Personal carbon trading

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The staff carbon trading ( PCT ) is a collective term for those emissions trading concepts which involve emissions of private households. Since these concepts were initially developed and discussed in the English-speaking world, there are no established German terms for them. Often people simply speak of “expanding emissions trading”. The terms carbon license , private CO 2 emissions trading , CO 2 card , per capita emissions quota , and emissions trading rights for private households are also in circulation .

So far, around 45% of CO 2 emissions in the European Union have been recorded through EU emissions trading . Industry, energy producers and aviation companies are included in this system. In addition to expanding emissions trading throughout the EU, the applicable EU regulations also allow emissions trading to be country-specific to other areas, e.g. B. to extend to road traffic.

Germany

Road user approach

According to the logic of the already established EU emissions trading system, CO 2 can only be emitted in exchange for a corresponding number of certificates. Transferred to the field of end users, this means that everyone must be in possession of certificates, e.g. B. wants to go to refuel, and just like every industrial company involved in certificate trading so far, every consumer would also receive a corresponding certificate account.

Specifically, the idea is that every citizen receives free certificates at the beginning of the month - every citizen the same number. When refueling, certificates are issued for the CO 2 emitted in parallel to paying for the fuel . Anyone who still has unused certificates at the end of the month can offer them for sale. Conversely, those who cannot get by with their quota must acquire additional certificates.

The main advantage of this system: The consumer immediately gets a feel for the level of his CO 2 emissions. Main
disadvantage: a large number of CO 2 accounts have to be managed.

Fuel supplier approach

In order to circumvent the disadvantage just described, refineries and fuel importers of oil and gas acquire CO 2 certificates for the quantities they supply to consumers and try to pass the increased costs on to their customers through price adjustments.

Main advantages: Minimal transaction costs, fewer CO 2 accounts have to be managed. The complexity is assigned to the company, there are no new accounts for the consumer, the certificates are traded for him in the background without his intervention.
Main disadvantage: It is a price increase that is essentially borne by consumers.

Fuel supplier approach with social compensation

As with the polluter pays principle, all consumers initially receive certificates free of charge, which they can now sell to a kind of bank at the current market price. Refiners and fuel importers acquire their certificates from this bank accordingly.

Advantages:

  • low transaction costs,
  • the prices are adjusted according to the CO 2 emissions, the scarcity of CO 2 is "priced in" and
  • Contrary to a tax that regularly affects poorer sections of the population more, the reverse is true: it is not the poorer sections of the population, but rather the heavy consumers who are more affected by the additional costs according to their consumption.

Difference from a tax

In contrast to a tax, in which the price per issue is determined politically and the quantity demanded is decided on the market, the variant with certificates determines the quantities and regulates the price on the basis of demand . From the consumer's point of view, both variants make the price more expensive, with a tendency to reduce demand. If so many certificates are distributed that there is no need to change behavior, the price for certificates can drop to zero.

Effects on the fuel price

A liter of petrol would become 7 cents more expensive if road traffic were included in emissions trading with a certificate price of 30 euros per tonne of CO 2 . At the currently traded CO 2 prices , it would be an additional price of 1.4 cents per liter of petrol.

Expansion to other sectors

This principle could be applied across the whole transport sector. An exception would have to be made for air traffic on intra-EU flights, because here the airlines are already subject to emissions trading. In addition to transport, the building sector and agriculture could also be included. In Switzerland, the so-called incentive tax is used in addition to CO 2 u. a. heating oil is also taxed. Share of
CO 2 emissions in the EU:

  • Road traffic 20%
  • Building heating 13%
  • Agriculture 10%

Expansion to other pollutants and scarce goods

In addition to CO 2 , all other greenhouse gases can also be taken into account. In principle, other substances such as nitrates , ammonia , phosphorus , fine dust , mercury , rare earths or all non-renewable raw materials taken from the soil can also be included (see also planetary guard rails ).

Current development

A number of experts and business representatives have spoken out in favor of expanding emissions trading. So u. a. Daimler and BMW decided to include road traffic. Opel is also open and the experts from Deutsche Bank and FAZ are also in favor.

Switzerland

Every citizen is already reimbursed the same amount from the income from the Swiss incentive tax .

England

In English, various concepts are discussed under the general idea of ​​the PCT:

  • TEQ (Tradable Energy Quotas, also called DTQ - Domestic Tradable Quotas) is a concept in which all emissions caused by society and industry are to be recorded. With the idea, the consumer auctions the rights that have only been allocated to him in weekly tenders to issuers. TEQ would thus replace the previous system of emissions trading. TEQ was developed by David Fleming in the early 1990s and has been researched at the Tyndall Center for Climate Change Research since 2003 .
  • PCA (Personal Carbon Allowances) was developed by Mayer Hillman and Tina Fawcett at the Environmental Change Institute in Oxford. With this concept, commercial and private emissions are recorded and “marketed” separately. The previous emissions trading system will therefore be supplemented by PCA. Special attention is paid to transport, including public transport and heating.
  • Carbon Credit Card: This is a popular term that is particularly used in the media.

In England the introduction of a “Carbon Credit Card” was specifically announced by the Ministry of the Environment. Here, in addition to the market price for the products, the consumer should also pay with “CO 2 points”, which are allocated to him in quantities that decrease each year. If the points are not sufficient for his consumption, he can purchase additional points via an exchange from those who do not use their points because they do not have a car and live in a zero-energy house , for example .

In 2008 the British government decided not to introduce the system for the time being.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Society for Economic Structural Research, Climate Protection and Distribution , June 2011
  2. ^ Society for Economic Structural Research, Distribution Effects and Reform Options of Selected Energy Policy Measures , May 2011
  3. ↑ Aachen Foundation Kathy Beys, A Market Economy Instrument for Climate Protection , November 2011
  4. ↑ a b c Fraunhofer Institute for Systems and Innovation Research, Personal Carbon Trading Systems: Concepts and Conclusions for Germany , by Vicki Duscha, on behalf of the Federal Environment Agency, March 2014
  5. ^ Lexicon of Sustainability, Emissions Trading Rights for Private Households , December 2015
  6. ^ German Emissions Trading Authority, Emissions Trading in Figures ( Memento from February 4, 2016 in the Internet Archive ), May 2015
  7. ↑ Fraunhofer Institute for Systems and Innovation Research ISI, Emissions Trading in Transport , November 2005
  8. ↑ a b c d Center for European Politics, expands emissions trading! Effective and efficient reduction of greenhouse gases in road traffic , by Nima Nader and Götz Reichert, May 2015
  9. ^ Aachen Foundation Kathy Beys, Cap and Share ( Memento from February 6, 2016 in the Internet Archive ), accessed on February 6, 2016.
  10. ↑ Rauch zu Geld - basic income with eco-factor taz, by Bernward Janzing , January 29, 2016
  11. ↑ In the case of fuels, consumption can generally only be expected to decrease slightly if prices rise, see the mix of instruments in the transport sector: What role can the EU ETS play in road transport? , Öko-Institut, February 17, 2015.
  12. ↑ Institute dfer German economy, road transport in emissions trading? ( Memento of February 8, 2016 in the Internet Archive ), January 2015
  13. ↑ Die Welt, Auto Industry gives way to climate protectors , by Nikolaus Doll and Daniel Wetzel, September 9, 2014.
  14. ^ Federal Environment Agency, Emissions Trading in Transport - Abridged Version , November 2005
  15. ^ FAZ, Expand emissions trading , by Johannes Pennekamp, ​​September 2, 2014.
  16. ↑ FAZ, Merkel wants a price for carbon dioxide , by Andreas Mihm, December 1, 2015
  17. ^ FAZ, More and more dead from air pollution , September 16, 2015
  18. ↑ Freedom, equality, serenity, With the ecological basic income from the growth trap, by Ulrich Schachtschneider, Oekom-Verlag, 2014
  19. ↑ Revolution in climate protection? Emissions trading for car traffic planned , September 11, 2014
  20. ↑ EU Parliament. Green light for reform of emissions trading ( memento from August 1, 2015 in the Internet Archive ), July 8, 2015
  21. ↑ Expand emissions trading , by Johannes Pennekamp, ​​September 2, 2014