UK Emissions Trading Scheme: Difference between revisions
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[[Category:Legislation & Policy]] [[Category:Economics]] | [[Category:Legislation & Policy]] [[Category:Economics]] | ||
A [[UK Emissions Trading Scheme]] ([[UK ETS]]) is the [[wikipedia:Carbon emission trading| carbon emission trading]] scheme of the [[wikipedia:United Kingdom|UK]]. It is based on a [[wikipedia: Emissions trading|cap and trade]] principle and replaced the UK’s participation in the [[wikipedia:EU ETS|EU ETS]] on 1 January 2021. Under the Ireland/Northern Ireland Protocol, electricity generators in [[wikipedia:Northern Ireland|Northern Ireland]] remained within the [[wikipedia:EU ETS|EU ETS]]. | A [[UK Emissions Trading Scheme]] ([[UK ETS]]) is the [[wikipedia:Carbon emission trading| carbon emission trading]] scheme of the [[wikipedia:United Kingdom|UK]]. It is based on a [[wikipedia: Emissions trading|cap and trade]] principle and replaced the UK’s participation in the [[wikipedia:EU ETS|EU ETS]] on 1 January 2021. The [[incineration]] of [[Hazardous Waste|hazardous waste]] and [[Municipal Solid Waste|municipal waste]] is presently excluded but a consultation was undertaken in 2022 to determine whether to include such activity<ref name='ref1'>https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/developing-the-uk-emissions-trading-scheme-uk-ets</ref>. | ||
==Context== | |||
A [[UK Emissions Trading Scheme]] ([[UK ETS]]) is the [[wikipedia:Carbon emission trading| carbon emission trading]] scheme of the [[wikipedia:United Kingdom|UK]]. It is based on a [[wikipedia: Emissions trading|cap and trade]] principle and replaced the UK’s participation in the [[wikipedia:EU ETS|EU ETS]] on 1 January 2021. Under the Ireland/Northern Ireland Protocol, electricity generators in [[wikipedia:Northern Ireland|Northern Ireland]] remained within the [[wikipedia:EU ETS|EU ETS]]. The [[incineration]] of [[Hazardous Waste|hazardous waste]] and [[Municipal Solid Waste|municipal waste]] is presently excluded, but a consultation was undertaken in 2022 to include such activity<ref name = 'ref1'/>. | |||
==Background== | ==Background== | ||
The [[UK ETS]] applies to regulated activities which result in greenhouse gas emissions, including combustion of fuels on a site where combustion units with a total rated thermal input exceeding 20MW are operated (except in installations where the primary purpose is the [[incineration]] of [[Hazardous Waste|hazardous waste]] or [[Municipal Solid Waste|municipal waste]]). There are simplified provisions for hospitals, small emitters and ultra-small emitters<ref>https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/participating-in-the-uk-ets/participating-in-the-uk-ets</ref>. | The [[UK ETS]] applies to regulated activities which result in greenhouse gas emissions, including combustion of fuels on a site where combustion units with a total rated thermal input exceeding 20MW are operated (except in installations where the primary purpose is the [[incineration]] of [[Hazardous Waste|hazardous waste]] or [[Municipal Solid Waste|municipal waste]]). There are simplified provisions for hospitals, small emitters and ultra-small emitters<ref>https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/participating-in-the-uk-ets/participating-in-the-uk-ets</ref>. | ||
The [[wikipedia:Climate Change Committee|Climate Change Committee]] published a report to [[wikipedia: Parliament of the United Kingdom| Parliament]] in June 2021 that recommended that Government consult on the introduction of a carbon tax (either as part of the [[UK ETS]] or a separate instrument) aimed at curbing emissions from [[EfW]]<ref>https://www.theccc.org.uk/publication/2021-progress-report-to-parliament/</ref>. | |||
A consultation, which included the aforementioned point, ran between March 2022 and June 2022, with a call of evidence on expanding the [[UK ETS]] to include [[incineration with energy recovery]] and [[incineration without energy recovery]] by the mid to late 2020s<ref name = 'ref1'/><ref>https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1067125/developing-the-uk-ets-english.pdf</ref>. A key part of the consultation questions were included around the approaches suggested to determine the potential measurement of carbon from non-biogenic sources ('fossil carbon' primarily from plastics, originating from oil, within the wast stream): | |||
* Individual Plant Monitoring: each plant measures fossil and biogenic carbon (either via radio carbon basis set out in ISO 13833:2013) or via balancing method via routine compositional analysis at the plant | |||
* Emissions Factor Approach: using an estimate for composition of waste, which could be varied by geography, or for default waste composition. | |||
==Consultation Response== | |||
At the time of writing there was no consolidation of responses to the questions raised regarding the addition of [[EfW]] to the [[UK ETS]]. However, the [[LGA]] published their response in June 2022<ref>https://www.local.gov.uk/parliament/briefings-and-responses/lga-response-consultation-developing-uk-emissions-trading-scheme#:~:text=LGA%20response%20to%20consultation%20on%20developing%20the%20UK,28%20Jun%202022%20About%20the%20Local%20Government%20Association</ref> where they set out their opinion that the UK ETS shoudl not be extended to include [[incineration]] and [[EfW]]. | |||
==References== | ==References== | ||