The limits to CO2
The case of gas is different. The European rules just approved say that in order to be considered sustainable and financeable, a methane-fueled power plant must have conditions that are almost unattainable. Less than 270 grams per kilowatt hour produced, 100 grams from 2030. A challenging puzzle on the border of the principles of thermodynamics.
To emit the little CO2 imposed by the taxonomy, the plant must burn hydrogen, non-fossil methane or, in addition to electricity, it must also produce heat to heat a city or an industrial activity
The capacity market stations
There is an alternative. A plant that produces an average of 550 kilos of CO2 per year for every kilowatt of installed power is also green. This objective can be easily reached even from low efficiency and high emission plants, provided that the plant remains on for no more than 1,000-1,200 of the 8,760 hours that make up a year.
The only power plants with these characteristics are the generators of the ” capacity market “Which are used to cover the electricity production holes created by the wind when the arms of the windmills become lazy, by the clouds when they spitefully shade the photovoltaic panels, when the sun sets and suddenly blinds the silicon: and in that instant they light up , well paid, the power stations a button and go.
A few comments from companies
A few additional aspects.
With the decree law 31 May 2021, n. 77, converted into law no. 108, the Guidelines for the drafting of the technical and economic feasibility project were issued to form the basis of the awarding of public works contracts of the NRP, guidelines in which explicit reference is made to the EU Taxonomy. «The EU taxonomy thus becomes a reference – they say to the Stantec, a multinational specialized in energy efficiency and infrastructures – together with other tools such as the Minimum Environmental Criteria, for the design of activities, and therefore infrastructures, which are contemplated in the Regulation. In this context, Stantec stands alongside customers in infrastructure projects, with its expertise in infrastructure design and sustainability, for the entire life cycle of the work ». The company has a long experience in the field of sustainable infrastructures, being among the first promoters of the Envision certification protocol for the sustainability of infrastructures in Italy and deals with training Envision SP figures and the verification of infrastructure projects that have started the Envision certification process.
TheAnigas, a confindustrial association of the gas industry, according to which “if on the one hand it is positive that the criteria provided for by the European Regulation encourage fuel switching in countries with a more polluting energy mix, it is paradoxical that these criteria penalize the most virtuous countries, like Italy, which have implemented a phase out process of coal at an advanced stage. In this way, our country risks seeing investment measures relating to its natural gas generation plants totally excluded, reducing the benefits of past investments and increasing the costs of those expected in the future, with negative impacts on the competitiveness of companies and possible burdens for final consumers “.