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Our goal is to reduce our annual shortage of CO2 allowances considerably through avoidance measures. We have identified more than 30 million metric tons in potential reductions by 2012 and slightly less than 60 million metric tons by 2015 versus 2008. These figures are based on the current size of RWE’s power plant portfolio. Growth investments have not been factored in. This corresponds to a decline of 20 % by 2012 and more than 30 % by 2015, compared to the RWE Group’s CO2 emissions in 2008 (172 million metric tons).
A key element of our strategy is to take part in climate-protection projects within the scope of the Kyoto “Clean Development Mechanism” Glossary (CDM) and “Joint Implementation”(JI) Glossary mechanism. Companies which participate in the emissions trading scheme can meet their emissions obligations with certificates obtained from these types of measures at lower cost. However, the EU has set caps limiting their use. The allowable amount for our plants is about 100 million metric tons of CO2. Further key elements of our CO2 strategy are the reduction of emissions through the modernization of our power plant portfolio and the expansion of our renewable energy base. We also want to step up the use of combined heat and power generation Glossary. In addition, we plan to build one of the world’s first large-scale coal-fired power plants featuring carbon capture and underground storage if we can count on state subsidies.
Political decisions in the field of energy policy have a significant impact on the options available to the RWE Group to reduce CO2 emissions sustainably. The most effective and affordable way to avoid emissions is to extend the lifetimes of nuclear power plants. Nuclear power generation emits practically no carbon dioxide, and if nuclear power stations are shut down, they will have to be replaced by higher-emission fossil fuel-fired power plants. This is because renewables-based facilities are not capable of generating the same amounts of base-load Glossary power. We could prevent up to an additional 15 million metric tons of CO2 emissions per year merely by extending the lifetimes of our two Biblis units.
