Green gas has a realistic potential of 70 PJ/a (2 bcm) in 2030, translating to a CO2 emissions reduction of 3.6 Mt/a plus 1-2 Mt/a negative emissions. This means total cuts of 4.6-5.6 Mt/a, with a national cost effectiveness of 140 euro/t CO2. As the cabinet office has stated in its assessment of the provisional climate accord, it is essential we move towards market-based policies as the main instruments of climate policy. For green gas this can be achieved by incentivizing 35 PJ/a (1 bcm) of green gas by the year 2025 via the SDE+ renewable energy subsidy, requiring an annual SDE outlay of 400 million euro in 2025. In the meantime the government can work towards a market-based instrument in the form of an obligation for energy suppliers. This would put the additional costs of moving ahead to the full 70 PJ/a (2 bcm) green gas in 2030 directly on consumers’ shoulders. Up to 2030 that green gas can best be used in the built environment. Beyond that date its role there can be gradually taken over by hydrogen, with the green gas being used in industry and elsewhere. After the ‘Mulder motion’ was adopted in Parliament (under no. 32813-234), Minister Wiebes decreed that a Green Gas Roadmap was to be prepared in 2019. It is well conceivable that the policy instruments proposed in this brief report will be further elaborated by the Government and the market in joint consultation and put to Parliament in a formal proposal.
In collaboration with Hans Warmerhoven (De Gemeynt)