This article provides an analysis of the EU Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) and the harmonized benchmark-based allocation procedures by comparing two energy-intensive sectors with activities in three Member States. These sectors include the cement industry (CEI) and the pulp and paper industry (PPI) in the UK, Sweden, and France. Our results show that the new procedures are better suited for the more homogeneous CEI, in which the outcome of stricter allocation of emissions allowances is consistent between Member States. For the more heterogeneous PPI – in terms of its product portfolios, technical infrastructures, and fuel mixes – the allocation procedures lead to diverse outcomes. It is the lack of product benchmark curves, and the alternative use of benchmark values that are biased towards a fossil fuel-mix and are based on specific energy use rather than emission intensity, which leads to allocations to the PPI that do not represent the average performance of the top 10% of GHG-efficient installations. Another matter is that grandfathering is still present via the historically based production volumes. How to deal with structural change and provisions regarding capacity reductions and partial cessation is an issue that is highly relevant for the PPI but less so for the CEI.
Policy relevance
After an unprecedented amount of consultation with industrial associations and other stakeholders, a harmonized benchmark-based allocation methodology was introduced in the third trading period of the EU ETS. Establishing a reliable and robust benchmark methodology for free allocation that shields against high direct carbon costs, is perceived as fair and politically acceptable, and still incentivizes firms to take action, is a significant challenge. This article contributes to a deeper understanding of the challenges in effectively applying harmonized rules in industrial sectors that are heterogeneous. This is essential for the debate on structural reformation of the EU ETS, and for sharing experiences with other emerging emissions trading systems in the world that also consider benchmark methodologies. 相似文献
Natural Hazards - This study presents a new approach to assess storm surge risk from tropical cyclones under climate change by direct calculation of the local flood levels using a limited number of... 相似文献
The instantaneous salt dilution method for water discharge measurements in open channels has been improved by the development of a new instrument measuring conductivity. The salt method consists of two parts: the calibration and the actual measurement in the stream. The calibration aims to calculate the linear relationship between electrical conductivity and salt concentration at various degrees of dilution in a salt solution. The original undiluted solution is injected into the water of a stream and the conductivity is measured downstream from the injection site. When measuring, the new instrument integrates the conductivity over time. From the value obtained on the instrument's display, the water discharge can easily be calculated on a hand-PC in the field. The instrument has eliminated the subsequent calculation work formerly necessary. It has increased the accuracy of the method and also reduced the need for field personnel during measurements. 相似文献
Surficial sediment distribution within Simpson Bay is a function of antecedent bedrock and recently deposited glacial geology,
as well as active physical processes both within Simpson Bay and Prince William Sound (PWS). Simpson Bay is a turbid, outwash
fjord located in northeastern PWS, Alaska. Freshwater from heavy precipitation, and the melting of high alpine glaciers enter
the bay through bay head rivers and small shoreline creeks. The catchment has a high watershed/basin surface area ratio (∼8:1),
and easily erodible bedrock that contribute to high sediment loads. The system can be divided into three discrete basins,
each with specific morphologic and circulatory characters. Side scan sonar, swath bathymetry, and seismic profiles reveal
that bathymetric highs are areas of outcropping glacial surfaces. High backscatter coupled with surface grab samples reveal
these surfaces to be composed of coarse sediment and bedrock outcrops. Bathymetric lows are areas of low backscatter, and
grab samples reveal these areas to be ponded deposits of organic-rich estuarine muds. The data provide evidence of terminal
morainal bank systems, and glacial grounding line deposits at the mouth of the bay and rocky outcrops were identified as subsurface
extensions of aerial rocky promontories. Radioisotope analyses of short cores reveal that the bay has an average accumulation
rate of approx. 0.5 cm year−1, but that this varies in function of the watershed/basin surface area ratios of the different basins. The interaction of
tidal currents and sediment source drives sediment distribution in Simpson Bay. Hydrographic data reveal high spatial variability
in surface and bottom currents throughout the bay. Subsurface currents are tide dominated, but generally weak (5–20 cm s−1), while faster currents are found along shorelines, outcrops, and bathymetric highs. Bathymetric data reveal steep slopes
with little to no modern sediment throughout the bay, suggesting lack of deposition due to tidal currents. 相似文献
The MedFlux project was devised to determine and model relationships between organic matter and mineral ballasts of sinking particulate matter in the ocean. Specifically we investigated the ballast ratio hypothesis, tested various commonly used sampling and modeling techniques, and developed new technologies that would allow better characterization of particle biogeochemistry. Here we describe the rationale for the project, the biogeochemical provenance of the DYFAMED site, the international support structure, and highlights from the papers published here. Additional MedFlux papers can be accessed at the MedFlux web site (http://msrc.sunysb.edu/MedFlux/). 相似文献
Taking into consideration a probe moving in an elliptical orbit around a celestial body, the possibility of determining conditions which lead to constant values on average of all the orbit elements has been investigated here, considering the influence of the planetary oblateness and the long-term effects deriving from the attraction of several perturbing bodies. To this end, three equations describing the variation of orbit eccentricity, apsidal line and angular momentum unit vector have been first retrieved, starting from a vectorial expression of the Lagrange planetary equations and considering for the third-body perturbation the gravity-gradient approximation, and then exploited to demonstrate the feasibility of achieving the above-mentioned goal. The study has led to the determination of two families of solutions at constant mean orbit elements, both characterised by a co-planarity condition between the eccentricity vector, the angular momentum and a vector resulting from the combination of the orbital poles of the perturbing bodies. As a practical case, the problem of a probe orbiting the Moon has been faced, taking into account the temporal evolution of the perturbing poles of the Sun and Earth, and frozen solutions at argument of pericentre 0\(^{\circ }\) or 180\(^{\circ }\) have been found. 相似文献