At the opening of the European Council this week, the Green 9 group of environmental organisations put forward a number of energy efficient proposals during a meeting with the president of the European Commission, José Manuel Barroso.
"Increasing energy and resource efficiency in Europe will improvecompetitiveness, boost innovation, create jobs, respect the environment andimprove citizens health," said Martin Rocholl of Friends of the Earth Europe.
"Most of the products and services in the EU could be produced with lessresources and energy. The technology is already there."
John Hontelez, secretary general of the European Environmental Bureau said that transforming Europe's economy requires concrete measures, includingending environmentally damaging subsidies, a better EnvironmentalTechnology Action Plan with performance targets for products and services,national initiatives to boost green public procurement, new initiatives forenvironmental tax reforms to reduce labour costs and pricing waste of naturalresources, and tax advantages for green risk capital.
EU member states and the Commission have already agreed to introduce regulations to reduce emissions of fluorinated gases, used widely in industrial refrigeration, as part of their implementation of the Kyoto treaty on climate change.
These gases, including hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), perfluorocarbons (PFCs) and sulphur hexafluoride (SF6), only account for two per cent of EU carbon emissions yet are thought to have a global warming potential almost 24,000 times stronger than carbon dioxide.
Meanwhile, the UK government is already pressuring food firms to consider sustainable energy alternatives, such as combined heat and power system, to help the country achieve a 60 per cent reduction in carbon emissions by 2050.
On the other side of the Atlantic, the US department of agriculture has provided the department of energy (DOE) with new accounting rules and guidelines for reporting greenhouse gas emissions and carbon sequestration in the agriculture sector.
"Agriculture has a unique opportunity to be part of the solution to greenhouse gas emissions," said agriculture secretary Mike Johanns. "The Bush administration is committed to addressing greenhouse gas emissions and these guidelines represent another significant milestone in the national effort to reduce the greenhouse gas intensity of the US economy."
DOE released the guidelines on Tuesday this week, for public comment as part of the DOE Section 1605(b) Voluntary Greenhouse Gas Reporting Registry. The revised voluntary reporting programme provides the agriculture sector with the ability to quantify and maintain records of actions that have greenhouse gas reduction benefits.
These actions include using no-till agriculture, installing a waste digester, improving nutrient management, and managing forestland. The programme also provides opportunities for agriculture and forestry to partner with industry in developing actions to reduce greenhouse gases.
Under the revised guidelines for the Section 1605(b) Voluntary Greenhouse Gas Reporting Registry, emitters of greenhouse gases, such as utilities, manufacturers and other businesses, will be able to register entity-wide greenhouse gas emission reductions achieved after 2002 if they also provide entity-wide emissions inventory data.
Small entities, such as farms and small businesses will be encouraged to participate through simplified reporting and registration provisions. The guidelines will help reduce overall greenhouse has emissions as well as improving the accuracy, verifiability and completeness of greenhouse gas emission data reported to the federal government.
The guidelines will be published in the Federal Register for a 60-day public comment period and are expected to become effective 180 days from publication.