The climate goals for 2030 are within reach if policy intentions are translated into strong laws and regulations and are implemented expeditiously, such as road pricing and making heat pumps mandatory. This is evident from the provisional Climate and Energy Outlook (KEV) that the Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency (PBL) published today on Budget Day. In one year it is 'CO2policy gap' has shrunk considerably: from 22 to 11 megatons. This has never been seen before and is encouraging. It is striking that almost all sectors are reasonably on track. “We are going in the right direction, but aOnly if we continue to implement the energy transition can we achieve the goals. This is a marathon, not interval training. Political will is needed to make difficult choices and to arrange practical matters, for example around nitrogen, lead times and bats,” says Olof van der Gaag, chairman of the Dutch Sustainable Energy Association (NVDE).
The CO2reduction in 2030 will be between 46 and 57 percent, according to PBL. The government set a target of 55 percent and is aiming for 60 percent. For the top end of this bandwidth, everything has to go well, including non-controllable factors such as weather and electricity imports. Important preconditions are the rapid introduction of legislation and regulations, enforcement, faster permits and sufficiently trained personnel. The demand for electricity is growing by more than ten percent and, fortunately, so is sustainable generation. This poses major challenges in the energy infrastructure.
Road pricing
There are a number of bumps in the road towards climate goals and energy independence. First of all, PBL was unable to take into account the fall of the cabinet and delays due to elections and formation. This creates a new gap in mobility. The cabinet reports that Pay-as-you-go (= road pricing; this makes a difference of 0,5 to 2,5 Megatonnes according to PBL) and the target of 1,2 Mtonnes of CO2reduction through energy tax rate adjustments will be passed on to the next cabinet. Electric driving will soon be taxed more heavily than fossil driving. From 2025, an electric family car will pay more than double the motor tax of a diesel truck of 40 tons or more.
Bats and nitrogen
Other proposed climate policies must also remain in place. The implementation of the standardization of hybrid heat pumps is crucial for the built environment. A financial arrangement for CO2-free power stations is also necessary for the transition.
Furthermore, the PBL points out the need for rapid and ambitious elaboration and implementation, and possible obstacles to implementation, such as network capacity. As far as the NVDE is concerned, an exemption is required for sustainable energy projects and energy infrastructure that emit some nitrogen during construction and that emit a lot of CO during their lifespan.2 and save nitrogen. Project lead times are still far too long: permits often take 8 years and construction takes 2 years. This should be two and two. And finally, the strict interpretation of European protection legislation for bats, among other things, ensures that the insulation sector is at a standstill, at a time when rapid insulation is desperately needed to ensure that people can pay their energy bills and to achieve the climate goals in the built environment .
Energy security
There is rightly a lot of political attention for an affordable energy bill. The House is pushing for tax cuts to reduce energy and fuel bills for everyone. But these expenditures do not provide a structural solution, in fact, they even slow down the transition to that structural solution. The NVDE did one voorstel to make the poorest neighborhoods more sustainable, fully paid for by the government for people with the lowest incomes. This kills three birds with one stone: energy poverty is reduced, the business community can scale up and reduce costs and there is a significant reduction in natural gas and therefore CO2emissions saved.
Source: NVDE
