Airlines decry EU carbon emissions scheme
Airlines denounced on Tuesday an EU plan to charge them for carbon emissions, warning it would cost the industry 17.5 billion euros ($23.8 billion) over eight years.
Airlines denounced on Tuesday an EU plan to charge them for carbon emissions, warning it would cost the industry 17.5 billion euros ($23.8 billion) over eight years.
Three major airline associations charged that the European Commission was "grossly misleading" by stating the scheme could actually translate into 20 billion euros in revenue over the next decade.
"It is high time that the Commission woke up to reality," said the Association of European Airlines (AEA), the European Regions Airline Association (ERA) and the International Air Carrier Association (IACA).
"Saying airlines are the beneficiaries of a scheme that deprives them of revenues shows a blatant misunderstanding of economic reality," they said in a joint statement.
Airlines, which contribute to 3.0 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions, will be included in the EU's carbon trading market on January 1.
But EU climate action commissioner Connie Hedegaard announced Monday that airlines will receive 85 percent of their emissions allowances free of charge in 2012, meaning airlines would have to pay for 15 percent of their polluting rights. The figure will drop to 82 percent per year between 2013-2020.
She said the free allowances amount to 20 billion euros over the next decade, adding that airlines could use the funds to modernise their fleets, improve fuel efficiency and use non-fossil aviation fuel.
"To refer to carbon permits as revenue is totally absurd," says AEA secretary general Ulrich Schulte-Strathaus.
"This is simply not true. The allocated certificates have to be surrendered; this is not money which airlines can re-invest," he said.
The airlines said the price of carbon permits would rise to 28 euros for one tonne of CO2 by 2020, for a total cost of 17.5 billion euros between 2012-2020.
European carriers, meanwhile, will post "a meagre 0.8 percent margin" in 2012," they said.
"Adding costs against a backdrop of economic uncertainty will only hinder the recovery," said IACA director general Sylviane Lust.
US air carriers are challenging the EU Emissions Trading System in Europe's top court, arguing that it breaches international climate change agreements.
(c) 2011 AFP
-
From lemons to lemonade: Reaction uses carbon dioxide to make carbon-based semiconductor,
32 comments
-
Thioridazine kills cancer stem cells in human while avoiding toxic side-effects of conventional cancer treatments,
3 comments
-
SpaceX private rocket blasts off for space station (Update),
42 comments
-
Climate scientists say they have solved riddle of rising sea,
31 comments
-
SpaceX capsule has 'new car' smell, astronauts say (Update),
2 comments
-
Hypothetical desert earth
14 hours ago
-
More human population = greater mass?
May 25, 2012
-
Conversion from aircraft bearing to normal degrees
May 23, 2012
-
Interpretation/Analysis of the Lab results(HEPA filter)
May 22, 2012
-
Has anyone here attended the The Urbino Summer School in Paleoclimatology?
May 22, 2012
-
Earthquakes: Mag 6 N. Italy and Mag 5.6 W. Bulgaria
May 21, 2012
- More from Physics Forums - Earth
More news stories
Sophisticated simulations predict future warming
The chances of our planet being hit by a global warming of 3 degrees Celsius by 2050 is as likely as it being hit by an increase of 1.4 degrees, new research shows. Presented in the journal Nature Geoscience, the British study ...
Space & Earth / Earth Sciences
May 22, 2012 |
4.4 / 5 (9) |
51
Kyoto Protocol architect 'frustrated' by climate dialogue
UN climate talks are going nowhere, as politicians dither or bicker while the pace of warming dangerously speeds up, one of the architects of the Kyoto Protocol told AFP.
May 23, 2012 |
3.7 / 5 (7) |
39
Aliens don't want to eat us, says former SETI director
Alien life probably isn’t interested in having us for dinner, enslaving us or laying eggs in our bellies, according to a recent statement by former SETI director Jill Tarter.
Space & Earth / Space Exploration
May 25, 2012 |
4.4 / 5 (13) |
37
Dragon arrives at space station in historic 1st (Update 2)
The privately bankrolled Dragon capsule made a historic arrival at the International Space Station on Friday, triumphantly captured by astronauts wielding a giant robot arm.
Space & Earth / Space Exploration
May 25, 2012 |
5 / 5 (10) |
19
What's the big deal about private space launches?
(AP) -- The first private spaceship is headed to the International Space Station. Some questions and answers about the cargo mission by Space Exploration Technologies, known as SpaceX:
Space & Earth / Space Exploration
May 22, 2012 |
5 / 5 (6) |
35
Browser wars flare in mobile space
The browser wars are heating up again, but this time the fight is for dominance of the mobile Internet.
Nvidia trumpets Tegra 3 phone design wins for 2012
(Phys.org) -- Nvidia’s competitive war paint has a name, Tegra 3. On the heels of Nvidia announcements about lowering costs of its Tegra 3 processors and Nvidia-enabled tablets running Android Ice Cream ...
Scientist: Evolution debate will soon be history
(AP) -- Richard Leakey predicts skepticism over evolution will soon be history. Not that the avowed atheist has any doubts himself.
Dell tablet leak: 10.1-inch display, two-battery choice
(Phys.org) -- Headline after headline talks about vendors’ tablets in the wings as likely number-one contenders for the iPad. Such claims have justifiably been taken with a grain of salt, considering ...
Keep food safety in mind this memorial day weekend
(HealthDay) -- Picnics, parades and cookouts are as much a part of Memorial Day weekend as tributes to the United States' war veterans.
Social welfare cuts ultimately come with heavy price, researchers say
(Phys.org) -- Slashing government funding for Medicaid, food stamps and other programs that serve the poor – while politically popular with some lawmakers and many conservatives – may do more harm ...
Sep 27, 2011
Rank: 3 / 5 (6)
Ok, that's completely insane. I don't know what the ratio is for jet fuel, (I think most airliners burn a kerosene mix, but I can't remember exactly,) but for gasoline it's like 19 pounds of CO2 per gallon of gasoline you burn. Jet fuel is probably similar, but not excactly, don't need to look it up exactly anyway.
This would mean every 116 gallons of fuel would produce 1 metric ton of CO2, equaling 28 euros taxation, or $38.21 per ton CO2.
Which is $0.33 per gallon (using gasoline, which isn't exactly right, but close...)
This is equivalent to a roughly 10% tax on fuel, at least at present prices.
This is also going to create conflicts in international law for multi-national corporations and airlines, as different nations will have different laws...
It's as if they are trying to strangle economies and technology, instead of incentivizing new technologies...
Sep 27, 2011
Rank: 3.6 / 5 (5)
Ultimately, this will lead to increase in price for passengers, which means an increase in costs to businesses who have legitimate travel needs, and punishing low income individuals and small businesses who don't have extra money to spend.
This is ultimately a REGRESSIVE tax, because it is a consumption tax on basic infrastructure, therefore it mostly hurts the people who have the least income.
This is sort of like the 9% "VAT" sales tax, which the republicans want. Well, if you're a rich guy, a consumption tax on goods probably won't be noticed much anyway, particularly since they want to lower income tax on the insanely wealthy already. If you are a poor or average person, then losing 9% of your income to a consumption tax is a disaster.
Sep 27, 2011
Rank: 4.5 / 5 (4)
The lower 1/3rd of the world population and european and American populations are already virtual slaves anyway, with actual total tax rates, by the time you count income tax, sales tax, property tax, stamps, fees, licenses, etc, etc, being somewhere around 25 to 35% for mean income people, depending on credits and deductions...
How much more can normal people in the U.S. and Europe be taxed before the term "slave" is literally appropriate?
Whereas the wealthy people love flat taxes, because 10% of a million still leaves then with 900k, or about 20 times the mean income...what do they care about a 9% sales tax they are proposing when they also want to cut income tax to a flat 9%? This would crucify the lower and middle class, while making the wealthy something like 25% richer in net income...
I realize that's not directly related to the article, but it is somewhat. These policies are insane...
Sep 27, 2011
Rank: 2.1 / 5 (11)
Sep 27, 2011
Rank: 2.5 / 5 (2)
Well, I don't know what to say man.
The Republicans in the U.S., and especially the Tea Party sect, aren't any better than the death panel ultra-leftists of whom you speak.
As I said, they are proposing cuttin the income tax to a flat 9%, but raising a national sales tax to 9% also. As I said, this would completely impoverish everyone from about the existing mean income downward, while making the insanely wealthy even more wealthy than they already are.
What the Tea Party wants is quite literally personal Lordship and Tyranny for the wealthy over normal people.
Can you imagine how fast your spending money would disappear if there was an additional 9% federal sales tax on everything you purchase? continued...
Sep 27, 2011
Rank: 2 / 5 (2)
It's already getting to where today, the media and government leaders are literally telling 40 and 50 year olds they need to go back to college in order to get a job...
How the heck is anyone supposed to pay for this and their children's living and education, even without additional taxation? AS things are, college debts are already one of the biggest drivers of credit problems and divorce.
Nine percent more sales tax on normal people?
Carbon taxes on everything?
"Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction."
Sep 27, 2011
Rank: not rated yet
If all you have is minimum food, clothing, and shelter then you're not much more than a slave.
You might not consciously realize it due to modern technology and standard of living...
The higher consumption taxes, fees, and licenses, etc, becomes, the thinner the boundary between voluntary and "involuntary" servitude.
Does anyone realize that a parent ordering their child to do a chore is technically a violation of this law if the child doesn't want to do it? After all, even slaves got food, clothing, and shelter, so the parent's argument of "if you want to eat you'll do it" or something like that is no better than child slavery...
Sep 27, 2011
Rank: 1 / 5 (4)
There seems have been little real difference between the policies of right-wing/left-wing, Republicans/Democrats, Communists/Capitalists for the past four decades.
Since ~1971 most political leaders have quietly cooperated with international agreements to avoid the threat of mutual nuclear annihilation by uniting nations against a "common enemy" - Global Climate Change [1,2].
1. "Deep roots of the climate scandal (1971-2011)"
http://dl.dropbox...oots.pdf
2. "Video summary of research career (1961-2011)"
http://dl.dropbox...reer.pdf
With kind regards,
Oliver K. Manuel
http://myprofile....anuelo09
Sep 28, 2011
Rank: 3 / 5 (2)
Now, fewer people may fly as a result of higher ticket prices, but airlines will adjust to that as well, by downsizing fleets and restructuring routes.
Sep 28, 2011
Rank: not rated yet
Just stop flying in these markets that cost too much. Or government could just ban the production of CO2. Voila, no more green house gasses...and i'm sure the world would be a better place...Sailing ships, horse-drawn...er sorry horses make greenhouse gasses, I guess we'd have to pull the carts...oh, wait, HUMANS emit green house gasses...maybe we could eliminate all humans?
Sep 28, 2011
Rank: 2 / 5 (1)
Those two are contradictory. Downsizing WILL cost them money. Less total income equal less total profit AND they would sell the excess planes to who exactly? Each other? That doesn't work.
Do read what you write before you post. For those little self-contradictions. Are you trying to catch up with Oliver?
Ethelred
Sep 28, 2011
Rank: 5 / 5 (3)
For instance, high-speed rail travel is far more fuel-efficient than airplanes: what hurts the airline industry, helps the rail industry. Businesses that think they "legitimately need to travel" may rediscover the benefits and cost savings of telepresence and teleconferencing -- thereby boosting those industries. Maybe there will be less shipping of parts halfway across the globe to be assembled together and then shipped back halfway across the globe into retail. Maybe that wouldn't be such a bad thing.