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NEWS ARTICLE

19/03/2010
"Forbidden technology" can not be accepted as a reference

 “Forbidden technology” can not be accepted as a reference.

 

N°1most exposed sector.

On 18 of September 2009 EU Member States approved a draft Decision listing 164 industrial sectors and sub-sectors deemed to be exposed to significant risk of carbon leakage. Only 4 had a “Carbon Cost” exceeding 30%. The manufacture of fertilizer and nitrogen compounds with 92,4% of “Carbon Cost” was deemed the N°1 most exposed sector.

Irrespective of this exposure the EU wishes to include forbidden technology in its ETS industry benchmarking exercise.
In the EU, seven nitric acid installations are equipped with NSCR (non-selective catalytic reduction) technology for NOx reductions. As a side effect N2O emissions are also reduced. These installations, however, emit considerable amounts of CH4, CO2 and NH3. For this reason the NSCR technology is not considered Best Available Technology (BAT) by the BATREF Guidelines of the EU IPPC Directive, nor is it qualified as a technology for N2O abatement in UN Kyoto Projects (CDM and JI).

As NSCR is not considered BAT, European producers are no longer allowed to build these plants. It is “a forbidden technology” for us. In spite of that the European Commission wishes to take these installations into consideration when defining the 10% best plants on whose average level of N2O emissions the emission rights of the industry will be based.

Fertilizers Europe strongly insists that the NSCR plants must be excluded from setting the benchmark base line level. Their inclusion would mean that the European industry is compared with a technology that is no longer available because of its pollutant side effects. It is totally unfair to use “a forbidden technology” as a reference point.

Fertilizers Europe has obtained strong legal opinion to support its view. In spite of this officials of the European Commission have not in the bilateral discussions, with representatives of Fertilizer Europe, changed their mind. There is a considerable reduction potential in N2O emissions from nitric acid facilities in any case and the good work done by the industry should not be undermined by “tricks” whose justification and legal basis is obscure to say the least.

Contact: Mark Cryans +32.474.885886

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