European energy chief backs carbon capture funding

The European Commission’s energy chief Andris Piebalgs has backed the so-called “Doyle-Davies” amendment that would see 500 million Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) emissions allowances kick start the building of 12 carbon capture and storage (CCS) demo projects.

But he warned, at a meeting of the Zero Emissions Platform General Assembly in Brussels on Monday, that that any funding of the CCS projects should not compromise the overall stability and coherence of the ETS mechanism.

He said any low carbon funding scheme must meet a clear set of criteria:

• Any use of allowances to support demonstration projects must come from within the overall cap;

• It must avoid possible windfall profits

• It must be a temporary instrument and designed only for early demonstration projects;

• Any earmarking of allowances for early demonstration projects must be technology neutral. However, individual support mechanisms for early demonstration can be technology specific.

• Allowances specifically earmarked for support to early demonstration projects must not be the only support mechanism; specific support must have leveraging effect of opening the door to other forms/sources of financing;

• Any mechanism should distort the ETS as little as possible.

• Any mechanism should be compatible with community state aid rules

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