CEmailvision issue 9, September 2009

CE Delft is currently working on a number of studies on future power generation. What we see in the Netherlands at the moment is construction of large-scale coal- and gas-fired capacity. Does this conventional newbuild mean a risk of overcapacity? Will it have consequences for the growth of renewables envisaged by the government? And what is the impact of the government’s aim to increase the role of electric vehicles?
Despite subsidies and a range of other government policies, it appears there are still insufficient incentives for the energy market to invest in clean fossil and renewables. Investors in new production capacity are still showing no signs of developing alternative modes of power generation.
More information? Jos Benner +31 15 2150 150.

Next year sees the announcement of the interim results of the Dutch government’s climate policy programme ‘Clean and Efficient’ (Schoon en Zuinig). What progress is being made towards the envisaged 30% cut in CO2 emissions by 2020 and the growth in the share of renewables? The Dutch environment ministry, VROM, has asked CE Delft to help think about additional measures should the interim results prove disappointing in 2010.
More information? Jos Benner +31 15 2150 150.

The Netherlands’ Parliament has asked CE Delft for a second opinion on the cost-effectiveness of combined heat and power generation in the Netherlands. This was prompted by the Ministry of Economic Affairs’ recent announcement that it considers cogeneration to be cost-effective in the Netherlands and that there is consequently no need for a subsidy to stimulate further use of the technology. The ministry, which bases its position on data published by the Netherlands Energy Research Centre (ECN), has come in for widespread criticism from the cogeneration sector. The Parliament wants an unequivocal and objective review of the current cost-effectiveness of cogeneration, and this is now being undertaken by CE Delft.
More information? Ab de Buck + 31 15 - 2150 150.

What steps need to be taken at the European level to ensure that growth of electric transport systems will also lead to an expansion of renewable generation capacity? This is the question put to CE Delft by four environmental NGOs. As yet, the European directives on renewable energy that member states are required to implement make no allowance for the impact of greater use of electric vehicles. One potentially effective measure at the European level would be to raise the renewable energy targets for each country in proportion to the anticipated growth of the electric vehicle fleet. The study is being carried out for Friends of the Earth, Greenpeace International, Transport and Environment (T&E) and WWF.
More information? Bettina Kampman + 31 15 - 2150 150.

By 2020 ten percent of all traffic in the EU is to be renewably powered, so says a recent European directive. As originally conceived, this was to be achieved with biofuels, but given all the doubts that have emerged about the sustainability of biofuel production, the EU has now adopted a technology-neutral policy framework.
Friends of the Earth-Netherlands has asked CE Delft to assess how the 10% renewables target for the transport sector can be secured without resorting to the current generation of biofuels. This pilot study examines three potential (technology) strategies:

1. Large-scale use of electric or plug-in hybrid cars and vans.
2. More electric rail transport (tram and train) and electrically powered scooters and bicycles.
3. Sustainably produced biofuels based on (domestically produced) waste streams like chip fat.

The aim is to elaborate an alternative strategy for securing the 10% target, while at the same time achieving greater greenhouse gas emission cuts than with today’s biofuels, without their downside (including deforestation and competition with food markets). The study concludes with a brief assessment of what policies are available to the Dutch government for ensuring this alternative scenario indeed materialises, so that meeting the 10% target is accompanied by maximum environmental gains.
More information? Bettina Kampman +31 15 - 2150 150.

The European Commission seeks to emerge from the current economic crisis stronger, by  implementing an anti-crisis package that boosts the economy, sustainable development and social equity at one and the same time. This requires a good understanding of the impacts of such a package. CE Delft has been asked by the Commission to contribute to a EU workshop on the topic, by providing input on the issues of mobility and the built environment.
 
For the built environment CE Delft has prepared a discussion paper in which potential measures are compared and an assessment given of the policy instruments that are likely to prove most effective. When it comes to home insulation and use of renewable energy resources, there is clearly still plenty of scope for progress. While subsidies to this end will certainly be effective in the near term, they are expensive and consequently unsustainable for any prolonged period. In the longer term it is more cost-effective to tighten the energy standards for home insulation, as this will have a lasting effect. In a time when the government is tightening its purse-strings, an increase in energy prices is also an effective way to encourage home insulation and thus reduce household energy consumption.
More information >> Cor Leguijt  +31 15 - 2150 150.

In the framework of the World Ports Climate Initiative, last year CE Delft assisted the six major European ports of Le Havre, Antwerp, Rotterdam, Amsterdam, Bremen and Hamburg  to develop the Environmental Ship Index (ESI). The index  measures and rates environmental performance with regard to IMO standards coming into force in the coming years. It includes  ships’ nitrogen and sulphur emissions. The system  will be introduced  from 2010 onwards and can be used to promote clean shipping.
The ESI has now been put through practical trials, with questionnaires being filled in by over 50 vessels in the six ports. The  index is calculated by making use of the required emission certificates and bunker delivery notes.
More information>> Eelco den Boer +31 15 2150 150.