Recession pushes down power station emissions

The recession has had at least one positive effect on 2009 - a six per cent reduction in emissions from both of Malta's power stations.

According to new emissions data published by the European Commission yesterday, the level of carbon dioxide emitted from the plants last year was equivalent to that produced in 2002 and represented a drop of six per cent over 2008.

The results run counter to the trend in recent decades of a seemingly unstoppable rise in energy consumption and emissions. However, Commission officials pointed out that the drop was not a result of any special intervention but of reduced energy consumption.

"Higher energy tariffs and the global recession have definitely had an effect on energy demand in Malta," a Commission official told The Times.

"For the first time in many years, energy demand fell in 2009 meaning that the power stations did not need to produce as much energy as before. This has led to lower power outputs from Malta's power stations and thus less burning of fossil fluids and less emissions."

A similar situation prevailed in the rest of the EU. With the exception of Luxembourg, all other member states saw a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions, averaging an 11.6 per cent drop.

This was helped by the availability of cheaper and cleaner gas on the international market which was favoured over the far more polluting coal.

On its part, Malta produces all its energy needs from the burning of heavy fuel oil. Natural gas is the cleanest fossil fuel that can be used for the production of energy but so far Malta does not have the facilities to use it to fire its power stations. The island would have to build a gas pipeline from other EU member states as no natural gas reserves exist on the island.

The news of lower emissions comes as the planning authority is set to decide today on the extension to the Delimara power station which is being heavily criticised, among other things, because it will be run on heavy fuel oil - the same type of polluting fuel that is currently in use at both Delimara and Marsa power plants.

The power stations are by far the biggest polluters on the island, responsible for 71 per cent of total carbon emissions.

Under EU rules, Malta must reduce its total greenhouse gas emissions by five per cent on its 1990 levels by 2020 as part of the bloc's efforts to tackle climate change.

Malta's plans to reach these goals include a lower reliance on energy supplied by the power stations through the installation of two 100 MW electricity submarine cables from Sicily, the replacement of the Marsa power station with new equipment in Delimara, and the building of offshore and onshore wind farms.