Carmen Bunzl - Universidad Pontificia Comillas

Chapter 4. Case Study: Spain 193
available: it includes verified emissions at installation level within the EU ETS,
as well as the overall GHG emissions of Member States as officially reported to
the UNFCCC.
(i) Relative efforts for the EU ETS and non ETS sectors
To determine the effort to achieve the 20% greenhouse gas reduction
commitment between the EU ETS – i.e. the EU ETS cap – and the sectors not
covered by the ETS, the preferred choice has been to use the cost-efficient
reference option as a basis, ensuring minimal overall cost 1 . The Commission
proposed the following approach:
- A 21% reduction in EU ETS sector emissions compared to 2005 by 2020;
- A reduction of around 10% compared to 2005 for the sectors that are not
covered by the EU ETS.
This division, with about 60% of reductions to be achieved in EU ETS sectors,
reflects the larger cost-effective potential, in particular in the electricity sector,
compared to non ETS sectors. Within the non ETS sectors there are also
considerable differences, with larger reductions in non CO2 gases (-21%
compared to 2005), and lower CO2 emissions reduction opportunities from for
instance buildings, and even more so in transport (-7% compared to 2005).
Taken together, these measures result in an overall reduction of -14%
compared to 2005, which is equivalent to a reduction of -20% compared to 1990.
1 To implement both the renewables target and the GHG reduction commitment, a wide range of
policy design choices were analyzed (see EC 2008). However, all options were based on the simultaneous
achievement of both the 20% renewable target and the 20% reduction of greenhouse gas emissions.
Escuela Técnica Superior de Ingeniería ICAI Carmen Bunzl Boulet Junio 2008