| New Policy Paper on Sustainable Aviation
Today (18 September), energy and climate think tank EPICO published a new policy brief on the role of hydrogen in sustainable and climate-neutral aviation.
With this paper, the authors point to green hydrogen as crucial to meet the 2050 targets and reduce CO2 and non-CO2 emissions, and call for urgent action on scaling it up.
"The aviation sector has no chance of decarbonising without green hydrogen. However, both policy signals and real industry support are lacking right now. Governments and the aviation industry have no time to waste," said Marte van der Graaf, aviation policy officer at Transport and Environment, welcoming the report.
While recognising the initial scarcity of alternative fuels, the brief focuses in technological solutions and promoting innovation. [Bárbara Machado]
Coal pollution increases due to alleged government failures
Central and Eastern European environmental NGO coalition CEE Bankwatch published a report yesterday showing that coal pollution is increasing in the Western Balkans – and puts the blame on the deficiencies of local governments.
In 2023 – six years after pollution control rules under the Energy Community Treaty came into force – sulphur dioxide emissions from coal-fired power stations in Bosnia-Herzegovina, Kosovo, Northern Macedonia and Serbia were still collectively 5.7 times higher than permitted.
The Energy Community secretariat has opened several infringement proceedings against the countries concerned, but no government has imposed sanctions on the coal-fired power stations involved.
Pippa Gallop, Bankwatch's Energy Policy Officer for South East Europe, said: “The European Commission's failure to ensure compliance with EU pollution legislation is seriously damaging the EU's image in the region: the new enlargement commissioner must tackle this problem head on.” [Nathan Canas]
Environmental NGOs take petrochemical giant INEOS to court again.
ClientEarth and 14 other environmental NGOs are taking legal action against INEOS for building Europe's largest plastics manufacturing plant in the port of Antwerp, Belgium.
The NGOs are denouncing the Flemish authorities' decision to grant a new permit to the British company, claiming that the firm has failed to detail the real impact of the project on people, nature and the climate.
Speaking on behalf of the NGO coalition, Dries Verhaeghe, a lawyer at Belgian NGO Dryade, which is part of the action, said: “The Flemish authorities are using every trick in the book to satisfy petrochemical giants such as INEOS. Their allegiance is clear: it has nothing to do with the health of their citizens or the future of our planet.”
A hearing could be held in the course of next year. [Nathan Canas]
Berlin ups the pressure on Brussels to settle EV dispute with Beijing
“The European Commission and China should make every effort to find a negotiated solution,” said German economy minister Robert Habeck (Greens) after meeting with Chinese trade minister Wang Wentao on Tuesday. [Nikolaus J. Kurmayer]
German low-volume wind auction oversubscribed
Developers applied for subsidies to construct wind turbines totalling almost 3 GW, overshooting the 2.7 GW on offer, the country’s grid agency BnetzA said on Tuesday. Stakeholders cheered the results as a sign the wind industry was recovering. However, the auction was initially intended to offer 4.1 GW, but it was cut back due to the expected low demand.
To date, only 1.3 GW of wind turbines were manufactured in Germany, far short of the 6.2 GW target for 2024. Solar sits at 10.1 GW, German-made out of 13 GW. [Nikolaus J. Kurmayer] | 
