Country Review

HUNGARY

Since Hungary has joined the EU and the Emission Trading is to be implemented in the EU from 2005 a lot of work has been started on that territory. The Hungarian Government has collected data from all the interested parties (industries) to establish requirements for emission quotas. Also the Government issued a public proposal with the basic principals of the National Allocation Plan this summer, which is to be finalized in the autumn of 2004. The Government published the list of the 161 companies, which reported data so far.

On the basis of the preliminary results, it can be established that the continuous increase in production throughout the period of 2008-2012 will lead to increased greenhouse gas emission levels. Compared to the 79.5 MtCO2 in 2001, gross greenhouse gas emissions are expected to increase to 101.9 million tons by 2012. In the Kyoto Protocol’s second commitment period – that is, in the five years from 2008 to 2012 – the expected average gross greenhouse gas emissions will be equivalent with 97.2 MtCO2. This is less than Hungary’s commitment under Kyoto Protocol, 105 MtCO2 equivalent, as calculated from greenhouse gas emission data converted on the basis of the reviewed IPCC methodology.

Greenhouse gas emissions are increasing at a steadily growing pace. It is expected to increase from 2.04 % in 2002/2001 to 2.44 % in 20121/2011. However, this pace of emission increase is not different from the pace of change in other major emission source segments.

Mostly the electricity power plants are above the level of 1 MtCO2/year. The most polluting power station is the lignite fuelled Mátra Erõmû Rt. in Visonta (80 km east of Budapest). The second one is located in Százhalombatta not far from Budapest, where a refinery (MOL Rt.) is also emitting more than one million ton a year. In the middle of the country in Dunaújváros there are two major CO2 sources connected to each other. One is the iron and steel producing company the DUNAFERR Rt. and the other one is the DUNAFERR-DBK Kft. with its carbonisation facility. The rest of the smaller point sources are scattered in the country.

Hungary, as an intermediate country, has chosen the 1985-1987 average as the basis for measurement of the reductions. Hungary has agreed in a 6 % reduction. These reductions should be carried out in the first commitment period of 2008-2012, compared to the base year of 1990.

Now Hungary is part of the EU, which has a reduction commitment of 8 %, with a varying level for each member countries. Since Hungary was not part of the EU, when signed the Kyoto Protocol, and made no modification after it, Hungary maintains its original numbers. There are a number of projects running in Hungary within the Energy Efficiency Program, which effectively reduced the emission of CO2 and other greenhouse gases. Among these we find biogas utilization, natural gas fueled engines, heat reuse systems.

Unfortunately these projects are local and their efficiency in reducing CO2 emission is strongly restricted. Therefore the sinking of CO2 in natural storages is foreseen desired.

Hungary is situated in the Pannonian Basin. Sub basins in the region can reach the 7000 m depth and are filled with sediments from early Miocene to Pleistocene in age.

One type of possible CO2 storage location is a depleted oil or natural gas field. The major oil and gas fields of Hungary can be found in the south-west, the southern and the south-east part of the country. To enhance the final recovery rate from the depleting fields there were successful trials for using enhanced oil recovery techniques such as CO2 injections into the different layers of depleting oilfields. They were using CO2 producing wells nearby for the high-pressure injections. Deep aquifers and coal layers are also amongst the potentially suitable candidates for geological storage of captured CO2.