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GAIA When EU Waste the Climate

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  • 7/30/2019 GAIA When EU Waste the Climate

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    WHEN THE EU WASTES

    the CLIMATEThe EU Policy of Subsidising Energy

    from Burning Waste

    is Worsening the Climate

    Joan-Marc SimonGlobal Alliance for Incinerator Alternatives

    www.no-burn.orgJune 2010

    ZeroWastefor

    ZeroWarming

    gaiagaia

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    i When the EU Wastes the Climate

    WHEN THE EU WASTES THE CLIMATEThe EU Policy of Subsidising Energy from Burning Waste is Worsening the Climate

    1. ABSTRACT 1

    2. CLIMATE CHANGE WORSENED BY GREEN ENERGY FROM INCINERATION 1

    3. SUBSIDISING INCINERATION CONTRADICTS EU LAW 2

    4. WHY IS THE SYSTEM GIVING WRONG INCENTIVES? 3

    5. ENERGY PRODUCED BY INCINERATORS IS NEITHER RENEWABLE NOR GREEN 3

    6. INCINERATION: GREEN ENERGY? 5

    7. HOW TO FIX THE SITUATION 6

    8. CASE STUDIES 7

    FLANDERS, BELGIUM 7

    FRANCE 8

    ITALY 9

    SPAIN 9

    9. CONCLUSIONS 11

    June 2010

    by Joan-Marc Simon

    GlobalAllianceforIncineratorAlternaves

    www.no-burn.org

    [email protected]

    GAIAisaworldwideallianceofmorethan600grassrootsgroups,non-governmentalorganizaons,and

    individualsinover89countrieswhoseulmatevisionisajust,toxic-freeworldwithoutincineraon.

    Acknowledgments:

    InFrance:CNIID-CentreNaonaldInformaonIndependantesurlesDechets,www.cniid.org

    InSpain:ISTAS-InstutoSindicaldeTrabajoAmbienteySalud,www.istas.ccoo.es

    In Italy: Ambiente Futuro, www.ambintefuturo.org

    Coverphotoby:CentreNaonalDInformaonIndpendantesurlesDchets(CNIID),France

    hp://www.cniid.org/

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    When the EU Wastes the Climate 1

    Leading sciensts and bioenergy experts

    fromUSandEuropehavebeenannouncing

    that an accounng mistake in Clean

    Development Mechanism (CDM) will

    cause the measures intended to ghtclimate change to eecvely increase GHG

    emissions1. Proper accounng can enable

    bioenergy to contribute to greenhouse gas

    reducons; improper accounng can lead to

    increases in greenhouse gas emissions both

    domescally and internaonally.

    The root of the problem lies in a mistaken

    understanding of Intergovernmental Panel

    on Climate Change (IPCC) guidance. Whenreporng their GHG emissions, energy

    companiesarenotincludingtheCO2released

    fromburningbiomass(plantmaer).What

    this means is that technically, countries

    couldcutdowntheirforests,turntheminto

    deserts and use the trees to replace coal,

    andtheywouldsllreceivecreditfromthe

    CDMforreducingemissionsfromcoal,even

    whileincreasingoverallemissions.

    Basedonthismistakenunderstandingofthe

    IPCCguidance,theEUhasdeneditspolicy

    1. ABSTRACT

    ThisworkanalysesthecontradiconsofEU(EuropeanUnion)policywhenpromongandfunding

    afalserenewableenergy-thatis,theenergyfromburningwaste.

    AbigpartoftheenergyproducedbyEuropeanincineratorsisconsideredtoberenewableenergy,

    whichallowsthemtoreceiveconsiderableratepremiumsandsubsidies.Thishastheeectofa

    falsegreensubsidytoburnwastethatcouldberecycledorcomposted.Inrealitythesesubsidies

    endupcreangtheoppositeoftheintendedeect:moregreenhousegas(GHG)emissionsinthe

    shortterm,lesssustainabilityandlessincenvetogreentheeconomy.

    on Renewable Energy (2009/28/EC) which

    includes the energy from burning biogenic

    waste (paper, cardboard, food waste, some

    texles,etc.)asrenewableenergy.Thishas

    triggeredagoodamountofsubsidiestobe

    deployedtoburningwastewhen:

    subsidizing incineraon contradicts

    thespiritoftheEUwastelaw,

    energy from incinerators is neither

    green nor renewable.

    2. Climate Change

    Worsened By Green

    Energy From Incineration

    Photo

    Court

    esyofCNIID

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    2 When the EU Wastes the Climate

    Commissionacknowledges that prevenon,

    reuse and recycling generate less GHG

    emissions than incineraon or landll, yet

    50%oftherecyclablesinEuropeareeitherburntorlandlled2.Moreover,EUlegislaon

    encourages burning a waste stream that

    could be anaerobically digested and then

    composted,bringingthecarbonbacktothe

    soil and hence helping, together with the

    fullyandtrulyrenewableenergycomingfrom

    anaerobicdigeson,ghtclimatechange.

    The Waste Framework Direcve spells out

    a waste hierarchy in which prevenon,

    reuseandrecyclinghavepreferencebefore

    incineraon with energy recovery and

    disposal.Composngshouldthereforehave

    priority over burning since biodegradablewastecanbecompostedandenergycanbe

    extractedfromitviaanaerobicdigeson.

    In reality, the premiums given to energy

    from incineraon play a crical role in

    making incineraon more aracve than

    environmentally and economically sound

    oponssuchasrecyclingandcomposng.

    Hence,Europeanlegislaonpresentsaclearcontradicon between what it preaches

    and what it really promotes; the European

    3. Subsidising

    Incineration Contradicts

    EU Law

    PhotobyCNIID

    In Europe the greensubsidies or renewable

    energies end up promoting

    burning waste instead o

    recycling. This gives wrong

    incentives to the markets

    and contradicts the wastehierarchy.

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    When the EU Wastes the Climate 3

    Because recycling and composng do not

    generate electricity, they are deemed

    ineligible for renewable energy premiums

    inthecurrentsystemwhilstburningwaste,

    which generateselectricity ineciently and

    is a step lower in the waste hierarchy, sll

    managestogetsuchreward.Thissystemof

    premiums is awed. By favouring only the

    produconofenergyiteecvelypenalises

    savingenergy.

    Prevenon, reuse and recycling save big

    amountsofenergy,materialsandemissions

    -insomecasesupto25mestheenergy

    producedbyincineraon.Foreveryproduct

    that is burnt a complete new process of

    extracon, process, manufacture and

    transporthastotakeplace.Yettheseenergy

    savingsarenotaccountedforanywhereand

    the market not only does not take theminto account but, with the premiums, also

    penalises these most environmentally and

    economicallysoundopons.

    The European legislaon fails to translate

    into policy the energy savings that

    prevenon,reuseandrecyclingbringtothe

    economy.Generangrealrenewableenergy

    -notenergyfromincineraon-isimportant

    but even more important is to reduce the

    demand of energy and this can be done

    dramacallyifwasteisprevented.

    Ontopofthesystemofpremiums,thecurrent

    Waste Framework Direcve upgrades most

    incineraonplantstothelevelofrecovery.

    Thispushforincineraononthelegislaon

    sideiscomplementedontheeconomicside

    withbillionsofEUregionalandcohesionfunds

    and loans from the European InvestmentBankgoingtosubsidisethebuildingofnew

    incineratorsalloverEurope.

    The European Direcve 2009/28/EC3 on

    the use of energy from renewable sources

    classies burning biomass as a renewable

    energy. The denion of biomass (Arcle2) includes biodegradable waste, which

    opens the door to allow premiums on

    the generaon of energy from burning

    biodegradables.Everymemberstatedecides

    on the percentage of biodegradable waste

    presentinthewasteandhenceeligibletobe

    subsidisedasrenewableenergy.However,in

    memberstatessuchasFranceorSpain100%

    of the electricity produced in incinerators,

    regardless of the biodegradability of the

    waste,iseligibleforpremiums.Italyfollowed

    the same scheme but decided to change

    it in 2007 thanks to the popular pressure

    and following the EU Direcve now it only

    subsidisesburningbiodegradablewaste.

    Whenitcomestoclimatechange,thecarbon

    emissionsofthenextdecadesarecrucialto

    avoidthepointofnoreturninwarmingthe

    planet. It is therefore necessary to reduce

    carbon emissions in the shortest possible

    termwhilstdecarbonisingoureconomies.

    4. Why is the System

    Giving Wrong Incentives?

    by avouring only the

    production o energy

    the system is efectively

    penalising the savings oenergy

    5. Energy Produced by

    Incinerators is Neither

    Renewable nor Green

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    4 When the EU Wastes the Climate

    However legislaon discounts the biogenic

    carbon-from30to50%ofthetotalcarbon

    emissions depending on dierent naonal

    laws-whichconsiderablyreducesthecarbon

    emissionsthatcount-thisisanaccounng

    rule that does not reduce the total CO2

    emissions.

    This is highly misleading because it puts

    burning biodegradable waste at the same

    levelascomposngandanaerobicdigeson.

    However,therealityisthat,asacknowledged

    bytheIPCC,composngmanagestocapture

    andsequesterpartofcarboninthesoils

    forsomeyearswhichhelptogainmeinthe

    ghtagainstclimatechange4.Plusithaslots

    ofposiveexternaliessuchas:

    waterandmineralsretenonwhichhelp

    toavoiddesercaonandoods,

    creaonoflocaljobsinthecolleconand

    treatmentofbiowaste, increase soil producvity (replacing

    energyintensiveferlisers)and

    helpreduceN2Oemissionsfrommineral

    ferlisers, which is important since N2O

    has a global warming potenal of 310

    (310 mes more powerful than CO2

    to

    trapheat).

    1800

    1600

    1400

    1200

    1000

    800

    600

    400

    200

    0

    gCo2(equ)perkWhelectricityequivalent

    Coal Fired Coal FiredStations

    Oil FiredStations

    Incinerator,Electricity only

    Incinerator CHP Gas-fired CHP Incinerator,heat only

    Emissions including all carbon

    Source: Dominic Hogg,March 6, 2006

    A Changing Climate for Energy from Waste,Eunomia Consulting,

    900

    800

    700

    600

    500

    400

    300

    200

    100

    0

    gCo2(equ)perkWhelectricityequivalent

    Emissions not counting biogenic carbon

    Source: Dominic Hogg,Eunomia Consulting, March 6, 2006

    A Changing Climate for Energy from Waste,

    Coal Fired Coal FiredStations

    Oil FiredStations

    Incinerator,Electricity only

    Incinerator CHP Gas-fired CHP Incinerator,heat only

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    When the EU Wastes the Climate 5

    Therefore burning biodegradable waste is

    not only notclimateneutralbut,becauseof

    opportunity costs and important neglected

    externalies, has a negave eect on the

    ghtagainstclimatechange.

    Burning biogenic carbon is clearly not

    green,ratheriteecvelydiscouragesthe

    sustainablealternave,whichiscomposng.Plus, by subsidising the energy produced

    withbiogeniccarbon(lessthan50%oftotal)

    weincenvisetheburningoftheother50%

    which normally includes recyclables which,

    according to general consensus, will be

    beeroprevented,reusedorrecycled.

    Itisimportanttounderstandthatthegure

    represenng the biogenic percentage of

    the waste is not measured, but decidedby polics. Studies show that the eecve

    biogeniccarboninthewasteislowerthanthat

    normally considered eligible as renewable

    energy. The UK esmates are that with

    r e c y c l i n g

    rates of 60%

    the biogenic

    carbon is

    35% of the

    M u n i c i p a l

    Solid Waste

    (MSW). The

    d i f f e r e n c e

    between the

    p e r c e n t a g e

    consideredfor

    the subsidy

    and the real

    content of

    biomass -

    s o m e t i m e s

    up to 20% - equals the amount of fossil

    fuels whose burning is being subsidised as

    renewableenergy,whichisagainstEUlaw.

    Moreover, since biowaste includes a high

    amountofwater(upto80%infoodwaste)

    itremarkablylowerstheenergyeciencyofenergyrecoverythroughthermaltreatment;

    therefore the energy eciency with which

    theincineratorsareproducingtheelectricity

    which qualies for green premiums in

    many cases doesnt surpass 20% and is

    typicallybelow25%.Whencomparingwith

    windorsolarenergy-withenergyeciencies

    above80%-butalsowithallothertypesof

    powerstaonsbasedonfossilfuels(whose

    eciencies are typically much higher)one wonders why such an inecient and

    damagingtechnologyisbeingsubsidised.

    6. Green Energy?

    Photo

    courtesyofGreenpeace

    The renewable energy di-

    rective distorts the waste

    hierarchy. Incineration is

    given priority in detrimento compost and anaerobic

    digestion.

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    6 When the EU Wastes the Climate

    Paradoxically,thearcle13.6ofthedirecve

    on renewable energy reads, In the case

    of biomass, Member States shall promote

    conversion technologies that achieve a

    conversion eciency of at least 85 % for

    residenalandcommercialapplicaonsand

    atleast70%forindustrialapplicaons.

    But this doesnt apply to burning organic

    waste.Thesamedirecverulesthatonly

    green power from non-hybrid installaons

    (e.g. solar-photovoltaic systems, wind

    turbines and hydroelectric power staons)shall have priority. Electricity from hybrid

    installaons shall not have priority rights,

    as it is deemed too dicult to determine

    the proporon of sustainable and non-

    sustainable electricity that is produced at

    the same moment inthe same installaon.

    However, the excepon to this is the

    electricity from waste incineraon plants

    whichqualiesunderthepriorityrules.

    ThespiritoftheWasteFrameworkDirecve

    is - through the applicaon of the waste

    hierarchy - to encourage the treatment of

    biodegradablewasteinaresponsiblemanner

    and get real renewable energy out of it.

    Unfortunately, EU renewable energy policy

    does exactly the opposite and eecvely

    subsidisesalessenvironmentallyfavourable

    opon.

    Thereisarealdangerthattheeortsofthe

    EU to ght climate change will give results

    onlyinthestascsbutnotinreality.

    Energy from incineraon is neither green

    nor renewable, hence, premiums to the

    produconofenergyfromwasteshouldbe

    stopped.

    Energy savings in waste:When it comes to energy balances, the

    biggestpotenalimpactofthewastesector

    isinenergysavingsthroughtheprevenon

    ComposngfacilityinNetherlands.PhotobyJoanMarcSimon/GAIA

    7. How to Fix theSituation?

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    When the EU Wastes the Climate 7

    and hence reducon of waste and through

    reuse.Therecyclingofwasteismoreenergy

    intensivethanprevenonbutitissllbeer

    for the environment than incineraon with

    energy recovery5. This is recognised by the

    Waste Hierarchy of the Waste Framework

    Direcve and the only thing lacking isimplemenngitandsengtherightdrivers

    and nancial incenves. It is therefore

    crucialtoshipremiumsandsubsidiesfrom

    incineraontothemostfavourableopons.

    Renewable energy from waste:

    Renewable energy can be extracted from

    biodegradable waste through anaerobic

    digeson and extra benets can be reaped

    when bringing the carbon back to the soil.Studies show thatcomposng green waste

    savesasmuchCO2asincineraon6.However,

    when on top of direct CO2 emissions we

    includesecondaryeects,suchasthepower

    ofcomposttosequestercarbonorthefact

    that incineraon hinders prevenon, reuse

    and recycling, the eects of composng

    notably overtake those of incineraon as a

    wastetreatment.

    When composng is complemented with a

    prioranaerobicaldigesonprocess,thetotal

    netsavingsareconsiderable.Plusanaerobic

    digeson and composng dont distort

    the treatment of the other waste streams;

    on the contrary, a separate collecon of

    biodegradable waste has the posive

    externalityofallowingforahigherrecycling

    eciencyoftheremainingwaste.

    Premiums and subsidies:

    The current system of premiums and

    subsidies for incineraon in Europe clearly

    favours the less environmentally-sound

    opon and contradicts the goals that the

    legislaonismeanttoachieve.Itisurgentto

    shitheeconomicdriverstogetsoundwaste

    andresourcemanagementinEurope.Atthe

    least, a good system of market incenves

    should denitely favour energy savings as

    muchasitfavoursgeneraonofenergy.

    Therefore,ifthereisnowilltoremovethe

    current unfair system, the only sensible

    approach compable with the current

    premiums is the denion of an EU

    methodology to account for the energy

    savings of prevenon, reuse and recycling

    whichshouldalsobeeligibleforpremiums.The fact is that having only premiums for

    energy generated creates a big market

    distoron.

    The direcve on Renewable Energies

    2009/28/EChasDecember2010asadeadline

    for transposion. It is very important that

    in the next months the member states

    take the iniaveof priorisingthe properapplicaonoftheWasteHierarchyaheadof

    themisleadingguidancethatisgivenbythe

    RenewableEnergydirecve.

    AnalysisofthesituaonindierentEuropean

    countries:

    FLANDERS, BELGIUM

    In Flanders, incineraon is subsidised as

    renewableenergyonlyforthegeneraon

    of electricity.

    Approximately 48% of the electricity

    producedinanincineratorisconsideredto

    begeneratedfrombiogenicsourcesandthus

    renewable. The companies receive green

    electricity cercates for this energy. This

    subsidyis20to25pertonofwasteinput.

    ConsideringthatinFlanders1.3milliontons

    of wastes are incinerated per year we can

    esmateasubsidyofbetween26and33

    million.ThismeansthateveryFlemishcizen

    paysaround5tosubsidiseincineraonand

    0tosubsidisecomposngorrecycling.

    8. Case Studies

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    8 When the EU Wastes the Climate

    It is important to note that the denion

    ofbiogeniccarbonusedinFlandersisquite

    wide and for instance 40% of wool in any

    wool/nylon sweatshirt is considered to

    be biogenic carbon and hence taken into

    account as renewable energy when burnt.

    The formula used to calculate this is alsodubious since non-biogenic energy can be

    usedtodrybiogenicwaste.

    FRANCE

    Following the European Direcve on

    renewable energy (2001/77/CE now

    2009/28/EC),Francehasbeenimplemenng

    a reducon of taxes on energy from waste

    since 2006. In France, incineraon is

    considered a source of renewable energy

    (50%). But also all the energy produced is

    consideredtoberecoveredenergywhich

    allowsalltheenergytoqualifyfornancial

    benets.At the sameme,inFrancethere

    is a compulsory fee to buy the electricityproducedbyincineratorsandalowerVATtax

    (5.5%insteadof19%)forthoseincinerators

    thatrecoverheat.

    For the electricity, nowadays the fees are

    from4.5to5cents/kWhplusapremium

    for energy eciency from 0 to 0.3 cents/

    kWh7. The naonal company Electricite de

    France(EDF)isobligedtobuythisenergyat

    the established prices. In winter, when thedemandishigher,thefeescan

    beincreasedwhichcausessome

    incinerators to stock waste in

    autumn and burn it when the

    priceofenergyishigher.

    Despitethegeneroussubsidies

    toburnwaste-mostofwhich

    couldberecycled-theindustry

    connuestoaskforincreasesinthefees.Inmesofhighenergy

    prices, there have been cases

    inwhichgeneratorshavebeen

    plugged into the grid to sell

    moreelectricityandhenceget

    moresubsidies.

    In contrast, the French

    incineratorsemittheequivalent

    CO2 of 2.3 million cars and on

    topofthatemitabignumber

    dangerouspollutants8.

    The naonal group CNIID

    (Centre Naonal dInformaon

    Independante sur les Dechets)

    denounced in 2009 the

    contradiconwiththepolluter

    pays principle and the waste

    hierarchy (2008/98/EC) that

    incineratorsgettaxexempons

    and premiums whilstPhoto

    CourtesyofCNIID

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    When the EU Wastes the Climate 9

    constantlydiscouragingreuse,recyclingand

    composng9. On the contrary, because of

    itsharmfulimpactontheenvironmentand

    climatechange,incineraonshouldbetaxed.

    A new law from 2009 introduces a general

    tax on pollung acvies (taxe gnralesur les acvits polluantes-TGAP)whichis

    appliedtothewasteenteringanincinerator.

    However this tax does not take into

    accounttheimpactthatincineraonhason

    climatechange-boththeGHGsemiedby

    incineraonandtheemissionsthatcouldbe

    savedifthewastewererecycled,composed

    orreusedinsteadofbeingburnt.

    ITALY

    Between 2001 and 2007, the direcve

    2001/77 was - intenonally - wrongly

    implemented and resulted in 7% of the

    electricity subsidising incineraon of

    biodegradableandnonbiodegradablewaste

    asgreenenergy.Thisissllbeingappliedfor

    old incinerators whilst new ones fall under

    2009/28direcveandonlyconsiderenergyfrom biogenic carbon to be renewable.

    However, the percentage of renewable

    energy has been arbitrarily established at

    51%,whichisremarkablyhigherthanwhat

    scienc invesgaons have demonstrated.

    Theunitsubsidyhasbeendenedinsucha

    waytoensureatargetpriceofenergyfrom

    incinerators at 20 cents/kWh, i.e. three

    mes higher than the typical market price

    forenergy,whichisabletoreducethecost

    ofincineraonbysome150/tonne.

    The organisaon Dirio al Futuro10 is

    requesng the company responsible for

    electricity distribuon (Gestore del Servizio

    ElericoNazionale)topaybacktotheItalian

    cizensthe40billionthatsince2001Italian

    cizens paid to nance renewable green

    energy and instead ended up nancing

    burning resources and generang more

    polluon. That is, every Italian cizen has

    subsidisedincineratorswithmorethan650

    duringthelast9yearswithmoneymeantto

    nancerenewableenergy.

    SPAIN

    In Spain, the premiums for energy from

    incineraon are regulated according to the

    Royal Decree 661/2007 and they will be

    reviewedin2010.

    Thesystemisverycomplexandthepremiums

    mainlydependonhowmuchgasand/oroil

    isaddedtothewastetoincreaseitscaloric

    value(sothattheycanjumpfrom20%to35-

    40% energy eciency and hence get morepremiums) and on whether the plant sells

    theenergydirectlytothemarketoragreesto

    sellitforaregulatedxedprice(6,449cents

    /kWh).Ifitsellstheenergytothemarket,

    thereareupperandlowerlimitsfortheprice

    tomakesurethattheplantcoversthecostof

    burningwaste.

    In Spain, the energy produced by burning

    municipal solid waste in 2008 was 2732GWh. The price of electricity in 2009 was

    between 32.25 and 51.13/MWh but due

    totheuctuaonofpricesandthedierent

    composion of waste it is very dicult to

    know how much money is generated in

    premiumsorbyjustsellingtheenergyfrom

    theSpanishincinerators.

    Ifweassumethepriceof6,449/MWhfor

    the producon of electricity of 2008, then

    of 2.732 GWh Spanish cizens subsidised

    incineraonwith177millionperyear.That

    is, every Spanish cizen pays 4 a year to

    subsidiseincineraonand0tosubsidise,for

    example,compost.Onceagain,inacountry

    with problems of advanced desercaon

    itisdiculttoarguewhyitispreferableto

    subsidise the opon of burning biowaste

    beforebringingthecarbonbacktothesoil.

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    10 When the EU Wastes the Climate

    The current situaon regarding premiumstoincineraon-forthebiogenicfraconor

    thewholeMSWishighlydangerousforthe

    European Union because it sets the wrong

    market incenves and it is highly probable

    thatincreasesthecarbonemissions.

    Moreover,theamountofwasteincinerated

    in Europe will increase considerably during

    the coming years thanks to the favourable

    reclassicaon of incineraon in the newWasteFrameworkDirecveandthebillions

    ofeurosgivenbytheEuropeanCommission

    intheformofRegionalandCohesionFunds

    and the contribuon of the European

    InvestmentBankwithcreditsandloans.

    Some 100 incinerators might be built in

    southernandeasternEuropeinthecoming

    years(mostofthemwithEUhelp).Oncethe

    current west-European pracces of giving

    premiums to energy from incineraon are

    appliedtothenewincineratorswecouldsee

    how, if all Europeans subsidise incineraonliketheBelgians,theFrenchortheSpanish,

    2.5 billion per year would go to subsidise

    the energy produced by incinerators in

    Europe.Thisishalfofthecostofbuildinga

    European-widesmart-grid11.

    IfEuropeistofollowtheItalianpaern(72/

    capita/year) up to 36 billion of taxpayers

    money-notincludingthebillionsinstructural

    and cohesion funds already invested inbuildingthefurnaces-wouldgotosubsidise

    theenergythatsoinecientlyisproducedin

    incinerators.WiththismoneyEuropecould

    buildtheEUsmartgridinonly7years!

    9. Conclusion

    astepickersatCOP15,UNFCCC

    Copenhagenstressclimate

    netsofwastereducon,

    cycling,reusingandcomposng.

    otobyDaveCiplet

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    When the EU Wastes the Climate 11

    Europelivesinmesofeconomiccrisisand

    rising public decits which forces the EU

    and the member states to streamline their

    supporng measures and encourage the

    reallyrenewableenergies.Studiesprovethat

    alotmoreenergyissavedifwasteprevented

    orrecycled,yettheseenergysavingsarenotonlynotaccountedforbutalsodiscriminated

    inthesubsidiesandprimesscheme.

    Itishenceurgenttore-channeltheowof

    publicmoneyfromsubsidiesandpremiums

    toincineraontorealrenewableandgreen

    technologies.

    Endnotes:

    1 Ninety sciensts urge the US Congress

    nottoCookthebookshp://216.250.243.

    12/90scienstsleer.pdf

    2 The study Gone to Waste from FoErevealsthat50%oftherecyclablematerialin

    theEUendsupdumpedorburnt(countries

    like Germany, Holland or Denmark would

    burnitwhilstcountrieslikePoland,Bulgaria

    or Greece would bury it). According tothe

    studythesematerialswouldhaveaminimum

    potenalmonetaryvalueof5.25billion.

    3 2009/28/EC hp://eur-lex.europa.eu/

    LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=OJ:L:2009:14

    0:0016:0062:en:PDF

    4 Favoino, Enzo and Hogg, Dominic, The

    potenal role of compost in reducing

    greenhouse gases. Waste Management

    Research2008;26;61,hp://wmr.sagepub.

    com/cgi/content/abstract/26/1/61

    5Environmentalbenetsofrecyclingan

    internaonalreviewoflifecyclecomparisons

    forkeymaterialsintheUKrecyclingsector.

    WRAP 20106 Kranert, M., Goschall, R., Bruns, C. &

    Hafner,G,Energyorcompostfromgreen

    waste? A CO2-based assessment. 2010

    Waste Management. 30: 697-701.

    7 hp://www.developpement-durable.

    gouv.fr/energie/renou/se_ren_a4.htm

    8 hp://www.invs.sante.fr/recherche/

    index2.asp?txtQuery=dioxines+ordures&Su

    bmit.x=0&Submit.y=09 hp://www.cniid.org/espace_

    telechargement/actualite/dechets_climat_

    explicaons.pdf

    10 h t t p : / / w w w . d i r i t t o a l f u t u r o . i t /

    vertenza.html

    11 h t t p : / / w w w . g r e e n p e a c e . o r g /

    international/en/publications/reports/

    renewables-24-7/


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