Fossil fuel cars phase-out comes up again in Brussels

Market: Biofuels, Electricity, Emissions, Fertilizers
07/10/24

The European parliament will this week debate a "crisis" facing the EU's automotive industry which could lead to "potential" plant closures, putting discussions on already-decided CO2 standards for vehicles on the forefront.

Members have faced increased efforts by industry arguing for or against speedy review of the EU's regulation on CO2 emission standards for cars and vans. The regulation sets a 2035 phase-out target for new fossil fuel cars.

The European commission is expected to give a statement to parliament, but a spokesperson told Argus that any change to the EU CO2 standards for cars and light vehicles would require a legal proposal by the commission to both parliament and EU member states.

The priority, the spokesperson said, is on meeting 2025 targets for fleet CO2 reductions, agreed in 2019, but the commission is aware of "different opinions" in industry.

Automakers association Acea has been calling for a "substantive and holistic" review of the CO2 regulation. The transition to zero-emission vehicles must be made "more manageable", assessing real-world progress against the ambition level. On the other hand, European power industry association Eurelectric today told members of parliament that bringing forward a review of the EU's regulation on CO2 standards for cars and vans to the start of 2025 would only encourage carmakers to hold off on making lower-priced and smaller electric vehicles (EV).

The next CO2 target for car fleets is set to take effect in 2025. It requires a 15pc cut in emissions for newly registered cars. Some member states view the CO2 target cuts, and phase-out of the internal combustion engine (ICE) by 2035, as contentious. The regulation was only approved after a delay to normally formal approval. And parliament's largest centre-right EPP group is calling for a revision of CO2 standards for new cars to allow for alternative zero-emission fuels beyond 2035.

As a counterweight to such pressure, Austrian, Belgian, Dutch and Irish ministers today called on commission president Ursula von der Leyen to step up EU action to push decarbonisation of company vehicles, notably light duty vehicles. "We need to consider action on the demand side in order to push zero-emission vehicles sales. Corporate fleets are the EU's most important market segment," the four ministers told von der Leyen.

By Dafydd ab Iago

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18/06/25

TC Energy targets brownfield expansion growth

Washington, 18 June (Argus) — Canada-based TC Energy intends to focus on expansions of its existing natural gas pipeline network in North America to serve growing demand for natural gas service until the mid-2030s, chief executive Francois Poirier said today. TC Energy has a $32bn backlog in capital projects and is looking at an additional $30bn of projects that may not all come to fruition, Poirier said. The company's focus is on increasing capacity through existing pipelines and pipeline corridors, he said, rather than pursuing greenfield projects that require entirely new routes. "Our view is that we're going to be able to prosecute all of that with brownfield expansions," Poirier said in an interview on the sidelines of the Atlantic Council's Global Energy Forum. "The industry has been quite innovative in finding the nooks and crannies to move gas around. So I don't see a need for a big greenfield pipeline until the mid-2030s." Pipeline developers since 2020 have prioritized brownfield projects, after permitting delays and lawsuits delayed or halted proposed pipelines across the eastern US, such as the now-canceled $8bn Atlantic Coast Pipeline. President Donald Trump has pushed to restart new pipeline development, and last month US midstream operator Williams said it was restarting work on the 124-mile (200km) Constitution pipeline and the Northeast Supply Enhancement project. Last month, TC Energy announced a $900mn expansion of its ANR pipeline system in the US Midwest, known as the Northwoods project. TC Energy will focus on those types of brownfield projects until at least the mid-2030s, Poirier said, when the company forecasts gas production in the Hayettesville and Permian basins will reach maturity. At that point, he expects there will more need to transport Appalachian gas to the US Gulf coast, where demand from LNG export terminals is set to increase. "Then the question is going to be, is it economical?" Poirier said. "It's going to depend on the price for Henry Hub [gas]. Right now, the Henry Hub price doesn't support a new greenfield pipeline." Data centers are among the largest drivers of demand growth, Poirier said. In the last three months, TC Energy has seen "quite an acceleration" in demand for gas transportation service from utilities serving that demand, he said. Gas-fired plants are still the fastest way to reliably serve those data centers even though such plants take 3-5 years to build, he said, because renewable power is intermittent and nuclear plants take at least a decade to build. "If you look at the 660 or so data centers under development and construction in the US, about two-thirds are within 50 miles of our pipelines," Poirier said. By Chris Knight Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2025. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.

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Banks increased fossil fuel financing in 2024: Report

18/06/25

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18/06/25

Banks increased fossil fuel financing in 2024: Report

London, 18 June (Argus) — Banks "significantly increased" their fossil fuel financing in 2024, reversing a trend of steadily declining fossil fuel financing since 2021, a report from a group of non-profit organisations found this week. The 65 biggest banks globally committed $869bn in 2024 to "companies conducting business in fossil fuels", the report — Banking on Climate Chaos — found. Those banks committed $429bn last year to companies expanding fossil fuel production and infrastructure. The report assesses lending and underwriting in 2024 from the world's top 65 banks to more than 2,700 fossil fuel companies. Figures are not directly comparable year-on-year, as the previous report, which assessed 2023, covered financing from 60 banks. The 60 biggest banks globally committed $705bn in 2023 to companies with fossil fuel business, last year's report found. Those banks committed $347bn in 2023 to companies with fossil fuel expansion plans. Of the five banks providing the most fossil fuel finance in 2024, four were US banks — JP Morgan Chase, Bank of America, Citigroup and Wells Fargo. The 65 banks assessed in this year's report have committed $7.9 trillion in fossil fuel financing since 2016, when the Paris climate agreement took effect, the report found. Finance is at the core of climate negotiations like UN Cop summits. Developed countries are typically called upon at such events to provide more public climate finance to developing nations, but the focus is also shifting to private finance, as overseas development finance looks set to drop . But fossil fuel financing banks are increasingly facing the risk of targeted and more complex climate-related litigation, according to a recent report by the London School of Economics' centre for economic transition expertise (Cetex). Climate litigation is not currently adequately accounted for in financial risk assessment, with case filing and decisions negatively impacting carbon financiers, it said. "While early climate cases primarily targeted governments and big-emitting ‘carbon majors', cases against other firms have proliferated quickly," Cetex said. The report also showed that, based on a review of disclosures from 20 banks supervised by the European Central Bank, many banks across Europe recognise litigation risks as material in the context of climate and environmental factors but tend to not be specific about the risks incurred. By Georgia Gratton and Caroline Varin Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2025. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.

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Adding credits, CO2 removals to EU ETS ‘fatal’: Study

18/06/25

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18/06/25

Adding credits, CO2 removals to EU ETS ‘fatal’: Study

London, 18 June (Argus) — Allowing the use of international carbon credits or carbon removals for compliance under the EU emissions trading system (ETS) risks undermining the environmental integrity of the scheme and hindering the bloc's achievement of its climate targets, warned a study by research body the Oeko-Institut published today. Under the three scenarios examined in the study, which was commissioned by non-governmental organisation Carbon Market Watch, the EU ETS's supply-demand balance does not need to be artificially adjusted before 2035. But beyond this date the total number of allowances in circulation could fall below zero, meaning sectors under the scheme would either need to be fully decarbonised by this date or shut down unless flexibility is introduced to the system. Any reforms to increase ETS supply should focus on the system's market stability reserve, the study found, a mechanism which absorbs a percentage of excess supply from circulation each year but can also release permits if supply falls too low. Changes to the scheme's linear reduction factor — the amount by which its supply cap falls annually — would achieve the same thing but risk weakening the system's ambition, and is more likely to be politically challenging, the study said. Some EU member states have expressed interest in allowing the use of international carbon credits issued under Article 6 of the Paris climate agreement for ETS compliance for this purpose, and the European Commission said last week it is taking the option into consideration , although any such use would entail only "very high integrity" credits representing a "very small proportion" of the bloc's climate action. But introducing Article 6 credits to the ETS "poses significant risks to the functioning and environmental integrity of the system", the study found, pointing to the past use of Clean Development Mechanism credits to offset some ETS obligations to which it attributed the "collapse" of the carbon price. Including carbon removals in the scheme would pose a similar risk, the study found, concluding it is "crucial" they remain in a separate framework. The European Commission is expected to publish a report next year examining their potential inclusion. The commission will also assess in 2031 the feasibility of linking the existing ETS to the EU ETS 2 for road transport and buildings, scheduled for launch in 2027, which could increase the liquidity of the two schemes. But such a link "cannot ease tension in the [ETS] market with certainty, and administrative barriers to the merger are high", the study warned. By Victoria Hatherick Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2025. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.

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India buys 145,000t of DAP at $775-781.50/t cfr

18/06/25

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18/06/25

India buys 145,000t of DAP at $775-781.50/t cfr

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US Supreme Court asked to rule on tariffs

17/06/25

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17/06/25

US Supreme Court asked to rule on tariffs

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