The initiative seeks to support the development of business incentives that promote the reduction of GHGs, through domestic projects carried out voluntarily by companies.

The initiative seeks to support the development of business incentives that promote the reduction of GHGs, through domestic projects carried out voluntarily by companies.

Greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in diffuse sectors represent approximately 55 percent of Spain’s total emissions. Diffuse GHG emissions are understood to be those in sectors that are not included within the scope of application of Law 1/2005 of 9 March, which regulates the greenhouse gas emission rights trading system in the country. These have grown between 10 and 22 percent in recent years.

The objective of this project is to analyse the existing options and develop concrete proposals for incentives for the implementation of business initiatives to reduce these important emissions, through collaboration between Spanish administrations and companies.

To this end, an exhaustive analysis of existing and future tools and models has been carried out in the six countries that, together with the Spanish Office for Climate Change, have been considered most advanced in this area (United Kingdom, Canada, Germany, France, Australia and the United States). This study serves as a basis for the elaboration of concrete proposals that allow similar developments in Spain.

The document is complemented by real case studies of GHG emission reductions in diffuse sectors of Spanish companies.

Within the framework of the research, the 2008 Greenhouse Gas Inventory, prepared by the Ministry of the Environment, Rural and Marine Affairs, has also been analysed in depth. After investigating the following items: energy transformation sector into residential, commercial and institutional; transport sector; waste sector; and the agriculture sector, it has been concluded that the most important sources of CO2 emissions within the diffuse sectors studied come from transport, commercial/office and residential activities.

The total of sources included in this study represents 200 million tonnes of CO2 emitted during 2008, including indirect emissions from electricity consumption.