2009 Issue 1 - Sabre Airline Solutions

Red Flags And Flowers
By Peter Berdy | Ascend Contributor
As with all controversial legislation, the revisions
to E.U. emissions trading system have brought
forward vocal opponents and proponents.
Environmental organizations have been
lobbying for a focus on renewable energies
and energy efficiency in the transition to a lowcarbon
economy. Industries are calling for the
development of a firm legislative framework to
safeguard future investment in cleaner energies,
as well as phase out subsidies for inefficient
plants, appliances, vehicles and buildings,
and for fossil fuel use and nuclear power
installations.
Proponents of renewable energies and
other clean technologies argue the moment is
ripe for a paradigm shift, where the entire energy
system, including key infrastructures, needs
to be re-examined. The European Renewable
Energy Council believes the renewables sector
could deliver more than 20 percent of the
European Union’s energy needs by 2020 if
member states continued to invest in new
technologies.
Opinions on the topic of aviation emissions
trading run the gamut, and several officials,
from government agencies to standalone
organizations, have no reservations about
standing by their convictions and beliefs.
“the long-term stable framework is
key for future development.”
— EREC Secretary General Christine Lins
“A very substantial investment (public
and private) will be required to progress
toward the 20 percent greenhouse gas
emission reduction target.”
— European Commission Energy and Transport
“A massive clean technology push
will create ‘thousands of new businesses
and millions of jobs in europe.’”
— E.U. Executive President José Manuel Barroso
“recent fallout in global financial markets
has raised doubts whether a recession is
the right moment to spend huge sums on
clean technology investments that may only
pay off in several years’ time, rather than
spending on short-term stimulus and job
preservation programs. too stringent a co2
reduction regime would not make sense in
light of competitiveness and employment
concerns.”
— German Chancellor Angela Merkel
“there is a fundamental tension
between using international trading in the
ets to lower the cost of meeting the e.u.’s
targets and expecting the ets to send sufficient
price signals to drive the low-carbon
power investment needed to reach the
e.u.’s objectives.”
— Nick Mabey, founding director of British
think tank E3G and former U.K. Prime
Minister’s strategy unit advisor
“the e.u.’s renewable energy directive
creates a positive investment climate
for a more long-term development of its
industries.”
— The European Solar Thermal Industry Association
“the directive would allow the wind
power industry to expand to meet an
increasing share of european electricity
needs.”
— The European Wind Energy Association
“Auctioning emissions allocations will
both generate revenues for governments and
are also needed to address climate change.
for example, last November, the u.K. government
held its first auction in the e.u.
ets. More than 4 million allowances were
auctioned at a price of ₤16.15 (us$24) raising
₤54 million (us$80 million) and were
four times oversubscribed. Auctioning
is viewed as more efficient than giving away
allowances for free. Auctioning ensures
businesses take into account the cost of
carbon and creates incentives to change
behavior and reduce energy consumption.
“the new e.u. legislation indicates
that this revenue source should be used to
tackle climate change and suggests that
member states should now use at least half
of their auctioning revenues on measures
to combat climate change. unfortunately,
this is not obligatory.”
— U.K. Department of Environment, Food and
Rural Affairs
E.U.’s CO2 Emissions
Guidelines for Res
Systems
The European Union has issued CO2
emissions guidelines for all types of reservations
systems. Although there is no specific
requirement to provide information about CO2
emissions to passengers, the European Union
encourages this practice.
“CRS should be encouraged to provide
in the future easily understandable information
about CO2 emissions and fuel consumption of
the flight,” the European Parliament stated last
September as part of the code of conduct for
computerized reservations systems in relation
to CO2 emissions. “This could be shown via
average fuel consumption data per person in
litre/100km and average CO2 emissions per
person in g/km and could be compared with
data of the best alternative train/bus connection
for journeys of less than five hours.”
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