Isra-Mart srl:Volcanic ash clouds the future of aviation emissions trading

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The Icelandic ash cloud still appears to be wreaking havoc, almost a year after it dissipated, as airlines today stepped up warnings that the disruption caused by last year's eruption could undermine the aviation industry's imminent inclusion in the EU's carbon trading scheme.

Emissions from flights in and out of Europe will come under the Emissions Trading Scheme (EU ETS) from the beginning of 2012 as part of a highly controversial move designed to increase pressure on airlines to curb greenhouse gas emissions.

Aviation emissions account for around two per cent of global greenhouse gas emissions, but are predicted to rise to almost a quarter of global emissions if action is not taken.

The aviation industry has been campaigning against its proposed inclusion in the ETS, arguing that a global mechanism is required to ensure European airlines remain competitive, and that the proposed means of measuring airlines' emissions is flawed.

"The 1 January 2012 start date for EU ETS is fast approaching, but there are still many critical areas that need to be resolved," said Steve Ridgway, chairman of the Association of European Airlines (AEA), at a meeting in Brussels this week. "It's imperative that the commission fixes these issues to ensure that the Emissions Trading Scheme works as envisaged and avoids creating unfair market distortions or undermining its environmental effectiveness."

One of the industry's main complaints is that flights in 2010 are set to determine the allocation of credits that airlines receive under the EU ETS in 2012. But according to the AEA many airlines, particularly in northern Europe, operated significantly fewer flights than usual in 2010 as a result of the Eyjafjallajokull volcano, which threw ash up to 10km into the atmosphere, grounding flights for almost a month.

"The airlines are unhappy that the figures are not being adjusted to take the volcanic ash cloud into account," an AEA spokesman told BusinessGreen. "Many northern European airlines had no flights whatsoever in April, while some in southern Europe were still flying part of their programme. We're concerned that those not flying at all will get a lower allocation of credits than they would have done."

The spokesman added that the AEA's proposals to use 11 months of 2010 figures, or to substitute 'business as usual' simulated numbers, had been rejected by the European Commission as "it believes the effect was not significant".

He also reiterated the AEA's ongoing call for a global deal, warning that a piecemeal approach to cutting emissions would damage European competitiveness.

"The European system as it is will contribute virtually nothing to efforts to cut global emissions," he said. "But it will surely upset the competitive balance between Europe and the rest of the world."

BusinessGreen was unable to contact the commission before going to press.

The potential for airlines to use jet biofuels to curb emissions was also discussed at this week's meeting, with airlines calling on the EU to funnel the money raised through aviation's inclusion in the ETS into biofuels research programmes.