3 results
Bridging the Gap between Soil and Climate Change in the EU: The Issue of Soil Organic Carbon
- Edited by Bernard Vanheusden, Theodoros Iliopoulos, Anna Vanhellemont
-
- Book:
- Harmonisation in EU Environmental and Energy Law
- Published by:
- Intersentia
- Published online:
- 26 May 2022
- Print publication:
- 21 January 2022, pp 147-162
-
- Chapter
- Export citation
-
Summary
INTRODUCTION
Nobody could deny that soil plays a crucial role in the provision of all vital ecosystem services. However, besides acting as the benchmark for food production, water storage and supply, biodiversity – let alone added cultural and social services – soils are also garbled by the upsurge of climate change. The impacts of soil exploitation on a massive scale for energy and food production reveal a core, yet overlooked, ecological function of soil: carbon pooling. This ecological function serves as a yardstick for several ecologic functions carried out by soil in order to halt greenhouse gas emissions or, in turn, even worsen it: soil organic matter (SOM). SOM stores a significant amount of greenhouse gas (GHG) – mainly CO2 – in the form of soil organic carbon (SOC) stocks. Similarly, other GHGs, namely, nitrous oxide (N2O) and methane (CH4), are also produced and stored (or trapped) in soils under anaerobic conditions, like peat and permafrost. Soils are thus the second-largest active store of GHG after the oceans, with around 1.500 billion tonnes of carbon found in SOM worldwide. In Europe, the total SOC stock amounts to 73 – 79 billion tons. Hence, the 2011 European Commission (EC) Communication on the Resource Efficiency Roadmap called upon Member States to adopt measures aimed to reduce erosion and enhance SOM, with a view to an overall non-regression of SOM levels – especially in soils with less than 3.5 per cent SOM. Notwithstanding the key role played by soils in the global carbon cycle and the dire ecological interrelations between climate change and its functions, however, the issue of SOM protection has been traditionally marginalised even in the lingering debate about a European comprehensive regime on soil protection.
This chapter will thus first outline the interplay between SOM ecological functions and the threats thereto posed by climate change. Next, it will analyse the legal instruments arguably aimed at tackling the issue of soil integrity in relation to GHG emissions at the EU level. Lastly, it will envision a set of potential solutions as to a comprehensive and effective regulatory approach to SOM protection in the EU.
Conclusion
- Edited by Bernard Vanheusden, Theodoros Iliopoulos, Anna Vanhellemont
-
- Book:
- Harmonisation in EU Environmental and Energy Law
- Published by:
- Intersentia
- Published online:
- 26 May 2022
- Print publication:
- 21 January 2022, pp 273-280
-
- Chapter
- Export citation
-
Summary
The tortuous path towards harmonisation in EU environmental and energy law constitutes a far-reaching effort, which shall be supported by far-reaching knowledge. The 2019 conference on ‘Harmonisation in environmental and energy law’ held at Hasselt University – and this book – have provided a one-stop-shop to gauge the notion of harmonisation and appraise its inherent meaning in the European Union (EU). According to Oxford’s Dictionary of Law, harmonisation of laws refers to the process whereby ‘member states of the EU make changes in their national laws, in accordance with Community legislation, to produce uniformity, particularly relating to commercial matters of common interest’. Thus, harmonisation per se ought not pursue any further aim than mere approximation between legal regimes. As is well known, however, this concept acquires a rather different meaning when put in the broader context of the EU’s environmental, energy (and climate) policies. Crucially, harmonisation here serves as a means to specific EU ends, namely: a) to achieve a high level of protection and improvement of the quality of the environment (art. 3(3) TEU, art. 37 of the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights); b) to achieve a general standard of environmental and climate protection while taking into account contextspecific differences across Member States (art. 191(2) TFEU); and c) to ensure the functioning of the energy market while fostering a low-carbon economy (art. 194 TFEU). Thus, harmonisation essentially results in a choice for the EU as to how to ensure the attainment of its environmental and energy policy objectives.
Against this backdrop, this book – as well as the 2019 conference from which it stems – aims to address the following fundamental question: has harmonisation in the EU delivered on the (increasingly urgent) needs to render mainstream and enhance the effectiveness of environmental and energy law?
The book has tried to answer this question by addressing the core substantial and methodological issues entailed in achieving a fully-fledged harmonised EU regime on environmental and energy matters. Furthermore, it has emphasised the heavy-lifting role of critical thinking, while progress on the implementation of the existing regime of EU law at the Member State level remains largely undermined by several political and, significantly, legal factors.
Energy Return on Energy Investment (EROI): Implications for EU Climate and Environmental Law
- Edited by Marlon Boeve, Sanne Akerboom, Chris Backes, Marleen van Rijswick
-
- Book:
- Environmental Law for Transitions to Sustainability
- Published by:
- Intersentia
- Published online:
- 11 November 2021
- Print publication:
- 06 April 2021, pp 147-162
-
- Chapter
- Export citation
-
Summary
INTRODUCTION
While the first law of thermodynamics says that the quantity of energy remains constant along a given process, the second law says that the energy's quality degrades over time. The upshot of these assumptions is that, with the (remarkable) exception of the energy generated from the sun, additional energy inputs and resources are needed to construct and maintain the flourishing of modern society. Achieving effective transition to a sustainable, less carbonand energy-intensive economy rests, however, on large-scale renewable energy generation, coupled with breakthrough technologies to curb CO2 and other Greenhouse Gases (GHG) emissions from energy generation and industrial processes.
Against this background, Energy Return On Energy Investment (EROI) has been developed to assess the amount of useful energy yielded from each unit of energy input to the process of obtaining energy at the end of the production process. Phrased another way, EROI appraises the geological depletion of natural resources by calculating the ratio of the energy in a given amount of the extracted and delivered fuel to the total primary energy used in the supply chain. EROI provides a useful indication of the societal benefits stemming from the choice of different primary energy exploitation systems in terms of its life-cycle impact on energy fuels and energy balance.
Yet, EROI's implications as a means to support and inform policy-making, and the extent to which it has actually been embedded as a benchmark for regulatory choices remain largely unexplored. This contribution aims to shed light on the legal consequences of embedding EROI as part of the conceptual toolbox in selected EU environmental and energy policies – namely, financing transitional low-carbon technologies through the EU Emission Trading System (EU ETS), and spatial planning under the Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) and the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) Directives.
ENERGY RETURN ON ENERGY INVESTMENT (EROI): AN ENABLING METRIC FOR POLICY-MAKING
WHAT IS EROI ?
EROI's theoretical foundations build on Howard Odum's findings on netenergy analysis, as formally applied to fuels.EROI was eventually endorsed and developed by Charles Hall, professor of biophysical economics at New York State University.