Clear Strategy for Reducing our CO2 Emissions
There is a clear consensus amongst scientists: global warming must be limited to less than 2°C, as agreed by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). As an energy company we are conscious of our particular responsibility on the journey to meeting this target, so we are systematically reducing the CO2 intensity of our generating portfolio. In our Performance Report 2010 we report in detail about further progress in these areas.
Earlier to Climate Target
In 2010 E.ON committed to an accelerated reduction of CO2 to mitigate the effects of climate change as quickly as possible: we pledged to halve specific CO2 emissions from our European generation portfolios (on a 1990 baseline) as early as 2020 - that's 10 years earlier than originally planned. To achieve our CO2 objective we are investing substantially in improving the efficiency of our coal and gas power plants and the further development of our renewables portfolio. In 2010, we invested more than EUR 1 billion in renewables. This way, we expanded our wind and solar energy generation capacity by 600 MW to currently 3.6 GW. We're planning to further allocate EUR 2.6 billion in investments for the period 2011 to 2013. Outside Europe we are also working on covering the increasing demand for energy through renewables and conventional generation. Furthermore, we intend to be always among the best power companies in each of the regions in which we operate. Nuclear energy is an important pillar in achieving the further reduction in CO2 intensity that we are planning. Therefore, the CO2 goals of our nuclear power plants are currently being evaluated before the early shutdown takes place.
Improving Global Corporate Action
E.ON manages conventional energy generation and renewables transnationally (see the cross references in the right-hand margin for further information). With this organizational structure, which was newly created in 2010, we are trying to tackle global issues such as climate protection even more effectively. We have also bundled our activities relating to the development of new generation technologies throughout the Group and are modernizing the power plants we already have in operation. Furthermore we support developing and industrialized countries in climate protection projects as laid down in the Joint Implementation (JI) and Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) of the Kyoto Protocol. Our focus regions are Southeast Asia, the Middle East, North Africa and Russia. At the same time, we are working with key partners such as Masdar and Bionersis on innovative solutions for climate protection, for instance generating energy from the incineration - and therefore elimination - of landfill gas, which is particularly climate-damaging.
Far-sighted Global Action is Indispensable
Decarbonizing energy generation requires long-term planning security for energy companies. This is the only way of bringing new technologies into play on a large scale and generating financial resources for research and development. For this reason we explicitly support the economically and environmentally sustainable reduction of CO2 emissions with clearly defined milestones up to 2050. We therefore appeal to the leaders of the international community, meeting in 2011 in Durban, South Africa for the 17th UN Climate Conference, to redouble their efforts within the process of combatting climate change. As long as emissions trading is only carried out within the EU or regionally, it disadvantages the local economy in favor of those countries and industries that are exempt. Therefore, a successful climate protection framework requires clear greenhouse-gas emission targets for all industrialized countries and a uniformly regulated global market for CO2. In addition, we believe mandatory emissions targets for all countries are needed to drive the development of the most efficient CO2-reduction technologies.
More Transparency on CO2
Every year, we report on the CO2 emissions caused by our electricity generation, which allows us to document progress in reducing our CO2 intensity. In 2010, we significantly expanded the calculation basis for our CO2 emissions: our CO2 footprint now includes E.ON's entire value chain from our suppliers to end users. This will help us meet our global reporting standards even better in future and also increase awareness among our stakeholders of the issue of CO2 Reduction. For further details and the underlying methodology, please see our report in the related focus topic.
Earlier to Climate Target
In 2010 E.ON committed to an accelerated reduction of CO2 to mitigate the effects of climate change as quickly as possible: we pledged to halve specific CO2 emissions from our European generation portfolios (on a 1990 baseline) as early as 2020 - that's 10 years earlier than originally planned. To achieve our CO2 objective we are investing substantially in improving the efficiency of our coal and gas power plants and the further development of our renewables portfolio. In 2010, we invested more than EUR 1 billion in renewables. This way, we expanded our wind and solar energy generation capacity by 600 MW to currently 3.6 GW. We're planning to further allocate EUR 2.6 billion in investments for the period 2011 to 2013. Outside Europe we are also working on covering the increasing demand for energy through renewables and conventional generation. Furthermore, we intend to be always among the best power companies in each of the regions in which we operate. Nuclear energy is an important pillar in achieving the further reduction in CO2 intensity that we are planning. Therefore, the CO2 goals of our nuclear power plants are currently being evaluated before the early shutdown takes place.
Improving Global Corporate Action
E.ON manages conventional energy generation and renewables transnationally (see the cross references in the right-hand margin for further information). With this organizational structure, which was newly created in 2010, we are trying to tackle global issues such as climate protection even more effectively. We have also bundled our activities relating to the development of new generation technologies throughout the Group and are modernizing the power plants we already have in operation. Furthermore we support developing and industrialized countries in climate protection projects as laid down in the Joint Implementation (JI) and Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) of the Kyoto Protocol. Our focus regions are Southeast Asia, the Middle East, North Africa and Russia. At the same time, we are working with key partners such as Masdar and Bionersis on innovative solutions for climate protection, for instance generating energy from the incineration - and therefore elimination - of landfill gas, which is particularly climate-damaging.
Far-sighted Global Action is Indispensable
Decarbonizing energy generation requires long-term planning security for energy companies. This is the only way of bringing new technologies into play on a large scale and generating financial resources for research and development. For this reason we explicitly support the economically and environmentally sustainable reduction of CO2 emissions with clearly defined milestones up to 2050. We therefore appeal to the leaders of the international community, meeting in 2011 in Durban, South Africa for the 17th UN Climate Conference, to redouble their efforts within the process of combatting climate change. As long as emissions trading is only carried out within the EU or regionally, it disadvantages the local economy in favor of those countries and industries that are exempt. Therefore, a successful climate protection framework requires clear greenhouse-gas emission targets for all industrialized countries and a uniformly regulated global market for CO2. In addition, we believe mandatory emissions targets for all countries are needed to drive the development of the most efficient CO2-reduction technologies.
More Transparency on CO2
Every year, we report on the CO2 emissions caused by our electricity generation, which allows us to document progress in reducing our CO2 intensity. In 2010, we significantly expanded the calculation basis for our CO2 emissions: our CO2 footprint now includes E.ON's entire value chain from our suppliers to end users. This will help us meet our global reporting standards even better in future and also increase awareness among our stakeholders of the issue of CO2 Reduction. For further details and the underlying methodology, please see our report in the related focus topic.
