Spain attends COP27 with the challenge of halving its emissions in 9 years

Spain will attend the United Nations climate summit, COP27, with the challenge of reducing its greenhouse gas emissions by half in less than nine years, since in 2021 it closed with a level of emissions similar to that of 1990, a year that is taken as a reference in the process of global decarbonization.

The European Union has raised its target of reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 2030 from 40% to 55% compared to 1990 and to achieve this it is negotiating the so-called “Fit for 55” package of measures, which as a first step will prohibit the sale in Europe of new cars and vans with combustion engines from 2035.

As a Member State, Spain adopts these objectives as its own, in what within the framework of the UN is called National Contributions (NDC), commitments that countries acquire to reduce their emissions and ensure that the global temperature does not rise more than 1.5 degrees (Paris Agreement).

By 2021, gross carbon dioxide (_CO2) equivalent of Spain totaled 288.6 million tonnes, a figure very similar to that of 1990 (290.1 million tonnes) and much lower than the maximum reached in 2007 (446.7 million), according to the latest GHG Emissions Inventory of the Ministry for the Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge.

Compared to 2020, emissions rebounded by 5.1%, although it must be taken into account that that year they had fallen by 12.5% due to the measures adopted to stop the advance of covid-19.

If the comparison goes back to 2019 (313.8 million tonnes), a year with a normal level of activity and without restrictions on production or mobility, emissions were reduced by 8% in 2021.

It remains to be seen what will happen to CO2 emissions in 2022, which will be influenced both by the end of pandemic-related restrictions and by the wave of fires that have hit the country, among other factors.

To move towards emissions neutrality in 2050, Spain approved in 2021 its first Law on Climate Change and Energy Transition in Spain, which establishes national minimum objectives for 2030, which may be reviewed next year.

These objectives include that greenhouse gas emissions fall by at least 23% compared to 1990, or achieve a minimum penetration of renewables in final energy consumption of 42%, a percentage that in the case of electricity generation rises to 74%.

Among the measures to reduce emissions from road transport and improve air quality, is that cities with more than 50,000 inhabitants (149 in Spain) have on January 1, 2023 low emission zones (LEZ) through which the most polluting vehicles cannot circulate.

However, the Spanish Federation of Municipalities and Provinces has asked the Government to extend by one year, until 2024, the fulfillment of this obligation because, in the absence of less than two months to end the year, the royal decree that will set the minimum requirements that must be met has not been approved.

The law also introduces the obligation to install public charging points in locations such as gas stations, commercial areas or facilities dependent on the General State Administration to achieve the Government’s goal of having 100,000 points in 2023, which will hardly be achieved, since there are currently just over 15,000.

As for the objective of a mostly renewable electricity park, although the gap is smaller, there is also a way to go, given that, between January and September, more than half of the generation came from non-renewable sources, including 3% from coal and 1.8% from fuel.

In that period, 24.8% of electricity was generated in combined cycle (natural gas), 20.2% in nuclear power plants, 20.8% in wind farms, 11% in photovoltaic solar plants, 6.7% in cogeneration systems and 6.2% in hydroelectric power plants.

Regarding the decarbonization of the automotive industry, according to data from the sector, Spain has one of the oldest mobile parks in Europe, with an average of 13.5 years; and that between January and September 707,613 vehicles were registered in Spain, of which only 25,105, 3.5% of the total, were pure electric.

In terms of pollution, according to the Observatory of Sustainability, the 80 largest cities in Spain, home to some 19 million people (40% of the population), had a high level of air pollution in 2021.

For the preparation of the study, the agency analyzed the evolution in 2021 of three key pollutants: nitrogen dioxide (NO2) and PM10 and PM2.5 particles, largely from the circulation of vehicles, industry and heating.

In addition, according to Ecologists in Action, almost 99% of the Spanish population has been exposed this year to unhealthy levels of pollution by tropospheric ozone, a pollutant that is formed on the surface by the chemical reaction between precursor pollutants and solar radiation.

Source: Yahoo