Brussels, 07/03/2011 (Agence Europe) - The European Commission has set aviation's level of historical emissions at over 219 million tonnes of CO2, with a view to the full inclusion of the sector in the EU emissions trading scheme (EU ETS) from 1 January 2012. The decision, taken on Monday 7 March, will make it possible to calculate the number of aviation allowances to be available from 2012.
The figure agreed on Monday - 219,476,343 tonnes of CO2 - corresponds to the average of the estimated annual emissions for the years 2004, 2005 and 2006 of all flights that would be covered by the EU ETS by aircraft operators to and from European airports. The number of aviation allowances to be created in 2012 will be 97% of this figure, or 212,892,052 tonnes of CO2. From 2013 onwards, the number of allowances to be created each year will be 95% of the total figure - 208,502,525 tonnes of CO2. Calculation of historic aviation emissions was based on data from Eurocontrol (the European Organisation for the Safety of Air Navigation) and actual fuel consumption information provided by aircraft operators. Additional calculations were carried out to account for fuel consumption associated with the use of the auxiliary power units on aircraft at airports. (S.P./transl.rt)