QUESTIONS:

1.-What measures are being taken in Spain to reduce CO² consumption?

LIST OF MEASURES.

A total of 43 measures have been analyzed in six sectors. The measures grouped by sector are the following ones:

Residential, commercial and institutional sector.

→ Rehabilitation in residential sector

→ Rehabilitation in institutional sector AGE

→ Rehabilitation in the CC.AA. and Local Institutional Sector

→ Heating biomass

→ Geothermal heating in new buildings or major renovations

→ Thermal solar panels for ACS

→ Changes in behavior at home

→ Changing windows

→ Distribution heating costs with thermostatic valves

→ Change individual boilers to condensation

 

Transport sector.

→ Modal transfer of the private vehicle to the bicycle in the transport of passengers

→ Modal transfer in the transport of passengers from the private vehicle to modes of collective public transport

→ Modal transfer in freight transport from road to rail

→ Natural renewal of the fleet of light vehicles in line with CO2 reduction targets for 2020

→ Introduction of very low emission vehicles

→ Introduction of 2G biofuel in transport

→ Telecommuting and other measures to reduce travel in passenger transport

→ Efficient driving of vehicles

→ Efficient management of vehicle fleets

→ Lead the life of the natural renewal of the light vehicle fleet to the optimum

→ Use of biogas in transport

→ Cooperative mobility (carsharing and carpooling)

 

Agricultural and livestock sector.

→ Anaerobic digestion of slurry treated with nitrification by denitrification

→ Anaerobic digestion of livestock dejections and other costs

→ Introduction of legumes in managed pastures using synthetic fertilization

→ Direct sowing training to improve fertilising efficiency

→ Efficient driving of tractors

→ Use of pruning residues from woody crops while avoiding their burning

→ Incorporation to the soil of pruning residues of woody crops Introduction of legume cover crops planted in woody crops in irrigation

 

Waste sector.

→ Household or community composting

→ Separate biorresiduo collection with composting destination (Small plants in rural environments)

→ Separate biorresiduo collection with composting destination (Plants with capacity 2,500 - 15,000t)

→ Separate biorresiduo collection with composting destination (Plants with capacity 15,000 - 50000t)

→ Separate collection of bio-residues for biomethanization

→ Reduction of food waste Increase of the separate collection of paper in the municipal channel

Fluorinated gases sector.

→ Replacement of HFCs by low PCA equipment in refrigeration and air conditioning equipment

→ Elimination of HFC-23 generated as by-product

→ Correct maintenance of refrigeration and air conditioning equipment with HFCs

 

Industry not subject to Emissions Trading (ETS)

→ Fuel Change in Non-ETS Industry

→ Improvement of efficiency in non-ETS Industry

 

http://www.mapama.gob.es/es/cambio-climatico/temas/mitigacion-politicas-y-medidas/actuaciones-difusos.aspx

2-For what do we currently use the coal in Spain?

Today coal in Spain is basically used in electricity generation, and in the steel and cement industries. It maintains its minority use in housing, which tends to disappear among others due to local pollution problems. With regard to its supply, it is necessary to take into account some considerations, which are linked to its origin of own extraction or of import and also to environmental and social aspects.

http://www.energiza.org/eolica/116-especiales-centrales-termoel%C3%A9ctricas/294-centrales-actuales-de-carb%C3%B3n-en-espa%C3%B1a

3- How many coal power plants are there in Spain?

Coal-fired power plants were mostly built in the 1970s and early 1980s, meaning they have already met an average of more than 40 years of operation.

Some are depleting their reserves or have already exhausted them and are remodeling to use imported and non-domestic coal, such as brown coal in the province of Coruña. Others like those using coal and low carbon in volatiles also see their reserves depleted. Only the Puertollano basin offers good expectations of coal production in the medium term. In this basin the integrated gasification plant with ELCOGAS combined cycle plant has been built, which is a European reference in the development of clean technologies, and which is not going through very good times either.

The anthracites of Asturias, León, Palencia and Córdoba have deposits with low reserves or with high costs of extraction, except in the low volatile coal of the North of Leon. Emissions of nitrogen oxides is another additional problem in defining the future of these thermal power plants.

In the case of Asturian coal the extraction costs are very high and the technical conditions of mining in general are difficult; Although it is true that the option to use imported coals appears in the current plants.

Teruel's subtuminous coals present significant volumes of open-air and low-cost extractable reserves. They require a mining planning not to use only the areas of the lowest extraction site and extend it to reasonable values of recovery of reserves and final costs of obtaining the coals. Perhaps this could be extracted up to 200 million tons.

The big problem of these coals is their high sulfur content, between 6% and 10%, which means that the corresponding power plants must rely on gas desulfurization plants which slightly increase CO2 emissions. They are coals that could be carried to processes of gasification, either to produce electricity or possibly to obtain fuels.

 

http://www.energiza.org/eolica/116-especiales-centrales-termoel%C3%A9ctricas/294-centrales-actuales-de-carb%C3%B3n-en-espa%C3%B1a

4-How was the production of electricity by burning coal in Spain in 2015?

According to data from 2015, of the 19 Large Combustion Plants that use coal as fuel in Spain, 17 are thermal power stations for the production of electricity. They add up to an installed capacity of more than 11,000 MW and are the main cause of CO2 emissions associated with electricity. In 2014 coal accounted for 70% of the CO2 emissions of the electricity sector, although it only accounted for 16.5% of the electricity consumed. In the same year, coal accounted for approximately 13% of total greenhouse gas emissions in our country.

http://observatoriocriticodelaenergia.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/El_carbon_en_Espa%C3%B1a_en_2016.pdf

 

5-What are the causes that make our country count on one of the lowest energy intensity values in the world?

In general, factors that are considered most relevant when explaining the evolution of EI are the structural changes in the economy (mainly tertiarization), technological change, fuel substitution, energy prices and their regulation , the saturation effect and consumer preferences.

eforenergy.org/docactividades/Resumen_ejecutivo.pdf