Commission announces call for proposals for actions relating to efficient use of solid fuels
The Energy and Transport DG of the European Commission has announced a call for proposals for actions related to the promotion of the clean and efficient use of solid fuels under the Carnot programme. The Carnot programme promotes: - the use of clean coal technologies (CCT) by plants using solid fuels in order to limit emissions, including carbon dioxide; - the encouragement of the development of advanced clean solid fuel technologies in order to achieve improved best available technologies (BAT) at an affordable cost. In Carnot 2001, the following specific measures are eligible: - In the context of the EU-Russia partnership on energy, actions aiming at the systematic analysis of cost-effective technological solutions for the reduction of emissions of pollutants and greenhouse gases in the Russian coal chain (from coal processing to coal utilisation). Actions should address the whole Russian Federation or specific regions. - In the context of the enlargement process, actions aiming at the participation of indigenous solid fuels on the electricity market, under economic and environmental conditions. Priority should be given to adhesion countries where a single solid fuel presents a strong dominance, e.g. - oil shale in Estonia, hard coal and lignite in Poland. - In the context of the diversification of fuels in the EU energy sector, pre-engineering studies of CCT projects that can contribute to the clean and efficient utilisation of competitive Community coal. The following targeted regions should be considered as priorities for 2001: - Russia (because of the energy dialogue agreed at the EU summit on 30 October 2000 between President Prodi and President Putin); - The European Union (where it is demonstrated that the uptaking of CCT contributes to security of supply in respect to climate change constraints); - candidate countries (because of the importance of CCT in matching environmental objectives). The general principles for such measures are that they should contribute to EU supply security while helping the global reduction of CO2 emissions, and should help to reinforce Community energy objectives on an international basis. The measures should also be industry-led and market-orientated and contribute to identifying market opportunities for technological transfer in targeted regions. In general, proposals should involve at least two non-affiliated partners from different Member States or the European Economic Area (EEA).For further information, please contact: European Commission Directorate-General for Energy and Transport DM 24 6/21 Rue de la Loi/Wetstraat 200 B-1049 Brussels Fax +32-2-296 4437 (Mr Oppermann) E-mail: carnot@ec.europa.eu http://europa.eu.int/comm/energy/en/pfs_carnot_en.html(opens in new window)