in a press release: http://www.airfrance.fr/FR/fr/local/tou ... dgfndfjf.0
The Association of European Airlines reacts to the Commission proposal. http://www.aea.be/dbnetgrid2//htmledito ... 06-056.pdf
An article from the International Civil Aviation Organization on gas emissions from airplanes: http://www.icao.int/icao/fr/env/aee_f.htm
The “environment” chapter of the Snecma site, which notably builds aircraft engines: http://www.snecma.com/rubrique.php3?id_ ... 〈=fr
On the greenhouse effect
The site of the France Climate Action Network, which brings together 13 national associations (eg WWF, Greenpeace). You will find a lot of information on the greenhouse effect: http://www.rac-f.org
The Econology site, which pleads for more responsible economies, shows that planes are only slightly responsible for greenhouse gas emissions: https://www.econologie.com/avions-et-co2 ... s-715.html
The site of the French carbon dioxide rights exchange. http://www.powernext.fr/
Information on the Kyoto Protocol on Wikipedia:
http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Protocole_de_Ky%C5%8Dto
The site of Jean-Marc Jancovici, specialist in global warming: http://www.manicore.com
On the British site Myclimate, you can pay, if you want, an airplane tax, to make your flight “climate neutral”. You indicate your departure and arrival airports, and the computer calculates what your trip will cost the climate: www.myclimate.co.uk
Read also:
https://www.econologie.com/avions-et-co2 ... s-715.html
