Will rising carbon prices curb industrial emissions in Europe?
Reducing CO2 emissions is not going fast enough
The industry is vital for the competitive position of Europe in the world, but it emits large quantities of CO2. Refineries, chemical and steel companies are concentrated mainly in industrial clusters. Still, there are also many smaller companies like papermills and the food and beverage industry that need to reduce emissions too.
The targets for the reduction of CO2 emissions as agreed in the Paris agreement are not being achieved. In practice, it seems complicated for companies to take the necessary steps. There are solutions for almost every industry to reduce CO2 emissions substantially. Think about energy efficiency measures, electrification of processes, the use of renewable energy sources or more use of hydrogen to replace coal, oil and natural gas.
Altogether, industry is accountable for significant CO2 emissions and, therefore, an important sector where decarbonization needs to be accelerated to achieve the Paris climate goals and develop towards a clean and sustainable society.
Deep decarbonization starts with curbing the demand and energy efficiency
The first step in decarbonization is curbing the demand and improving the efficiency of existing assets by upgrading and modernization where possible. Next comes the electrification of existing assets, building hybrid systems, and generating carbon-neutral power with renewables to move away from conventional fuels like coal, oil, and gas. After 2030, energy efficiency, electrification and carbon-neutral power will remain important. But there's also a need for green hydrogen and biomass as a fuel or feedstock and Carbon Capture Storage and Usage. It's not something done just by clicking your fingers, but something that has to be invested in right now to help us to achieve zero emissions by 2050.
Financial incentives are necessary to speed up
Energy efficiency, renewables, end-use electrification, green hydrogen and synthetic fuels play a crucial role in global decarbonization. But many measures require significant investment. It is not always easy to find valid business cases, but times are changing. On the one hand, green technology is developing rapidly and becoming cheaper and grants and subsidies for adopting these technologies lower the threshold. On the other hand, rising carbon prices are shortening the pay-back time. A big uncertainty is the evolution of oil and gas prices over time. Oil and gas are finite, and as they will become scarce, they are expected to become expensive over the coming decades.
Necessary technologies such as PV systems, wind turbines, batteries, heat pumps and electrolyzers show steep learning curves. They will quickly find their way into all kinds of applications, including in industry. Renewable energy is getting cheaper and is already competitive with fossil fuels in many situations. And although hydrogen is no "Haarlemmer oil", this is an essential building block to achieve sustainable energy and production.
There are two proven methods for CO2 pricing: emission trading and taxation. European countries like Sweden, Denmark, France and the Netherlands have already introduced a carbon tax.
Carbon pricing needed to achieve the climate goals
In Europe, we have known CO2 prices for years from the EU Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS). The ETS price has proven to be volatile in recent years. In 2017 it was around € 8 per ton CO2; it climbed in subsequent years to € 28, but fell back in 2020 to € 17. These days the ETS price is around € 60. For many years carbon prices have been too low to effectively incentivize industrial companies to take action to meet climate targets. There are now signs that this is changing.
Carbon tax in the NetherlandsOn the 1st of January 2021 the Netherlands introduced a new carbon tax for industry. The Dutch carbon tax on industrial emissions complements the EU ETS. The tax mainly applies to large industrial emitters including waste incinerators. The tax is on top of the ETS price. If the ETS price is less than the tax, the amount of tax paid is the difference between the tax and the annual average ETS price for the year. In this way the tax sets a minimum level for the carbon price, but does not prevent the carbon price from going higher if ETS prices are high. For industry this new tax makes the carbon price rise linearly from €30/tCO2 in 2021 to €125/tCO2 in 2030. This makes the business case for a sustainable solution more favourable.
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It is not only economics
Review your investment plan
Where do you start?
About StorkStork's is committed to be leading in the reduction of CO2 emissions in the industry, thus contributing to less climate impact. At Stork, we see decarbonisation as part of modern asset management. We make the link between professional management of industrial installations assets and sustainability by looking at companies through the lens of the energy transition and circularity. We emphasize that sustainability in industry is about energy and materials. Stork aims to minimise the impact of its own environmental footprint, but also to support its clients with industry leading solutions to do the same. The result of these efforts is that nearly half of the Stork Netherlands entities are now certified at Level 5 of the CO2 performance ladder with the remaining 50% certified at Level 3. More details can be found in our corporate Responsibility report.
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The 6-25 projectStork is participating in the 6-25 project, which has set itself a target to reduce 6 Mton CO2 in the Dutch Industry in 2025. With this in mind, a study was carried out to find the CO2 reduction potential for the Dutch industry. As the time horizon is only 5 years, only proven technologies already commercially available in the market are taken into account. Several industries and all kinds of ready-to-use solutions, were investigated. Especially the chemical industry showed the highest reduction potential, followed by Food & Beverage industries, and to a lesser extent Paper & Board. Large reduction potential was found in the category “Heat Integration & Flexibility”, but interesting improvements can also be found with “Smart Control”, better process control and operation of (existing) assets. Some very interesting, ready to use, solutions that are worth looking at are heat integration, retrofitting of existing assets, but also, better process control of older production facilities.
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Jack Doomernik is lector of Smart Energy at Avans University of Applied Sciences and a principal consultant at Stork. Jack advises organizations on energy management processes and implementation of new, energy-efficient technologies. His recommendations typically begin with conducting an analysis of how individual production processes contribute to total energy use, followed by outlining the potential for energy savings and the measures necessary to improve energy performance. This includes options for introducing renewable energy sources such as solar and wind, as well as storage solutions. A cost-benefit analysis can help in making decisions on how to prioritize the proposed measures and come up with an energy plan.
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