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06/23/2008 08:50 AM
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Germany, EU On Pace to Meet Kyoto Obligations
SustainableBusiness.com News
The European Union is on pace to fulfill its Kyoto Protocol obligations
ahead of schedule, the European Environmental Agency said Friday.
The EU is required to reduce greenhouse gas emissions 8% below
1990 levels by 2012, under the Kyoto Protocol, and emissions, as of
2006, have already been cut 7.7%.
However, heavier use of coal for heating and power could throw
the European nations of track. As the price of oil has increased,
countries like Poland, Denmark and Finland have turned to cheaper
supplies of imported coal, which resulted in an increase of 15.4
million tons of carbon dioxide (CO2) from this sector in 2006, the
Agency said.
The EU has set a goal of reducing greenhouse gases an additional
12% beyond its Kyoto Protocol obligation, aiming for 20% reductions by
the year 2020.
At the forefront of this push is Germany, which signed into law a comprehensive energy package last week, which aims to cut that nation's emissions 40% below 1990 levels by 2020.
Oil company BP released a report last week showing that energy
consumption in Germany decreased more than in any other country in the
world in 2007. Germans reduced their primary energy generated by oil,
gas, coal, nuclear and hydropower by 18.5 million tons of oil
equivalent, resulting in a 5.6% reduction in overall energy use.
