Luxembourg emissions

[Jan Hollan <jhollan@amper....muni.cz>]

> Let me share one additional idea on Luxembourg.  We have thought on 
> occasion about doing emissions inventories for cities, but it is very 
> tough, and the same could be true for small countries.  Apparently the 
> price of motor gasoline is notably lower in Luxembourg than in neighboring 
> countries.    A consequence is that there is some incentive to buy motor 
> gasoline when in Luxembourg but to use the gasoline when traveling 
> elsewhere.  CO2 emissions actually end up getting counted at the point of 
> the last fuel sale because you do not know then where the fuel is actually 
> burned.  The Luxembourg value could be slightly inflated because of this.

Yes, liquid fuel prices are really low there. However, wanting to find
some information, I found two relevant estimates. In
  http://www.emweltzenter.lu/emweltzenter/klima/handeln.htm
 (the full paragraph in German is attached below) the author guesses the
proportion of liquid fuels used abroad is at least 60 %. On the other
side, he says that 90 % of electricity is imported from Germany.

In the ministerial brochure
    Linkname: Développement durable
        URL: http://www.mev.etat.lu/devdur/brodev24p.pdf
 I have found on page 16, that electricity amounts to 14 % of consumption
and is 93 % imported.
 Assuming it being of fossil non-cogeneration origin (nuclear and water
sources run always as much as they can, diminished demand affects just the
most fuel-price-limited sources), it amounts to at least thrice that
amount of carbon.

So, in the result, the carbon-flow balance for Luxembourg may be
approximately neutral, it is not clear if fuel export amounts really more
than power import. Similar problems would arise for cities, of course. 

I have always ascribed the high emissions of that small country to its
steel industry and compared it with northern Moravia, a region in Czechia
with similar industry and even much higher per capita emissions. It seems
that steel industry role is now lower in Luxembourg and that perhaps, for
some reason I will sometimes ask about my friends there, the consumption is
really that high. 

One possible reason is obvious: Luxembourg is a rich country, with per
capita income probably larger than any other in Europe. It's a fortune
that people there are so nice and responsible.

(We conservationists from Brno have fruitful contacts with
environmentalists from there and several our projects have been financed
by either the Luxembourg state, communities or money assembled from small
private donators. Equally important has been their advice.)


thank you for the impulse to study an interesting case

Jenik


Aus  http://www.emweltzenter.lu/emweltzenter/klima/handeln.htm :
 
   Die Reduktion von 28 % bezieht sich allerdings nicht auf den
   pro-Kopf-, sondern den Absolutwert von Luxemburg anno 1990 (= 12,4 Mio
   t CO2); 12,4 Mio t - 28 % (3,5 Mio t) sind 8,9 Mio t. In die 12,4 Mio
   t gehen - bedingt durch die international verbindliche,
   erzeugerorientierte Zählweise - einerseits die Verkäufe an den
   inländischen Tankstellen an Ausländer (meist Transfrontaliers) mit
   ein, andererseits fehlen die Emissionen des Importstroms (die
   RWE-Importe über die SEO werden Deutschland zugerechnet). Gut 60 % des
   Tankumsatzes geht schätzungsweise an Ausländer, 90 % des
   Stromverbrauchs wird importiert. Durch die Umstrukturie-rung in der
   Stahlindustrie haben sich die Emissionen von 1990 bis 1998 um 32,6 %
   verringert, so daß Luxemburg sein Reduktionsziel anno 98 quasi von
   selbst erreicht hat. Dieser schöne Mitnahme-Effekt ist aber
   ausgeschöpft, und das Umweltministerium prognostiziert durch die
   Zunahme an Einwohnern, Einkommen, Tankstellen und Individualverkehr
   bis 2010 eine Zunahme um 20 % vom 90er Ausgangswert auf 14,9 Mio. t.;
   m.a.W. Luxemburg muß, um sein -28 %-Ziel (= 8,9 Mio T) zu erreichen,
   voraussichtlich eine Reduktion der 2010er Emissionen um 6 Mio t CO2
   erreichen!