Gas surpasses lignite as EU’s top power sector emitter
Data from the EU’s Emissions Trading System (ETS) shows that emissions from gas power plants overtook those of lignite power plants for the first time last year, according to analysis by the think-tank Ember. As a result of coal’s decline across the bloc, Europe’s power sector emissions fell by 17% compared to 2019 – with gas making up a record 34% of the sector’s total emissions.
In 2020, renewables overtook fossil fuels to generate the largest share of Europe’s power, a shift that led to the observed reduction in power sector emissions. Ember reports that hard coal and lignite fell 25% and 23% respectively, while gas dropped just 6% year-on-year. However, the power sector is still responsible for half of all emissions recorded in the EU ETS.
Though the phaseout of both hard coal and lignite is underway, gas is being used to replace lost coal generation in some instances. While hard coal and lignite power emissions have fallen 58% since 2013, gas power emissions have gone up by 23%.
Nine of Europe’s key coal-reliant countries – a list that includes Poland, Hungary and Greece – are lobbying for loopholes to be added to the bloc’s ‘sustainable finance taxonomy’. The European Commission had hoped to publish these rules, which set out criteria for labelling green investments, at the start of this year. But some countries objected to the first draft after it denied gas power plants a green designation.
According to Global Energy Monitor, an NGO that tracks fossil fuel projects, 70% of proposed new gas capacity in Europe is planned in countries that presently generate more energy from coal than gas.
On 21 April, the European Commission revealed a first draft of sustainable finance rules, designed to describe economic activities that are aligned with the goals of the Paris Agreement. It has delayed decisions on gas and nuclear plants, both of which are proving controversial.
